Separations between the "engine" and the game code?

[Dusty]

I'm just curious, what is the difference between modifying the engine and the game code?

 

I've understood the engine to be sort of the back-end of the game that's part of the executable files, not to be confused with the game DLLs. Is that true? Because I've heard the engine also puts limits on things like the number of purchaseable skills you can have in the multiplayer force power menu.

 

Is there anything a person should keep in mind when deciding whether a mod should modify the engine or not?

[mrwonko]

Yes, the game code is in the DLLs. Initially that was the only available source code.

 

As long as the interface is kept compatible, game code mods and engine mods can be mixed and matched. For example if you only edit game code, players can choose to run your mod in vanilla, openjk or any other engine replacement.

 

If you choose to edit the engine (in which case you'll likely want to base your changes off openjk to get all the bug fixes) you'll have your own version and any future patches must come from you.

 

There's also the matter of licensing, but I won't get into that, just use GPL.