I’m looking into selecting a new video game engine to use with a potential title coming up in the near future. I’ve already encountered UDK 4 and Leadwerks, and tried their demos. I was not overly impressed and they seemed rather complicated to use. The basic tutorials did nothing to cover programming aspects or explain the API of the engine. Thus after moving away from these editors I came across Unity 3D and to say the least I’m impressed, despite not trying the demo.
I’m currently in the process of selecting an engine to streamline development for my title. The game will be similar to the way mass effect is played (third person shooter, Role playing game), though with greater emphasis on melee combat, and squad/party management with the potential to include multiple drivable vehicles. I’m seeking to try and make this game as close as possible, under a budget, to the quality you would see in a AAA title released today.
I’ve made this thread in hopes that the community of Unity might share their opinions on the engine. I realize that this is the Unity forums and that users may have a bias as to promote the engine but I’d still like to hear your opinions on the pros and cons of this engine. Is it suitable for a programer with some schooling experience? Are there more effective engines for what I am aiming for? How is the engine support and the community?
I realize I might be asking too many questions but I really want to be comfortable with the engine I’ve selected for my game to be developed on, and with the unity community.
There might be some bias, but I think you’ll find the community is pretty vocal about problems/issues/missing features.
You say you’re a programmer - what languages are you proficient in?
There’s no reason Unity can’t achieve what you’re aiming for (third-person shooter with rpg/squad elements and drivable vehicles), but as Meltdown said we’d have to know more detail to give you a better response.
Sorry when I was mentioning UDK 4 I was referring to the Unreal Development kit version 4, which is essentially running the unreal engine 4. I apologize, as I thought the names were interchangeable. I only evaluated UE3, never got to trying the forth.
As to my dislike I found it quite perplexing to use. Its not a simple editor and I couldn’t figure out much of the API or where the programming took place (including event scripts for the “level”). Leadwerks was worse as it has the same problems and the 3d visual editor was a headache to navigate (You had to navigate using separate X,Y, and Z axis windows). Atleast in UE3 you can look around the level using the WSAD keys.
I’m happy to know that there is good support then! As for programming I’ve been exposed in my technology program school to Java (longest period of time), PHP, JSP, ASP, HTML, Javascript, C++(most important for gaming), C#, Linux shell, and Android programing. I’ve had no exposure to the Open GL libraries.
I’d like to submit more detail but I believe that the project has a rather broad spectrum. What kinds of details would you like to know?
My opinion is that if you want to focus on making the production pipeline easy and get coding done quickly, then Unity is the best option. Unity is simple but powerful, you can do what you want without it being too complicated or obscure. That being said, a lot of games are made with Unreal Engine and it’s actually not too hard to get up and running with that either, but Unity wins on this front. At least until Unreal Engine 4 has a user supported marketplace equivalent to the Asset Store.
If impressive graphics are what you want, Unreal Engine 4 is the winning choice. Without even really trying, your game is going to look good*. Even just using white boxes in one of the preset “sky worlds” will have a really appealing look. That being said, the advantages that Unreal Engine 4 have might be matched by Unity 5. Chances are Unreal Engine 4 is always going to be ahead in terms of graphics, though (I.E, once Unity 5 comes out UE4 will add a new cool graphical feature that Unity doesn’t have, and so on). With Unity you have to work harder for good graphics but if you know what you are doing it shouldn’t be too hard. Unreal Engine’s defaults are amazing while Unity’s suck, for Unity you have to match that yourself.
*Assuming your actual input artwork is good. The engine is definitely not going to make bad assets look good.