Source (game engine)

Source is a Game Engine developed by Valve Corporation in the 2000's and used to power their games such as Half-Life 2. The engine is capable of running high quality 3D games, and a number of developers outside of Valve have made use of it. Most games using Source are shooters or role playing games. In the mid-2010s the Source 2 engine was introduced with a number of improvements allowing for better utilization of newer graphics hardware.

Source and associated tooling are fairly well known and used among the Game Modding community. The tool Source Filmmaker was also popular among Machinima inspired creators during The New Tens.

• Early Installment Weirdness: Many features have been added to the engine since launch.
• Game Mod: A number of source games from the 2000s and 2010s were known for their game mods.
• Genius Programming: Was well known for its stunning graphical capabilities on launch. By the 2010s it had acquired a reputation for reasonable graphical capabilities while keeping good performance.
• Level Editor: The Hammer editor allows for the editing of levels.
• Machinima: The Source Filmmaker tool is optimized around making this.
• Middle Ware: Supports middleware such as Havok.
• The Wiki Rule: Has a documentation wiki hosted by Valve Corporation here.
• Wreaking Havok: Supports the Havok physics middleware according to the documentation.