Written by Ty 2022 Cohort
If what I mentioned in my previous blog about the differences between Unity and Unreal Engine weren’t enough to help you make a decision, then hop in; I have more to say about it. The size of the team working on the game and whether you know how to code or not are probably not enough to help you choose such a fate, even though there are plenty of people out there that can use both engines and, with extra effort dedicated to it, you can learn how to use both engines. They’re fundamentally the same, and yet they’re very different.
The Support
When I say support, I’m not necessarily referring to the support both companies provide, as they both are doing a great job at that. I mean the support beginners, intermediates, and even professionals need during their development journey. This could either be tutorials, support documentation, and online communities. And this is the part where Unity shines.
You can find an answer to the weirdest and most complicated question you can come up with in Unity tutorials and communities. This is because Unity is a beginner-friendly engine, so many people chose it and mastered it over the years.
This doesn’t mean Unreal doesn’t have enough support online, but it seems that most of the tutorials out there – that aren’t enough – are about blueprint rather than C++, and it’s harder to have your questions answered as you progress. Of course, this isn’t nearly as bad as it is with other powerful engines like CryEngine, which is a potent engine that was used to make big titles like Far Cry and Crisis.
Long term benefits
When learning anything in general, we need to take into consideration how will this help us in our personal growth. This is one of the reasons I, a four-year Unity user, am planning to learn Unreal Engine (away from the fact that it will soon be an obligation in MDM next year.)
Unity is often used to develop indie games, meaning that your dream AAA game company will likely not be asking for your skills in Unity and C#. However, learning C# and Unity, in general, is very good for other non-game-development-related career paths, especially since web and desktop applications that can be developed by both C# and C++ are developed by C# more often thanks to C#’s popularity and simplicity compared to C#.
On the other hand, C++ is a prestigious language that can create more optimized products than C# and any different programming language out there. And a lot of AAA companies use it to develop their games. Personally, I’d say learn both to be safe. It’s never too hard to do it.