Hello, I hope you are all doing well during these turbulent times,

In advance I am sorry if this thread is completely off, but I wanted to discuss this with community that is close to the problem. Maybe you can help me out.

I am preparing myself for bachelor thesis which I am going to start writing after Christmas and hopefully have it done by May 2021.

The topic I chose is basically: Unity x Godot comparison.

The idea is following - I am going to build practically identical 2D game in both engines and provide some output.

The problem is, I have no idea how to measure the output. I need to set some criteria that are going to decide what is better or worse (in the given context).

Criteria like

• Licencing.
• Learning curve for beginner.
• Quality of documentation.
• Support of 2D/3D projects.
• Size of community.
• Target platforms support.
• Used scripting languages.

are fine, but there is no need to build two games for that. I need something more technical that is going to work with the two projects I am going to build. I thought about something like size of the output and some framerate tests, but I have no idea how to carry that out (yet).

Do you guys have any idea on what would provide objective and relevant comparison of these two engines? Any ideas are welcome. I don't want this thesis to be just comparison of internet information. Also there is not much room for subjective opinions (like “Godot is better because I enjoy working in it more”).

Hope you have a great day,

Thank you for any response.

This is my first post but I use to be involved with this board years ago. I am now retired and active with my own project which I will not mention here as I don't feel it is appropriate to hijack a thread. If you are interested in seeing the project PM me. It may be of interest to you.

I want to just ask a few questions and give opinion ?.

Why are you making a comparison to these engines only?

There are several engines that are higher performance like Urho 3D which also has 2D due it's lightweight design it is not bogged down by bloated code. Unity is popular because it has a background already in a number of released single player and MMO games so it gets thrown into many discussions but in my opinion it is not the best engine for all applications. Godot, like Urho, doesn't have the development environment that Unity has. I've tested probably ever decent engine over the years and many have features that are similar and quite different. It is more a personal choice when deciding on which engine to use.

You should instead focus on something different like technology difference between game engine design itself. There is not much information available and a next gen engine may not be the same design as technology has made leaps. These engines have stayed stagnant in their design like stuck in a rut of old technology. Most focus on the graphics and and ease of use rather than go outside the box.

Why 2D?

I'm not saying that 2D is bad but most games try to utilize the graphic display.

Thank you very much for your response.

Ad Why are you making a comparison to these engines only?

• Well for a longer time period I wanted to get a little bit into indie game development. I always liked the idea of making some small game, just to see if I am able to do it or not since I have some little programming background etc. I believe because of the size of community around Unity, it is pretty much first choice for anyone, who wants to try this out. As I was going through some tutorials and courses (for Unity) I noticed how many people talked about Godot being a great tool for 2D projects, how easy it is to pick up etc. Around that time I had to choose some topic for my thesis. That was it, I pretty much said to myself, ok I want to try both and see what's better. But as you say, in this case it is more of a personal choice…that is kinda the bummer with the thesis, I cannot say it comes down to personal choice, I need to build some conclusion based on some measurements and data.

Ad Why 2D?

• Just because my experience is close to none and I thought it is going to be much easier to start with the 2D. Also considering these two engines, I think 2D is really the only appropriate comparison since Godot is really behind in 3D from what I've heard.

That's pretty much it. Comparing technology difference would be difficult because there is barely any information regarding that and also I don't know what would be in the practical part of the thesis (it is mandatory to have practical part).

pavel0 said:
But as you say, in this case it is more of a personal choice…that is kinda the bummer with the thesis, I cannot say it comes down to personal choice, I need to build some conclusion based on some measurements and data.

I see your point. I can't really help you there but thanks for clarity. Most will chose a engine with a well established community is about the only feedback I can give you.

pavel0 said:
just because my experience is close to none and I thought it is going to be much easier to start with the 2D.

I don't think it matters as for 2D or 3D. Building either is still going to be a challenge with so little experience.

pavel0 said:
That's pretty much it. Comparing technology difference would be difficult because there is barely any information regarding that and also I don't know what would be in the practical part of the thesis (it is mandatory to have practical part).

It probably is beyond scope.