Unity or UDK or CryEngine or...?

@nipoco - http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/3263/75781651.jpg

thats an idea of the shadow problem :/

currently using deferred lighting and a point light for the shadows. we create different projects but it just isnt doing much

 

Honestly, I am not really familiar with Unity enough in a professional context to say, but, I'm sure the list of issues is a mile long, as it would be in any piece of software this large.

My only suggestion is to find out how to get ahold with someone in Unity directly, who can then refer you to someone more technical who can adress your specific issue. Talk with that person, figure out what the issue is, and ask that person how to properly document this, how to properly file a bug report, and then how you can track the status on it.

It's just a matter of finding the proper channels, corporation-wise. Though they might ask for a check for the time. But that's how I would approach it---find out how to get it onto the developers official list of things to do cause these forums are not that way.

Or perhaps I'm drunk and stupid. Who knows.

 

Hmm I see.

Did you try to increase the model size? Did you play with the shadow distance, shadow resolution, shadow projection in the quality settings?

I'm not an expert but that looks more like a settings problem, rather than a bug.

 

Hey i made a short video with a new project demonstrating the shadows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpOlXZakWoE&feature=youtu.be

and here are the player settings:
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6919/65106336.png

please have a look over it

 

Please try the quality settings under Edit/Project Settings and play with the shadow distance. And tell me if that helps.

 

nipoco.. really? you think thats something we left out?

 

Sometimes it's the trivial stuff you wouldn't think of. In the video it doesn't look that bad if you ask me.

 

i was thinking the same t hing about the video, it doesn't look bad really, though when in-game and your walking through a forest and all the trees are floating...

 

Well, I loaded up my project, and didn't see the issue:



So I created a brand new scene, with just the cubes and a point light, and indeed I did see the problem. I experimented with different lights types, and this is my conclusion:

1. Directional lights work perfectly. Recommend using them whenever possible. Plus, they are much faster.
2. Spot lights show the issue, but if you adjust the "shadow bias" (default is 0.05) to 0, then the issue disappears.
3. Point lights show the issue in the blank scene, but not in my scene. Adjusting the shadow bias does nothing with a point light - it ignores it. I think this is the bug - "point lights ignore shadow bias". Why it works in my more complicated scene, I cannot tell you, though it may be because I'm using custom shaders for everything.

Reading the documentation, they even say this particular problem can arise if you set the bias too high (bottom of page):

http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Components/class-Light.html

And they call it "peter panning".

In a question about a similar issue, it seems that Unity is aware of the problem, and "planning to fix it":

http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/9288/shadow-malfunction-on-in-game-objects.html

This was posted last december, so "near future" doesn't seem too near. I suggest filing a bug report.

 

Jaimi ++

directional lights are out of the question when it comes to interior!

everything you've said i agree on

though it seems like a easy fix it really makes the project we are working on look really out of place, if it is getting enough attention then im totally fine with it. it is a hidden issue people don't realize it until they come to the point where they need interior lighting with shadows ... point lights are the solution right?

does the asset store currently have any better interior lighting? i have not found anything

 

Thank you very much , i am no puppet, and version 3.5 has alot of niggles that should be addressed before actullay making a new version release.
If you want to check my IP go ahead i am along way away from Australia being in the UK. so please get facts right before firing accusations out to other posters of the board.

 

Yes, but then again, there is no new release. Just a beta. And lack of 64 bit is not one of those "niggles" that should be addressed - it's a feature you would like. Your post was so ludicrous, that it seemed like it had to be a joke post. My apologies for not realizing that you actually meant to post that in seriousness.

 

The actual point was they will be carrying over bugs from previous release plus any bugs that show up in the new final release, would be more prudent to sort the niggles before moving to 4, and yes 64 bit would be a very nice welcome in a new release.

But i did recent the fact of you implying that i was linked to another poster, and glad you found it a joke. sheez theres alway's one in the pack.

 

I'm not sure what "i did recent" means, but hey, I did apologize, come on. If you want me to make it up to you, I'll post a bug report that there is no 64 bit in the release version of Unity 4. Seriously, I'll do it.

 

It's cool ,just letting you know it's not a great feeling coming onto a board and being accused of being someone elses account.

So i guess we can call a fresh slate.

 

I think he meant resent.

 

Gem Match 3D
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gem-match-3d/id568695401?ls=1&mt=8

True 3D Match 3 gem/jewel game...special jewels like the bomb jewel and the rainbow jewel, endless mode and challenge mode...

