The introduction of AR and VR in the gaming industry is taking user engagement and revenue generation forward in leaps and bounds, all thanks to the minimized gap between the physical and digital environments that are refining the gaming experience of the users. To be specific, this surge has been a result of the dynamic audio-visual effects, the natural player-to-character interaction, photorealistic 3D graphics, and engaging levels, characters, and mechanics of the game. 

The gaming industry is brewing with innovation and new technology trends. There was augmented and virtual reality making breakthrough advances and with the Unreal Engine coming into the picture, the level of headway has been phenomenal for any Unreal game development company around.

Even though Unreal has been a popular choice for game app developers among other 3D game engines, this multifaceted development platform empowers developers to create visually stunning and immersive video games. Let’s understand the array of features that create such next-level user experiences.

How Unreal Engine is Used for AR and VR Development

Let’s take the example of the biggest VR game pulled off to date, The Walking Dead Onslaught is Survios’. The game is based on AMC’s popular television show and what made it such a great hit was the use of Unreal Engine to naturally develop exceptional replicas of assets from the show - such as the variety of weapons, characters, buildings, and environments. The different components of Unreal tech allowed the creators to create a feature-fed game while maintaining its performance. That said, other favorable features of the world’s most open and advanced creation tool include -

OpenXR-enabled Unreal Engine

The Unreal engine allows developers to create AR and VR experiences that are immersive and engaging and uses OpenXR to flexibly deploy such experiences or systems to any platform and device. OpenXR is a royalty-free standard that also offers several OpenXR extension plugins (mentioned below) in Unreal Engine that add functionality to OpenXR without relying on engine releases.

Professional Unreal Engine AR toolsets

The Unreal Engine AR frameworks are used to build AR applications using a single code path. It also supports the advanced functionality offered by ARCore 1.7 and ARKit 3.0.

ARCore 1.7

ARKit 3.0 

Real-time Rendering

One of the standout Unreal Engine features is its support for real-time rendering. Developers can create realistic environments using a range of tools and features that react to user input in real time, delivering a responsive and engaging experience. Additionally, the engine boasts advanced graphics and physics systems, essential for crafting realistic and visually striking AR and VR experiences. It uses advanced rendering techniques, such as dynamic lighting, shadows, and reflections, to create a highly realistic and immersive environment. 

The Preferred Choice for AAA games

Unreal Engine is well-documented and has great tools for the game development discipline that reduce the manual and resource-intensive tasks in game development. Some of the best AAA games built in the Unreal engine are Gears 5, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Resident Evil 4 VR, among others. In terms of animation, lighting, and creating geometry, Unreal engine is doing a great job making it a preferable choice for most game developers.

The Blueprint Visual Scripting System

Based on the idea of a node-based interface, the blueprint system in the Unreal engine creates gameplay elements. This powerful system lets even non-programmers use their range of tools and baseline systems usually only available to programmers. This is a step-by-step approach with templates and mechanics for anyone who wants to create a functional game. Users can gain experience and expertise by using blueprints that can be used to work on other game genres like making customizations or creating new AI and game mechanics.

Unreal Engine Marketplace

The Unreal Engine marketplace features free digital assets and content such as characters, blueprints, plugins, animations, and environments for the game development cycles. Its advanced 3D creation tools empower developers to build photoreal visuals for immersive experiences.

Access to Custom and Full Source Code

With Unreal engine, you can build a custom-made engine that bests suit your requirements. Access to the source code generates transparency and gives the users a clear picture of the how and whereabouts of the source. This allows the users to compile the engine from the source.

Spatial Audio in AR and VR Development

The Unreal engine's built-in tools for creating spatial audio add layers of immersion to AR and VR experiences. Spatial audio creates the impression of sound originating from distinct locations within the virtual environment, amplifying the sense of presence.

Comprehensive Development Environment

The comprehensive development environment in Unreal engine provides a suite of tools for designing, prototyping and testing AR and VR applications. This environment includes features like a visual scripting language, debugging tools, and real-time collaboration, making it easier for teams to work together and create high-quality AR and VR experiences.

