Hello, so I just joined this community, in hopes that I will be able to learn from all of your guys! (no pressure)

My question right now, simply is, what is the best game engine for making an open-world zombie shooter game? Some things that I need to take into account are the large number of AI zombies, possible multiplayer (online with a bit of an MMO side, but only a few players in one world at a time) and also good enough graphics to have a dynamic scary and intense world.

So I'm just wondering what your opinions are. As of right now I'm just considering CryENGINE 3, and LeadWerks3D when the big update comes out.

Any help is much appreciated.

If you haven't already, take a look at Unity 3D. The free version is quite capable (plus if you get it by April 8, you can grab Unity for Android and iOS for free).

I've probably seen just about all the game engines out there, but I want to know your opinions of which might would be best. So do you think Unity can handle vast environments with all the details of characters and enemies, etc. + some basic online?

Thanks for suggesting it and letting me know about that deal!

Visual3D is good if you like .NET and any of the languages that come with it(C#, IronPython, C/C++ CLI, VB.NET and others). It has great terrain editor and it can more then handle almost infinite terrain.

http://www.visual3d....eatures/terrain

Indie licence costs $185 currently but there also is 30day free trial!

Esenthel is another engine good engine that would fit you. The free version is very stripped down but already comes with a source code example to this game. If you buy more expencive licence, then you get source code to Ineisis MMO, so you can see it handles MMO worlds very well with unlimited(iirc) size. More info @ http://www.esenthel.com/?id=features

Looks like it's well optimized. thanks! any particular reason you suggested it? one thing for me is that, it looks like it has some features missing in comparison to LeadWerks3D, still looks capable though.

So do you think Unity can handle vast environments with all the details of characters and enemies, etc. + some basic online?

Yes. It's also significantly easier to develop for than most of the others mentioned so far.

Looks like it's well optimized. thanks! any particular reason you suggested it? one thing for me is that, it looks like it has some features missing in comparison to LeadWerks3D, still looks capable though.

No real reason, just looked at your points and these two popped into my mind. I just recently did a little research where I tested those and couple other engines and they were very good and solid pieces.

Thanks for the comments guys, this really helped.

Just wanted to say that out of all the game development related forums I've seen/been a part of, this is one of the most responsive communities. Thanks again!