I'm trying to decide which engine I should start using to try to start building a game in.
I had chosen Unity, but upon hearing that Unreal Engine 3 had just become kinda free to use, I found myself questioning my decision.
Technically Unreal is still the most expensive commercially, then Unity, then id Tech 3 (free).
But, it also could be the fastest to work in? Or is just the most powerful, but Unity actually does so much for you, that it makes the most sense to work with this, and take a hit on performance/tuning (like Java/C#).
Thoughts please, can anyone speak from experience of all three?
I have experience with modding since the doom days, then in Quake 1 and Half Life. I also have experience in 3DS Max. I don't have a desire at this point my life to really get into the nitty gritty of C++ animation and rendering issues, I'd rather get something up and running quickly, to see if it's possible. But Unreal experience tempts me greatly.
Answer
UDK, id Tech 3, and Unity are all vastly different tools.
With UDK, you have script-level access, not native. As such, you are somewhat limited in the modifications you can perform. Additionally, UnrealScript is extremely slow; as such, it's difficult to optimize any product you do end up creating.
Overall, it's not very well crafted for anything that drastically doesn't match Epic's product line.
id Tech 3 will give you C++ access. That being said, it's much older technology, the tools aren't as robust, etc. Personally, I've never used it; but, it's not something you're going to build a commercial product with (unless you're looking for something scaled back. Check out this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id%5FTech%5F3#Projects%5Fbased%5Fon%5Fthe%5FGPL%5Fsource%5Frelease).
As for Unity? It's a great place for a beginner/someone that doesn't want to have to delve into the complex details of an engine. Additionally, it's more flexible.
Can you release a triple-A title on it? No. That being said, you're not going to be using it for that.
With the ultimate goal of educating yourself without having to dive into C++, I'd highly recommend Unity.
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