The Future of Unreal Engine in AR and VR Development

“I believe we're in this long-term transition to augmented reality, that in 10 years we won't be sitting in front of monitors or smartphones or using keyboards or mice at all, but we'll be wearing something literally with the convenience and form factor of your Oakley sunglasses and that will have 8K displays per eye and it will be your window into both the real world and virtual world,” says Tim Sweeney in an interview. (Source: Polygon)

More and more people seek to experience immersive digital environments, and why not. This has resulted in an increased demand for high-quality AR and VR development tools and development. So interestingly for a long time now, the Unreal engine has been a promising tool that has demonstrated its capabilities in the gaming world. With its powerful features and comprehensive development environment, Unreal Engine is well-positioned to create cutting-edge AR and VR experiences in a wide range of industries. As AR and VR technologies continue to evolve and become more widely adopted, this game engine will undoubtedly play a significant role in shaping the future of these exciting and innovative technologies.

Looking toward the future, there are certain applications of this powerful engine in AR and VR development that show great potential for advancement. XR has become an integral part of our daily lives and with Unreal Engine’s capabilities, game designers will build more well-designed and lifelike experiences. 

Also read: Core Points To Consider Before Hiring A Game Developer

Final thoughts

Unreal Engine is leading the charge in AR and VR development, providing a platform that is versatile, dynamic, and comprehensive. As AR and VR continue to gain popularity, the engine will continue to be at the forefront of delivering unforgettable, interactive experiences to users. Developers at Logic Simplified, a top Unreal game development company, have been using this gaming engine since time immemorial to explore a new world of development by bringing amazing innovation in AR and VR development. We use a wide range of tools and techniques to captivate game artists that will in turn bring success to the game owners, our clients. If you want any suggestions or have any queries regarding the Unreal game engine, look no further and contact us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com

Epic has filed a motion for an injunction against Apple in the US District Court for California’s Northern District, alleging Apple of attacking Epic’s entire business in unrelated areas. A federal judge on August 24 gave a temporary restraining order and ruled that Apple can't terminate Epic’s access to Unreal Engine development tools on Apple platforms, but let the Fortnite ban stand. A short-lived restraining order addressed the most pressing concern of Epic as it meant that Epic will be able to keep growing Unreal Engine for iOS operating systems, but the game is not over yet and the threat still looms.

Apple and Epic's Battle: Unreal Engine Games for iOS in Jeopardy? 

If Epic ends up losing access to iOS development tools, Unreal Engine game developers will have no other choice than using another game engine to build games for Apple platforms. It’s also a big worry for developers that have already launched Unreal-powered games for iOS and MacOS because an update from Apple that renders older games unplayable can result in huge revenue losses. Apple has also taken some such recent decisions like to reduce compatibility for 32-bit apps on iOS and on MacOS.

What Unreal Engine Users Will Lose

I have prepared a list of programs, technologies, and capabilities that Unreal Engine users will lose access to if the court upheld Apple’s revocation of Epic's dev tools.

• • All Apple software, SDKs, APIs, and developer tools

• • Pre-release versions of iOS, iPad OS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS

• • Pre-release versions of beta tools such as Reality Composer, Create ML, Apple Configurator, etc.

• • Notarization service for macOS apps

• • App Store Connect platform and support which assist in account transition, password reset, app name issues. etc.

• • TestFlight.

• • Access to provisioning portal for certificate generation, and provisioning profile generation.

• • Ability to enable in-app Apple services, including Apple Pay, CloudKit, PassKit, Music Kit, HomeKit, Push Notifications, Siri Shortcuts, Sign in with Apple, kernel extensions, FairPlay Streaming.

• • Access to Apple-issued keys for connecting to services such as MusicKit, DeviceCheck, APNs, CloudKit, Wallet.

• • Access to Developer ID signing certificates and Kernel Extension signing certificates.

• • Developer Technical Support.

• • Participation in Universal App Quick Start Program, including the right to use the Developer Transition Kit (which must be returned to Apple).

• • Ability to improve hardware and software performance of Unreal Engine on Mac and iOS hardware and optimize Unreal Engine on the Mac for creative workflows, virtual sets and their CI/Build Systems.

• Adoption and support of ARKit features and future VR features into Unreal Engine.

If Epic lost access to all the above development tools necessary to build game apps for Apple Platforms, Unity may get a big competitive edge. It’s highly likely that many Unreal developers will turn to Unity, which is currently the most used game engine for building cross-platform mobile games. Yes, Unreal Engine scores higher when it comes to creating heavy graphics games, but Unity is quickly inching closer to level the playing field for Unity game development companies. So, Apple’s  revocation of Epic's dev tools could mean more Unity game developers building games for Apple platforms.

