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I'm at the beginning stages of building my first 2D game engine, and I'm not sure if I should setup my base 2D vector class as a vec3(x, y, z) or a vec2(x, y)

I might want to use a vec3(x, y, z) for adding z values, for ordering which objects would overlap other objects and still be visible. I'm also not sure if it's just easier to have a vec3 for working with the transformation matrices and graphics libraries like OpenGL. This is my first game engine project, and I don't really know what is required for the long haul, in a 2D game.

How should I setup a vector class for a 2D game engine?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Use a pre-built library, and an engine if you can. Doing your first game without an engine is hard \$\endgroup\$ – Bálint Feb 18 '17 at 21:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ While I agree with you, I'm using this project as a learning exercise as well. I'm not looking to create the next call of duty or anything, just a simple game that I created with a simple engine I created. Already learning a lot doing so! \$\endgroup\$ – Jason Feb 18 '17 at 21:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ Note that you'll learn a lot about engines by using an already available engine. Designing stuff out of thin air without being familiar with said stuff is hard, and you may learn the wrong things... \$\endgroup\$ – Vaillancourt♦ Feb 18 '17 at 22:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ It is definitely hard, I'll give you that! However, by doing things this way I am also learning tons about how to structure a software architecture appropriately. This means learning practical ways to think and go about building an application. I recommend it to anyone with enough patience. It can be very rewarding \$\endgroup\$ – Jason Feb 21 '17 at 2:21
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It would take less space in memory to use a Vec2 for things like game object position or scale (2 floats, instead of 3) which could be a win, but since this is your first 2D game engine I would just go with what feels best to you until you absolutely need to optimize. As far as rendering goes, it isn't that much of a hassle to move your x and y components into your graphics calls. As you mentioned, layering can become an issue. For a 2D engine I would probably have a separate field on my sprites for which render layer to use, and then draw each layer separately from back to front with a z value associated to that layer. Ex:(background z=-3, world z=-2, foreground z=-1, etc..)

Best of luck. Cheers :)

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