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Tech Center
Right now, the third 3D adventure game is being developed by Deck13, again using our ever-growing framework for future applications: the PINA Package.
 
PINA (Portable Interface for n Adventures) integrates all techical elements that are necessary to create a new game: Scripting support (including script commands via TCP/IP network to enable working together online); core data structures and other important, efficiently coded basic elements; user interface (UI) components and last but not least an underlying graphics engine as well as a 3D animation system and physics integration using ODE.
PINA is not only capable of showing prototypes but can even be used for bigger projects.
Our current project Ankh is based on a link of PINA with the Ogre Engine which is a capable open source graphics engine with strong community support.
Why not coding your own engine anyway?
We're frequently asked why we rely on externally developed graphics engines like Gamebryo or Ogre, and it's pointed out that we should surely be able to create an engine ourselves? Right, we could! (And we did so for Stealth Combat where our JARED engine was used.) However, it's often forgotten how much work it is to keep a self-developed engine up do date. Practically speaking you need two teams for your games: a tech team that is busy maintaining the self-coded engine (don't forget that you have to care for all the new graphics cards, operating systems, and faster computers - all these must be supported and thoroughly tested with the engine!), and another team that creates the actual content for the game.
As we consider ourselves being a games company instead of a technology developer, we'll leave all that work to the people that have the best know-how in engine development, while we have the resources to create the game itself, and wrap the necessary framework (that's PINA) around it.
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