Alternatives to Unreal Engine

There are other alternatives to Unreal Engine as well, such as Construct 2, GameMaker Studio,  CocoonJS, MonoGame, Amazon Lumberyard and more. Game app developers will have to see which game engine will suit their game requirements the best if Apple won and rendered Unreal Engine unusable to build iOS and MacOS games. Game engines play a big role in the mobile game development process and that’s why Apple’s battle with Epic has a lot do with the developers who use Unreal for creating iOS and MacOS games. We all hope things between Apple and Epic get back to normal as before, and Unreal Engine developers keep making games for Apple platforms in the future too.

You can get in touch with us if you have a game idea and are looking for a game development studio for hire. Logic Simplified, a top game development company, is in the game development space for almost a decade now and has hands-on experience of using several cutting edge tools, such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Construct 2, Maya, Blender and many more, to create highly engaging video games. Outsourcing is already a very popular practice and it’s gaining even more steam as more and more gaming businesses are now looking to hire game designers and developers due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. There are several things that come to the mind before making a decision whether or not to go for offshore game design and development services. And that’s perfectly alright! We are all ears to hear your concerns and explain to you how our game experts can help you build a quality video game with reduced time to market, engaging game elements, and low cost. We have seen both successes and failures, and thus our hard-earned knowledge of what exactly works in the gaming industry and what doesn’t could greatly help turn your game idea into a revenue generator machine. Share your requirements by writing to us at enquiry@logicsimplfied.com, and we will get back to you shortly to provide you with gaming solutions we are proud of.

You must watch the video if you haven’t already and be a part of this exciting discussion over Epic’s solid attempt to make it so easy and fast for developers to build heavy hitting titles like never before. 

Link to the video: Unreal Engine 5 Revealed! | Next-Gen Real-Time Demo Running on PlayStation 5

Let’s first talk about the two key technologies that will be coming loaded with Unreal Engine when it fully launches in 2021.

Lumen - A global illumination system

Lumen is the technology that will allow developers to create fully dynamic lighting in real-time, much similar to graphics generated by advanced computers for high-quality animation and film production. Lumen will also save a lot of time that goes in light-adjustment and iteration. Unlike current game engines, game app developers will no longer be required to design lightmaps by hand and wait for lightmap bakes to finish. Instead, artists will be able to simply place a light source with the engine and move it inside the Unreal Editor to immediately see how the lighting will look when the game is run on console.

The ability to use dynamic lighting will make it easy for developers to move light sources around during the gameplay and see the light bending around obstructions, which is quite a task to perform with the static light sources found in current engines. Lumen-powered games will immediately react to scene and light changes and we have already got a glimpse of that in the video. The gaming space is not completely new to those kinds of effects, though, as Nvidia has continuously advanced with its  real-time ray-tracing capabilities of its PC graphics card line for years now. You would agree if you have played Minecraft with the right PC hardware. However, what’s new is using those effects on console hardware which Epic said is “diffuse interreflection with infinite bounces and indirect specular reflections in huge, detailed environments, at scales ranging from kilometers to millimeters.”

With Lumen, it will be really quick to set up lighting and limit its behaviour to precisely match your game. Real-time lighting could also lead to new gameplay ideas like a player holding a candle turning around a corner to reveal an enemy. With global illumination, game makers can expect to build all sorts of games, including  physics puzzlers, dynamic action games, sandboxes of user-generated content, and many more.

Nanite - virtualized micropolygon geometry

Nanite is the most unique offering of UE 5, allowing game developers to automatically and massively scale in-game art assets. With Nanite’s virtualized micropolygon geometry, artists get full freedom to create as much geometric details as the eye can see. Currently, what game artists often do is they reduce different levels of detail (LODs) for in-game 3D models, each having fewer polygons and smaller textures than the last. You can notice those low-poly models when an object is at a good distance from the in-game camera. This practice is currently being followed to save memory space and rendering time in complex scenes, without compromising much on frame quality. But, Nanite will change this drastically by allowing artists to import movie-quality models comprising hundreds of millions and even billions of polygons from a library like Quixel Megascans, ZBrush sculpts, CAD data and photogrammetry scans directly into the game engine. As Nanite scales LODs in real time, there will be no need for polygon count budgets, polygon memory budgets and draw count budgets. UE5 will itself do the job of creating LOD models to match the scene on the target hardware without dropping the quality.

