In an era where games are dominating the Android app charts, beginners to game development often wonder whether Unreal Engine or Unity Engine is the right choice for them. In this article, we’ll compare their graphics, platforms, programming difficulty, cost, and more to help you make the right choice.
If you look at the Android app popularity charts, the top 10 are all games. For many people, gaming has become an inseparable part of their lives. The market for games has grown as much as the interest, which has led to an increase in game developers. Gaming has become more than just a leisure activity, it’s become a culture, with massive tournaments and streaming platforms that bring players from all over the world together to communicate and compete. This growth in the gaming industry has sparked the emergence of a new profession, which means that the demand for game developers has increased significantly.
While existing developers can continue to make games as they always have, those who are just starting out can be confused about how to go about it. Learning about different development tools, programming languages, and development environments can be confusing for first-timers, and it can be hard to know where to start. This is where game engines come in. A game engine is a program that brings together the components needed to implement a game. There’s a lot to know about developing a game: physics engines, rendering (graphics) engines, sound, artificial intelligence, networks, memory, and more. In addition, game engines provide a wide range of features, from graphics processing to character movement, that allow developers to implement more creative gameplay. However, because game engines provide the features needed to develop games, they can make development easier and reduce development time. Especially for indie game developers and small teams, these tools are a key part of game development, allowing them to produce high-quality games with limited resources.
In this article, we’ll compare Unreal Engine and Unity Engine, two of the most popular game development tools available today, for those who are new to game development. Game development is more than just writing code; it’s a combination of visuals, user experience, and storytelling. Therefore, when choosing a game engine, it’s important to consider not just the features, but also whether it provides an environment that allows developers to maximize their creativity.
Just as the cooking tools and ingredients, as well as the skill of the chef, are important factors in the flavor of the food, so too is the game engine. There are many factors that game developers need to consider when utilizing a game engine to create a game. Among these are the graphics and platform of the game, the programming skills of the developer, and the cost of the engine.
Because Unreal Engine is primarily focused on developing games for PCs and consoles that can run high-end graphics, it has a more advanced rendering technology than other game engines. Rendering technology is like ingredients in food. The better the ingredients, the more expensive the dish, and if the developer is good enough, the result will be a game with great graphics. For example, games like TERA and Blade Souls were created with Unreal Engine, and they have impressed players with their stunning graphics and immersion. Unity Engine, on the other hand, specializes in developing mobile games with low-end graphics. While it is possible to achieve high-quality graphics with Unity Engine, it requires more effort and time from developers than Unreal Engine to achieve the same high-end graphics. Examples of games made with Unity Engine include Hearthstone and Pokémon GO. These games have relatively simple graphics, but their charm and fun make them popular around the world. While Unreal Engine can be used to create mobile games and Unity Engine can be used to create PC games, Unreal Engine is still best suited for PC and Unity Engine for smartphone games.
Unreal Engine is preferred by developers who are experienced and skilled in game development. Unreal Engine has opened up the full source code of the engine to everyone, which means that developers can modify the engine itself to create games to their own taste. It’s like a chef developing and utilizing his or her own secret recipe. While the barrier to entry may seem low as the Korean-language documentation and tutorials are officially provided by the local branch, it is still difficult to use for beginners. On the other hand, for beginners, Unity Engine can make development easier than using Unreal Engine. While Unity Engine does not directly release its source code, it has built an asset store over the years. The Asset Store is a place where Unity Engine users share their source code and development tips, and it’s one of the things that makes developing with Unity Engine so convenient and reduces development time. In particular, the Unity community is very active and can help you quickly resolve any issues you may have as a beginner.
When it comes to pricing, Unreal Engine and Unity Engine are similar. Unreal Engine itself is free to use. However, if your game generates more than $3,000 ($3.3 million) in revenue per quarter, you’ll have to pay a royalty of 5% of that amount. For Unity Engine, there are three different pricing tiers for each feature, generally free for up to $100 million in annual revenue and $40 per month for up to $200 million in revenue. These pricing plans are tailored to the user base that each engine targets, which gives game developers a lot of choice in terms of affordability. If you’re a solo developer or indie game developer who doesn’t care about revenue, you can use whatever engine suits your taste, but if you’re a game company, you’ll need to choose strategically.
A course meal prepared by a famous chef at a high-end restaurant is great. But sometimes you miss your grandmother’s tteokbokki at your favorite neighborhood restaurant. You can’t compare the two and decide which is better. Unreal Engine is like a fine-dining restaurant, and Unity Engine is like a Korean restaurant. A chef would start a business based on a number of factors, including their skills and the quality of their customers. The same is true for game developers. If you want to make a high-end game with plenty of development time, Unreal Engine is a good choice; if you want to make a quick and easy mobile game, Unity Engine is a good choice. The choice of game engine also depends on what kind of game you want to make and what your goals are. Currently, the game engine market is a two-horse race between Unreal Engine and Unity Engine, but as more good engines are announced, we can expect to see a wide variety of interesting games developed. As technology evolves, so do game engines, and this will only expand the possibilities for games. In the future, more developers will be able to create their own original games and revolutionize the gaming industry.