Unity 3D game engine now freeware

[Ali]

I just read that the 'indie' version of Unity, which previously cost $200, is now available as freeware. It can build games for PC, Mac and the Web, and the graphics in the demo look quite pretty.

http://unity3d.com/unity/download/

It doesn't seem to have a built in text parser, but you can't have everything.

[Ghost]

Hmmm, looks juicy, and I really like the make-the-old-version-freeware-and-shift-to-the-next-one approach becoming more popular. Downloading, might report on it later. Thanks for sharing the link in any case!

[Chicky]

This shot is the most inspiring 

[InCreator]

Really nice-looking and well-optimised engine, but also a real chore to actually do something more complex than "virtua tourist 3D". SDK-kind of interface is nice to look at, but painful to actually use.

I think I'll stick to NeoAxis. Even though I'm unable to make a 3d game with even that.

[Eggie]

My animation tutor just e-mailed me this.

Sorry if it's old news.

And if it isn't, sorry if I rained on anyone's parade. :p

EDIT: Krazy just just told me vague stuff he heard of reddit about how Unity is good and Unreal is bad... my parade has been rained on...

[Anian]

Unity 3d is sort of free, in the sense you can get a free edition of it BUT if you look at the comparison on their site the Unity 3D Pro (1500$ btw) has a lot more features that are really useful and may even be essential for making interesting games:
http://unity3d.com/unity/licenses

There are quite a few free 3d engines:
If you know jack about programing, there's a free engine that doesn't require it called Reallity Factory (totally free, not the next gen graphic but still a lot can be done with it), but I recommend you wait till next year, cause that's when the RF2 is coming out and it's supposed to be a quite a step forward.
This is good for 3rd person and 1st person games in line of GTA3, Unreal, Quake 3 graphics.

There's also CrystalSpace which is kinda complicated but has a plugin for Blender so you can use it with relativly no programming skills.

Best solution, but requires C++ programming skills (more than the novice level) is Irrlicht, but if you know C++ or similar, this is probably the best option cause it offers a lot of freedom and it's easy to get great results.

More programming frinedly is Panda3D, also free, made originally by Disney, it's requires Python or C++ knowledge.

[Eggie]

I've played about a little bit with RealityFactory, it seems really nice to use but the example games all have really clunky controls. I'm guessing that's a limitation to the engine rather than just bad design in the individual games.

[Anian]

I've played about a little bit with RealityFactory, it seems really nice to use but the example games all have really clunky controls. I'm guessing that's a limitation to the engine rather than just bad design in the individual games.

Hmm, yeah, maybe not ideal for aboslutly precise games, but still no programing, for free and really easy to get working with it.

NeoAxis, on the other hand, actually has a watermark on the images if you don't pay the 95$ indie license (http://www.neoaxisgroup.com/services/licensing#comparison)

[Layabout]

I have heard Unity is really good at doing one type of game... but really terrible at others. AFAIK (through testing and others), if you are creating content on the grid using only meshes and not terrain... it's not perfect.

But why use something like Unity when you can use the Unreal 3 Engine? Its free for non commercial use now, has up to the minute features, and has one of the best cinematic editors on the planet. Well it's great if you can make the nice graphics.

[InCreator]

NeoAxis, on the other hand, actually has a watermark on the images if you don't pay the 95$ indie license (http://www.neoaxisgroup.com/services/licensing#comparison)

What images? All it does is display NA logo when you start up the game - like any commercial game does, i think. There's no additional watermarks or logos. It's not the watermark that limits non-commercial license, but the fact that you are not allowed to sell games.

Also, for $95, a full-powered 3D engine is actually rare find.

But to be honest, shadows and lights are not up to mainstream engines yet. Even though they will be as engine reaches version 1.0. I've been fiddling with this engine since v0.54 (it's at 0.82 right now) and it's developing quite rapidly. But making anything by your own reveals its true potential because default demo game(s) have programmer's art-look, quite horrid really.

If I'd make leading affordable (yet modern) 3D-engines top 3, it would go like this:

1) NeoAxis
2) C4 Engine
3) Unity3D

Even though NA and C4 are about same, simply with different strengths. C4 has way better water shader and shadow & light, NeoAxis has better system for making maps and interactive geometry. Also, whole BSP-like level editor in C4 is VERY approachable to anyone ever made maps for commercial games, BUT this system will be outdated quickly, if not already.

