Unreal Engine 4 VS Unity (1 Viewer)

[Kargan3033]

Well I have both of these game engines because I'm planning to make a game but I would like to hear from other game devs here their thoughts on these two game engines, as well as some advice on game designing.

 

[stuntcock]

We'll be able to give more useful advice if you can tell us more about your project.

• what sort of game are you aiming to create?
  • alternatively: name a few games that you enjoy playing and which you would seek to imitate
  • what's the expected length of a play session?
  • do play sessions build upon each other (via save/load or unlock mechanics)? Or is each session a fresh start?
  • how much of the player's attention to you expect to occupy? Could someone play your game while watching Netflix?
  • how do you expect to engage the player?
• how much interactivity do you plan to provide?
  • would the game allow the player to decide among pre-written options at specific points in the storyline?
  • will the game allow the player to wander around a pre-populated map?
  • will the player have control over the camera?
    
  • would the game include skill-based puzzles or twitch-based reflex challenges?
• how much experience do you have in the creative aspects of game development? Stuff like:
  
  • concept artwork
    
  • UI design
    
  • map generation
  • dialog and scene creation
• how much experience do you have in the technical aspects of game development? Stuff like:
  
  • procedural programming
  • object-oriented programming
  • skeletal rigging
    
  • UV mapping
• what's your approximate timeline for creating your first game?
  • e.g. 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 5 years
• do you intend to invest only time into your game, or do you plan to buy assets (artwork, meshes, scripts, etc) made by others?
• do you intend to develop your game as a solo project? Or would you seek to recruit a project team before starting?

The Extra Credits youtube channel has a lot of advice for novice and aspiring game designers - covering everything from quests to humor to characters to difficulty to music. I can point you to specific episodes once I have some idea of your goals and your experience level, but one specific video is applicable to all projects.

 

[Kargan3033]

Well stuntcock right now I'm just learning things about the systems and so far I have to say the Unity game engine is the one I'm going to go with it seems easier to use and I'll check out the link you posted, but for right now I'm just looking to hear from others who have any experience with game design.

 

[stuntcock]

I'm just looking to hear from others who have any experience with game design.

The topic is very broad. I could point out that "UE4 shares its source code freely with developers while Unity forces them to pay for the same privilege" but that's irrelevant unless you have the skill to trace c++ code. I could tell you that "Unity has better integration with twitch.tv which could make your game more attractive to streamers" but if it's an adult game then it's forbidden by twitch TOS.

You haven't given enough information for anyone to provide effective guidance. More to-the-point, I'm worried that the basic premise is faulty. Unity and UE4 are both great for 3d games. They're suitable for fast-paced 2d platformers. They're effective for 2d puzzle games. They give you the ability to creatively stretch the boundaries of game genres, by tinkering with control schemes or camera systems in real-time.

But if your immediate goal is to create a simple game within a well-established genre (e.g. JRPG, visual novel, boshy clone) then there are "smaller" development platforms available. They offer less flexibility that Unity or UE4, but they have much shorter learning curves and they'll allow you to complete your first project much more quickly.

Tell us what you have in mind for your first project.

 

[Kargan3033]

Well basically what I have in mind for my project it's a 1st person hentai rpg game or a 2d hentai rpg

 

[stuntcock]

Well basically what I have in mind for my project it's a 1st person hentai rpg game or a 2d hentai rpg

Could you be a bit more specific?

"First person RPG" could mean anything from Wizardry to Skyrim.

"2d RPG" covers RPGMaker games (which are feasible for a first-time developer) but it could also mean "Final Fantasy Tactics with sex scenes" (which is definitely not feasible for a solo dev).

What sort of hentai elements do you plan to include in your game? This is an important decision, because a haphazard choice could clash with other elements of your design - while a very creative or original choice could generate huge interest in your game.

Most JRPGs focus on plot-unlocked CG events, but The Last Sovereign relies entirely on text. Some games present sex simply as an expression of the player's will (e.g. Illusion games) or as the fulfillment of a romantic relationship (e.g. Bioware RPGs); others incorporate it into resource management (e.g. can prostitute self to earn gold to buy healing potions) or puzzle solving (e.g. can defeat Bandit Leader in battle, or seduce him instead). Some games (such as SDT) eschew context and simply attempt to simulate the mechanics of a sex act. Others (such as Slave Maker or Free Cities) focus heavily on context - emphasizing the player character's control or dominance over a particular NPC, with the actual sex act getting a perfunctory one-paragraph description.

