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Unity vs. Unreal: What to Choose for Your Project?

Program-Ace — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:56:26 +0000

In 2015, Unity and Unreal were the hottest names in the game development industry, spurring discussion and comparisons anywhere they were mentioned. The discussion grew so fierce that we wrote an entire piece about the two engines and how they were showing their stripes. Though just a few years have passed since then, this is an eon in the fast-changing world of software development.

Sweeping changes have affected both engines recently, and considering the massive interest studios and businesses have shown towards building apps with Unity or Unreal development, we decided to revisit the topic. We’ve got the facts to help you make an informed choice in the development of your next project.

What is the State of Unity and Unreal in 2021?

In case you’re new to the conversation, the first thing you should know is that Unity and Unreal Engine are two of the most prominent engines used for software development today. Though both started as tools for game building, they have evolved into much bigger and better platforms. Let’s take a closer look at the changes and current state.

Over the years…

Unity	Unreal Engine
2005 – The first open-use version of the engine launches, being met with quick acclaim.	1998 – the first version of UE debuts with the release of the game “Unreal”
2007 – launch of v 2.0	2002 – launch of v 2.0
2010 – launch of v 3.0	2006 – UE 3 is released, being applied for its first AAA titles – Gears of War and Mass Effect
2015 – Unity 5 launches. It is a major breakthrough, with support for dozens of new platforms, major graphic improvements, HD video support, and VR.	2014 – UE4 is released with major improvements to graphics and scripting. It achieves widespread use, being adopted in the creation of hundreds of major video and mobile games.
2017 – seamless integration with top 3D design tools (3DS Max, Maya) is added	2016 – Support for VR application development is added.
2018 – the first in-engine machine learning tools are introduced, along with a rendering pipeline for traditional and immersive platforms	2019 – support for real-time ray tracing is added, along with additional rendering output options.
2019 – DOTS, an innovative data-oriented tech stack is introduced for massive improvements to processing performance.	2020 – UE5 is announced, with a planned release in late 2021. This iteration is expected to provide groundbreaking improvements to photogrammetry, LOD optimizations, and asset creation.
2020 – Integration for BIM 360 is added; a solution called Unity Forma is made available for easy creation of 3D marketing content.

Today…

Unity	Unreal
Mobile games made with Unity account for 71% of the top 1000 titles on the market	Over 2 million games powered by the engine
The user base (developers + users) amounts to over 2.7 billion people	Marketplace features over 16K assets
Asset Store features over 65K assets	Developer community exceeds 7 million people
Revenue increased by 43% in 2020	Market share is estimated at 13%
Market capitalization is approximately $27.8 billion.	Epic Games’ (parent company) market cap is approximately $17 billion.

Is Unreal Harder Than Unity?

This question is a major concern both for new developers and businesses looking to hire devs.

In terms of hiring specialists or forecasting their productivity, there should be no immediate worries. After all, tens of thousands of devs in both categories (Unreal/UE) are working on the market nowadays, many of them through freelance and outsourcing services.

The current versions of the engines are very well-optimized, so most competent specialists should be able to make full use of them at least until major overhauls like UE5 are launched. Even then, you can still choose to work with previous versions of the software.

In terms of learning, there will be a significant level of difficulty regardless of which platform is chosen – you can expect months of just learning the basics. Still, many devs who have worked with both options admit that Unity is much easier to jump into, simply because of the more streamlined and understandable language of C#.

What Are The Limits of Unity vs Unreal App Development?

Before you choose the engine for your next app, you will certainly need to make sure that it supports the type of project you are envisioning.

Apps by purpose (with examples):

Enterprise apps (for company's internal use)
Client-side apps (commercial)
Game & Entertainment apps

No limits here. As we have mentioned, both engines are currently used for much more than games, so you can use either for your project, even if you never plan on sharing it with the world.

Apps by platform:

Desktop
Mobile
AR/VR/MR
Console
Web
Android TV
Stadia

Mostly the same. Nearly all the listed platforms are supported on both, except for Android TV, which is unavailable on UE.

