Why Is Unreal Free?

[BrUnO_XaVIeR]

Unity becoming more alike Unreal or Unreal more like Unity is irrelevant.
This is not a originality contest by any means.

[anonymous_user_30b41d9f]

I love this engine as much as i love Unity and since i had the chance to test both i’m just comparing them, giving my point of view and what i think it should be improved, by no means i wish to start a war. But if i’m being rude than this thread should be deleated for the original poster and his opinion on the competitor engine… And Unreal becoming more and more like unity is kinda of a blessing for unity developers.

[Darkhog]

KitatusStudios is right. We shouldn’t fight each other (unless we’re talking UT match).

[KITATUS]

Both engines have their strongpoints and whatnot and both have VERY passionate communities; No doubt this week, We’ll see a lot of cross-talk about the engines on here and I assume they will have some over there as well.

All I suggest is everyone respect other peoples views, Enjoy the debates / discussions but most of all: Don’t take it personal!

We’re all unified by one goal here: Video-game development (Well some of are here for Archvis / Film production / Education stuff .etc but you get the drift!)

You’re free to discuss the benefits of both engines, but please keep it civil!

Have fun, Don’t throw abuse and everyone will get on swell!

There’s no need for “X engine is better” posts either!

As I said, We’re all here for a single purpose at the end of the day and if you’re taking posts personally then I suggest you go and do something else for a bit, cool off and come back with a cool head; Nobody is out to attack anyone personally, People are just excited and feel a sense of pride and ownership over their preferred engine of choice.

You all probably know all of this, but people tend to forget when they get caught up in their debates.

Have fun and keep it clean everybody

[DaveFace]

@wburton;234499

UE4 being free will make Unity & Cryengine want to be better. Cryengine will have to top free with more features and Unity will have to either drop its price tag or reduce some of the limitations on its free version.

Agreed - all competition is good and will make other engines step up their game to compete. I doubt Unity will drop it’s price tag though, seeing as it’s already more generous than Unreal for a shipping title with decent revenue. I suspect they will lift some of the horrible restrictions on the free version.

@raven555;235309

I love this engine as much as i love Unity and since i had the chance to test both i’m just comparing them, giving my point of view and what i think it should be improved, by no means i wish to start a war. But if i’m being rude than this thread should be deleated for the original poster and his opinion on the competitor engine… And Unreal becoming more and more like unity is kinda of a blessing for unity developers.

I’m not sure why you think the thread should be deleted because you made a rude post?

[Kuro1n]

@KitatusStudios;235351

There’s no need for “X engine is better” posts either!

Why not? I think that is a great thing to discuss as long as it includes why that is. For example as I see it unity is better at mobil development atm due to unreal being a bit too bulky and stuff but that seems to be changing, while unreal is what I would choose for a desktop game for reasons I doubt I need to speak of.

[hurleyboarder]

I know that a lot of good can and will come out of this, because despite the feelings I have for Unity a lot of good games did come from it. I am just worried about Epic’s name more than anything, but a lot of good points were made and now I do think Epic can keep their good name for many reasons. Like for example their engine is one of the best out their. Also the engine is way more complex (In a GOOD Way) then Unity so that will also prevent my concern about kids coming along and think they can make the next Call Of Duty, which actually I think is good for a kid to do and learn, but most of the time they won’t finish the project or rush it and then try to publish it.

Also to clear things up, this thread I created was not a complaint. I just wanted to get peoples insight on the new change, that is why the title is asking the question: “Why Is Unreal Free?”. So some people please stopping trying to start a fight when this thread or any thread is not the place for it. Keep the forums nice.

[XilenceX]

To be honest I already had this concern when UE4 was announced with just 19$ to download it and get an account here.
I was really worried that there wouldn’t be enough support available for specific professional questions like in the Unity forums.
These can only be answered by a selected few experienced community members, so if there are tons of beginner questions it would be hard to filter out the ones interesting for them.
In UE3 times this wasn’t such a big deal since many people would just give up because of the high barrier of entry of learning how to do basic things in UE3.
However I think that Epic managed to solve this problem really well so far by having their Staff answer the professional questions here and especially on AnswerHub.
So my hope is that they will be able to continue to do this, even with the influx of new users. Then I think making UE4 free is a good decision to get a larger share of the market.

[anonymous_user_f70d3582]

@hurleyboarder;235420

so that will also prevent my concern about kids coming along and think they can make the next Call Of Duty, which actually I think is good for a kid to do and learn, but most of the time they won’t finish the project or rush it and then try to publish it.

well even if a lot of kids come along I don’t think it would cause any problems, they may be a bit naïve/immature but if they want to make a game I think they should be able to, I know this community always try’s to help anyone that wants it.

