Hello. I have used gamemaker studio many years ago, when I was 15, to create a pletform puzzle game, then I created some Tomb Raider 4 and Age of Empires II mods with the level editors and some extra mesh editor, then I created a small point and click adventure. I know the basics of programming and I know well what a 3D CAD is, but I’m not experienced. I always wanted to add games creation in my life and now I decided to do it, but not as my primary interest, but as an extra hobby. I think I want to be create mostly puzzle platform games with unusual elements. Mayby some day I’ll want to create a point&click adventure -platform-RPG game, another time a game with magic which transforms the player or the enemies completely to something different, with weird moves each time (or transforms the kind of game), depending on some choices. So I want an engine that gives me the freedom to do whatever I want, that’s why unreal engine is in my list. On the other hand I don’t know if it’s a good choice since I want to be able to implement my ideas fast (like said, game design won’t be my main occupation). I want to spend time learning it, but not so much time that I’ll be able to implement my ideas well after years (incouding 3D Cad & programming learning, that could happen). I just watched this (Unreal Engine 4 - Making a 2D Platformer in UE4 - Full Length - YouTube) tutorial and I found it complex enough, especially after the middle and especially the programming part. Maybe at the beggining I’d prefer to use some things allready made by others and the challange to be how to edit them to get what I want rather than create everything from the beggining, and I as I progress I want to engine to give me the ability to delve more. I have a preferance to open source apps. At the moment I’m trying to choose between unreal engine, godot and gamemaker studio 2 (it’s not open source and that’s a cons).
I think that, choosing unity and choosing to learn 3D creation too, will make things complex enough (I’ll still have to get adept with a 3D Cad) that it’s better to choose the most complex unreal engine to have an extra motivation that things are so complex because I’m learning the best. But I doubt it’d worth for me because my main target is to have a means to express my ideas, not to be an expert in graphics and effects.
What is your opinion?

I'm not sure that Unreal engine is “the best”--rather, I daresay that different engines simply have different benefits and detriments, and fit to varying degrees with varying people.

Indeed, I'm a little confused as to why you seem to be discarding Unity--I was thinking to perhaps suggest it to you! It is, I believe, an engine that's capable, that is congenial to fast prototyping, and that is famously easy to pick up.

Of course, if you want complexity, you might be interested in the engine that I use: Panda3D. Specifically, it's a code-centric engine--there is no out-of-the-box visual scene-editor, instead expecting that much will be done in code.

Thanks for the reply!

Your right. The best engine for someone depends on the persons needs, that's why its a good thing that a lot of different engines exist. The last days I saw reviews and read topics and I really didn't like that in some of them people were very egopathic about the engine they were using. Some in Unity forums said they were not going to try Godot because some of its users come to the forums and act phanaticly, but they were doing the same thing with unity. If you choosed Gotdot because it's open source, it gives you freedom and you feel respected, then you should give other people freedom and respect for their choices, otherwise what's the meaning of that philosophy?

What exactly is fast prototyping? How fast you can create a game AFTER you get experianced in a game engine? I decided that matters a lot to me.

I wasn't really consindering Unity as my choice, because I think Godot or Gamemaker Studio 2 suits better for me in 2D games. I don't think any of theese engines (except Gamemaker Studio) will be very easy for me to pick up, because I'm used to drag&drop UI. Godot seems to have a drag&drop system for interfaces at least. I don't like to program interfaces - they are not my favorite. Unreal Engine impresed me not only with the graphics, but also with blueprints, with the physics and ligting (even in 2D games!). Blueprints confused me, while C# did not, but I had a feeling they have a deep and good stracture. Still, the engine is very time consuming and unatural for 2D games and I don't think it's what I'm searching for now. Maybe I can start with Godot and, if I move to 3D design and find time, try Unreal engine too.

LightBlue_Dragon said:
What exactly is fast prototyping?

It is, to put it simply, creating a bare-bones version of a game or game-mechanic in a short period of time. This allows for quicker results from experimentation, as well as more experiments in a given amount of time.

LightBlue_Dragon said:
How fast you can create a game AFTER you get experianced in a game engine?

That's somewhat of a “how long is a piece of string” question, I'm afraid: it'll depend on the game, the engine, the developer (and indeed, how many developers are involved, what structure they have amongst themselves, how well they work together, etc.), and likely more things besides!

LightBlue_Dragon said:
I wasn't really consindering Unity as my choice, because I think Godot or Gamemaker Studio 2 suits better for me in 2D games. I don't think any of theese engines (except Gamemaker Studio) will be very easy for me to pick up, because I'm used to drag&drop UI.

Aaah, I see! Fair enough.

I'm afraid that I've not used many of these drag-and-drop systems, and so am not in a position to advise there, myself.

LightBlue_Dragon said:
Maybe I can start with Godot and, if I move to 3D design and find time, try Unreal engine too.

That seems fair.

You might also try some web-searches: a quick look on my end suggests that there might be articles or lists out there that might provide additional options.