I was looking online for games on Blackberry devices and that’s when I saw this .
Turns out that RIM has been working on a cross-platform game engine called "Gameplay3D has been made available as an open-source engine written in C++ since August 2012 and works with the iOS and Android 2.3+ operating systems and more.
I don’t think that there has been a lot of buzz around this but what do you guys think about this as a competitor for Unity3d for indie devs on the mobile devices? Because me being a student and a Unity Indie version user, I am willing to give it a shot for a while, even though I think that with any revenue I will eventually go for my Unity Pro license .
interesting. I dont think it will do well vs unity, because from my perspective, most indie devs seem to want simplicity and ease of use from an engine, not raw power. Also, the tendency i see from this site is that most people want to stay far away from C++ and the power it can bring…but who knows…maybe people will flock to this new engine? I think ill take a look at it.
Meh. First of all, RIM is dying. Wouldn’t want to get stranded using an engine from a corporation that doesn’t exist. Second of all, Unity has been in the works for so much longer. Haven’t tried the Gameplay3d engine, but I am 99% sure that Unity will do a better job as a cross-platform engine, simply because of all the time and effort that has gone into it. Granted, Gameplay3d is open-source, but unless you really, really, REALLY need an open-source engine, Unity is your best bet.
Did any of you actually read and comprehend anything from its webpage?
Its not a game engine, but a framework. Its also OPEN SOURCE, so its not going anywhere, even if RIM closes its doors tomorrow. It does some of the heavy lifting in game and multimedia apps, but its up to you to make use of it…very different than unity.
Think of Unity as an ikea table, that all you have to do is assemble it yourself (with its included tools), while something like Gameplay3D is more like buying tools and supplies and making your own furniture. Obviously using a kit is much easier, esp to those who wouldn’t know a hammer from a hole in the ground. However, making something yourself will make sure that you know every detail, will learn more, have a greater sense of accomplishment, and have a potential to make a higher quality product…without any royalties of any kind.
You make the mistake of assuming that what you’d make is equal - which isn’t correct. If you use the kit table you can have all of those benefits - knowing every detail, learn more, have greater sense of achievement better quality product [all without royalties] - the only difference is you’re working at a much higher level - interior designer as opposed to carpenter.
I don’t get how this confuses you. Unless you have the source to unity, there’s no way to know whats really going on with the rendering, physics, sound, component system, etc. these are the details I’m talking about. I don’t know about you, but I would feel a greater sense of achievement writing my own rendering system then just using one,esp if it looks better and works/used the way I prefer. And yes, its very possible to out do unity in all of these aspects, but obviously if you have the skill to do so. There’s a reason why ikea tables are cheap, but custom or high end furniture is not.
Except of course, you’re still too high level. How about writing code in assembly? Maybe in raw bytes?
Still too high level, because of course unless you’ve got access to the source of the transistors you’re working on, how could you feel a sense of achievement? Even then, how are those chips actually built - maybe you should study engineering? Nah, too high level, you need to become a material quantum physicist! Of course, now you’re venturing into area’s where we are still trying to figure out… so take your time.
The point? Detail is all relative. Writing a render gives you more insight on how a render is written - however it does not give you more insight than the guy who took an existing render and used it to make a product sold to the masses. It’s a different insight, not a better one.
I know this is an old post I just had to say, kind of an irrelevant point considering it’s opensource. If it’s a good product the community would continue developing for it if that happened. I haven’t used it however.