The most crucial requirement for a new developer is the support community and learning curve. If a game engine has a good support community, then it makes the learning more fun and interesting. Choosing an engine with a steep learning curve might lead you to lose interest in game development. There are many online courses and game development tutors to help you learn both the game engines. So, no matter which game engine you choose, learning them shouldn’t be difficult.
Unity vs Cryengine main features
| Features | Unity | Cryengine |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free till you earn $100000/yr with your game. Need to buy the Plus or Pro subscription after that. | Free till you earn $5000 with your game. 5% royalty after that. |
| Usability | Available for Windows, Mac and Linux | Available for Windows only |
| Platform Supported | Can deploy build to all major platforms | Can deploy build to all major platforms |
| Games supported | Easy to use for most games. Best for 3D and 2D vector art games. | Best for 3D games. Support for other genres is not that good. |
| Source Code | Not available | Available for free. You can make your own custom game engine. |
| For Beginners | Easy to learn. Lot of resources and support community | Steep learning curve. Not many resources and communities compared to Unity |
| Asset store | Very rich and suitable for all budgets. | Very small asset store and collection. But the quality of assets is good. |
| Best course | Learn Unity completely from scratch, Hire Unity tutors | Learn cryengine |
| Languages supported | C#, Visual scripting with extra plugins from asset store. Javascript and Boo are supported in older versions | C++, C#, visual scripting with flow graph |
Unity vs Cryengine detailed comparison
UNITY Game Engine
Unity can be said to be the most common game engine in the world. It is so common that half of the world’s developers are using Unity to make their games. Games like Pokemon Go, Rimworld and Heathstone have all been developed using Unity.
It is also a real time platform. Unity was started in Denmark but later moved to San Francisco and now has over five million game developers using it. While Unity is more geared towards developers who can code, it also accommodates beginners who want to use virtual scripting with the tools in the asset store. A beginner can create basic game prototypes easily using Unity.
Unity has improved vastly in the last few years based on the feedback from the developer community. Unity had received a major boost when unity 5 was released and this was the first free to use version of unity. Many new developers started using unity after this and slowly the number grew to millions. Unity as of today is the most used game engine in the world.
If you’re looking to learn Unity, there are more than enough resources offered by the community. Unity is compatible with the following operating systems: Mac OS, Linux, Windows and Android. It supports multiple platforms including: mobile phones, desktop, virtual reality (VR), web and TV. Unity’s cloud system allows the developer to get real time feedback when developing the game.
The key features for Unity game engine include the following
Supports both 2D and 3D development
Many games today are in 3D. However, for Indie developers, 2D game development is essential. Unity is great for Indie developers since it is especially tailored for 2D game models. Unity game engine provides a smooth and great workflow for these game models and this is why almost all Indie game developers use it. Unlike newer game engines that work in pseudo 2D where a 3D world is represented in two dimensions, Unity works in actual 2D that is expressed in pixels. This is the reason we say it is tailored especially for 2D game models. They plan on releasing 2.5D support soon.
Better royalty scheme
Like Unreal, Unity is also free to use. But there is a catch. If you earn more than $100k in a year then you need to switch to the Unity plus version and if you earn more than $200k in a year then you need to buy the pro subscription of Unity. Both Unity plus and pro version provide lot of analytics data that are required for you to build a gaming business.
Unity uses visual studio
Unity used to come with Mono develop which was its main code editor. Monodevelop had its own limitations and many developers prefer visual studio over Mono develop. The support for Monodevelop is being removed slowly and visual studio will become the main code editor for unity. The best part about typing code in unity is you can check the errors in real time with the unity editor. Though the same feature is available in Unreal, it’s easier and developer friendly in Unity.
Unity is a cross platform
Unity supports all major operating systems in the world today. This list includes Windows, Mac and Linux among others. It can also be supported by either 32- or 64-bit machines, which makes it very convenient for many. The only problem is that many alternative tools in Unity are tailored with only one OS in mind: Windows. This means that when using another operating system with such tools will cause problems.
Better documentation
Unity is open source and this means that the online community is involved in documentation. With around 100k active users, Unity has one of the best manuals. As time goes on, Unity users will continue to grow and the manual will continue to get better and better.
