Path through the forest, Yepee!

#1 If you can come up with a good AI brain for your game, or use an existing pack and improve on it for your use it will do wonders for your game, include AI pathfinding/navmesh capabilities and you have everything you need.

Once you get something working it will motivate you to carry on.

#2 Well, "engine" is too vague anyway. The engine is a composite of many systems - some of which you are touching upon already. Rendering and networking code are probably most esoteric in my book, both seem arbitrary and fickle at times to me. 3D Game Engine Programming is a pretty good book for wrapping your head around the whole engine vs. component concept.

Programming is a complex discipline anyway, and games theory is an advanced subject on top of that. Generally we approach games from a more naive angle, true, but balancing games is complex none the less. The thing is, we grow up playing games of various types and this builds a self-deception within us all - we think it should be easier than it is because we all know how to play games.

What I'm saying, in a very round about way, is that you just have to keep at it - like Julian said, once you wrap your head around one thing it will motivate you to keep learning.

"Never give up, never surrender!" - goofy movie....

#3 Cheers lads, I must get that book. Will keep going alright, just trying to find some direction for myself taken from my own practical experience. I am probably planning everything way too early, I should just keep practicing for a while then decide.

#4 I was always told 3 simple rules to excel at programming:

1. Read
2. Code
3. Read code

#5 :)

@Kerry

Am on it.