I say spread the knowledge:)

So some people please stopping trying to start a fight when this thread or any thread is not the place for it. Keep the forums nice.

hey, that’s our job;)

[n00854180t]

@;234619

I remember lot of people complained that it’s hard to make game moddable because editor was not only paid, but monthly paid (when game updates engine version you lose ability to mod without subscription), there was a lot of voices like aspecially in UT community. UE4 being free solves that.

Yep, for me this is one of the best things about the new lack of subscription. With the upcoming content pack/DLC functionality it should be even easier to set up moddable games.

Now it will be possible for devs to even ship a modified build with special editor tools and such. That’s amazing.

Modding is super important for longevity and to build a community, which are crucial for indie games anyway. Being able to support that in a seamless way is a huge benefit.

[Uprentiss]

@hurleyboarder;234417

OK, so how many of you may have seen, Unreal Engine 4 is now free (Mainly Because Of The Money Being Made On The Marketplace Now). To a lot this idea seems , but to me it seems like this will turn Epics name into a joke like Unity name is now. The great thing about the $19 a month, and no free plans was that people who were on the forums were serious about game development, and that is the difference between Unity and Unreal. Now that it is free I expect soon to see the forms page having a lot of immature posts like Unity’s. That isn’t the only problem I see although, the other issue is that ever since Unity has become free so many games have been releasing that are either incomplete or stupid, and has made PC gaming a joke and most people always blame Unity for this (although it is not their fault). I just don’t want Epic to fall the same way.

I think the market will be a 100 times more over saturated with utter garbage, a price tag even a small one usually makes it where someone who is serious wants to do it. I just seen a thread where someone wanted to sell the shooter game as there game and give unreal revenue. thats going to be constant now. I been programming for over 6 years and unreal is part of the reason I wanted to get into game development because the developers were so passionate about it. but now its not going to be like that it is going to be a ton of cash grabbing **** being made by people who doesn’t give 2 craps about the artform of the development process only the money return.

[neryun (Martin)]

@Uprentiss;235625

I think the market will be a 100 times more over saturated with utter garbage, a price tag even a small one usually makes it where someone who is serious wants to do it. I just seen a thread where someone wanted to sell the shooter game as there game and give unreal revenue. thats going to be constant now. I been programming for over 6 years and unreal is part of the reason I wanted to get into game development because the developers were so passionate about it. but now its not going to be like that it is going to be a ton of cash grabbing **** being made by people who doesn’t give 2 craps about the artform of the development process only the money return.

That might be true to some extend when more can use it. At the same time you give access to a lot of people that are talented one way or the other and have actually the chance to show that passion. And if a young kid is playing with it around, who knows in 5, 10 years he or she is the next big designer. This is giving access to everyone and that has its down and upside. But that doesn’t mean that we only see **** or that passion is gone.

[Uprentiss]

@Martin Egger;235635

That might be true to some extend when more can use it. At the same time you give access to a lot of people that are talented one way or the other and have actually the chance to show that passion. And if a young kid is playing with it around, who knows in 5, 10 years he or she is the next big designer. This is giving access to everyone and that has its down and upside. But that doesn’t mean that we only see **** or that passion is gone.

Yeah I see your point, tis jsut after seeing the person want to package the shooter on there own and resell it i was like “ok here we go” and id hate for this place to turn into unity, i hate disrespecting another community or etc which is why i rarely mention them. but it is a cess pool of cash grabbing antics and etc over there. even the education thing being free here i thought was amazing because it gave up and coming people a chance. I just hate to see stuff like what I mentioned because its simple cash grabbing and when that happens markets become over saturated and good games get over looked

[neryun (Martin)]

@Uprentiss;235664

Yeah I see your point, tis jsut after seeing the person want to package the shooter on there own and resell it i was like “ok here we go” and id hate for this place to turn into unity, i hate disrespecting another community or etc which is why i rarely mention them. but it is a cess pool of cash grabbing antics and etc over there. even the education thing being free here i thought was amazing because it gave up and coming people a chance. I just hate to see stuff like what I mentioned because its simple cash grabbing and when that happens markets become over saturated and good games get over looked

Well I can give you a very good example in terms how UE4 actually empowers me. At ShardLine we have Artists, Coders, Designers and so forth and its pure luxury to have that and create custom things. Now me being also a Game Design Student, and I literally am so bad in creating Art, I strive for the fact that I can reuse so many stuff and combine them into prototype levels for my bachelor and get a decent look. Lets be honest, yes we all love the blocking days :), but if a prototype level can be meshed together and also look mostly decent for testing, so what :).