Nanite will prove to be a game changer by allowing developers to have as many number of objects they want in a scene, an ability that is greatly limited by current game engines. For instance, the scenes in the demo (which ran on next-gen Playstation 5 hardware) have more than a billion objects. As  Epic VP of Engineering Nick Penwarden puts it, “As you're laying out and building your scene you can kinda just build it out organically, the way that feels right, the way that you want to, and you don't have to go through this complex optimization pass of optimizing the scene to try and get under a draw call budget of a couple thousand.” UE5 will make the use of ultra-fast bulk storage SSDs for next-gen consoles to put tens of billions of polygons for even a moderately complex scene without having to worry about overloading the system memory and overwhelming the "draw count" budget needed to render the scene in time for the next frame. So, with Nanite technology, Epic is trying to make it easier for game developers to build higher-quality, higher-fidelity environments with less work and budget.

Animation System to Adapt Complex Physics

Epic is also providing UE5 the ability to make characters interact more realistically with complex environments. The demo shows how well the animation system adapted productive footsteps and motion warping to dynamically modify inverse kinematics (IK) and body position. The character so realistically interacts with the environment whether it’s climbing or touching the door, everything looks natural. This will surely inspire game developers to bring movies-like qualities in video games of tomorrow.

Cross Generational  

This is interesting as some of us might have thought after watching the video that UE5 is only a next-gen exclusive proposition. But that’s not completely true as Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that the aim is to build the highest-quality content possible and let UE5 scale down to every platform automatically. However, there will be more traditional rendering pipeline for the platforms that don’t have next-gen capabilities like Playstation 5. For such platforms, the assets you have built will be rendered after scaling them down to more traditional LODs. “So there’ll be a version of this demo that you could run on Android devices from three years ago. It will have a much lower polygon detail, but it will be the same scene and you could develop the same game,” said Sweeney. 

For developers using the current version (4.25) of UE4, Epic has promised that they will be able to port their games to UE5 and next-gen hardware in the future. And Epic is going to prove this by moving Fortnite this year to UE5 over the course of next year. “With us migrating Fortnite to UE5, we will be supporting all of the platforms we currently support as wells as next-gen platforms on UE4 and UE5. So we will be shipping our own game across all at that point 9 platforms on UE5, early on in UE5's lifetime,” said Penwarden. By removing the content scalability problem, any game that looks fantastic on a high-end console can also work on a smartphone. These are big possibilities that UE5 promises to bring to help the gaming industry expand its reach from just the hardcore gaming audience. With UE5, developers will be able to build any content or asset once and run everywhere. Epic said to The Verge in an interview that UE5 will support next-generation consoles, current-generation consoles, PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Conclusion

With UE5 set to release in the mid of 2021, Epic has nicely set the tone to build next-gen games for next-gen hardware without having a 1,000-person team. Nanite and Lumen are revolutionary technologies aimed at building dynamic lighting and high count poly assets without being too slow, labour intensive and costly. UE5 features will also include Niagara VFX to allow particles to talk to each other to create effects that look real (remember the character moving on water and insects flocking in the demo video). With UE5, Epic wants developers to think of games as holistic products that can work on both smartphones and high-end devices. Well, it remains to be seen how exactly things will pan out after the release of UE5, but we can expect that it will make it much easier for game developers to build next-gen titles. To encourage developers to use UE all the more, Epic has also revised its royalty fee policy. Now, UE, which already comes for free, will charge nothing until you make whooping $1mn in game revenue, which was $3,000 per quarter earlier. The big change in the pricing policy can give Unity a tough run for their money by letting developers embrace UE5 for a radical change in how they built video games so far that looked AAA.  

Like you, we at Logic Simplified are also excited about how UE5 will change the future of game development. We have already used previous versions of UE to help various clients shape their gaming idea into a reality and now eagerly look forward to using UE5 when it comes out to create some highly immersive next-gen titles that would look like movies. If you want to start now, the good news is you can with UE4 as the game can later be easily ported to UE5. We are a team passionate about gaming and committed to help game visionaries build their dream games even from scratch. To find out if it will be yours, please write to us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com, and we will get back to you shortly with our game development services we are proud of.

That said, I am going to discuss the features and capabilities of both Unity and Unreal Engine, along with factors to consider to make the best bet.

But first,

Unity was introduced to the world of game app developers as a cross-platform game engine by Unity Technologies in 2005. The game engine, which has immensely evolved in six versions so far, is popularly used for 2D and 3D game development world over.

