Mod (editors) vs. Game Engine

Azaraen

With easily accessible game engines like Unity and Unreal, what are the pros and cons to using a mod editor over an engine? Goal would be to tell a story and make a game with similar mechanics to the mod editor's original game.

I'm personally thinking of making a interactive story/game somewhat similar to Amnesia in mechanics and mood. And was wondering if it would be more efficient to recreate the mechanics it in Unreal and set up the level there, or just use a mod.

My assumptions on the pros/cons would be:

Pro to using Mod:
*Don't have to script/program from scratch the interactivity on inanimate objects like Amnesia.
*Can reuse some of the assets.

Cons to using Mod:
*Lighting won't be as good as Unreal?
*Might be less flexible to scripting mechanics and events than Unreal.
*Isn't as technology advanced/up to date as Unreal Engine.
*Not use friendly tools and editor UI.

I don't know. Doesn't seem to be a strong case for either. But there has be a reason?

ZacD

Here's how I see it, you should mod if you want to reskin some assets, make new assets, change the look of the game, add your NPCs to this existing world, do some level design, etc. Tasks that are very simple and straight forward. But if you want to add flying dragon combat to Skyrim, I'd say your better off making that from scratch in UE4 or Unity. The further you try to push the engine, the more likely you should use a separate engine.

Joopson

  Yeah, if you just want to put your art/world into a game, and have all mechanics be exactly the same, mods are probably the best choice.

If you want to have cutting-edge graphic fidelity, and you don't need all the mechanics, or want to do something very new, mechanic wise, then a game engine like UE4 is probably best.

Add3r

If you plan on publishing the game and attempting to sell it or profit in any way, use a game engine.  I personally say just use a game engine, especially if you are creating a whole new game.  Not only do you gain the perks of have complete control of every aspect of the content you are creating, but you also have the ability to sell the content even if you don't have any plans on it now.  Keeping your options open is always a plus.  

Using a mod toolset, I only see it as a dead end if you want to make anything more than an extension on the preexisting content the game provided.

Bek

Since you mention Amnesia, have you looked at the mod tools for Amnesia / SOMA themselves? The Frictional wiki / forums should give you a good idea of what's possible, and if you need either sci-fi assets or medieval ones you're in luck. For memory the editor they showed for SOMA looked quite decent. SOMA's game files are also right there in the install directory, which should also make it quite easy to see how the base game works.

Azaraen

Thanks for all the feedback! I do just want to use the same mechanics and scripts events to make a story. I'd like to just get to the building part as soon as possible. There are assets for UE4 and Unity that I could just pull from so that I don't have to make my own, but seeing as how a majority of the assets are already readily available in the Amnesia editor, I think I will go with the mod. I poked around in the level editor, and saw that you have to script in C++ the events... which I think will be alright. Still better than programming my own mechanics I think. 

What it all came down to:
Freedom vs. Some limitations, but with most of the game already made.

For anybody curious, the HPL2 editor/engine is pretty good! Surprising how similar it is to UDK in many aspects. UI not as great, so it's looks like an early stage UDK.

Thanks again!