Expectations for Development

Though the two engines let you accomplish most of the same things on a broad scale, there are undoubtedly differences when it comes to the nitty-gritty of development. Below are some of the peculiarities you or your team may face throughout the process:

Unity	Unreal
Mobile apps
Unity was built with mobile apps in mind, so development for these devices is very streamlined, both for 2D and 3D titles. Most of the optimizations are meant for small and indie games with limited processing requirements.	Using the powerful graphic capabilities of UE is overkill for most mobile apps, yet the UE optimization for high-processing apps makes it more suitable for AAA titles and those geared toward high-end devices.
Immersive apps
Immersive apps based on VR/MR/XR technology are supported in both engines, but the option of Unity is perfect for prototyping and experimenting with immersive functions.	This is the superior choice for immersive assets designed with a great level of detail. It also offers a lower barrier of entry into immersive design thanks to its Blueprints system.
Graphics
This software provides a few impressive graphical features from the onset (e.g. global illumination and physical-based rendering), but achieving better visuals often involves plenty of tinkering/editing.	In addition to the impressive default graphic features provided by its counterpart, UE assets often look polished right out of the box thanks to a wide range of presets.
Community
The asset store on the company website is massive and filled to the brim with 3D assets, with some smaller yet notable collections of 2D assets, templates, and VFX. Learning materials are galore on the platform website.	While UE’s asset marketplace is smaller, it also offers a decent variety, mostly focused on game elements. Devs are supported with countless manuals and forums.
Cost
The most basic plan (Personal) is free to use, but more expansive and business-oriented plans cost $399 annually per account or more.	This option is free to use, but engages a royalty system that kicks in as soon as an app is monetized, bringing the company (Epic Games) 5% of earnings.

Making the Final Choice for Your Project

You should not make the decision of Unity/Unreal lightly, so we suggest analyzing your project from both a business and technical standpoint, finding the common tissue that will make it easiest to connect to one of the two options. As an additional reference, feel free to refer to these broad strokes of engine strengths and weaknesses:

Unity

Great for building simple mobile apps, including prototypes and mobile AR/VR apps.
Broadest available cross-platform support
Simpler and faster coding with C#
Impressive asset store
Polishing graphics takes more time and work
Rendering can be slow without optimization

Unreal

Geared towards achieving the highest quality of graphics
Allows users to customize shaders without coding
Lightning fast post-processing
All user groups have access to source code
Licensing model disadvantageous for large commercial projects
Too cumbersome for small-scale games

Get Started With Development

Getting started with a major project can be quite overwhelming, especially in the early stages when you’re forming your game plan. The important thing to remember is that you don’t need to do everything alone, and learning how to masterfully exploit a game engine is not the only path forward.

With the help of a reliable development partner, you can quickly dive into the process and leave the technical matters to the experts.

Even if you already have a team of devs working on a project, you can back them up with an external team or selected specialists that will provide work of the highest quality at a great rate. Program-Ace is one of many companies that provide such services, but Unity and Unreal are particular strengths. We have one of the largest and most talented Unity teams in Europe, with a solid portfolio to prove it.

You choose the engine, and we will push your project forward at full speed! Just contact us, and we can begin discussing how to make it happen.

Originally published at Program-Ace

How Mobile VR Is Going to Change Gaming Market

Program-Ace — Tue, 29 May 2018 08:08:45 +0000

With a number of new gadgets rapidly emerging on a tech horizon, VR market is steadily moving to its rise in popularity among all the demographic groups. In the recent years, we have seen the price range for the regular VR devices varying between 800$ for HTC Vive in 2016 and 3$ for Google Cardboard, which is a glaring indicator that VR market is moving towards grasping the biggest audience size possible.

However, likewise, the Spiderman's most notable quote, this power in sheer numbers comes with a high level of responsibility regarding the quality of the products that these new VR mobile gadgets bring upon themselves. Not having to deal with a convoluted set of wires and the overall usage simplicity are very welcomed perks to alleviate a lot of users' concerns, however, a drastic decrease in a hardware department is imminent and severely impacts the graphical fidelity.

After seeing a wave of fresh headsets from Carl Zeiss, LG, Merge, Homido, Freefly, Bnext, Pasonomi and tons of other manufacturers, mobile VR market competition is tight as never before, but we will take a closer look at the most prominent instances who set the pace in this intriguing race.

Gear VR

Judging by its most powerful representative, Gear VR is a prime example of a relatively cheap VR solution(compared to its desktop-based counterparts), whose performance may greatly vary based on which specific phone model is chosen, starting from Samsung Galaxy S6/Note and including all the newer flagship models. Unlike the other mobile VR headsets, modern Samsung devices utilize the latest versions of Exynos and Snapdragon GPUs, powered by ARM-Mali and Adreno GPUs, therefore, can produce some stunning imagery level with up to 2960x1440 resolution. Despite impressive graphical level on the latest models, Samsung cannot be boastful of its controller system, that is why common console-like devices come into place, for example, SteelSeries Stratus XL.

For those who are not to pay extra money for additional gadgets, Gear VR controller will still be useful for shooting, it can also help you do things like hold and grip objects in VR naturally. It greatly helps in tracking your hands' position and location and makes VR area fun and approachable even for its newest members.

The games are greatly willing to cooperate with Gear VR, that is why such hits as Minecraft and Land's End are at players' disposal. Furthermore, lightweight and the overall convenience level, regardless of the user's head size, make this headset feel like a part of the body, which promotes it to be a clear winner among the other contemporary mobile VR solutions.

