In my early years as a game developer, or at least in my years of
experimentation, I've come across several game engines. Among them,
Stencyl stands out,
which is still alive today and allows for creating games in ActionScript 3
(Now use Haxe). RPG Maker, as mentioned in my introduction, was another
one. BYOND is
another game engine that I've tested. I also became acquainted with
GameMaker 1.4 and Construct 2. Each engine has its strengths and weaknesses, and that's
what we'll try to demystify. Don't be mistaken, almost every engine can
lead to the same result, but their approaches are different and may be
more or less complex.
The list is not in order of preference; know that each engine is as
good as another depending on its use and our skills.
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RPG Maker MZ is the latest version of the engine. Being a paid tool, you
have access to a free trial period of 20 days on their website to try it
out.
The positive.
- Simple: You don't need to know how to code to make a game with RPG Maker MZ.
- Good Community: Several forums, including RPG Maker's own, are very active.
- Easy access to custom Plugin.
- Free basic assets.
- One-time purchase.
- Event system: Allows players to create complex mechanics without needing to code.
The negative.
- Limitation: If you want to create something more unique, you'll have to get your hands dirty.
- Exporting: You cannot export to consoles.
- Performance: May face performance issues with large-scale projects or complex scenes.
- Limited to JRPG: If you don't know programming. There are Plugins available to make your game like an Action RPG or a Zelda-like on RPG Maker MV but none for MZ at the moment.
- Outside View: Player recognize when it's made with RPG Maker, and besides having custom assets and mechanics that stand out, it's difficult to "stand out" on Steam.
Popular game made with the engine.
Who is it designed for?
RPG Maker is designed for game developers, who want to create role-playing
games without needing to write code from scratch. It's often used by indie
developers and hobbyist who are interested in game development but may not
have extensive programming experience. I really suggest that you take a look
if you are a first timer in indie game development.
Godot has now moved to version 4, with many things changing and improving.
In addition to being open source, the game engine stands out with its
enhancements and ease of use. Plus, being able to code in multiple languages
makes it an easy choice for beginners, intermediates, and even advanced
users.
The positive:
- Community: Godot community provides resources, tutorials, and support for developers.
- User Friendly: Its visual scripting system offers a user-friendly approach to game logic creation.
- Lightweight: Godot engine is lightweight and need minimal system requirements to make it accessible. And it work on Linux.
- Modulable: It's easy to integrate third-party plugins and extensions.
- Open Source: This approach encourages teamwork and lets everyone contribute, leading to better and customizable features over time.
- Free! We all like free.
The negative:
- Documentation: Documentation can be occasionally outdated or incomplete.
- Lacking advance feature and optimization: It may still lack some advanced features and optimizations found in more established game engines.
- Export: Exporting to console can be a bit more challenging.
- Learning curve: It can be steep for newcomers, but especially those transitioning from other game engines, due to its unique workflow and terminology.
- Research: Finding specific solutions to niche or advanced technical challenges in Godot can be more challenging as it is a growing community.
Popular game made with the engine
Who is it designed for?
Godot is designed for game developers of all skill levels and backgrounds.
Its user-friendly interface and scripting language make it accessible to
beginners, while its powerful features and flexibility appeal to more
experienced developers. It is also very useful for 3D game as well as 2D
and even VR game.
Unreal Engine is a game engine primarily used for 3D, but it also works for
2D. It stands out as an industry-leading game engine, capable of
simulations, cinema, and architectural applications as well.
The positive:
- Free asset: Unreal bought Quixel bridge, which is a marketplace for free 3D scan assets and it's amazing how great this is.
- Visual scripting: Its visual scripting system offers a user-friendly approach to game logic creation. It is way easier than using C++ and despite general opinion it's visual scripting very way capable of making stable 60fps games .
- Asset store: It's easy to integrate third-party scripts. Some people build games with only purchased assets, assembling them like Lego block.
- Template: Unreal engine offers free templates for FPS, third-person, car games and other, so you don't have to bother much with the 3Cs.
- Free: Free until you reach $1 million USD in revenue. Unreal takes 5% after that million.
The negative:
- Documentation: Documentation is a complete mess. Beginners beware.
- Require High-End PC: The engine requires a high-end pc to run decently and low-end users might have issues running your game.
- Community: Even with a large community, Answer can vary, and it is still hard to find information since even the documentation is messy.
- Resource Intensive Development: Creating assets and resources for high-fidelity games can be expensive and time-consuming. It requires good skills.
Popular game made with the engine
Who is it designed for?
Despite not being beginner-friendly, Unreal Engine offers amazing
capabilities and flexibility for creating immersive experiences across
various industries. Its widespread adoption in fields like architecture,
automotive, film, virtual reality, augmented reality, and simulation
make it worth a shot!
The positive:
- Documentation: Unity have one of the most complete and comprehensive documentation of all the engine.
- Cross platform development: Unity allows developers to create games for multiple platforms including PC, consoles, mobile devices, and web browsers.
- Asset store: Unity has a large Asset Store with everything you need to make your game, including both free and paid assets.
- Community: Unity has a very large community on their forums, but also with a ton of videos online that can show you how to create certain game types and mechanics.
- Free: Free until you reach $1 million USD in revenue. Unity takes 2.5% after that million. I put free in a link because it is a bit more complex.
The negative:
- Platform-Specific Issues: Porting Unity games to different platforms can sometimes result in compatibility issues or require additional development difficulty.
- Require High-End PC: The engine requires a high-end pc to run decently and low-end users might have issues running your game.
- Learning Curve: Unity's learning curve can be hard for beginners, especially those who are new to game development or programming concepts. The number of features and options can be overwhelming at first.
- Bug Fixes and Updates: Unity do frequent updates and bug fixes and can sometimes introduce new issues or break existing functionality in projects it is even more true when using a version control software.
Popular game made with the engine
Who is it designed for?
Unity is for creators of all levels, though it may pose initial challenges for newcomers, it is a very good engine for both 2D and 3D with lot of tool already built in from menu, physics and complexes camera in simple click.
GDevelop
Construct3
Game maker studio
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