Great for All game platforms
Unity has support for all the types of games you like to make. Be it 2D, 3D or Virtual reality unity has you covered. Now Unity is slowing adding the feature to create in game cinematic scenes with a tool called timeline. Unity is also developing its own visual scripting tool (now you need to download one from asset store).
Cryengine Game Engine
If you’re a gamer, then the CryEngine is not a new term for you. There are many games that have been made through this powerful game engine. It is designed by a German developer known as Crytek. CryEngine has been used to make many AAA games in the past and is constantly improving. If you are a gamer then you should have definitely come across CryEngine logo when playing games on your PC or Console.
CryEngine is known for its aesthetically pleasing and high-quality, high-resolution games. Over time, they update their system so that new consoles are supported. Some of the games made with CryEngine are: Sniper – Ghost Warrior 2 and Snow Warhorse. Such games are registered under a third-party license. Large game companies such as Ubisoft also use this game engine. Ubisoft maintains an in-house, heavily modified version of CryEngine from the original Far Cry called the Dunia Engine, which is used in their later iterations of the Far Cry series.
The CryEngine like all other game engines has slowly been improved through the many versions it has starting from CryEngine 1 to V. Version 1 was used for the first release of Far Cry. It was the first version of the game engine to be released by Crytek and was demonstrated at the Electronic Entertainment expo. After its great reception, it was quickly made into a game. Later, Crytek released an improved version 1.2 which included better graphics and controls. A 1.3 version was released soon after and improved on HDR lighting.
The CryEngine 2 was used in the worldwide popular game known as Crysis. It was released in 2008 by Crytek. This version was first licensed out to an urban communication company and the purpose of this was to create a program where clients would be able to model exactly how a building would look like before construction. This licensing was done in 2009 but later changed ownership in 2011 when another company, the Simpsons, took over. Later in 2012, it was licensed by Ringling College which became the first educational institution to license CryEngine 2 for educational purposes.
The CryEngine 3 was released in 2009 and was being used for development of Windows, PS3, Xbox360 and Wii games. Later that year, a demo of a 3D version of the CryEngine 3 was released. The CryEngine 3 was slowly modified to create custom maps and mods. Crytek used this version to bring back the original Crysis game to consoles as they were first only made for PCs. In 2011, a play station and Xbox version of the game was made available to the public
The CryEngine 3.6 to 4 is unique and has little similarities with its previous versions. It added a support for Linux operating system and increased their platforms to consoles such as the PS4, Xbox One and Wii U.
The final version of the CryEngine to be released is the CryEngine V. It was released in 2016. This game engine version was unique because it allowed the users to view the source code after paying a certain amount of money. Later in 2017, a 504 version was released to make some improvements on the 5.0 such as a Vulkan API render engine as beta, substance integration and new C# palettes.
CryEngine uses WYSIWYG editor
It has a ‘what you see is what you get’ (WYSIWYG) editor which is very convenient and efficient for game developers since testing during development is made very easy.
It Uses C++, C# and lua for programming and has a visual editor
As we know by now, to use a game engine, you have to have some bit of coding knowledge. The problem comes when you know a language that is not supported by your game engine. Scripting in CryEngine can be done using C++, C # and lua. Therefore, game developers can use the language they prefer.
Flow Graph is a visual scripting system that is embedded in the CryEngine Sandbox Editor. The main advantage of the Flow Graph Editor is that users do not need to have any scripting or programming knowledge
Supports both 2D and 3D development
Many games today are in 3D. However, for Indie developers, 2D game development is essential. CryEngine is great for Indie developers since it is especially tailored for 2D game models. CryEngine game engine provides a smooth and great workflow for these game models and this is why almost all Indie game developers use it. Unlike newer game engines that work in pseudo 2D where a 3D world is represented in two dimensions, CryEngine works in actual 2D that is expressed in pixels. This is the reason we say it is tailored for both 3D and 2D game models.
It offers offline rendering
This is a key feature since not many game engines have this option. In fact, only a few high-end game engines have this feature. Offline rendering means that rendering can continue even when there is no internet connection. This is convenient as it protects the developer from losing progress in development.
Conclusion: Unity vs CryEngine
Unity is an all-in-one game engine designed for everyone to use. CryEngine on the other hand is good for a specific group of people. People looking to make an AAA game with a custom modified game engine can go for CryEngine. Unity is the best option in all the other cases. You can also consider Unreal as a good contender here. Read more on Unity vs Unreal to select the right game engine.