But yes, people will use basic stuff from the engine and try to sell it, but honestly that guy will become perhaps the next big Sales Guy at a Financial Institution (some irony :)).

The thing is that bringing games to people is just another whole ball game that includes a lot of understanding of the market, the different models and how to engage it and also sustain momentum until you might need to change into a new model. And of course knowing people doesn’t hurt, next to some luck. Look at Epic, they needed to change their model to a new one, times have changed. (Though I still believe that it wasn’t only the notion to change to a more service-oriented company, but also because they really truly wanted something new)

Now with the example you are giving, that kid actually just does that what many will do, getting loud and selling something which isn’t truly unique or self-made. And that is something that is very true to live anyway because it is part of selling and buying. And that is something Gamedevs need as well. But also support from a Mediator. Epic can be that, if your game applies to their standard to be marketed.

Point being, even though I understand what you are saying and I also am not a big fan of it, what we can take out of it is, if that guy actually sells that game you might try to hire him to sell your game. As some people say back here in Switzerland, if you can sell Air, your are a true Salesman.

[Uprentiss]

@Martin Egger;235721

Well I can give you a very good example in terms how UE4 actually empowers me. At ShardLine we have Artists, Coders, Designers and so forth and its pure luxury to have that and create custom things. Now me being also a Game Design Student, and I literally am so bad in creating Art, I strive for the fact that I can reuse so many stuff and combine them into prototype levels for my bachelor and get a decent look. Lets be honest, yes we all love the blocking days :), but if a prototype level can be meshed together and also look mostly decent for testing, so what :).

But yes, people will use basic stuff from the engine and try to sell it, but honestly that guy will become perhaps the next big Sales Guy at a Financial Institution (some irony :)).

The thing is that bringing games to people is just another whole ball game that includes a lot of understanding of the market, the different models and how to engage it and also sustain momentum until you might need to change into a new model. And of course knowing people doesn’t hurt, next to some luck. Look at Epic, they needed to change their model to a new one, times have changed. (Though I still believe that it wasn’t only the notion to change to a more service-oriented company, but also because they really truly wanted something new)

Now with the example you are giving, that kid actually just does that what many will do, getting loud and selling something which isn’t truly unique or self-made. And that is something that is very true to live anyway because it is part of selling and buying. And that is something Gamedevs need as well. But also support from a Mediator. Epic can be that, if your game applies to their standard to be marketed.

Point being, even though I understand what you are saying and I also am not a big fan of it, what we can take out of it is, if that guy actually sells that game you might try to hire him to sell your game. As some people say back here in Switzerland, if you can sell Air, your are a true Salesman.

Stop being so level headed and making so much sense

[hurleyboarder]

@Martin Egger;235721

Well I can give you a very good example in terms how UE4 actually empowers me. At ShardLine we have Artists, Coders, Designers and so forth and its pure luxury to have that and create custom things. Now me being also a Game Design Student, and I literally am so bad in creating Art, I strive for the fact that I can reuse so many stuff and combine them into prototype levels for my bachelor and get a decent look. Lets be honest, yes we all love the blocking days :), but if a prototype level can be meshed together and also look mostly decent for testing, so what :).

But yes, people will use basic stuff from the engine and try to sell it, but honestly that guy will become perhaps the next big Sales Guy at a Financial Institution (some irony :)).

The thing is that bringing games to people is just another whole ball game that includes a lot of understanding of the market, the different models and how to engage it and also sustain momentum until you might need to change into a new model. And of course knowing people doesn’t hurt, next to some luck. Look at Epic, they needed to change their model to a new one, times have changed. (Though I still believe that it wasn’t only the notion to change to a more service-oriented company, but also because they really truly wanted something new)

Now with the example you are giving, that kid actually just does that what many will do, getting loud and selling something which isn’t truly unique or self-made. And that is something that is very true to live anyway because it is part of selling and buying. And that is something Gamedevs need as well. But also support from a Mediator. Epic can be that, if your game applies to their standard to be marketed.

Point being, even though I understand what you are saying and I also am not a big fan of it, what we can take out of it is, if that guy actually sells that game you might try to hire him to sell your game. As some people say back here in Switzerland, if you can sell Air, your are a true Salesman.

Thanks you for this reply. It has a lot of points in it , and I can tell you put good time into this.