Software Development

How to Choose the Best Engine for Game Development?

How to Choose the Best Engine for Game Development

In the gaming industry, engines present choices like Unity or Godot. However, this often leads to a myriad of questions and confusion for developers. What is Godot vs Unity? What are the similarities and differences between these engines? Do they have different strengths and weaknesses? What open-source advantages does each engine offer? In this post, we will take you through the similarities, differences, and strengths of Godot vs Unity to help you make an informed choice when choosing your engine.

What are Godot and Unity?

Unity offers high-level features but limited flexibility and Godot offers low-level features, but high flexibility. An example would be the UI, both engines have a customizable GUI system. In Unity, all can customize it with scripts whereas in Godot this is only possible on the collision layer. Both engines give developers a chance to create their systems which can make significant and complex games easier for developers to handle.

Unity offers a large community and a wide range of tutorials on how to make games in Unity. Godot has not been around as long, but it has a small but dedicated community that is always willing to help people get started with Godot

What is the Difference Between Godot and Unity?

Unity, developed by Unity Technologies, is one of the most popular game engines in the market. They provide different solutions to different problems that a developer may be facing.

On the additional side of this, there are also games made with Godot that use Godot as a base engine. Some projects have been started as such but most of them decided to create their engine instead due to missing features or bugs in Godot (like a limited number of effects). So, it is clear that there are differences between Godot and Unity.

What are the Similarities Between Godot and Unity?

1. Based on C++

Firstly, both Unity and Godot are Open Sources. This means that the community can contribute to engine development. Open Source also has its advantage because when developers can access the source code, they can learn from it and make some new modifications or changes (create a plugin).

Godot was developed with an MIT license whereas Unity uses a EULA created by Microsoft. Unlike Unity, Godot is completely free. You don’t have to pay anything to use Godot. Both Unity and Godot use C++ as a programming language.

2. 2D and 3D

Godot and Unity are both cross-platform engines. This means they can be used in both 2D and 3D games. However, you will find it easier to make 2D games on Unity while it is easier to do 3D games on Godot. The reason for this is because of the rendering pipeline. Both engines use OpenGL but Godot is rendering only 2D and 3D with OpenGL, while Unity renders 2D and 3D separately. Unity also supports 3D animation whereas Godot does not support it.

3. Platforms

The basic engines come free with a particular platform. Unity comes free for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems to encourage developers to use it. Godot is free for all platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) because it is made to be used in games for all platforms.

4. Built-In Visual Scripting

Unity has a built-in scripting system that allows developers to create the environment by following a series of steps. This scripting is called Visual Scripting. Godot does not have a built-in scripting system. Instead, the scripting is done by implementing an engine script which makes it difficult for developers to use the engine for a game if they don’t know how to write code.

Also read: 7 Tips To Manage Your Games Dev Team For Maximum Productivity

What are the Differences Between Godot and Unity?

1. Development Environment

Unity has many features only available in its IDE (Integrated Development Environment). There are many features that Godot has that Unity doesn’t have. Godot has features like 2D and 3D rendering with OpenGL, 2D animation, 2D and 3D physics, etc.

However, Unity has features like a built-in scripting system with visual editing for the environment, or a UI customization system that allows developers to customize the interface of their game with just a few clicks. Visual scripting is very popular in the game development industry but Godot doesn’t offer it.

2. Customization

Unity has a large community of developers and other users who have great ideas in terms of customizing the engine. In Unity, there are many wiki pages with information on how to customize it. In Godot, there are no such resources as a wiki or documentation to help developers customize the engine.

3. Plugin System

Unity allows you to use external plugins for your projects but Godot does not use any plugin system. It has an extensive set of features to add custom features to the engine. It is up to the developers how to implement any custom plugin.

4. Compatibility

Unity has a large community of users and developers. Many people already use the engine, so there will be more chances of finding documentation or help regarding your issues or bugs in Unity compared to Godot. Godot has been around for less time than Unity but it has a small but devoted community that is always willing to help people in need if possible.

How to choose the best engine for game development?

1. Platforms

Unity supports both PC and Mac systems. It also offers plugins for iOS, Android, and HTML5 which can be used with any device. Godot comes free with all platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux) to encourage developers to use it. It is however limited to 2D and 3D rendering, though the community has worked on adding 3D support recently.

2. Working with other tools

Unity has a community of people who are eager to help developers with Unity. The documentation is also very detailed and this makes it easy to learn how to do different things in Unity. Godot does not have a community of such users, the documentation is limited, and the developer may find it difficult or impossible to learn how to implement some features in Godot since there are no resources available.

3. Being free

Unity is free but Godot offers its features free of charge and it doesn’t require developers to pay any money to use the engines or license them.

Godot requires users who wish to create a game but only that they have a license for each platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) separately. As Unity has already paid for the licensing fees, developers don’t have to worry about it at all.

4. The community

Unity has a huge community of users, many of whom have great ideas to implement, and is updated frequently with the new versions. Godot has only a small but dedicated community of developers and other users who are always willing to help developers in need. Since the engine doesn’t have a wiki or any documentation, developers will have to search for answers online if they face any difficulties in their projects.

Also read: 7 Ways for Using Illustrations to Amplify Games UI/UX Design

Unity Vs GameMaker: Which One to choose?

As you can see above, both engines have their pros and cons. A thorough research into Godot and Unity will offer the best information regarding which engine to use for your project. There are many websites online such as Youtube and Twitch. tv where you can find many tutorials that provide information about how to use either engine or even create a plugin for Unity or Godot. You can also read books or go through online tutorial videos as well.

Conclusion

The two engines are quite different from each other in terms of how they function and how they help developers develop games. It all depends on the requirements of the developer and what they wish to achieve. Both engines have one common goal though: Make game development easier for the person who wishes to create a game but doesn’t have any knowledge of coding or programming.

Written by
Yuriy Denisyuk

Yuriy Denisyuk is Game Production Lead at Pingle Studio. He’s responsible for successfully managing the Game Production pipeline. Yuriy is this lucky person who plays the best games for work n in order to keep up with trends and create new ones. He likes writing and reading Manga, fantasy, and professional literature in his free time.

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