Epic Games, which was behind Unreal Tournament, debuted Unreal Engine in 1998. Unreal Engine quickly became a popular choice to build first-person shooter (FPS) games, but is now also widely used for building many different genre games like side-scrollers, MMORPGs, RPGs, etc.

I am comparing below the features and what the both game engines are capable of:

Based on the features and capabilities of the two game engine powerhouses, the decision comes down to answering four major questions.

What type of game do you want to build?

The type of game you want to build is an easy way to solve a good part of the puzzle. For example, if you’re planning to build the next Gears of War and visuals are more important for you (sometimes even more important than gameplay), Unreal Engine should ideally be your bet for next-gen physics and graphics. Blueprint does wonders for such games. But if your game is a simple puzzle game like Braid, 3D platformers, logic games, and even first-person shooter games, Unity is the best game engine to go for. We can put it as Unreal for heavy-hitting genre titles such as Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and Unity for games like Temple Run and Cuphead. 

What type of device do you want to build the game for?

If your game’s target devices are mobile phones, using Unreal Engine’s high processing power is unnecessary. Unity works the best for lower-powered devices as it allows to create complex games without requiring a powerful setup as of a PC. But if you want to create an immersive and magical experience for high-end devices, Unreal is a good choice but that is also subject to if you can’t do that with Unity. The key here is if you’re looking at your game as a visual artist or as a game developer because the former would more likely go for Unreal and the latter for Unity.

What’s Your Team Size?

If your team size is small, you will be very unlikely to finish a quality game on time using Unreal Engine. To make the best of Unreal Engine, you need a big team where different roles can be distributed to different individuals, like someone just working on getting the particles right and someone only doing the shaders. Unity’s Asset Store and community support makes it way easier for smaller teams to build fast without compromising on what was actually desired. The beauty of Unity game development services is that smaller teams can also create an effective experience by building AR and VR for their games. Triple A studios with bigger teams usually use Unreal Engine for better horsepower for development and more polishing, 

What’s your budget?

If it’s the first time you’re building a game, you have a limited budget and can only afford a small team, go for Unity. Unity 3D is also free until you earn $100K USD in annual revenue. You only pay when you upgrade to Unity Plus or Unity Pro for things like Asset Bundle, etc. Unreal is also free to use except for the first $3,000 per quarter and then 5% royalty on gross revenues per quarter. But that price doesn’t bother much after the game hits the game charts and turns into a revenue generator machine.

I hope that this blog has answered all it takes to decide on choosing the best game engine among Unity and Unreal. But, if there's still something I missed out on in this blog, please feel free to get in touch with us, and I will be more than happy to answer that particular query of yours. Now, I would like to introduce you to Logic Simplified, an India-based game development company with more than six years of hands-on experience of building video games using both Unity and Unreal. At Logic Simplified, we shape video games ideas into a reality. It’s not just our expertise in using the power of tech, but our overall passion for games to imagine the concept and create a game design & architecture that a specific target audience craves for in a particular genre of video games. Working on a game idea from scratch is not an easy task for its own challenges, however, our expert game designers and developers are committed to help game visionaries who dare to dream and this is what we are really proud of. We also very well understand the changing requirements of modern games and level them up by leveraging the power of AR/VR, AI and IoT as well. For any query that would help you make a decision to start building the next gaming mania, please write to us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com. We will be obliged to help you with gaming solutions that we take great pride  in.

A game engine basically provides elements to draw 2D and 3D shapes, human-controlled character, computer-controlled character, objectives, levels, sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, etc.

However, choosing a game engine just because some publisher or developer of a successful game used it could prove precarious for your game. Before you choose a game engine, it’s paramount to be fully aware of the functionalities the game engine possesses and how they suit your specific game requirements. That said, we are going to a Unity vs Unreal Engine comparison to help you figure out which of the both could be the best fit for your game based on Usability, Functionality and Price Point.

Unity Vs Unreal Engine

Unity3D

Unity, created by Unity Technologies and first announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in 2005, has become a very popular cross-platform game engine among game developers world over. Six major versions of Unity have been released as of now, and it offer supports for languages, including C#, JavaScript and Boo.

Pros:

• Unity game developers can build both 2D and 3D games. Pokemon Go, Angry Birds Epic, Assassin’s Creed: Identity and Battlestar Galactica Online are some of the world-famous games that were built using Unity.
• Unity offers support for multiple platforms, including PC, mobile and major consoles showed below.

