Pre-purchase questions & gathering informations

Community Community & Industry Discussion
1

Hello , my name is .

I’m very interested in creating my own game so recently I’ve started gathering information and searching for the correct engine and softwares to begin with.

I’m simply a beginner , I don’t have any particular experience with animation , modeling or coding .
but I like to start & learn which means I’m willing to invest time.

To be honest unreal engine has always been my favorite of all accessible engines and it’s the most appealing thing to me from all the other engines and softwares I’ve been looking at. But since Unreal engine is not free and requires monthly payments , I need to make sure I pick a good engine and correct way to learn and take steps into game development .

I have an idea about a 3D horror game and I would like to make it happen , I do not expect to make it in no time but I expect to be able to learn fast and put things to work by help of community & tutorials.

So before I buy anything , I would like to ask your opinions ( staff , pro devs and those who are learning ) about few things .
( keep in mind that I really need replies that aren’t affiliated with promoting or commercializing the unreal engine )

Q-1): Is unreal engine a correct & good place for a beginner to start making his own games? or is it for advanced and veteran coders and so on?

Q-2): Is a 3D project a good option to begin with? ( keep in mind that its going to be a one man project)

Q-3): I’m from Iran & for example unity engine is not accessible to Iranians due to U.S laws . Does unreal engine/Epic company have any similar rules applying to anyone from Iran seeking to use engine , utilities , marketplace or publishing projects?

Q-4): Is community willing to invest time into helping people with less knowledge to grow and develop their projects?

Q-5): Are “New updates & versions” going to interfere with project developments & process of learning?

Q-6): is it possible to publish games via a program such as steam greenlight?

These are all the questions on my mind at the moment , as previously mentioned I’m a very fine definition of a beginner and I might not have asked the most tactical and best questions .
So please , if you have any information that could help me make a good decision and take the correct step , share it and I will be very grateful . :slight_smile:

Thank you for taking time & reading my thread , I apologize for any grammatical errors .
I also apologize if I’ve posted my thread in the wrong sub-forum.

Sincerely , Pr .

2

Welcome! :smiley:

  1. In my opinion it’s a good engine to begin with, because you dont need any C++ experience (blueprints), a friendly and helpful community (when you have problems with something, post them into the forum and you will get an answer), many tutorials (https://docs.unrealengine/latest/INT/ , https://wiki.unrealengine/Main_Page , https://www.youtube/user/UnrealDevelopmentKit)

  2. for a 3d project you will have to learn how to use a 3d program (blender, 3ds , maya) -> but when you are abel to create 3d stuff, it wont be a problem developing a 3d game

  3. yes, the community is always here to help you with your stuff -> you can even search for a own team in this section: https://forums.unrealengine/forumdisplay.php?25-Got-Skills-Looking-for-Talent

  4. sometimes -> new features will be added with every new update + some stuff will change.

Keep in mind that you can also unsubscribe after you have payed the 20$ -> you will be still abel to use the engine, but you wont get any updates till you re-subscribe :slight_smile:

3

Thanks for the feedback !

I’m gonna need more replies from other members as well .
anyway can I ask you some stuff about 3D projects via pms?

4

One man projects are rarely good ideas but that depends on a few factors such as genre and size.
It is a good and friendly place for new wannabe devs however you need to work for it too.
q-3 i dont know, Will ask an Epic Dev to reply.
The community mostly made by professionals that are investing both time and money, However holding hands isn’t always good and in some cases it’s not possible.
q5 minimal impact, I don’t see the engine changing so drastically that would make you have to re-learn what you already learned. However evolution is always welcome.
q6 yes.

5

Better would be when you ask it into the forum, because then other members with the same question can also read it :slight_smile: But you can always send me a pm :wink:

6

Thank you for your feedback , could you explain abit more why this isn’t a good idea?

It be great to have contact with a person who knows how games are made , but yeah forum thread would be better .
thing is I need to speak about everything first and get information , then post questions that I can think of here.

7

because there is so much 1 person can do. Small companies prefer generalists, People that know a little about everything, Bigger companies prefer specialized skills.
Again that depends on what is your project, If it’s a small arcade game there should be any issue doing it alone, If you are going to make the next huge MMO then 1 person will be too little.

8

Well about this 3D horror game idea that I got , it’s going to be similar to a game of slenderman ( in length of the game/minutes ) .
It won’t be a shooting game , rather a hiding mechanism seen in outlast ( altho not that fancy ) & it won’t have different levels everytime game loads .
It should be a straight forward plot with some cut scenes and some animation mixed with it .

but as I said in the post , I’m willing to invest time :slight_smile:

Thank you for your feedback , I’m still going to wait till I have a chat with several people and read other people’s feedback as well :slight_smile:

9

Bump! :slight_smile: Still looking for more feedback

10

I think the Unreal Engine 4 will suit your needs just fine…As for being a beginner and just starting out, my advice would be for you to start small and work your way up to your dream game…Otherwise you are going to get frustrated and your dream project may fail…I work by myself, mostly just as a hobby…I do plan to release a game some day…Welcome to UE4…

11

Atm I only have one idea for a project but yeah I understand . I think I will start on modeling and animation and once I’m ready , I start on coding and blueprints and at the end I can easily create a project.

Thanks for the feedback :slight_smile:

12

Hi ,

The Unreal Engine falls under those same restrictions as we are a US company. Sorry about that, it’s just completely out of our hands.

The updates are not mandatory and can be ignored/skipped

Looks like the community has all of the other questions covered. Let me know if you have any questions, you can PM me anytime (though it may take me a little while to get back to you)

14

Well if we are blocked by the company then there really is no point trying to figure if program will work out fine with my goals.
but I would like a complete detail of which things are allowed and which things are restricted . maybe there is a I can use the program .

15

You are not blocked by the company, you are blocked by the US.

16

either way it applies.

17

Thank you all for your feedback and replies , however due to Sanction and political bs I can’t use unreal engine at the moment .

thanks again for all the replies .
a moderator can close this thread.

18

I think you are giving up too easily- surely you know someone outside Iran that you can send $20, sub for one month and now you have the engine forever. You can at least learn it in that time. Even if you can’t release a game, maybe at some point you’ll be able to. Or contribute to a project that is outside Iran.

19

Good point , I’m not giving up entirely :slight_smile: