game engines 2d and 3d for use on a home project?
polycount sponsor
I'd like to start working on a home project and potentially start putting together a very simple game of some kind. Just wondering if anybody can point me to some simple to use very cheap to license game engines. I'm talking about iphone/nintendo ds quality gaming here, and ideally I can implement some of the game setup myself without programmer assistance. 2d or 3d is fine. Suggestions?
Replies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines
If you want an easy 3D editor, Unity is about as easy as it gets. You could also look into UDK or even start taking a look at some of the basic XNA tutorials - while both of those options are going to require some programming (particularly XNA), there's tons of tutorials and documentation for both. BTW - XNA is a framework, not an editor, but you could build your own editor or use an XNA-compatible one like TorqueX or the OX engine. And like rumblesushi said, there's not really any engines that don't require at least some programming sense.
If you want a free and easy 2D editor, try Game Maker. While no professional studios use this (at least I hope they don't), it's easy for a non-programmer to figure out and complete a game, especially if you've fooled around with sprite-based games before. I managed to figure it out within a couple of weeks and had a game prototype going within another month or 2. It even lets you publish an .exe file. If you pay the $20 license fee it even removes the Game Maker logo during your initial load time. I guess if your game was good enough no one would ever know unless they decompiled your .exe.
The best advice would be to teach yourself some basic programming concepts or to make a friend who is a programmer to help you with your project.
I am working on a iphone game using unity and learned it the hard way- I am rather disappointed by unity for me its still to early to call it even a complete editor.
Reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaallly? :O
http://www.udk.com/licensing
A bit shy of a million.
I like UDK a lot as a way to make things. I am not a programmer, just a casual scripter. It's what I like, it's close to what I've used at work, so I am always learning things, and just keeping my head in it.
they have a good community that helps whit almost anything.
and licenses start at +\- 60 but you can use the free version if like ^^
If you are able to script stuff in LUA you could also try Leadwerks Engine.
I use it in a commercial environment and it's like Firefox without to much abuild around it. Plus the graphics are state of the art.
It costs 200USD.
Unfortunately, there is little to no method of creating games for someone who doesn't want to do any programming. Programming is going to be required at some point. With that in mind...
Z-Game Editor - This is a very small, basic game development software package that focuses on some very basic scripting and 3D elements. Usually used to produce 2D games with 3D graphics, and basic demos. It is very small, and its free to use. Features will be at a minimum.
Blender Game Engine - This is Blender's built-in game engine. It has some nice features, and is becoming more robust over time. It uses Python for game logic scripting, and includes a full physics engine. One of the better options for integrating a game engine with a 3D modeler/editor. It is not for anyone who isn't already familiar with using Blender.
Unity 3D - Unity has two primary strenghts. First, it's resource pipeline is very direct, and easy to work with. The engine makes resources immediately accessible, and re-imports changes made to them without even being asked to do so. Second, it is as cross-platform as most major engines come. It has been ported to a number of platforms, with even more on the way. It uses either Javascript, C#, or Boo for logic scripting. (take your pick) It also has a more robust visual editing environment than most other game engines. The basic indie liscence is free for anyone earning less than $100k annually, and after that only one professional liscence is required. This makes it one of the cheapest commercial game engines available.
UDK - This is Epic's love letter to the indie gaming scene. Although the liscencing is much less forgiving than Unity's, it is quite reasonable for what you are getting. The UDK essentially provides indie developers with the Unreal 3 engine at its latest and greatest. One of the most successful commercial engines today, and they don't cut anything out. The UDK has numerous visual scripting and scene layout tools, level editors, etc... A good option for anyone looking to push the graphics of their title, and an absolute boon to hobbyists and mod enthusiasts.
3D Rad - Another free game engine. I haven't tried this one out as extensively. It has scene editors, and seems to focus more on vehicle physics.