Best Game Engine for Indie Game?

smittix · 2011-05-31T15:44:37

I've been working on getting a new Indie game up and going and have gotten to the point of needing to choose which game engine to pick. The game itself is an FPS, the vision of which is only just now being realized by the concept art... and I must admit, the bar it being set pretty high. By trade I'm a 3D graphics/AI/game/physics programmer so I've considered using a series of free engines (graphics/physics/sound/networking) and putting them together to create my own game engine, but it seems much more worth it to spend some $$ and get an existing engine along with tools to work with it. My Requirements - Up-to-date graphics (shadow maps/parallax maps/post-processing) - Physics integration (I'm OK with implementing this part myself if needed) - Sound Integration - Tools (scene manager w/ lights, objects, etc...) - AI would be nice, but I'm OK with writing that too.. Game Engines Compared... Torque 3D (http://www.garagegam...ducts/torque-3d) Pluses: Proven History Advanced Lighting Complete Tool Suite Modular - I can rewrite any part I want Source included Cross-Platform Large range of hardware can be used Minuses: $1k per license Still in Beta Leadwerks 2.0 (http://www.leadwerks.com/) Pluses: $150 license Advanced Lighting Complete Tool Suite Minuses: Very new - no proven track record. No source code. Requires SM 3.0 (GeForce 6 series or better. Losing some potential customers.) Windows XP/Vista Only (but future plans for possible XB360 & Mac support) NeoAxis (http://www.neoaxisgr...om/company/team) Pluses: Free (kind of....) Advanced Lighting Complete Tool Suite Minuses: Very new - no proven track record. Non-Commercial only? I need to have commercial... If anyone has anything to add to this list or comment on, please let me know. Right now I'm planning on Torque 3D as it seems like the best bet. All funding for this project is coming totally out of pocket though, so I'd rather not have to pay $1k per license if it can be avoided. ** List of all engines mentioned in this thread [2/27/11] C4 Engine - http://www.terathon.com/c4engine/index.php Unity - http://unity3d.com/ Gamestudio - http://www.3dgamestudio.com/ Panda 3D - http://www.panda3d.org/ Esenthel Engine - http://www.esenthel.com/ 3D RAD - http://www.3drad.com/ Gamebryo - http://www.gamebryo.com/en/Gamebryo/ Crystal Space - http://www.crystalspace3d.org/main/Main_Page UDK - http://udk.com/ Delta3D - http://www.delta3d.org/ DarkBASIC - http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2030 CAFU - http://www.cafu.de/ SIO2 Engine - http://sio2interactive.com/ Maratis - http://www.maratis3d.com/

Engines and Middleware Programming Unity

Started by smittix June 24, 2009 07:38 PM

54 comments, last by NEXUSKill 12 years, 11 months ago

SymLinked

1,233

August 16, 2009 03:07 AM

I too got a little bit scared of the C4 demos, especially so because of the physics. Got stuck in some cave and had to restart. But C4 has support from it's awesome author which is more than you can say about Torque which I've been using since 2003 now.

Eric Lengyel

3,463

August 16, 2009 06:04 AM

Fortunately, the next version of C4 (version 1.6) has a brand new physics system that takes care of past collision issues, and then does a whole lot more.

I work on this stuff: Slug Library | C4 Engine | The 31st | Foundations of Game Engine Development | OpenGEX

evolutional

1,397

August 16, 2009 07:36 AM

Nice discussion. Stickified for a couple of weeks.

Zervoxe

1,263

August 28, 2009 10:57 PM

StemCell / DevCell
http://www.devcellsoftware.com/

Looks very mature and seems capable of great graphics etc.

striker7

108

September 29, 2009 02:19 PM

what about 3DRAD ?

I have made a full game using 3DRAD. It's not hard at all, just requires some patience working around it's limitations.

check out my demo at :

http://tinystudents.com/3drad.html

YOUTUBE VIDEO :
=============

cdoty

736

September 29, 2009 03:11 PM

Quote:Original post by NightMarez
http://www.esenthel.com/?id=news

Really awesome c++ engine, 0$, 200$ or 1000$, depending if you wish to use custom shaders and or sell the game.

Some even says its better then gamebryo ect.

This is a pretty impressive engine, especially considering the cost.

Although, better than Gamebryo sounds a bit ambitious. Gamebryo has one of the best asset pipeline I've ever seen in a 3d engine.

Check out Super Play, the SNES inspired Game Engine: http://www.superplay.info

InfernoZeus

140

November 30, 2009 10:34 AM

Does anyone have any experience with Crystal Space (http://www.crystalspace3d.org/main/Main_Page)? I'm trying to decide on an engine for a RTS game that I'm working on.

I looked at Panda3D but was put off by the fact that it seems to be more oriented towards Python than C++.

Dreamcube017

100

December 08, 2009 01:51 AM

Wow I never knew there were so many engines.

I was about to suggest Quest3D until I saw the price which is really unfortunate because it really is a nice program.

Gosmer

100

December 15, 2009 07:30 AM

Hi,

How about ludiloom, it seems cool! And it's completely free as I can see from their site. Didn't test it yet, I'm also trying to start a new game and found this one on another forum.

http://www.ludiloom.com

Anyone has tested it yet?
Also, bengaltgrs could you edit your main message to include all engines people suggested? This is a very useful thread

Saruman

4,339

December 15, 2009 08:36 AM

I would have to say that Unity is likely the top choice for indie game development now that it is free.

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