Game developers today have a wide variety of engines to choose from, such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, and others. Each engine has its own strengths, workflows, and target platforms. So how does one decide on what engine to choose?
Choosing a Game Engine
The choice often depends on the style of game you anticipate developing, the learning curve of the engine, and your existing skill set. For example, if your focus is on small-scale mobile games, Unreal Engine, though incredibly powerful, may not be the best fit since its strengths lie in high-fidelity, photorealistic visuals, which are not always ideal for mobile platforms.
Support and community are also important considerations. Newer or less popular engines may have fewer resources, making it harder to find tutorials, documentation, or community support. An engine with a large and active user base, like Unity or Unreal, can make learning smoother and troubleshooting far easier.
For complete beginners, choosing a game engine can actually be simpler, since everything is new, and you don’t have any expectations. But if you already have programming or design experience, it’s wise to leverage that knowledge. Choosing an engine that builds on what you already know can save time and reduce the learning curve.
Why Choose Unity
When I first began teaching game development, I started with Unreal Engine 3 (yes, I know I’m dating myself here). At the time, it was the most documented and accessible engine. However, Unreal was a large, resource-intensive application that could only run on the college’s computers, and it had a steep learning curve, especially for those with little to no 3D experience.
Over time, I experimented with other tools, including GameMaker and even Adobe Flash for introductory courses. Eventually, I settled on Unity as the primary engine for my classes.
In its early days, Unity lacked many features that Unreal had, but it quickly evolved into a robust, competitive engine. I often compare Unity to Toyota: it’s not a Ferrari with flashy high-end features, but it’s certainly not a Yugo either. Instead, it strikes a dependable middle ground, reliable, practical, and accessible, while still offering enough “luxury” features to create impressive games.
Unity Development
Another major advantage of Unity is its use of C# as a scripting language. C# is very similar to Java, the language taught in many high school Advanced Placement (AP) computer science courses. This makes Unity an ideal starting point for students, since they can transfer their existing Java skills to C# and begin developing games more quickly.
What Others Choose Unity
Unity isn’t just my preference; more than 50% of all games today are developed with Unity, for many of the same reasons outlined above. And if you’d like another perspective, Mr. M Programming has an excellent video explaining why he chose Unity as his engine of choice.