How to choose a game engine

Despite their name, game engines are used today not only for the video game industry but also in many other areas, for example, when creating demonstration projects involving 3d models. Since each game engine has certain functionality, for different projects it is necessary to choose the most suitable tool of this kind.

Features of popular game engines

Any game engine is designed to produce graphics processing in real-time, which is required primarily in games. However, even if your area of ​​work is interactive architectural visualization, some engines may be useful to you. On the cost of 3d animation, this will not have much impact, especially since there is no question of game projects.

As a rule, developers choose the engine among the most popular products of this kind presented today. Therefore, consider the most relevant game engines and their features.

Unity: The most famous area of ​​use for this game engine is games, both modern 3D projects and simpler 2D games that continue to be relevant for both mobile devices and computers. However, Uniti is also often used when working with architecture; visualization of interiors, exteriors, and all sorts of designers is quite easy to implement on Unity. The engine is easy to integrate with almost any 3D-editor, but you cannot simulate it, so you need to create all three-dimensional models in other programs. Due to the popularity of Unity, this engine has a fairly large community of users, which is convenient for novice developers – it is easy to find a lot of training materials on the network, as well as get answers to questions arising during the project implementation.

Unreal Engine: Another popular modern engine, a prototype used in the late 20th century to create a successful shooter Unreal Tournament. Many computer games today are based on the Unreal Engine, while the fourth version of the engine has really impressive capabilities and can greatly simplify the game development process. If you are planning to receive income from your game, then you need to consider that, although the UE is available for free, you will need to pay a certain percentage of the amount received when you reach a certain income. However, suppose you use this engine not for games, but for projects of a different kind (for example, 3D modeling and animation of various architectural projects). In that case, you will not need to pay such a percentage.

CryEngine 3: A powerful tool with which you create both games and out-of-game projects. Its capabilities are really impressive and to appreciate them, it’s enough to look at the graphics of the famous game Crysis 3. However, this does not mean that it is easier for a newcomer to pick up this tool right away – CryEngine does not differ in an intuitive interface, and to master some functions, an impressive practice is required. Depending on the purpose of use, to work with the engine, you need to buy one of three licenses – gaming, simulation (non-gaming) or visualization (for creating offline visualization).

These are the most common game engines that are used by companies of all sizes around the world. Most developers prefer proven products with a good set of features, high-quality technical support and regular updates to the dubious pleasure of writing your engine for the right tasks.