For new developers looking to venture into a career in video game development or wishing to take up game development as a personal project, this article helps you decide which tool to use on your journey. In addition, this article aims to guide experienced developers who wish to switch career paths to game development on the tool to consider when making their transition. Although the game development space is one to consider carefully, especially for those unfamiliar with software development, developers use specific tools to produce the beautiful projects we enjoy, like Hollow Knight or any Mario game. One example is a game engine, the foundational tool for building these projects.
What is a Game Engine?
A game engine is computer software packed with many optimized tools to simplify game development. With a game engine, it's possible to simulate real-life physics, render graphics, control sounds and much more depending on the game's needs. In the past, most game development companies had to build custom game engines based on the requirements of the game project. Nowadays, only a few big companies opt to develop custom game engines; the rest rely on third-party software fitted with features that make creating any game relatively easy.
Benefits of using a third-party game engine
A few companies have created third-party game engines to meet all the requirements for building a large variety of 3D or 2D games. Below are a few ways using a third-party game engine would benefit you as a job-seeking game dev or a solo developer.
Most game studios use one of the game engines mentioned in this article. Therefore, by learning to use one of these tools, you stand a higher chance of getting employed by more companies looking for a competent developer.
Suppose you plan on working solo or starting a game studio. In that case, using third-party software is less expensive than building a custom game engine, considering that most third-party game engines are free and only charge you under certain conditions.
Using a third-party game engine reduces the overall development time since most of the plugins needed for the game's development have already been made available.
Some third-party game engines allow for cross-platform development, enabling you to ship the same project to multiple devices.
Communities built around them constantly develop the game engine since some third-party engines in this article are open source.
List of Game engines
Many game companies and solo developers choose to use a third-party software, and in this article, we'll list the five best you should consider for development.
Unreal Engine is a compelling game development software that handles development for 3D and 2D games using the C++ programming language. However, it is more suited for making 3D games than 2D games due to its strong graphics capabilities. It's a more popular pick used majorly by big triple-A game studios in the production of photo-realistic games like Injustice 2, the sea of thieves and star wars Jedi: fallen order. The Engine is also kinda open source, allowing the quite sizable community to improve the game engine. It's also a great pick for non-programmers with its visual blueprinting plugin that enables developers to create games without writing lines of code. The Engine has also transcended game development and supports production for several industries, from film to automotive design and architecture. Lastly, it promotes development for many platforms, including Consoles, Desktops, VR and more.
Unity is best known for its popularity with the indie game community and its relatively more beginner-friendly design than Unreal Engine. It's a game engine developed by Unity technologies in 2005 and can be utilized to develop 3D and 2D games using the C# programming language. It is known for being used in creating games like Hollow knight, Dead Cells, Genshin Impact and a host of other games on mobile, PC, etc. The sheer number of available material for learning how to use Unity is a result of the enormous community that contributes to developing the software with SDKs and assets. Anyone can use the Engine for more than just game development. It supports production for many industries, from film to automotive design and architecture. With Unity, you'll be able to develop for almost every available gaming device, including VR and AR devices. Unity is free for those opting for a personal plan but has other subscription plans available.
Godot is a relatively new game engine compared to the previous mentions on this list. The Engine has only been around since 2014; it has just recently been able to gain much popularity among game developers. The software supports 2D and 3D game development but can't produce 3D games with high-fidelity graphics. Godot is completely free and open source allowing for constant updates to be made to the Engine year-round by the budding Godot community. Being a relatively new engine, Godot has less learning material than third-party engines like Unreal and Unity, but it makes up for it by being beginner-friendly through its distinct representation of specific game functions with its node and scene architecture. The chosen language for development in Godot is known as GDScript, but it's also possible to develop games using C#, C++ and visual scripting on the Engine. Again, being relatively new, the Engine has only been used to create a handful of notable releases like Kingdoms of the Dump, Haiki, The Ballad of Bonky and many more. One final thing to note is the Engine currently supports development for Desktop, Web, VR, and Mobile.
This no-code Engine supports game development for 2D games using visual scripting. It's a beginner-friendly engine as it enables anyone to make games without proper programming knowledge; It does this through a drag-and-drop method of creating gameplay, allowing for faster prototyping and iteration. In addition, the Engine has a programming language called Game Maker Language for those looking to write custom behaviors that expand beyond the scope of the visual scripting. Unfortunately, game Maker is proprietary software; this implies that the Engine won't get as many advancements from the community as the others and would cost more to acquire a fully equipped version of the software. 2D games using this Engine include Hyper Light drifter, Webbed, Katana zero and Flynn: Son of Crimson.
The final third-party game engine on the list is Construct 3, a no-code game development software that primarily creates 2D games like Mighty Goose, TeenTitansGO: Attack of the drones and Guinea pig parkour. However, the Engine also has support for light 3D development. As a no-code engine, it primarily relies on visual scripting for creating gameplay logic. It also supports using JavaScript for writing game code, making it easier for beginners and software developers working with JS. One key advantage this Engine has over the rest on the list is its ability to run smoothly on browsers allowing you to develop and test from anywhere.
Conclusion
The five-game engines mentioned constitute some of the best game development tools currently available; you can ensure each of them delivers on the features they offer. In addition, knowledge of the use of any one of these software will help propel you to a strong career as a game developer.
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