Google Cardboard

Google Cardboard, on the other hand, is a hallmark of a whole VR industry at its core and is a clear indicator which direction it is moving towards. Demanding only a few bucks for a whole product that can also be composed manually, it can utilize a multitude of smartphones that have a display in a broad range of 4.7-6.1 size and use the Android platform. Gaze-based targeting(and triggering the actions) is its fairly controversial feature as it simultaneously restricts the players from a more convenient navigation and using the buttons, however, some users find it enjoyable to exclusively rely on their intuition and reflexes to operate this headset.

Speaking of controllers, there is no need to buy a relatively expensive console-alike joystick, even a handmade printed marker schematics can serve as a great navigating tool. For that matter, Realteer have developed RealTrigger, a simplistic printed image on a piece of carton that only requires the smartphone's camera not to be obstructed by a Cardboard material and allows for easy pointing inside a VR app. Despite its name, this device can't have a "trigger" button and can only be used in fairly plain apps with modest graphics but still shows a notable level of effectiveness, being practically free for the wide audience usage.

Google Daydream

The Daydream View is another fine solution for a wide audience but is only compatible with the newer phones. Despite lacking in the games and apps department, it can greatly compensate their absence by including such services as YouTube, HBO Now, and Netflix. Being made from fairly lightweight and soft materials, it can also be boastful of its great comfort level. By only utilizing such Android flagships like Google Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, both Samsung Galaxy 8 versions, and LG V30, Daydream is capable of creating nice visual quality for the apps and such technology as WorldSense is a large part of it. Not only it greatly improves the players' movements and makes them natural without installing external sensors but can also be a nice physical training tool to practice dodging, ducking, and leaning without having to use a cable that creates an additional immersion level.

Daydream controller, however, is a double-edged sword. To make their product even more compact, Google refused to add a number of buttons that Gear VR did which lead to it becoming more welcoming towards beginners but less immersive for the experienced enthusiasts. An addition of a DayDream controller emulator via Bluetooth was a welcomed feature that enabled smooth navigation by having a second compatible phone, being able to inherit the best features from a VR Box remote controller concept.

Games Quality/Quantity

In the graphics department, virtually every game looks to inherit a minimalistic style of its objects, making every game look like an indie developed product due to severe hardware limitations.

Given a whole list of available apps, it is safe to say that the supply of games is still lacking and the market is open for the visually stunning products to fill the niche. Currently, the pool of games mostly consists of the "endless runner" type of apps that rely on players to pass through locations without staring at the computer-generated environment. Only the games based on exploration process can be boastful of their graphics, such as Minos Starfighter, Galaxy, Hardcore, InMind and Space, however, they're either done in space or within a futuristic luminous environment. Despite having special tools like Seurat that enabled high-fidelity rendering for mobile VR headsets in real time, we are still yet to see an app that would contain dense foliage and detailed game objects.

Battery/Temperature/GPU/CPU

Apart from being inferior in a hardware capability department compared to a desktop platform, mobile VR concept also has to battle its limited power budget and the constraints it applies when managing the temperature. Having to deal with a limited battery life-cycle, mobile gadgets need to take care of an effective voltage level that is usually limited to 4 watts when a desktop VR GPU can consume more than 150 watts. Tight details composition and a high proximity of a mobile device to a headset also lead the developers to decreasing the voltage level to a bare minimum for keeping the battery stable, effective and prevent it from overheating.

Furthermore, mobile gadgets generally possess very distinctive logics in terms of CPU/GPU power distribution which make CPU willing to work as little as possible, leaving all the major processing tasks for the GPU. This often leads to an inability of a graphical chip to execute such vital steps as physics calculations, game logics, and background services, not to mention essential VR tasks as drawing calls for enabling stereoscopic rendering.

This is when common graphical solutions come into place, designed to alleviate the pressure from mobile GPUs. Foveated rendering is a rapidly approaching technique that, combined with an eye-tracking technology, allows for reducing the load on a GPU by solely rendering user's frontal point of view at full resolution and decreasing its quality in a rear vision.

Multiview rendering, on the other hand, is a cross-platform method of processing stereoscopic rendering with a single draw call instead of making a new one for each view point. For now, it is only supported by Qualcomm Adreno and ARM Mali devices, however, this practice can further expand to other mobile hardware manufacturers, given its high effectiveness in reducing the GPU/CPU load by up to 50%.

