Some of you might have noticed that on our official website, the logos depicted in the composition below will have appeared and disappeared within a certain period of time.
There is a reason for this. It was simply because all those technologies have undergone an internal testing phase to determine which is the best possible set of tools to power our projects that are currently in development.
The truth is, all those game development tools are brilliant in their own ways, and excel in various areas depending on what you intend to achieve.
Choosing the right game development engine can be an extremely difficult task (especially for an independent developer).
When all engines were placed on the drawing board, there were a few factors to consider:
- Cost/Licensing: These days, quite a few game development tools are available for free (noncommercial use); however, some require an upfront payment, some require a subscription service, and some have really generous licensing terms (NeoAxis 3D SDK for example). Depending on what the budget is, any of these solutions are viable for an independent developer.
- Usability: “One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” as the old saying goes. It is imperative that whatever tools are chosen complement the creative vision of the project.
- Potential and Versatility: Potential is something which is quite difficult to determine, seeing as it involves a certain level of extrapolation. The potential of an engine can easily be judged by the games that have utilised the technologies in the past.
- Scripting: Some engines require proprietary scripting languages, some don’t. Once again, this boils down to the project requirements and goals.
- Performance: An engine that is well optimized leaves room for more creativity, as the focus will be on creating a great product as opposed to dealing with a long list of bugs and issues.
- Platform Support: Game development tools are reaching the point where multi-platform deployment does not negatively impact the quality of the finished product.
With that being said, the CryEngine (formerly CryEngine 3) comes out as the game development solution with a logical set of tools that enables Rapid Game Development (RGD). This is not counting out the excellent NeoAxis 3D Engine, which is currently at Version 2.1. A game engine acts as the central hub to any project, combining all elements from different applications and tools to create a finished product.
We are glad to announce that the CryEngine will be the central hub to our upcoming video game projects. Any Questions? Contact us on InnerSanctumGames.com.