With Unity, you just need to complete a one-click process in order to publish to multiple platforms with ease. When it comes to cross-platform support, Unity tops Unreal Engine.

• Unity’s robust Asset Store offers numerous useful add ons, content characters, props and even things like sounds and particle effects. Unity’s app store is very big and has everything that your game requires. Unlike Unreal Engine, Unity provides access to a lot more additional stuff, like software for motion capture and tools for intuitive animation (at GUI level).
• Unity is free, which makes it a good choice for developers who just want to get started. The free version is capable of building excellent games, though you can get access to additional features by upgrading to Unity Pro or Unity Plus, but they come with a license fee attached to them.

You can purchase Unity Plus for $35 per month and Unity Pro for $125 per month. Upgrading to advanced versions of Unity is little expensive, but Unity does not charge any royalty fee from developers and publishers. You can check Unity’s website for different rate plans.

• As far as ease of use is concerned, Unity is generally seen as an easier and more intuitive choice to learn game engine. So, you will not face much hassles using Unity if you choose it for your game.
• Graphical capabilities of Unity are good, but can’t beat that of Unreal Engine, which is actually a next-generation game engine used by many AAA publishers. But, it doesn’t mean that you can’t develop a good 3D game with Unity.

Unity 5.6 brings support for Vulkan, a low-overhead, cross-platform 3D graphics and compute API, taking graphical performance to the next level. Unity also has a multi-featured tool for 3D development. It’s just that UE 4 has higher-level cutting-edge graphics suitable for intricate 3D mobile game development. Unity is more of the go-to-tool for building 2D games.

• Unity 5.6 also brings developers Facebook Gameroom, which allows to build and export your projects to Facebook using either WebGL or the Facebook Gameroom Windows app.
• New Light Modes in Unity replace Mixed mode lighting, which paves the way for users to combine baked lighting with real time lighting. Progressive Lightmapper enables proper handling of baked and real-time shadows.
• Unity has also announced the Timeline feature, a visual tool that allows to create cinematic content, cut scenes, complex particle systems, gameplay sequences, etc.
• Cinemachine is another amazing addition to Unity’s features list. It empowers a Unity game development company to use a virtual camera system in order to give the camera simple directions. And, the best part is that you can use the camera system to track and compose richly complex shots without even having to go through the hassles of coding.
• Unity also has a brilliant community support and offers an exhaustive documentation . Besides, it provides many learning opportunities through training sessions and live seminars.

Cons:

• Unity is expensive for those who want to access all its features. So, if you want to use Profiler as to unveil the areas that are making your game slow, you need to upgrade to a paid version of Unity. Same is the case for other features, like render textures, stencil support, buffer support, and many more.
• Although Unity’s code is stable, no access to the source code makes it difficult for developers to find, address and fix performance issues.
• Developers face performance issues with Unity’s built-in support for the PhysX physics engine. There’s a need to add some important functionalities in the PhysX physics engine to help developers craft the excellent game app.
• Unity games consume more memory, which often brings up OOM error and debugging issues.
• Unity lags when it comes to graphical performance, and requires a lot of optimizations if you wish to use Unity for creating a large AAA game title.
• Selecting object levels inside a level often turns out to be a very confusing and frustrating task as sub-objects have to be managed and attached to everything in the in-game object hierarchy.
• Unity’s animation controller system has some flexibility issues and causes more errors than Unreal Engine.

Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine was first brought to the attention of gaming world in 1998 with a first-person shooter game called Unreal. The engine, which was developed by Epic Games, got its name Unreal Engine from the game. The game engine was initially thought to be used only for first-person shooters, but it transcend its boundaries after being used for various other genres, including Stealth, MMORPGs, and other RPGs. Unreal engine only supports C++, but it offers an alternative discussed below for those who find coding difficult.

Pros:

• Unreal Engine is used for creating top-notch graphics for some of the highest quality AAA games on the market. Be it particles or lighting/shadows or process effects or terrain, Unreal engine brings them to life and makes them more interactive. Some of the games that were developed using Unreal Engine are: “Batman Arkham”, “Gears of War”, “Daylight”, and Fortnite.

So, if you are looking forward to create graphics for your game on a par with games you see being released on next-gen game consoles, Unreal Engine could fit your choice.

