❓ Vow Engine – FAQ

Welcome to the official Vow Engine FAQ! Whether you're a curious developer, indie game enthusiast, or future contributor — this page covers everything you need to know.

🧠 What is Vow Engine?

Vow Engine is a standalone 3D game engine built in C++, designed to recreate the feel and aesthetics of early 2000s FPS games — think Call of Duty (2003) or Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. It's being built from the ground up to offer a clean, modular, and nostalgic development experience for first-person shooters and story-driven games.

🎯 Why create your own engine?

While engines like Unity, Godot, and Unreal are amazing tools, Vow Engine serves a different purpose. It’s for those of us who long for the charm and design style of the early days of gaming — back when creativity led the way and games were built for fun, not just profit.

🎮 Is it for 2D or 3D?

Vow Engine is focused exclusively on 3D games, particularly FPS-style projects.

🛠 Core Goals

• Purpose-built for first-person shooters

• Easy-to-use UI and editor

• Encouraging creative storytelling and gameplay

• Fast, reliable, and mod-friendly architecture

• No bloat — just what you need to build a game with charm and clarity

👥 Who is this engine for?

If you love older FPS games with stories, minimal fluff, and a distinct identity — Vow Engine is for you. Whether you're a developer, artist, or storyteller, our goal is to make game creation accessible and fulfilling.

🧪 Technical Details

• Language: C++

• Graphics API: OpenGL (initially)

• Scripting: Lua

• Editor: Planned built-in editor (in active design phase)

• Physics: Will support both Jolt and Bullet Physics (post-1.0)

• Modularity: Core systems are stable/fixed for safety, but extensible in future updates

📜 Licensing

• Engine Code: Licensed under LGPL v3
  → Use it in your own projects (even proprietary ones), but engine modifications must be shared under the same license.

• Demo Assets: Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
  → You can use the included mission assets for non-commercial use only, with credit. You may not redistribute or modify them for public release.

🗺️ Sample Content

A full mission from our in-house WWII-style FPS will be included as a template and demo, showing off the engine's capabilities. This gives new users a head start and a working example to build from.

📅 Release Timeline

• Target release date: July 1, 2028

• Full release will include rendering, editor, scripting, documentation, and demo mission

• We may extend the release if needed, but that’s the current roadmap

📂 Open Source

Yes! The engine will be released with full source code under the LGPL v3 license once the core features and systems are complete. This ensures code quality and meaningful contributions.

🌐 Platforms

• PC (Windows) at launch

• Other platforms (Linux, macOS) considered post-release

• No plans for mobile or WebGL support at this stage

💬 Community & Support

• No Discord yet, but we’re considering it

• For now, follow all updates right here on itch.io and @vowinteractive.bsky.social

📖 Documentation & Getting Started

Official docs and a beginner-friendly guide will ship with the first public release. All builds will include local documentation — so you're never blocked by internet issues.

🧪 How to Get Involved

• Want to contribute? Once the engine hits alpha/beta, you’ll be able to report bugs through the site and the engine itself.

• Want to support financially? We’ll be launching a Kickstarter, with rewards like sneak peeks, early builds, and more.

• Want to help with testing or feedback? A contact form will be available on our site (coming soon).

Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned, and keep your creativity sharp! The best is yet to come...
— Vow Interactive