Apr-16-2018, 06:32 PM
I highly recommend using a pre-existing engine. There are two main reasons to build your own, which are...
a) your game does something highly unique, which would require extensively modifying an engine anyway. Games that fit that description would be Fez, (possibly) SuperHot, or Braid.
b) you want to learn how a game engine works. Building something is the best way to learn how that thing does what it does.
Especially for your first game, you should definitely use an engine. Building your own will easily add 1-2 years to your development time, and you'll spend more time working on the engine than the actual game.
It doesn't really matter which engine you choose, either, as they all serve essentially the same purpose. The most important consideration is whether you want 2d or 3d, and which devices you'd want it to eventually run on.
The Big Two are Unity and Unreal. Both are free, with fees after the game's complete. Unity is a lot more common among hobbyists (though that's slowly changing, since Unreal has been working on being more user friendly), while Unreal is more popular among AAA studios (unless they build their own engine, like EA does). Both engines are capable of incredible things. Both of them are fairly mediocre to bad at 2d games, though.
Basically, it all boils down to your personal preference. I'd suggest downloading a few different engines and trying out their tutorials, and sticking with whichever seems to *click* with you personally.
If you're looking for something which has a syntax similar to python, I'd suggest Godot. It's the new kid on the block, but has incredible 2d support, and is quickly adding more and more 3d features.
a) your game does something highly unique, which would require extensively modifying an engine anyway. Games that fit that description would be Fez, (possibly) SuperHot, or Braid.
b) you want to learn how a game engine works. Building something is the best way to learn how that thing does what it does.
Especially for your first game, you should definitely use an engine. Building your own will easily add 1-2 years to your development time, and you'll spend more time working on the engine than the actual game.
It doesn't really matter which engine you choose, either, as they all serve essentially the same purpose. The most important consideration is whether you want 2d or 3d, and which devices you'd want it to eventually run on.
The Big Two are Unity and Unreal. Both are free, with fees after the game's complete. Unity is a lot more common among hobbyists (though that's slowly changing, since Unreal has been working on being more user friendly), while Unreal is more popular among AAA studios (unless they build their own engine, like EA does). Both engines are capable of incredible things. Both of them are fairly mediocre to bad at 2d games, though.
Basically, it all boils down to your personal preference. I'd suggest downloading a few different engines and trying out their tutorials, and sticking with whichever seems to *click* with you personally.
If you're looking for something which has a syntax similar to python, I'd suggest Godot. It's the new kid on the block, but has incredible 2d support, and is quickly adding more and more 3d features.