Hi there, id like to ask a little advice from people as im sure theres heaps of experience here!

My first passion is writing, but ive always had an interest in games. I'm not a coder, although I did study cobol and Pascal and a little C back many many many (many many) moons ago, and am very literate with computers. Ive learned photoshop, illustrator, 3d design, not to perfection but I'm progressing.

I started a new book project, but I have the desire to actually make a game from it instead. The idea is to go ahead and do it myself to begin with and them maybe later I can see about getting help or others involved if and when I reach that point. What I want to get right is the engine choice. Im between Unity and Unreal and im kind of struggling to decide. On the surface Unreal would seem to be more suited, its going to be First Person, with a kind os semi open world, I mean large areas for exploration, a lot of outdoor areas for one part and some futuristic City areas for the other. 

Either engine I have learning to do, I have worked with engines before a long time ago I think it was the very first Unreal ED so imagine how long, but I remember the basics and ill happily challenge myself to learn as I go, its something ill enjoy so that's not the issue. Id like eventually to produce something with good graphics and capabilities, not just an indie title because im very passionate about the plot, characters and setting, its something I really want to bring to life and as a gamer, I think its perfectly suited to gaming platform as much as a book. 

Im wondering what people can tell me abut the game engines Unity and Unreal, im going with free for the moment, because its a first project and a very tight budget, like I said its something im doing for pleasure and learning also. Story, characters, and a lot of the game concepts I have already formed or growing in my head, so now im looking to really just start doing something, modelling things, building the first areas and getting the scene setup, but I wanted to make a good choice of engine.

Unity seems capable but im concerned that perhaps its going to be limited in power and capability for this kind of game and maybe Unreal is much more powerful for this kind of project? I say semi open world because I don't want just wandering randomly, but I do want the areas to be large and explorable, but also have the ability to channel the player through the areas for the story. I think something like the original Dues Ex (not concept but setup) in having large areas and maps with a lot of exploration. The outdoor im looking to have beautiful visual outdoors, which is big part of that setting. 

Well I guess you get the idea, im coming to this fairly green and id appreciate any advice or experience anyone has.

Also if anyone can recommend good information or work flows, and things to read I would happily read anything right now! Im planning to model the main buildings and meshes myself, and then later if they needed a more pro touch, that's where I can start looking to expand but id really like to layout the overall setup myself as I see it in my mind. Obviously having never done it before, its hard to know what to do first, what I should do in engine, what in 3d app, mountains, exterior models. Well I guess what im saying is aim very new to it so any help or advice would be appreciated. Time I have, passion I have, and the ideas I have so im really just going to take it from there and see how I go. Im sure ill need to learn to work with code some, not my favorite part but its not alien to me either. But I think more likely later for the mechanics is where ill need to bring in others, but first things first, I need to start.

Also, well, hi all. I was always an avid gamer and the communities were always great for advice help and ideas, so nice to be here and hopefully its a good place to ask and start

I like a challenge and in the end, I just thought why not? If you never try you never grow, right? Anyway if anyone can give me any advice or anything at all, that would be great. My primary platform would be PC I guess, I play on PC but I guess either engine has the ability to do more than one platform.

You can't really go wrong with either Unreal or Unity. I don't think Unity is limited in any significant way for your project. You'll find that people have specific opinions on both engines but neither is significantly limited in any way.

The other thing to remember is that you're just starting out. I'd focus more on learning to program, how to use an engine, etc. and build some basic things to learn a bit. These basic things can even be related to your project, but just remember that at this stage, it will take time to churn out a game. Games are large endeavors and take a while to make in general. Don't be deterred by this, just temper your expectations.

So the point of all that is just pick an engine you feel comfortable using. Both are great engines.

Best of luck!  

Thanks. Im trying out Unreal at the moment. I think maybe the blue prints will be useful for me and easier than Unity's coding, I guess! Ill try Unity after, I want to see which one lets me get the outdoor areas done better/easier, and that will probably be the decider.

Ive been building things up until now in Cinema4d to practice modelling, obviously lots of work to do ongoing, but ive drawn up the overview and was going to start by creating one of the outdoor areas, and then from there start modelling the buildings and things which go in that level. Seemed like a good place to start. 

Its a big idea but im going to enjoy it, and it was going to be a book project anyway so its just expanding the medium, all the structure plot and character work I was doing anyway. I really like the idea though and I think its got great potential for game. In the future its pretty certain ill look to get someone else involved, but for now im going to try design the world myself and model the areas, and design the characters etc, and once that's done I can see where to go.

Thanks for the reply! Im sure ill need plenty luck, but its fun work so I cant complain!

You forgot Cryengine, or does just nobody use it?

32 minutes ago, DJ Flowers said:

You forgot Cryengine, or does just nobody use it?

It basically doesn't get used.  If you do some searching, you'll find that most people consider it hard to work with, and lacking any benefits to make up for that difficulty.  It's old, and bit cludgy, not particularly well documented, and there isn't a lot of community support.

You might consider LumberYard as an alternative, which is an Amazon-backed version of CryEngine where they've started to clean up the code base, add new features, provide some better support, etc. LumberYard is still relatively new and hasn't gained a lot of traction, so I wouldn't really recommend it unless you're a more experienced developer who's feeling a bit adventurous.

Realistically, the choice is between Unity or Unreal, or a smaller option such as Godot, Urho3d, etc.  Most people go for one of the big two, and that's where you'll be able to find the most help and resources.

