Game Engine, Does it Matter?

Uzhi

Hi All,

I am new in Game Development, I am currently taking a course currently that I only recently started, anyway. My question is if I do the game art, assets, and animations, etc (the visual stuff), Does it matter what game engine I choose to use?

I am aware that any game engine can do anything with the right skill set, however I am interested what makes a game engine good from a Game designer, artist, etc point of view. Not the programmers point of view

Sorry if this is a weird question or hard to understand.

thomasp

Uzhi wrote: »

I am aware that any game engine can do anything with the right skill set, however I am interested what makes a game engine good from a Game designer, artist, etc point of view. Not the programmers point of view

- toolset simple to pick up and use, mimicks the studio's art package wherever possible (selection, navigation, etc).
- straightforward and quick asset import process
- assets get stored in a open format that can be accessed and processed by external applications if needed
- doesn't crash every 5 minutes

there, that should erase about 95 % of candidates from your list right away.

Mik2121

As thomasp said, his list erases almost everything except for Unity, lol.

You will also want an engine that's obviously intuitive and lets artists do the most they can (shaders, etc...) so programmers can get busy with other stuff. Unity doesn't do it unless you add some node-based shader plugin.

Justin Meisse

besides Unreal, how many engines come with tools that let the artist make their own shaders? Isn't that a programmer's nightmare?

aleksdigital

Justin Meisse wrote: »

besides Unreal, how many engines come with tools that let the artist make their own shaders? Isn't that a programmers nightmare?

You mean a left to right gui string connection graph that outputs compiled hlsl or cgfx? Thats pretty straightforward and easy really

Justin Meisse

aleksdigital wrote: »

You mean a left to right gui string connection graph that outputs compiled hlsl or cgfx? Thats pretty straightforward and easy really

I mean it makes programmers wake up in a cold sweat "the artists are making their own shaders!?"

aleksdigital

Justin Meisse wrote: »

I mean it makes programmers wake up in a cold sweat "the artists are making their own shaders!?"

Local changes on an artists machine wont make anyone worry especially as they wont get pushed to the main code without approval. Maybe the artist finds a good combination of something that could be useful or looks cool

Decoyz

if you wanna be or work with indie devs, whatever u do dont pick cryengine.

gsokol

It depends on what you need it for. Are you just trying to pimp your game art? Look at UDK...trying to actually put together some cool little games or work on some indie projects? Maybe Unity.

All depends on what you are looking to get out of it...every engine has its strengths and weaknesses.

thomasp

Justin Meisse wrote: »

besides Unreal, how many engines come with tools that let the artist make their own shaders? Isn't that a programmer's nightmare?

definitely - and rightly so. but what in my experience is something programmers want us to be able is to prototype a look that they then can adapt to the constraints of the tech/game and implement in a suitable fashion.

if you can get there 80% of the way on your own that's a huge help and means your programmer doesn't step in as your (unwilling) tech-art director. that would be a horrible outcome.

Brygelsmack

A game engine is good if you like its tools and the way you can present your work with it. No one is going going to reject you based on your choice of engine as long as you can make your work look good. When it comes to learning an engine I do suggest learning something that is widely known or used in the industry, since you're more likely to work with that once you get a job.

oXYnary

thomasp wrote: »

- toolset simple to pick up and use, mimicks the studio's art package wherever possible (selection, navigation, etc).
- straightforward and quick asset import process
- assets get stored in a open format that can be accessed and processed by external applications if needed
- doesn't crash every 5 minutes

there, that should erase about 95 % of candidates from your list right away.

You forgot community and documentation. That is a huge area!

thomasp

oXYnary wrote: »

You forgot community and documentation. That is a huge area!

agreed, i was more answering with features/workflow in mind however.

another huge one would would be the ability to tweak things in runtime, not having to go through the 'tweak-reexport-rebuild-restart'-cycle over and over.

btw. if this is just about presenting assets in a game-like environment, just go with marmoset.

Uzhi

Thank you for all the information guys, it makes better sense for me now looking at different engines. Ill be working with UDK to start with and Ill take it from there.

Thank you all for the replies.