There are countless different game engines out there, all
with their own unique features, comparable strengths and weaknesses. Not all are
named or known to the public of course, if a developer has something special they
might want to keep that advantage to themselves. I visited EGX Rezzed the other
week and my friend was asking a developer about the engine running Infamous-
Second Son. They couldn’t say anything about it, only that it was their own
engine. It wasn’t a surprise that they were keeping things hushed, it looked
absolutely stunning!
But there are plenty available to use and many even that are
free, at least for non-profit content. Here are a handful of the more notable
examples.
Let’s start with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. UDK is one of
the most widely used engines has just recently had its fourth version released.
It can be used for practically any game genre, with many developers modifying
it to suit their needs. It is easy to use with the way it visually displays
assets and it supports all kinds of plugins. Unreal Engine 4 even allows you to
change code while the engine is running.
Crytek’s Cryengine is well known for its ability to handle
graphically intensive and complex levels very well, with advanced lighting and
physics algorithms built in. A key selling point is how it can be used to
develop games for multiple platforms simultaneously, with various useful
features such as controlling texture size for each platform. At this time it is
mostly used for FPSs and action games, most of which being in a realistic
visual style to take advantage of the engine’s main strengths, but there are
some more stylised titles too such as the upcoming Sonic Boom. The engine is
currently in its third version with the fourth instalment in development,
though it has been said that the new version will be completely different to
those before it.
One engine I was surprised so see so many people singing the
praises of online was YoYo Games’ GameMaker. I remember using GameMaker many
years ago for fun, creating some admittedly terrible stuff but really enjoying
myself. Built for novices and professionals alike, the most basic version can
be used for free. It allows for either quick drag-and-drop style programming or
simple written coding in Game Maker Language. This engine is perfect for 2D
games, with only support for very basic 3D. There have been some quite
high-profile indie games built in this engine over the past few years such as
Hotline Miami and spelunky.
Unity is a fairly well-known engine originally developed for
Mac then made for other platforms after becoming popular. It can be used to
make games for web and mobile platforms such as Android and IOS as well as PC
and consoles. This feature makes it highly accessible in today’s industry as
phones are continually becoming more powerful and developing a flourishing
games industry of their own. Games made in this engine are usually stylised,
since it usually gets overshadowed by competitors with slightly more advanced
algorithms when it comes to realism. However Unity 5 is due to be launched
sometime soon, with high end shaders and more complex physics.
Though these are only a few examples of the most accessible
engines, it’s easy to see how so many engines are deemed viable for all kinds
of purposes. With the engine playing a huge part in bringing assets to life, I’m
excited to see what exciting new features engines can bring as they get access
to more powerful platforms.
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