• Unreal Engine offers support for cross platforms showed below
• Unreal Engine is open source and free. So, you don’t have to pay anything for using Unreal Engine to develop your game, and you can still use everything that the game engine has to offer. There are no Pro or Plus with Unreal. However, you will have to pay 5% royalty fee after your game makes over $12000 annually (or, $3000 per quarter). The 5% royalty is to be paid after the first 3K quarterly.
• For API support, Unreal works with DirectX 10, DirectX 11, Vulkan (SM5) and OpenGL.
• Blueprint, a visual scripting editor, is one the best features of Unreal as it enables developers to build a game without even writing a single line of code. So, if you are not really good at programming, Unreal could be the engine of your choice for visualizations and architectural walk-throughs without having to worrying about writing code. Without a doubt, Unreal is a great engine for prototyping, but you need to have some C++ programming knowledge to complete serious tasks.
• Unreal Engine’s also has a brilliant asset store, allowing you to use a varied range of custom props, particle effects and characters. However, Unreal Engine’s asset store lag behind Unity when it comes to the size and price.
• Unreal Engine’s rendering technology is quite good and makes post processing really fast. The engine’s particle editor is much better than Unity's Shuriken system. Besides, Unreal has its own animation editor which includes separate tabs for skeleton, animation state machine, etc.
• Unreal Engine uses less memory and resources compared to Unity.
• Compared to Unity, Unreal has better access to visual debugging. So, you can test what, when and how is being drawn with ease. With Unreal, you also get complete control over the whole process and have clarity over how much time a certain element has taken.
• Unreal makes the entire source code available to community, therefore you can use the source code to figure out how certain functions and features work at lower level, and make the best use of them.
• Baking lighting is significantly faster in Unreal Engine
• As far as ease-of-use is concerned, it takes a bit of time to grasp Unreal Engine before you become familiar with it. But, it’s not that Unreal is not making efforts to address the ease-of-use issue. The user interface in the latest edition of the game engine was built to makes it easier and comfortable for users to learn and run the engine. However, Unreal is still not as easy to use as Unity is.

Cons:

• Although Unreal Engine is available for free to use, you will have to pay 5% royalty after the first $3000 per game per calendar quarter.
• Since Unreal Engine supports C++, Unreal has a bigger learning curve than Unity.
• Unreal Engine is not considered to be a good fit for small games and is often used for big projects that involve high costs and long duration. Most tools that Unreal provide are apt for building AAA games and much more. Unreal’s 2D is also lackluster compared to Unity.
• Unreal Engine offers limited support for older devices. The engine requires an updated, 64-bit Windows 7 system for optimal performance. It’s been learnt after conducting recent tests that UE4 drops to as low as 5 fps on older machines.
• Unreal Engine requires manual optimization for games.
• Unreal’s documentation is sparse and there is a lack of tutorials to help beginners quickly learn the technical know-how of the engine. So, Unity clearly gets an edge over Unreal here.

Both Unity3D and Unreal Engine are cutting-edge game engines, and like everything in the world they have their own pros and cons. Saying that “A sledgehammer is better than a clawhammer” will be wrong, as they both are tools and are not meant to be used for the same job. So, having clarity over what you want to achieve in your game makes  the choice between Unity vs Unreal engine much easier. 

We hope the Unity vs Unreal engine comparison helps you choose the right tool. Do you have a game idea and want to convert it into a reality but lack of tech know-how is holding you back? Don't worry! Logic Simplified can help you shape your dream game idea into a reality. Logic Simplified is a game development company and has hands-on experience of using various game engines, including Unity and Unreal, to build several highly engaging and interactive games. Please share your idea or game requirements by writing to us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com, and we will get back to you shortly to get you started outright.

4 Simple Game Engines for Beginners to Build Video Games with Ease

1) Unity

Source: gamespark.com

Unity, developed by Unity Technologies, is the most popular cross-platform game engine for creating 2D & 3D games with consistent graphics, amazing layout, intuitive design and engaging game play. According to Unity, the platform is now being used world over by more than 6 million registered users to develop video games for PC, consoles, mobile devices and websites.

Unity is a nice game engine for beginners since it gives rise to less efforts, high productivity and rapid development. A low learning curve and abundant documentation also make Unity a good choice for beginners. Unity’s graphical editor lets beginners to easily design, layout unity scenes, insert objects, scripts, light effects, etc.