Ideally, your sexual elements should fit the overall nature of your game.

• A JRPG has a linear narrative and very little scope for player choice. You can't decide not to fight the big boss, and you similarly can't decide that your character is gay. The player doesn't mind being "along for the ride" if the ride is fun.
  
  • The player will accept a zero-decisions click-to-proceed sex scene so long as it's well written and nicely illustrated.
  • The player can't predict when sex scenes will be unlocked, and may not actually be horny when a scene begins. They may simply want to proceed with normal gameplay. Therefore they'll expect the ability to skip a scene and replay it later on.
  • The player will usually need to play through the game repeatedly in order to see all of the sexual content. Therefore the developer should include enough content to avoid tedium during replays, or empower the player (New Game+) so that replays proceed very quickly.
• A Bioware RPG presents the player with meaningful choices during gameplay. The production values will tend to suffer a bit due ot the many branching plotlines which the team needs to work on.
  • The player will accept a non-erotic awkward 3d slideshow if they feel that it fairly reflects the choices that they've made and the characters they've come to know.
  • The conversations and relationships are expected to engage the player, but they offer a very different tone from the run-and-gun action scenes. Therefore the conversations should usually be initiated by the player (rather than arising automatically along the critical path, as in JRPGs).
    
  • The sexual content isn't engaging in itself. The player probably won't bother to replay the game in order to see all of it.
  • The player probably will replay the game at least once (to see the Good and Evil endings). The game should include romantic/sexual content for all of its morality paths.
• A sex simulator game tends to give the player lots of control over the sex scene itself (such as animation speed, camera/lighting, dress-up or undressing, orgasm timing, etc).
  • The player will expect a similar level of control over other aspects of the game (e.g. character customization, locations, relationships).
    
  • They're here to play out a personal fantasy, not to walk through a complex narrative or deal with puzzles. If you include such elements then you should probably make them skippable (to avoid frustrating your players).
  • Customization is an important aspect of your game's appeal. If your game is mod-friendly then it will probably be more successful than if it is limited to hardcoded content only.

 

[Kargan3033]

Thanks for the info it is helpful, what I'm trying to go for is a hentai skyrim try game but given what you have said maybe a 2d rpgmaker hentai rpg might be a good starting point to try and get a feel for designing a hentai rpg sinice since I have never designed a game before in my life.

 

[eyeteeth]

lol yes, start small, making a game is a REALLY big project.

 

[stuntcock]

Thanks for the info it is helpful, what I'm trying to go for is a hentai skyrim try game but given what you have said maybe a 2d rpgmaker hentai rpg might be a good starting point to try and get a feel for designing a hentai rpg sinice since I have never designed a game before in my life.

Here's a guy who wanted to make a Skyrim hentai game. 18 months later he's still working on it and there's no end in sight. Throughout the project he's been aware of the enormous workload ahead of him and the insufficiency of his own skills, and it has generated huge stress and frequent burnout. And this is a guy who began with some knowledge of 3d modeling.

If you've never done any game development work, then a 3d open-world RPG is ludicrously over-ambitious.

1. Find something that you're good at.
   
   • It might be "minigames" or "character sprites" or "erotic text scenes" or "sexy enemy monstergirl designs" or "jumping puzzles" or whatever.
     
   • Maybe you've played a shit-ton of Minecraft and you have some cool ideas for a crafting system.
   • Maybe you're an experienced author who can write really compelling character arcs.
2. Focus on that thing. Dream up a few basic gameplay scenes that focus on your good thing.
   • Don't assume that your gameplay scenes need to fit into a JPRG framework. Your first project could be a visual novel or a point-and-click adventure instead.
   • The point is to start with your most promising ideas and then figure out how to bring the player into the experience.
3. Describe these scenes to us and we'll help you to choose a development platform which can streamline the remaining tasks, such as:
   • Text parsing
     
