I’ve been very much ‘'partially” involved in my efforts to get a game engine up and running. I’ve figured this much however: there is a lot going on in creating a game and getting a game engine up and running is not the hardest part. That's possibly why there are quite a few books about it. What really is tough is understanding how the various APIs that power your game engine fit together. Direct3D, OpenGL, and the various physics and artificial intelligence and various game co-ordination stuff, not to mention the theory behind 3D positioning and various themes that go with it. Actually, writing a game engine is easy: Just have a core that abstracts all that stuff I just mentioned – but you need to know what that stuff is to begin with. That's the challenge, I guess I’m left with and that’s what its all about. Is it really about creating a game, well no. Could it eventually become a game - maybe. 

I’m also very enthusiastic about using C++ 11 but I don't want to use it because I don’t think I’ll need to write reusable components as this will be entirely specific to my needs in terms of learning and the end product – otherwise I’d just use a game engine that out there and learn nothing.