Oh I've already decided on UR4 or Unity, depending on what type of game I strive for initially. But Unity is seeming like a good fit at the moment and I've heard it's a bit easier and the graphical differences aren't out of this world different. Both like you said have massive resources, but The Unity resources I've seen so far seem to be more appealing to me.

On 6/25/2018 at 12:55 AM, M@sterBl@ster said:

Also if anyone can recommend good information or work flows, and things to read I would happily read anything right now! Im planning to model the main buildings and meshes myself, and then later if they needed a more pro touch, that's where I can start looking to expand but id really like to layout the overall setup myself as I see it in my mind. Obviously having never done it before, its hard to know what to do first, what I should do in engine, what in 3d app, mountains, exterior models. Well I guess what im saying is aim very new to it so any help or advice would be appreciated. Time I have, passion I have, and the ideas I have so im really just going to take it from there and see how I go. Im sure ill need to learn to work with code some, not my favorite part but its not alien to me either. But I think more likely later for the mechanics is where ill need to bring in others, but first things first, I need to start.

There are a few critical things that I think apply regardless of what game engine you decide to use.

1. Revision control. If you are working on code for your game I strongly advise to use revision control for your game. Git/Github is a great choice here for your code. Revision control is helpful even when working by yourself because you can see the changes you have made over time and roll back changes if necessary. Unity and Unreal both support Perforce which is an option for revision controlling game assets as well which I think is worth a look.

2. Create a game design. Designing your game before you start coding it will help increase your odds of project success. I recommend putting game designs in a wiki with links between the design elements.

3. Prototype first. Take your design and create a minimum viable prototype of the game. Use stand-in art assets (quickly block them out) and tweak the game to make it fun. Blocking out the art assets first can be beneficial as you will learn what art assets you need and maybe remove some you don't. It will also help you to figure out to establish the scale of the models. You will also achieve progress more quickly which can help you stay motivated. I find that getting something "on paper" so to speak as fast as possible helps me keep my motivation up.

4. Use a project planning tool. If you are working on a large project it can be helpful to have software to plan milestones and tasks. If you plan out milestones and tasks in advance it can help you to be realistic about time constraints.

5. Perfection is the enemy of done. It is easy to fall into the trap of something needs to be "perfect". Games are never finished, they are released. If you try too hard to make every aspect "perfect" you will likely never finish the game.

2 hours ago, shadowisadog said:

5. Perfection is the enemy of done. It is easy to fall into the trap of something needs to be "perfect". Games are never finished, they are released. If you try too hard to make every aspect "perfect" you will likely never finish the game.

This is a very important point. I've been plagued by being a "perfectionist" in the past and it costed me so much time to complete small tasks. Thankfully I've been able to pull away from this most of the time, but every now and then it creeps back. Oddly enough in my programming work (codding) I've rarely had this issue, it usually happens when I'm working on visuals more than anything or setting up visual designs; Many graphic artists are perfectionists.  

Over the years I've realized you just gotta look at things for what they are and just recognize it's good enough and move on to the next task. You can always come back and do touch ups, but you gotta keep moving forward in your work otherwise you'll lose that traction on your way to the finish line.

The project I'm aiming for is a long ways away and that's for someone with their computer attached to their hip. Before I even mess with the game engines, I map out the entire story and dialogue if applicable, note every mechanic I intend on having. Decide on a service to deploy it with based on pricing models. Put up a website promoting it and possibly garnishing some exposure by submitting art work and concepts to various sources and I create/collect every asset I feel I would need in the game (character models, props, audio). Then provided the engine lacks any type of animation function or isn't as good. I perform all the necessary movement for said characters and special effects in the game. I don't have much experience with game engines, but I have more than enough with modeling/animation suites and web development. So it's just one more thing to learn, but I've always been taught if you have the passion for something and stick with it, it'll happen one way or the other. It could take me a year or 2, but I have plenty of drive (that and I'm already working on a medical type app and it's still in pre alpha stage). If that's not a proper road map, feel free to correct me or add something in. 

14 hours ago, shadowisadog said:

There are a few critical things that I think apply regardless of what game engine you decide to use.

1. Revision control. If you are working on code for your game I strongly advise to use revision control for your game. Git/Github is a great choice here for your code. Revision control is helpful even when working by yourself because you can see the changes you have made over time and roll back changes if necessary. Unity and Unreal both support Perforce which is an option for revision controlling game assets as well which I think is worth a look.

2. Create a game design. Designing your game before you start coding it will help increase your odds of project success. I recommend putting game designs in a wiki with links between the design elements.

3. Prototype first. Take your design and create a minimum viable prototype of the game. Use stand-in art assets (quickly block them out) and tweak the game to make it fun. Blocking out the art assets first can be beneficial as you will learn what art assets you need and maybe remove some you don't. It will also help you to figure out to establish the scale of the models. You will also achieve progress more quickly which can help you stay motivated. I find that getting something "on paper" so to speak as fast as possible helps me keep my motivation up.

4. Use a project planning tool. If you are working on a large project it can be helpful to have software to plan milestones and tasks. If you plan out milestones and tasks in advance it can help you to be realistic about time constraints.

5. Perfection is the enemy of done. It is easy to fall into the trap of something needs to be "perfect". Games are never finished, they are released. If you try too hard to make every aspect "perfect" you will likely never finish the game.

I fully concur and if it was meant for me, you stated it perfectly. 

Learning scripting/coding is likely the easier part for me. I know how to model more or less, but I tend to have to use templates and make them original instead of being a great artist who makes all the models from scratch. Animating I'm never happy with though, if it doesn't look completely real to me, I'll spend forever animating one action for one model.