   • Map and level design
   • NPC scripting
     
   • Navigation; control schemes
   • Save/load system
     
   • Dialog trees
     
   • Combat menus
   • Quest-management scripting
   • RPG stat progression
   • Inventory and loot systems
4. Figure out how you're going to incorporate sexual elements into your game.
   • They might fit into the backstory, or the character interactions, or the puzzles, or the art style, or the character and costume designs, or the RPG stats, or the game mechanics themselves.
   • If you're just writing a quick "throwaway" RPGMaker game in a week (to learn the tools), then it's okay to shoehorn in a few placeholder porn images after the player defeats the endboss. You can accompany your shitty CG with riveting text such as "He put his sex into her sex and then they had sex. The End."
     
   • You should be thinking about the various opportunities that you skipped during your rushed development, so that your subsequent projects can incorporate sexual elements and themes more smoothly into the gameplay experience.

 

[Kargan3033]

lol yes, start small, making a game is a REALLY big project.

All too true, as my grandma use to say, " Your eyes are bigger then your stomach. " LOL

 

[Kargan3033]

Actually stuntcock I do have a bit of experience with rpgmaker VX Ace also been download some tutorials on RM Vx Ace so I'll try my hand at that and see how it goes.

 

[Sadtaco]

I'm going to put it more simply and focus on what really ends up mattering in the end instead of breaking down all the details:

1: Unity isn't really a ripoff of UE, but the developers read the same books. They're pretty similar. If you're comfortable with one, you're comfortable with the other.

2a: Unity is better for starting programmers because there is more of an API exposed to learn from and easily make use from without editing the source and compiling again like you must for many things in UE4.
2b: UE4 is better for more seasoned programmers, I GUESS, but mostly just if you're one of those guys that wants to rip out the entire rendering pipeline to replace it with something else, or use for an MMO that you need special things for. Unity has so much exposed that you generally don't need the source code.

3a: Unity is MORE EXPENSIVE if you don't get many sales and buy that pro version. And it really gimps you without buying it. :/
3B: UE4 is CHEAPER if you're making a free game, or don't make much money. It's way more expensive if you're making a lot especially if you have high overhead for server costs, employees, Steam distro fee, etc. (IE, they take 5%. But you spend 30% on employees, Steam takes 30% of your money, you have other misk costs that make up 5%. That 5% becomes 5% out of the 35% left which is now 14.2% of your INCOME)

4: Both seemingly allow porn games. UDK did not but they changed their licensing this time around. I asked like... a year or two back and didn't get a definitive answer from them, except "well the EULA pretty much doesn't say you can't" which I guess is actually kind of definitive? The problem is that if an adult game becomes bad for their image, I don't think the EULA offers you protection against retroactive change.

To me, it really comes down to cost. And UE4 is too expensive if you invest a lot of time and money in something. If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars up front for a license, you can save a lot, though.
But it doesn't seem like this is a thing for you. Why not play with both since you're learning?

 

[Kargan3033]

Thanks for the info Sadtaco but for the time being I'm holding off until I do some upgrading of my rig, running out of HHD space and I'm planning on upgrading my Cpu and memory

 

[Sadtaco]

Heh. UE4 tools requirements are pretty insane. Unity is a lot lighter.

RPGMaker is light which you mentioned. Just try not to fall into that trap of making it look like 99% of other RPGMaker games. :x

 

[Kargan3033]

Heh. UE4 tools requirements are pretty insane. Unity is a lot lighter.

RPGMaker is light which you mentioned. Just try not to fall into that trap of making it look like 99% of other RPGMaker games. :x

You not kidding in say that UE4 tools are insane and that Unity is lighter.

As for RPG Maker I have been kicking around a few ideas but given my battles with depression I'm having a hard time finding the inspiration to make a serious effort to make an RPG game.

 

[Atmey]

I've been using Unity for few years, and I love it, to my shame I am yet to release a game :/, I didn't use UE but it looks pretty cool and looked at first glance harder to use, there are plenty of add ons on the Asset Store that could save you days of work, there are some RPG and visual novels frameworks as well, I never tried any but I assume they are pretty decent, which can offer most features without the restriction of the specific-genre engine (looking at your RPG maker with your low res CG).

As stuntC said, define your game, then choose the most suitable tools.