Question: What features should a game engine ideally have?

Answer

Game engines, at their core, are frameworks used to simplify the development of video games. They provide the necessary tools and systems to build games across different platforms efficiently. There are several key elements that an ideal game engine should have:

1. Rendering Engine - The rendering engine is responsible for graphics rendering. This includes 2D or 3D modeling, texture mapping, animations, shadowing, and lighting. Modern engines use rendering APIs like DirectX, Vulkan, or OpenGL.

2. Physics Engine - A physics engine simulates real-world physics to give realistic motion and reactions to objects in the game. It handles collision detection, rigid and soft body dynamics, and fluid simulations.

3. Audio Engine - An audio engine plays and manipulates sound. It needs to support positional audio (sound changes based on the player's position and the source) and environmental audio effects (like echoes in a hall).

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Game AI governs the behavior of non-player characters, enemy AI, pathfinding, decision trees, etc.

5. Networking - If it's a multiplayer game, the game engine needs robust network capabilities for client-server communications, latency management, and synchronization.

6. Scripting & Event System - This allows game developers to script game events and behaviors without diving into the lower-level code. Languages commonly used include Lua, Python, and C#.

7. Input Management - Handles input from various sources such as keyboard, mouse, gamepad, and touch-screen inputs.

8. Animation - Animates the characters and other objects in the game.

9. Toolset - Level editors, debugging tools, performance profiling tools, asset management tools, etc. They greatly enhance the productivity of game development.

10. Cross-platform Support - The ability to develop games for multiple platforms (Windows, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, etc.) from a single code base is critical.

11. Support & Documentation - Good documentation and active community or professional support can be a lifesaver.

Here's a very basic example of how these components could interact in a game loop:

while game_is_running:
    take_input()  # Input Management
    update_game_logic()  # AI, Event Scripting
    physics_engine.update()  # Physics Engine
    render_graphics()  # Rendering Engine
    play_sounds()  # Audio Engine
    network_update()  # Networking 

Remember that every game engine has its strengths and weaknesses. When choosing one, it's important to think about the requirements of your particular game or project.