Elements of Game Technology, part one: game engines

One thing the gaming world isn’t necessarily lacking in is the access to a game engine. There’s plenty around, so the ability to find one which specifically suits what you want to create is pretty secure. Personally, I’m not overly savvy with game engines, I love seeing what I have created in engine when compiled into a playable level, but when it comes to learning and navigating the engines controls I’m a bit timid and unsure. Let’s just say when something goes wrong – even the simplest of things - I have no idea what I’m doing. An unselectable 8ft apple core is a rather unsettling thing to be faced with.

As I’ve recently been using it, let’s start with Cryengine. This engine is the officially licensed tool for pretty much all next gen gaming consoles, and remains the only all in one development solution for the PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and WiiU. It has a version of itself that is free for non-commercial production, and 20% of its revenue goes towards indie game production. It’s capable of generating state-of-the-art physics which can be applied to the majority of objects, and making them react in a realistic way to an opposing force without use of an external middleware. It’s also very powerful when it comes to AI, having the ability to use modular sensory systems to handle character behaviours.
 In comparison to other engines I have used, its interface is very easy to get the hang of once shown. The importing of assets is very simple and instinctual, relying on a simple drag-and-drop format into well categorised folders. And once an asset is in engine, graphically it looks pretty damn impressive.
The sandbox makes a levels creation super easy – giving the creator the ability to adjust assets in real time, speeding up production. I personally found the ability to adjust the scale of an asset, as well as the hue of specularity and the asset itself to be incredibly useful – as opposed to going back 3Ds Max to adjust a model having to reexport it, or adjust the colours in a texture sheet,. In addition to this, the similarity between 3Ds Max’s interface and Cryengine makes it very simple to use – especially when it comes to compiling textures to create a material.

Something I cannot find evidence of Cryengine doing, is supporting Android or IOS, this being something that the Unreal Engine does, alongside the Playstation Vita. In addition to this, Unreal Engine can be used to create both  a cinematic experience and more simple games such as side scrollers – this more than likely being the reason as to why it’s suitable for phone and tablet game usage. Once again UDK offers a free education, non-commercial use version. For production use it’s a $19 monthly subscription with a 5% royalty on gross revenue – this being said to be more cost-effective for studios and young developers.

This is just two examples out of a number of game engines, also demonstrating how different engines and be suited for different people depending on what they are producing.

Sources:

http://www.develop-online.net/tools-and-tech/the-top-14-game-engines-unreal-engine-4/0117552
http://cryengine.com/
http://www.develop-online.net/tools-and-tech/the-top-14-game-engines-cryengine-3/0117554
https://www.unrealengine.com/faq