3 guys (mostly 2, the third, my brother helped with opinions/music/game testing, etc...)3.5 weeks, 10 days waiting for review, 12 hours in the review process

Its UDK....and yes I know where im at, but this is the best place I could think of to put it for you unity guys.....I hope you all like it, I chose UDK, although I am considering trying Unity for no particular reason.

is there anything comparable from Unity regarding this genre? I saw this on Android, which UDK cant do unless your in the big boy cluyb with cash to spare to get a UE3 license...but seriously, this one is a joke....Im sure someone can or has done better....

 

after many "Unity or UDK?" discussions in this and other forums the answer at final is: if your target platform is Windows or/and IOS the best choise is UDK, in other cases the best choice is Unity

 

That's not the final answer at all and if you think you can boil it down so easily then I think I can hazard that you're not making many games.

 

no all people take the best choices.

 

So you come along to resurrect a thread that was done with since October which is considered necro posting. Secondly your "conclusion" is simply your personal opinion on this matter. You aren't speaking for anyone here. Thread closed. Everything has been said plenty of times.

Please read the rules again: 1i. Pointless necro posting.

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/151486-Unity-Developer-Network-Rules

 

Alright, so Unity 4 is out, but I have no clue if it will ever beat UDK or Unreal Engine 3 in terms of being able to make futuristic GUI. I am trying to make a game with menus and HUDs that are similar to the ones from Transformers: War for Cybertron. I heard the only thing that improved in Unity 4 is the rendering, but I'm definitely more concerned about the GUI.

 

Unity GUI is bad, but there are alternatives like NGUI etc.

 

IIRC UDK uses scaleform... and you can use scaleform in Unity.

 

You can use Scaleform in Unity, but I'd hardly recommend it. The best option is to either roll your own, use NGUI, or wait for the new GUI to come out.

 

unity is best always

 

Except in terms of GUI. Did you even read the thread or did you just read the title and post? If not, then out of the box Unity's GUI is lacking many features, which Unity Tech. is trying to address in future versions, so even they know its a problem.

 

Not gonna lie; I find it hard to ouch Unity's GUI after messing with scaleform and UDK.

 

UDK is already out of my league because I can't even get it to work. It just crashes right away every time I boot it. So I'm left with a decision - Unity or CryEngine. What I am trying to make is very similar to a multiplayer FPS like the latest Battlefield games. However, although I heard CryEngine is pretty good and available for free, I don't even know if it happens to be any easy to use, as I'm already having a hard time with Unity. In addition, I also heard it would be very expensive to publish a game for commercial use, and I already noticed it runs very slow for some computers, which also gets me concerned. So, am I better off staying with Unity although I'm having a hard time, or is CryEngine going to be any easier?

P.S. Can we please remain unbiased here? I hate it when I see something biased.

 

Unity

Reason being is that Crytek is still needing to get their Act together with their commercial license.

If you are looking to make something like the Battlefield games look at Terrain Composer.

 

If you're struggling with Unity, I would definitely stick with Unity, as its much easier than those other engines.

 

I would suggest you stick with Unity, as it can definitely do what you're looking for. Cryengine may make it easier for you to make your game prettier, but it really is more of a pain to use. One of the best parts of Unity is the simplicity of use. Cryengine also, as HeadClot88 said, still has to get the commercial licensing scheme sorted out. Right now the free SDK is for noncommercial use, IIRC.

 

Unity.

Cryengine is harder to use than Unity, and you can hardly ever release commercial games in cryengine, as their indie licensing is notoriously bad. You don't even have to pay a dime to release a commercial Unity game. Cryengine may look better (graphically) out of the box, but Unity allows for a ton of flexibility and is far easier to actually make a game with.

Also, you asked this in a Unity forum. Anything you see here, in fact any opinion in general, is going to be at least slightly biased.

 

I wasted about 2 years now making a game with Cryengine 3.

I gave up on them last week. When they announce a commercial license for Indies (1 to 10 people) I might give them a look at...

Keyword - MIGHT

 

Not this again... I am just gonna come out and say it... USE WHAT EVER YOU FEEL IS NECESSARY! There is no real need to write a vs thread about this engine or that engine... just try them out and see what fits you...

 

@OP

Before choosing the CryEngine, i'm suggest you read this. Again..

 

Seith's one-man project Ghost of a Tale was originally started in Cryengine and later he switched to Unity. Seith's been a supervising animator at Dreamworks for over 15 years. I don't think he would have switched engines like that for no reason...

 

Don't waste your time with CrapEngine, give yourself a favor and stick with Unity.

 

My goodness!! Just proved that there are plenty of things behind graphics. Their approach to indie is horrible.

 

If you have to ask this question then the answer is Unity.

