LF: game engine recommendation (Unity etc)

[Scott_Arm]

Can you increase friction on the edge of the puck but not its bases? That should make it tip over.

I created a physics material for the puck, and that's where you set the static and dynamic friction properties. There is something called anistropic friction, where you can set a friction direction. I suppose that means you're setting an axis that has a different friction value than the rest? Edit: I looked it up, and it's definitely controlling friction along x,y,z axis, but I don't know if that's relative to the object's local axis or the world/global axis.

I also realized the primitive cylinder they provide has a physics collidor (hitbox for physics detection, basically) in the shape of a capsule, so it had rounded sides. I changed it to a mesh based collidor so it could lie flat, but it still tends to wobble on its edge and not fall.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Also, I have to add, for people who are interested in making a hobby game, that my initial impression of Unity is fantastic. I'm actually shocked at how easy it is to use. They provide a lot more than I thought they would. I'm not sure how using the free version of Unreal Engine or Cryengine compares. I'm sure those are probably more powerful for the advanced user, but Unity seems to be reasonably powerful but incredibly easy. If you know any C-type language, then scripting is absolutely easy. The editor does a lot for you, and is very simple. The online documentation and tutorial videos are also really good. Start with one of the videos on how to create a project/game.

 

[iroboto]

It's very good!
As hobbyist tool it's definitely ideal.
I'll have to look into UE4 and Crysis, but honestly I wouldn't be shocked if they were more way more complex to learn.
edit I also had similar problems with physics models in Unity.
With my pool/mini golf game there things tended to bug out- like blasting the golf ball entirely through a wall or something.

 

[willardjuice]

It's very good!
As hobbyist tool it's definitely ideal.
I'll have to look into UE4 and Crysis, but honestly I wouldn't be shocked if they were more way more complex to learn.
edit I also had similar problems with physics models in Unity.
With my pool/mini golf game there things tended to bug out- like blasting the golf ball entirely through a wall or something.

Yeah Unity (physx) has issues with objects moving too quickly and often "fly through" obstacles. You can increase the number of physics steps to limit this from happening (increases cpu load obviously) but generally you're going to have to keep track of your object's position from the previous frame and then shoot a ray toward your object's current position. If the ray hits nothing, you're golden. If it hits an obstacle, you can move your object near the collision point of the ray.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Yeah Unity (physx) has issues with objects moving too quickly and often "fly through" obstacles. You can increase the number of physics steps to limit this from happening (increases cpu load obviously) but generally you're going to have to keep track of your object's position from the previous frame and then shoot a ray toward your object's current position. If the ray hits nothing, you're golden. If it hits an obstacle, you can move your object near the collision point of the ray.

There is an option under the RigidBody properties where you can set the type of collision detection. For fast moving objects they say you should use continuous collision detection rather than discrete. There are type types of continuous collision detection, depending on whether the object collides dynamic objects or only static ones. I haven't played with it yet.

 

[Scott_Arm]

It's very good!
As hobbyist tool it's definitely ideal.
I'll have to look into UE4 and Crysis, but honestly I wouldn't be shocked if they were more way more complex to learn.
edit I also had similar problems with physics models in Unity.
With my pool/mini golf game there things tended to bug out- like blasting the golf ball entirely through a wall or something.

I took a quick look at Cryengine and you can get it free for non-commercial use. Commercial use is $9/mo. Unreal Engine 3 UDK is free for non-commercial as well, but you have to pay $20/mo for UE4.

The only thing I'm worried about with Unity Free, is it's missing this one feature: "Navmesh: Dynamic Obstacles and Priority - Add movable obstacles for navmesh agents to avoid. Adjust avoidance priority between navmesh agents."

I eventually would like to have some simple ai players, and not sure if that will be an issue. The net is static is maybe the only object you'd want to avoid. I haven't read up on using Nav meshes yet, so I don't know what my solution for ai positioning will be.

It's also missing IK rigs for animation, but that's something I wouldn't get to for a long time. Animation sync layers and addiontal curves are also missing. Don't even know what that means. Don't care about the graphics features that are missing from the free version.

 

[willardjuice]

There are type types of continuous collision detection, depending on whether the object collides dynamic objects or only static ones. I haven't played with it yet.

These options do help, but you'll still have the same fundamental problem regardless.

 

[Scott_Arm]

These options do help, but you'll still have the same fundamental problem regardless.

Good to know. I expect to have a fast moving puck.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Learning to build even the most primitive models is going to be the hardest part probably. I have the utmost respect for the people who build such high quality models and animations for games.

 

[ntclick]

I think you should begin before 2d game

 

[Scott_Arm]

I think you should begin before 2d game

I'm just messing around. Making a 2D game doesn't really interest me. Really, I'm doing this for myself, to see what I can do. Maybe I'd try making a game to share with other people if I felt comfortable taking that on.

 

[Acert93]

Very cool Scott! Keep my posted on your progress--I want to give it a whirl when you have something you are willing to share

I had been looking at Unity. My oldest son has put hundreds of hours into Scratch and is working on a little Python. He enjoys the challenge of making little games and has learned a lot of concepts from Scratch (it is humorous watching him explaining variables to his 10 year old friends). He has wanted to branch out so I looked at Unity. Not quite sure what I will recommend to him after he gets his Python basics down. Construct 2 (mentioned in this thread) is pretty similar to Scratch in some ways and seems quite capable for 2D (similar class as GameMaker).

