This time, I have one important thing to say about game engines. I have worked with two: RPG Maker MV and Unreal Engine 4, and they have one critical thing in common that is crucial. They do not spell check your work. As you should, you are able to type anything you want to appear in your game, but doing so directly into the engine begets unintentionally spelling and grammar errors.
When I made Draconic Echoes: The Ardent War I was cocky and thought, “I’m experienced at typing, and I know how to spell things. I can just read it back and there won’t be any mistakes.” That was very wrong. My text was riddled with mistakes, which I had to spend way too much time to go back to fix. I have found that when I was proofreading my own work, my mind auto-corrects words in a way, and reads them as the correct spelling, despite being wrong. I assume that this happens to other people too.
So, what is the main takeaway of this little warning? Type everything for your game in a separate word processor first, with a spell checker. Then, copy and paste it into the engine. It may seem like an annoying extra step, but it will save a ton of time later.
If you’re curious about how all my nonsense actually plays out in a game, check out Draconic Echoes: The Ardent War on Steam!