Oh wow, let me add to the group and say thanks. Teenaged mr_luc turned into a programmer mostly because of late-90's game engines, and I'm probably not alone. Everyone who wanted to be a programmer and was interested in game development probably remembers Genesis3d.
There's something magical, as a young programmer, about compiling an open-source 3d engine and walking around in the demo.
Although in my case I never did more than compile Genesis and tweak a few variables in the physics code before recompiling. (I ended up learning from the Torque Game Engine and its forebears, because they had a scripting language and sprawling outdoor terrains with multiplayer).
There's something magical, as a young programmer, about compiling an open-source 3d engine and walking around in the demo.
Although in my case I never did more than compile Genesis and tweak a few variables in the physics code before recompiling. (I ended up learning from the Torque Game Engine and its forebears, because they had a scripting language and sprawling outdoor terrains with multiplayer).