So with our last installment we noted most of the last generation of game development software, but here is the entire updated list to include new software, and up-to-date ones as well.
Unreal Development Kit
At the time of this writing Unreal Development Kit (or UDK) has out the November2012 build, and it is one of the most widely used development software. There are various pros and cons to UDK that you should be aware of :
Pros
- Free to use for NON-commercial games (free to play with no monetization)
- Comes with most standard Unreal Tournament Assets to get your underway
- Powerful scripting technology with UnrealScript
- Easy to import new assets
- Easy creation (click and drag interface)
- PhysX… need I say more?
- Real-time shaders
- Awesome Lightmass system
- Powerful terrain editor
- Ability to create epic (pun intended) Cinematics
- Unreal AI (powerful AI system)
- Unreal Swarm (performance)
- iOS support
- VAST amounts of tutorials online
Cons
- Commercial rates are kind of high (but still good)
- No Android Support just yet
- Has a tendency to crash on less than good PCs
- Performance heavy
- Would like to see more assets available
- Foliage editor is buggy
- -at the time of this writing- November build in February?
The next engine on our list is one not too many people use, but they should!
CryEngine 3 SDK
Hands down the most gorgeous editor I have ever had the pleasure of working with. This too is available free of charge for non-commercial games. As with UDK, Cryengine 3 SDK does come with some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Visually stunning!
- Stereoscopic 3D support
- The best performance / per visual
- Great audio system
- Awesome support to anyone developing with it
- Tons of helpful people on the forums
- Character Individualization System (awesome for real-time switch of body parts)
- Flawless character animation system
- Procedural Deformation (great for metal objects!)
- Advanced Rope Physics (responsive foliage)
- Interactive & Destructible Environments
- VERY user-friendly AI Editing system
Cons:
- Commercial rates are unavailable without consultation
- Does have a tendency to crash at times
- Autosave?
- Stereoscopic 3D is minimal at best
Unity 4
Last time we wrote about Unity it was 2.5, and they have come a long way since then.
Pros:
- AWESOME workflow management
- Powerful editing system
- Java, C# and Boo scripting support
- Programming on the fly with Mono (realtime)
- Awesome debugging system
- Web Browser Integration for those wanting to develop for a website
- Good asset store
Cons:
- Would have liked a more powerful terrain editor
- The debugger does have a tendancy to… bug
- Realtime programming can sometimes make it freeze
These are just SOME of the newest additions, check back tomorrow for even more!
