So i’m not a developer i’m a busy full-time student, I have no coding experience, for the past year i’ve been messing about with Construct 2 in my free time as it allows you to make games really easily with no code whatsoever. I chose it because the free version is viable and lets you upload to sites like newgrounds, and i’ve done a few very small projects already. However i’ve always had a (2D) game in mind that was the reason I got into this as a hobby and its all I really want to make. I found out UE4 was free and i’m interested but I have no idea what the difference in time and effort would be if I used this engine instead.
I’d be willing to spend a few months (of free time, not full time) learning relevant bits of C++ if it would make this a viable engine for me to use. Tell me if i’m being unrealistic or if this is an option. I’m getting skeptical of Construct 2 tbh because i’ve yet to see any decent games come out of it and the community is tiny.
Thanks, tell me politely if i’m being dumb, i’m not part of this sphere
Well first off Unreal right now is not a good tool for 2D games. It is supported in a way but not in a spot where you can reliably work with it for a real project beyond ******** around a bit.
The second thing however should be great news: You don’t need to learn C++. Blueprint is absolutely capable of doing most of the stuff and should get you quite far! And even if you come to a limitation you can then learn a bit c++ and just provide yourself with the blueprint node you need to continue in blueprint. It certainly makes for a way easier time learning everything especially with the context menu which provides you with all possible functions. It’s really great to learn!
Now to the “hard facts”. Unreal and 3D games in general are a lot more time consuming. The chance especially as beginner that you will create a full game (even just a demo) is fairly small. If you generally like ******** around and creating a bit of small stuff… definitely go for it! And you are certainly welcome to prove me wrong! If you aim for a small enough project it might very well be possible for you alone to finish it even if it’s only a small game which you will only show your friends.
In the end. It comes 100% down to what you want to create. There are a few dozen engines and (almost) all server their purpose. It really comes down to what you want to create. Only after that I can tell you if Unreal is a good tool for you.
in case you want to check out a bit of the workflow and blueprint system check out the EpicGames tutorials on blueprints: ?v=cRhWc2kAhqI&list=PLZlv_N0_O1gbYMYfhhdzfW1tUV4jU0YxH .
Thank you very much for the quick replies, i’m already seeing the difference between here and the C2 community
I will start ******** around in the engine and see how I find it, what I want to make is primarily an adventure game so I guess it could be either 2D or 3D!
I pretty much had no knowledge when I started this time last year. I also have a 45+ hour a week job and 2 kids. If you keep at it you can make whatever you want. Blueprint is pretty awesome, and the community is great.too.
Erasio what about someone like me? part time student who has lots and lots of free time?
Can I create a game in UE4 within 3 years that would sell for maybe $5 a copy? Could I make a living doing this? offcourse its going to be me alone. Just wondering or am I wasting my time?
If I made $500 US a month it would be a lot for me.
Heh yeah I am not a math wizard so I won’t be making something like that anytime soon.
My career is satellite communications so not really. My troubleshooting experience might help but that is about it.
Sometimes I don’t even think it is about time, but energy. I can sit in front of the computer for days like a zombie and then 10 minutes of inspired energy and focus gets all the work done.
I have to agree with franktech. It is very much doable. However to actually pull it off is hard. Like really hard.
Start with something you’re passionate about. Something small but something you love because motivation will be your biggest enemy. Being a jack of all trades is something quite hard as well. You will have to learn every aspect if you create it 100% on your own which consumes a lot of time and in the end will result is poorer quality since you didn’t have time to learn everything properly / are not talented as much in some areas or simply because you had no input from others. Right off the bad I can only think of two games which were done by a single person. AntiChamber and Dust: An elysian tale. In general puzzle / platformer are easier to create but require good level design and usually some new cool twist to it to be appealing which is very important for the last hurdle.
Selling your game. You have to keep a few things in mind with game development and living off your own indie games.
You game will sell more copies in the first 1-2 weeks than ever. If you fail to get even a small hype going around your game with good social engineering and community work your game is in a fairly bad spot. You can increase sales again by doing a sale (lol) but this is only a short term solution for a bit of money. In general: You will most likely not earn those 500 a month after 1-2 months but maybe a few thousand in the first week.
If your game flops completely you’re screwed. No second chance. You’re out of money and can’t do anything anymore. This is true for every game you create unless you have a miraculous success like notch or those guys from super meat boy which will give you some time to breath but in general: Budget is a huge issue.
In conclusion: Don’t count on this. Creating a game and selling it is a great experience and certainly helps you getting a job in another studio but the chance that you actually can live off that is realistically rather small. The biggest chance of success is if you create something you truly like / love. A game you want to exist. If it’s just a handy app or a full on first person multiplayer shooter.
Edit: Check out this post from impromptugames. They created a very detailed post about their selling history and the whole process of getting their game (InFlux) on popular selling platforms. The only one this detailed I’ve seen so far. Great stuff!
Take it from someone who has moderate programming experience and has tried many game engines. YES! Unreal Engine is for you! As mentioned before they are still working on the 2D aspects but I hardly find that discouraging.
I came from Uni**, one might say a top competitor, and will never even think about looking back. I accomplished more with two weeks of UE4 than I have in months with Uni**.
The best part is you don’t even have to know how to write code! While I am proficient in C# I decided to /code/ my program using the blueprint feature, and has it ever saved me so much time and trouble.
What I’m trying to say is that UE4 really feels like the starting point for beginners but has the clear ability to stand out for professionals as well.
@Distful … had me nervous there for a minute … I thought our bad word filter had decided Uni** was a bad word … 8-}
@WalkingDead … I would first try to recreate one of the classics … like Tetris or PacMan … because you know the game mechanics and you know how it should work. Then you should either come up with a concept that you would like to do and create that or add a twist to Tetris or PacMan or whatever you choose.
I have found that many new developers/designers/artists want to make the next best game or the next best hit right off the hilt … but they don’t know what they want and have no idea how the game should work. They dive in, get stuck and start to get discouraged … don’t fall in to the trap. Do something simple … finish it … it will give you motivation to do the next one … and the next one … and the next one.
Whatever you choose to do, good luck and keep us updated. 8-}