We have talked about making a mashup of Flotilla, Crimson Steam Pirates, Salvo (Windows app), Frozen Synapse, etc. Basically a turn based, multiplayer, space combat game with basic Newtonian physics. Of the titles mentions possibly most similar to Crimson Steam Pirates except in space, ability to choose more ships and ship types, and the oddities of space movement. Then more modes. 3D (i.e. Unity) would be a plus but may be above our meager skills Construct 2 (2D) would be a very fast way to prototype and actually push out a working title.

BTW, looking at picking up the old IL-2 1946 PC title to play some coop missions. You have the old version?

Ps and since I am off topic... Warthunder? NRP needs to drag both of us off to MWO...

 

[Scott_Arm]

I'll keep you posted. My progress is going to be pretty slow. I have way too many hobbies now. Lots to do besides gaming nowadays, which is a good thing. I'll probably only have an hour or two a week to mess around with Unity. It should be fun. It's very easy, and the online tutorials the provide are very high quality.

I don't have IL-2 anymore. That was ages ago. I haven't really looked into Warthunder.

 

[L. Scofield]

I took a quick look at Cryengine and you can get it free for non-commercial use. Commercial use is $9/mo. Unreal Engine 3 UDK is free for non-commercial as well, but you have to pay $20/mo for UE4.

Actually you don't have to pay monthly for UE4. You can pay one month and then keep using that version until you want to upgrade, only then is when you have to pay again.

I'd recommend using UE4, for a beginner Blueprints are a godsend, since you program in a completely visual way. Like programming directly via flow charts. Plus the feature set is far more comprehensive than Unity Free's, perhaps even better than the Pro version. It's also more up to date with current trends in gaming, such as PBR support.

 

[iroboto]

Actually you don't have to pay monthly for UE4. You can pay one month and then keep using that version until you want to upgrade, only then is when you have to pay again.

I'd recommend using UE4, for a beginner Blueprints are a godsend, since you program in a completely visual way. Like programming directly via flow charts. Plus the feature set is far more comprehensive than Unity Free's, perhaps even better than the Pro version. It's also more up to date with current trends in gaming, such as PBR support.

You've got my interest. How is documentation with UE4?

 

[Scott_Arm]

Actually you don't have to pay monthly for UE4. You can pay one month and then keep using that version until you want to upgrade, only then is when you have to pay again.

I'd recommend using UE4, for a beginner Blueprints are a godsend, since you program in a completely visual way. Like programming directly via flow charts. Plus the feature set is far more comprehensive than Unity Free's, perhaps even better than the Pro version. It's also more up to date with current trends in gaming, such as PBR support.

Interesting. So you basically pay for a month of support, and then cancel your payment which cuts you off from updates, but not the documentation?

I'm very comfortable programming and scripting, but from what I read UE4 does seem to have a lot of features the free version of Unity is missing. Maybe I'll check that out tonight. I'm so early in messing around with things I'm not stuck on Unity yet.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Downloaded Unreal Engine 4 yesterday. Didn't have much of a chance to look at it.

Edit:

The editor seems to be a lot nicer to use. I think the viewports are a lot more useful. Maybe Unity has all of the same functionality, but I find the UE4 viewport to be a lot more intuitive, and I like having the 4 views for orienting things correctly. It also seems to be a little more powerful for placing actors and editing geometry.

Having played with Blueprints or programming to add game logic yet.

 

[L. Scofield]

You've got my interest. How is documentation with UE4?

Sorry for the late reply. Here's the official documentation site:

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/

I'd say that at least for beginners and medium level users the documentation is pretty good. I couldn't say for advanced users but aside from the documentation they have an answer hub and also the forums in which the actual developers roam around often. I see them engaging with the community a lot.

Interesting. So you basically pay for a month of support, and then cancel your payment which cuts you off from updates, but not the documentation?

That's exactly right. All the documentation is open for everybody so it's not a problem if you stop paying and you keep the latest version of the engine you've downloaded.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Sorry for the late reply. Here's the official documentation site:

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/

I'd say that at least for beginners and medium level users the documentation is pretty good. I couldn't say for advanced users but aside from the documentation they have an answer hub and also the forums in which the actual developers roam around often. I see them engaging with the community a lot.

...

The tutorials on their youtube channel are very good. This is their playlist with all of the tutorials.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlv_N0_O1gaCL2XjKluO7N2Pmmw9pvhE


I've been watching through them in sequence to learn how to use the editor and how to do things efficiently. For a total beginner, I think they're very well done and worth watching.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Two things I've noticed with the Unreal editor that I don't like. Why don't I see transform data for position when using brushes? I mean, why not allow me to type in coordinates to move a brush instead of dragging it into place? Now, the thing with actors, like a static mesh, is I can only scale it as a factor of the original size. Why can't I scale it to an exact height in units? A brush allows me to specify exact dimenions in each axis.