Okay, so Ive been having some trouble deciding which game engine I should go with. I have experience with unity but I heard theres no modding support on that, the problem with CryEngine and UDK is they take a large sum of the money that you make and source only lets you sell on steam (it might also take some money, Im not sure). Correct me if Im wrong about unity by the way. With that in mind (so mod-ability, cost and platforms) which engine should I use? Thanks Tom
What engine you choose depends on your goals. Are you looking to make games quick and dirty that look generic or are you thinking long term? As for me I use the C4 Engine. You pay one price, get free upgrades forever and do not have to pay any royalties. The code is C++, is open to licensees, no code is hidden and you can ship the world editor with your games. The guy that wrote the engine is highly qualified and answers engine related questions in the forum, within a few hours or same day. It is the best service I have seen anywhere. I messed around with the free version of Unity (didn't like the way you're limited to their scripting and still don't like their crass commercialism). Bought Leadwerks several years ago (couldn't do much with it and the service wasn't great at the time). I tried UDK (free to start, but very expensive terms later on, script only and you need a very powerful rig to run their editors, I assume Cry is the same). After that I found C4 and bought it initially because I liked their API and I've stuck with them ever since.
Dammit, I was really looking forward to looking at that engine, unfortunately its WAY out of my price range (I was gonna buy unity pro once my game is shipped and selling), which is a shame, it looks so awesome that even though I code I java I would be willing to switch and learn C++ just for it. But as I said, too expensive
If you like the engine, then save your money and watch their forums, because sometimes a good deal comes up. Case in point, its a shame you didn't ask your question a couple of days ago, because they just completed a successful fund raiser, to create a new and open 3D import format. In that fund raiser you could have got the standard version for $500. If you hang around indie gamer long enough, you'll learn it took even the most successful members, quite few attempts to make games that sell. So don't expect your initial games to pay for any engine upgrades. I learned that lesson the hard way, on my first game - it didn't sell. lol
What I should probably do then is hone my skills with a bit of commercial work, I get better at making games so my first game is more likely to be a hit and I can afford a nice engine
I might decide to improve my skills at 3d modelling and sell some on turbosquid, its less commitment (Im only 16 and I have college) and its a continual source of income, so it could help. My plan for that would be to set up a business within my main business, where I make high quality models but sell them at a cheap price, so more people buy them, ect... Because if I just sell them for a high amount then I have nothing to set me apart and make me one of the more reputable sellers on there
I've been using Torque 2D (T2D or sometimes TGB), which has now been open-sourced under MIT. It has had its ups and downs, but I think with it going open source a lot of cool things will start happening with it. I'm going to hold out a bit longer and release my current game with it and in the future either continue with it (if sufficient improvements have been made) or switch to Unity.
Ill check that out, I saw the 3d version so its an option. So I assume you read what I wanted from it in my original post, but I have concerns about it being open source, because will this stop me from selling the game Ive made?
Open Source doesn't really have anything to do with what you can and cannot do with your products/derived works. Completely orthogonal, and regulated by the license. In the case of MIT (which is very similar to zlib and BSD), you're free to do pretty much anything - including releasing a modified version of the engine as closed source...! With the LGPL (as previously used by SDL and many others), you'd have to release any changes you make to the engine itself, but your own (linked) code is not affected by that license. That works too, but unless there's an additional clause allowing static linking, that can be a problem on some platforms. (IIRC, you can't dynamically link custom libraries on iOS, for example.) The only real issue is with the GPL and similar licenses, that basically prevent any form of use with closed source code. These licenses are basically not relevant in this context, unless there are additional licenses available.
Interesting, so torque is defiantly an option as according to you guys if fulfills my modding, cost and platform problems, Ill do my research and defiantly keep suggesting, but yeh I'll look into that!
+1 for Torque 2D. I've been using it since 2007 and right off the bat it made sense how they put things together. Mind you, I've made some big changes both my own and posted on the forums. Pick an engine that you like; it's not going to be what limits you. Your own imagination and skill level will be what dictates what kinds of games you make. Pick a very small project to try the engine out. You can always pick a different engine for your next project.
I use blitzmax. Very nice very fast, very clean, great community, and lots of user modules, free/paid everything. Just plug in and go!