Very simple.

 

So around six months ago I decided to set up a games dev company, over the last 10 years I skimped and saved and managed to secure some private funding on the back of I get at least an Impressive three level / scene demo up and running. I have a year from today to get it fully functioning..

So I've been back and forth between engines / software packages / hiring / attending meetings etc. I originally did a small concept in Unity and hit a brick wall, so we moved over to CryEngine and we noticed how amazing everything looks and how the performance on a large open plan highly detailed world really hit the mark, no lag, no issues no fuss.

So then we started porting nearly 30,000 asset's into CryEngine and it's been going down hill from there ever since, for a start we don't use 3DsMax (Lightwave) as I'd need 5 licences for all our artist's at a chunk of cash nearly $25K there about and it's not in my budget to do so as we are already using LW. For the moment a lot of these asset's we purchased from various sources, but due to how things are imported into the engine it really is a must have Max. Let's say degenerative faces as an example stop's you from actually getting asset's into the engine and you need Max to quickly fix these issues for vegetation etc., which is fine but when you have to go through thousands of asset's doing the same thing over and over it grind's workflow to halt. On top of that you have to spend time assigning materials to every item you add (obviously not if you copy / paste).. Then there's scaleform to attend to, we haven't even looked into rigging and animation and we have been using CryEngine for two months already.

So as time's the defining factor here and it's coming down to day zero, it's rock vs. hard place. We can buy Unity PRO and start looking at where the issues lay in Unity and adding features like on click per mesh occlusion and try and find out how to implement fully dynamic realtime lighting, light propagation volume, RLR, penumbra, streaming, dynamic high texture compilation, irradiance volume, TOD, volumetric smooth shadows and all the goodies that the latest eye candy engines offer.

Oh and I have to give props to that water in CryEngine, how it can be so beautiful and have near zero impact on performance is astounding. After spending time with Unity then moving about, you really do appreciate how slick the UI is, what an amazing job third party dev's do with tools and how quickly you can get moving. In the same time we got half our asset's into CryEngine, I by myself had half a game built in Unity..

So what's this all about?

Well it's crunch time and a decision has to be made, as there's a lot of Indie's here (Doesn't seem to be that many over the seas).. It's the best place to get advice.

If anyone else out there trying to decide what engine they need right now, all I can say is pick your poison ..

 

So.... which did you pick in the end?

 

Not decided right this moment sir, just mulling over the finances. With CryEngine we'll need to buy at least one copy of max and Scaleform / Flash CS6.. With Unity we have to buy 3 X licences of Pro for now and support to try and add in some advanced features. I could be utterly wrong about this and apologies if so, but I don't get the feeling Indies are high on the priorities list for CryTek. I appreciate they gave the SDK away for free, that's truly fantastic but there seems to be a lack of nurturing and relationship building on the Indie front. Which is something else to consider..

 

In the case of your assets being source assets available in the world, then you've got to look into streaming. You can't reference that many objects in one location easily on current hardware. There's going to be hell with ram. Unity doesn't have good enough streaming for open world. In this case you'll really need to look harder at CryEngine or Unreal even as possibilities. 30,000 assets?

No engine is capable of referencing 30,000 objects in one scene. The hardware will struggle with that much.

 

Did I say in one scene? Sorry if I did, were not putting 30K into one scene that would be silly , the issue is still getting them into CryEngine. It's not a right click add job .

 

I've heard a number of people complaining about using Cryengine for indie games. Apparently you can develop your whole game and Crytek can on a whim decide not to give you a full commercial license? Something like that, not indie friendly at all. That's what I've heard anyways, I'm sure you've done more research than I have.

What kind of game are you making, I'm guessing FPS?

 

What about UDK? It can import FBX files that any 3D modeling software can export. I tried UDK but I didn't know how to import FBX files into UDK so that 1 meter in 3D Studio Max equals 1 meter in UDK. I didn't know how to export 3D models with texture bitmaps and import them into UDK. The preview windows for 3D meshes are blank. I thought I was doing something wrong.

 

I haven't heard about such issues, yet - but it's a very good point to consider.
I think if there really is a professional startup team and a lot of money and full-time work hours involved it is best to get set up a contract.

@OP - good luck and all the best with your project. No matter which engine you choose in the end.

 

Tech switches are hell ... that's what happened to Duke Nukem.

I don't know a lot about the CryEngine specifically, so I won't have much hard advice for you there.

But I can say that if you're on the fence in this kind of situation, pick the safer, less-fancy choice, which would in this case be Unity. But I guess a lot of it depends on how much your financier really values those fancy graphics ...

 

Try Unigine.