[Anian]

What images? All it does is display NA logo when you start up the game - like any commercial game does, i think. There's no additional watermarks or logos. It's not the watermark that limits non-commercial license, but the fact that you are not allowed to sell games.

Also, for $95, a full-powered 3D engine is actually rare find.

Actually, I might have been wrong about the no watermark thing, but what confused me was that fact that it said "no watermark", but separate from that it says "Engine logo optional". But if you've been working with it then ok.

Since you've been looking around these engines, what do you think about UDK?

[Anteater]

Irrlicht rocks. I've made two games with it (not really worth playing but they taught me a lot) and its very easy to work with.

[TerranRich]

This might be a stupid questions, but can an adventure game be made using the Unreal 3 engine, in theory?

[Layabout]

This might be a stupid questions, but can an adventure game be made using the Unreal 3 engine, in theory?

Theoretically yes. You can control scene cameras/switching and dialog scenes, cutscenes, event animations (pick up, etc) with Unreal Matinee, add UI elements, control some of the scripting elements with Unreal Kismet, but a lot would have to be hard coded with Unrealscript. Nonetheless, it would be possible, and probably involve the same knowledge as any other graphics engine.

One of the 'showcase' games is a 2/5d platformy type thing. To do a 'point and click' style interface wouldn't be too hard for someone who is decent at programming.

The problem with any of these engines is not programming. It's the art.

[Anian]

The problem with any of these engines is not programming. It's the art.

Meh, I actually like modeling in 3d, it's kind of relaxing, not that I'm that good at it. Still normal maps just stump me (not the actual proces of how they work but how to actually use them in a game).

Actually programing is what gives me trouble, tried to do something in Irrlicht and while I don't know actual programing but I understand it to some extent, I can certanly copy codes and adjust them, but there isn't a complete beginner's guide for these types of things. There goes a tutorial, it says "for begginers" and it explains the code and I get it, but I have no idea where I'm supposed to write that. tried learning C# and C++ but there's a huge gap in tutorials between the bare begining and using it with some game engine.  : (hope it doesn't seem like I'm ranting, but I'm searching for some kinda of game engine that'll fit me for the last 3 months   )

Anyway, like you said, anything can be done with scripting, and once I did some maps for UT, and the Unrealscript is easy, still, gap between that and acutally doing something useful in a game engine like making a camera follow a player (3d person style).  

This might be a stupid questions, but can an adventure game be made using the Unreal 3 engine, in theory?

Well it's a FPS engine (but there is a car you can drive in UT so you can probably copy that system for 3rd person style game), anyway, you can makea  first person adventure game, levers and buttons should be super easy to make and that's basically the only thing you really need for a game...I'm just talking out thin air, but in theory...

[Wonkyth]

but there's a huge gap in tutorials between the bare begining and using it with some game engine.

That is definitely true.
After stumbling around with a basic/intermediate knowledge of C# for a while, I decided to have a look at XNA.
So far I haven't been disappointed, but then I've only been looking towards 2D games.
It does have good support for 3D games, I think.

Anyway, I'm building my game engine from the ground up. No way I can get confused by Nasty foreign code now!

[Layabout]

Well it's a FPS engine (but there is a car you can drive in UT so you can probably copy that system for 3rd person style game), anyway, you can makea  first person adventure game, levers and buttons should be super easy to make and that's basically the only thing you really need for a game...I'm just talking out thin air, but in theory...

Gears of War? that was third person, included cinematics.

[InCreator]

Since you've been looking around these engines, what do you think about UDK?

Unreal Dev Kit? No clue, to be honest. I made a wide tryout and search for available engines a bit before I heard about UDK. I've fiddled with irrlicht, 3d Rad, A4/A5/A6 gamestudio, etc etc. Unreal kind of got skipped.

Actually, learning any 3D engine is a frightening world with very low ratio of success.
And if you cannot code in some popular language, such as C# (like myself), there is no ratio.

[Miez]

The really, REALLY nice thing of that Unity engine is, that it will run on a lot of different platforms: PC, Mac, Web, iPhone, XBOX etc. Not sure if that goes for the free version as well...

[Ali]

It's great to hear about a free/cheap 3D engines that are totally new to me, as well as a few I've looked at before like Reality Factory and Crystalspace which was used to make the (quite weak) adventure game Keepsake.

Incidentally, I believe that the free version of Unity only makes games for PCs, Macs, and web applications.