Resolution

The resolution number is another important factor which further restrains the creation of a decent image quality for mobile devices. Even those who have experienced the beauties of QHD or double 1080×1200 screens could have noticed that its proximity to their eyes negates the visual effect by a ton. Aliasing is a tall order in such circumstances and even a high resolution can't always become a saving grace when making the edges look smooth. Furthermore, 4K is a big stress even for powerful standalone VR gadgets, let alone, their mobile counterparts that should maintain a high refresh rate of 60+ to secure a decent immersion level.

For that matter, compression is a great choice, however, among mobile manufacturers, only ARM Mali is now capable of effectively using this technique that allows for saving up to 50% of bandwidth compared to uncompressed textures.

A classical method of simply reducing the vertex data geometry from 32-bit down to 16-bit accuracy is still in place, however, its implementation will mostly depend on developer's priority in performance/visual appeal ratio.

Tessellation can also come in handy when increasing the visual quality for simpler objects, however, requires some additional GPU power. Forward Pixel Kill and Deferred Rendering can help developers ignore rendering occluded pixels, meanwhile, the Tilling method can enable separating the images into multiple tiles to be rendered separately and further alleviate the bandwidth pressure.

Market Potential

According to Statista, following the vast sales numbers growth across the whole VR market, mobile gadgets have asserted themselves as a dominant force in a local battle against PC-dependant platforms. While leading the charts, in 2016 both Gear VR and Google Cardboard made their competitors look shy, only leaving the space for about ~10% of the whole market, however, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR managed to recover in 2017 thanks to severely cutting the prices for both gadgets and devices which led their market share to increase up to ~40%. Introducing a big chunk of games previously available exclusively in non-VR environment also played its role in greatly improving their audience magnitude.

However, the future of VR mobile platform, despite standalone gadgets bouncing back, still looks very promising. First of all, big companies moving towards standalone headsets like Facebook pushing Oculus Go is a clear indicator that mobile gadgets managed to set the pace for everyone else to make their products affordable and convenient. Furthermore, an ability to inherit players' progression from the ported games will be another key factor on whether or not a big part of users will commit to migrating towards a chosen VR platform.

Judging by the numbers and the capabilities that the Google company possesses, Daydream view is a clear winner when it comes to the gaming and exploration areas potential(gained new 2.15M owners in 2017). The developers found a tight niche of keeping their gadget's price tag fairly low, and despite demanding rather costly compatible phones, it is nowhere near to the requirements that the regular standalone headsets have (additional expenses of a ~1000$ PC). Furthermore, while being able to introduce Leap Motion and a number of other features, Google also plans to steadily broaden the range of smartphones that can operate Daydream view.

From the publishers' standpoint, VR market is a relatively new activity field, let alone VR mobile area, however, many of the AAA publishers have already joined the fray. Such moguls as Ubisoft(Star Trek Crew), Bethesda(Skyrim VR, Fallout 4 VR), Microsoft(Minecraft VR), Crytek(The Climb), and Capcom(Resident Evil 7 VR) have already released their products to the wide audience of HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PS VR users. And given how big of an edge mobile VR market has in headset owners figures, we are set to see a big influx of the major game publishers to step into this area. As we have seen the PC/console-oriented companies shifting towards mobile games years ago, the similar move for mobile VR experience is just around the corner.

Despite a number of games have been made by independent publishers to attract the players to a breakthrough confluence of cheap and gorgeous VR leisure, it is the AAA giants that usually define whether or not the industry will be successful. Therefore, when we see the companies like Tencent bringing mobile VR game development into their MMO products, it will not come as a big surprise whatsoever. Apart from that, it is hard to ignore how every day-to-day contraption, including electronics, is getting more and more compact and we are yet to see any reason for mobile VR to become an exception.

Conclusion

Despite a number of difficulties that a transition towards mobile gadgets brings upon, VR segment is steadily moving forward to approach the biggest masses of users who have relatively powerful smartphones and are willing to give an immersive interaction a try. Being in a stage of a rapid growth, some of the prime VR development technologies provide more and more ways to expand the batteries' lifetime, maintaining the high frame rate, and improving in a visual quality department.

The controls, in general, didn’t see a major overhaul. Only the most affordable headsets move away from the conventional button-pushing mechanics, starting to rely on the gazing technique to impact the in-game objects. In the end, it can greatly reduce the price tag if there are neither buttons provided nor outside controller to manipulate with.

From the gameplay standpoint, we haven't seen too sizeable leaps for the vast majority of games in terms of their depth, likewise, the regular mobile games failed to deliver many unique mechanics due to severe restrictions in hardware capabilities and the keyboard/mouse kit still being superior to other types of controllers. However, given the price/value ratio that such games are ready to bring upon, this is a nice and welcoming area for the new players who seek for relaxation in short gaming sessions. And with the increase of mobile hardware potential, we a set to see lots of improvements in the upcoming years granted that the unparalleled convenience will always be the driving force for further development in this area.