Within the last couple of days, I have been inundated with possibilities for creating the Raconteur Engine. In the long run, I’ll need to create a brand new engine with behavior and characteristics unto itself. However, I need to start someplace and the best place is where others have already laid down stable tracks. I had always been impressed with the Unity Engine. However, I have recently been introduced to the High Fidelity Engine and now the Source Engine. Here are their pro’s and con’s.
Unity
pros:
- Easy to Use Engine
- Can Distribute to any platform
- Huge user community
- Very Common engine
- Houdini Engine already ported
cons:
- Program in Java
- Simplistic Rendering
High Fidelity
pros:
- Massive Cloud computer
- Very small latency
- Very Fast
- Very Progressive
cons:
- No Interface
- Requires very large amount of programming
- Huge amount to learn beyond API
- Tiny user community
- Not yet “Official”
- Houdini engine not compatable
Source
pros:
- Huge user community
- Great distribution method, “Steam”
- Innovation leader in VR
- Super smart company – Valve
- Only on PC’s
cons:
- No GUI
- Lots of programming
- Houdini Engine Not Ported
- Start from Half-life(?)
- Simplistic Graphics
- Excellent on PC’s only
Results
Wow, this is going to be harder than I thought. They all have a similar number of pros. Unity seems to have the least number of cons however. I can’t make a decision at this time. I’ll need to define my products and what I anticipate my product progressions to be. When I have a stronger vision on my product line, then I’ll be able to decide where to start.