Custom Game Engine

A custom game engine enables the use of new features, which in turn can help improve a game's review score. Selecting the right features for a good game combination is essential to reaching good score. This guide should help you plan your future game engines.

Custom game engine can be researched from the start of the game for 50 RP.



Feature overview
Some features are mutually exclusive. The tables below list the "group" for certain features. A game can only contain one feature from a given group. For example, refer to the Story/Quests table. You can choose Linear Story or Branching Story, but not both. However, you can add cutscenes to whichever story option you choose since it's a different group.

Therefore, when developing a new engine, you may wish to only select the best feature from each group.

Also 2D and 3D Graphics features have hidden stat - Tech level which is used to calculate amount of Tech and Design points of game and Technical expertise for game score. Tech level of the game is calculated as average of Tech levels of all 2D and 3D Graphics features in Custom Engine and Tech level of used Platform. So in order to get best Tech level of game you need to put only single Graphics feature that has highest Tech level.

Some Features are researchable after reaching certain Level of different Feature or Mission. New Level is reached by making new game. See more information about Level and Experiences at Experience page.

Some expensive features are not cost-effective. For example, Cooperative Play costs more than Skill Trees and Character Progression combined but gives less benefit.

Graphics

 * All graphic features are mutually exclusive, except for Advanced Stereoscopic 3D.

Sound
Soundtrack is not currently available in the mobile version of the game (orchestral soundtrack is in the mobile version though)

World Design
* Rich backstory can be included in a game directly after researching. It does not have to be included into the game engine first.

Artificial Intelligence
It is perfectly viable to add features that normally would not make sense for the platform you aim for (such as 3D graphics for devices that aren't 3D capable). With this in mind, you should aim to put in as many features as you can.

There is a limit on how many benefit-points actually contribute to game quality. When you see a %-display on an area it means you have included more benefit in this area than necessary. The only downside when including more benefit than necessary is the money spent on unnecessary features.

The maximum amount of points depends on the game size and on the allocated time for the area. A table can be found on the Success Guide.

Trivia
In the early versions of Game Dev Tycoon you had to research peripheral support, such as Mouse and Steering Wheel, and add these to your engine in order to make games that supported peripherals. This is no longer the case as all peripherals (except for VR) are now considered supported automatically when you develop for a platform that supports these peripherals.