When to cut your losses and rewrite with a framework?
lrm242: I think the fundamental question is: "will having your own game engine give you a decided advantage by making your game unique in some way?"Will your game be more memorable, enjoyable, etc because of your engine? I'd doubt it, since that will most likely come from your game itself (the rules, balance, game play, etc).As humans we are inherently programmed to not be able to cut our losses very effectively. We don't want to walk away from an investment even though we know deep down inside that it's the right thing to do. In the financial trading world, this is often quoted as one of the #1 things that makes a trader "good" vs "bad". Can they identify a bad situation quickly and cut their losses so they can focus on the next winner.In my opinion, the very same could be said for an entrepreneur. Some of the hardest decisions we have to make when running a company have to do with what NOT to do. When to stop a failed effort, regroup, and carry on. If you follow the path far enough you'll see very clear parallels between "cutting your losses" and other "startup" advice like: adapt, don't be afraid to fail fast, more downs than ups, etc etc etc.So, back to your situation. You have, IMO, answered your question already. You note that your engine is not as good as commercial engines and that there are commercial engines out there within your reach. You also note that it will take away time and energy from your ultimate goal which is to release a game. Finally, you note that if you were to make this decision today (without the fundamental human urge to not walk away from the invested time and energy) that you'd pick the commercial engine.Without more detail, I'd suggest you go with a third party engine so you can focus on the game and not the framework. Good luck!