The game engine supports two common programming languages: C# and Javascript (aka UnityScript). C# is a managed language and easier to learn than C++. The benefit of a managed language is that it automates the memory management for you. With Unity, it becomes possible to build a game first and deal with the more advanced aspects of programming later. Unity also has an  active ecosystem of asset and plugin creators, and its cross-platform integration supports 25 platforms.

Unity features an Asset Store, offering a wide range of free and paid assets that can be easily added to your game. For example, PlayMaker, a visual scripting tool, is a good choice for game app developers who don’t have technical know-how. So, you can easily create your own scripts and apply them to any game object as a component. And, if you are unable to handle scripts, you could seek help from Unity’s scripting reference, which is a library of scripts for various gameplay mechanics (both in C# and UnityScript). As far as publish of your game on various online stores, like Steam or the iOS app store, is concerned, a few buttons click is all that you require.

2) Game Maker

Source: slideshare

Game Maker, a proprietary game creation system created by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language, is a cross-platform game engine. Game Maker was designed keeping in mind novice developers, so that developers without technical know-how can also build video games.

The game engine allows creation of video games by using either drag-and-drop interface or its own language, knows as Game Maker Language. The drag-and-drop system obviates the need of learning complex programming language, like C++ or Java. If you want to use coding, then you can go for the platform’s primary interpreted scripting language. The language is easy to learn, but is slower than  compiled languages such as C++ or Delphi.
Game Maker is a good game engine for beginners since it’s designed as a teaching tool. Besides being easy to grasp, the game engine offers flexibility in syntax rules. Several documentation and tutorials are also available to help game developers create their first video game with ease.

You can also use free and paid assets available from the game engine’s recently-opened Marketplace. The popularity of YoYO games has led to the improvement of Game Maker’s Helpdesk system. So, if you are stuck anywhere or have any issues, you can seek help from the Helpdesk which has now started sending good, helpful replies to queries or issues raised.

3) Unreal Engine 4

Source: Tower Up Studios

Developed by Epic Games, Unreal Engine 4 is also a good pick for developers who are not well acquainted with coding. UE4 is built upon the proven structure of many AAA games, which is why it’s easy to use and learn. Blueprints visual scripting makes Unreal Engine 4 a good choice for beginners. It paves the way for rapid game development services without using C++. Therefore, even non-programmers can access gameplay elements including camera control, player input, items and triggers, and more.

You can think of UE4’s Blueprint scripts as flowcharts where each box represents a function or value, whereas program flow is represented by connections between them. As a result, developers get a better at-a-glance indication of game logic than a simple list of events, and perform complex behaviors with ease.

A lot of video tutorials, free example projects and content are also available for learning purpose. If you want to learn how to use its latest features, you can try extensive wiki and regular streams.

When we talk about Unity vs Unreal Engine 4, the latter has features that reduce iteration time and makes it possible to update C++ code while the engine is running. Live debugging is also one of the popular features of UE4. The game engine offers support for Steam and other similar ecosystems. UE4’s graphic capabilities are decent, and its robust asset store offers many useful add ons and content.

4) Construct 2

Source: store.steampowered.com

Construct 2, an HTML5-based 2D game engine, allows non-programmers to create games through a drag-and-drop system using a visual editor and a behavior-based logic system. The user interface of the game engine is based on Microsoft's UI design patterns, which is why Windows and office users feel comfortable and familiar using it. A functional preview of nearly all engine features is available from Construct 2 Free.

The powerful physics engine Box2D, enables developers to build physics games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. The engine’s built-in tools allows to create basic sprites and tiles of 2D game. For multiplayer functionality, developers can use WebRTC technology, which enables peer-to-peer connection, without requiring you to create server side architecture.

Similar to source files used in programming languages, “event sheets” is the primary method to program games and applications in Construct. Event system actually allows easier scripting without typing. Construct 2 also provides regular updates on new features, bug fixes and HTML5 optimizations. The game engine is very fast and quicker to pick up when compared to Unity. However, Unity is mainly used for 3D, whereas Construct 2 enables the creation of 2D games only.

These 4 game engines are simple to use, and developers without technical know-how can use any of them to build a video game. Apart from these 4, there are some other game development engines as well that non-programmers can use for creation of a video game. So, don’t feel offended, if your favorite game engine is not in the list.

Have you ever used a game engine before? Do you want to add more to what’s already being discussed? Please get in touch with us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com or share your views in the comment box below.