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I would argue that Lua is way easier/smaller/neater than C#, but both CryEngine and Unreal have visual flow-based scripting systems, which are significantly eas

I would argue that Lua is way easier/smaller/neater than C#, but both CryEngine and Unreal have visual flow-based scripting systems, which are significantly easier for a novice than scripting. In CryEngine their FlowGraph is basically a way of connecting predefined C++ and Lua code boxes. Blueprint in Unreal takes things to extremes and basically exposes almost the entire C++ API to the scripter.

Tloewald 13y ago
Visual programming tools always seem to end up being troublesome. How hard is it to do non shooters in UDK?
- notastartup 13y ago
  I'm not sure based on the screenshots and demos but it seems very intuitive, and it's actually one of the main reason I want to get started with UDK. I know C++ is gonna be a challenge but Lua pretty much looks like python, which is a huge win over UnityScript which is like Javascript. It's funny because I was looking to see if I could use Unity with a python like language and Lua seems bang on the spot. More reason to learn Lua as an excuse to use some thing like Lapis, a Lua framework for Nginx OpenResty which lets you write apps directly on Nginx. http://leafo.net/lapis/ http://leafo.net/lapis/
  - atrilumen 13y ago
    Under the syntactical surface, Lua is really more like Javascript than Python. Unity has support for Boo, which is just a Python-like front end for the CLR. I'm pretty fond of it, myself. I prefer to use it whenever I can, inside Unity and elsewhere. The docs could use a lot of love, but it's still very easy to learn and extremely productive and a joy to write. I rarely touch MonoDevelop / Xamarin Studio; I write Boo in Sublime Text, and find it very satisfying. Another path I've been tempted to explore is to use Moonscript with Gameplay3D, but Unity is hard to leave. I could be wrong, but I have the impression that Unreal is too unwieldy for a solo developer, which is how I plan to stay for the foreseeable future.
  - teamonkey 13y ago
    To be clear, Lua is used in CryEngine, not Unreal4/UDK. Unreal3 had UnrealScript + Kismet. Unreal4 has Blueprint, which is Kismet taken to extremes, but UnrealScript is no more. And it's already been said, but in Unity you can use Boo, which is very similar to Python.
- teamonkey 13y ago
  Unreal4 seems way more flexible in this regard than previous versions of the engine, but I haven't played about with it enough to be sure. In any case, the limitation was never down to the scripting method, more the way that the engine was designed and what it specialises in. Remember that full licence holders had the C++ source.
  - Tloewald 13y ago
    A full license for UDK is quite pricey, so isn't really germane to this discussion. If you need to develop in C++ then your cost structure (in cash or opportunity cost) means that worrying about paying $1500 for a development tool won't even move the needle. Maya / Max seat $5000+ (and devs tend to need them too) Unity's biggest payoff is in workflow. If what you care about is the most polygons on the screen then UDK or Cryengine will win. If you care about the price of getting something out the door and it isn't an FPS then Unity clearly wins.
    - teamonkey 13y ago
      I meant that even if you can afford the full licence and get the C++ source, that doesn't mean that the engine can make any kind of game you want. It's not really a question of constraint by language so much as the way the engine's built.

Tloewald 13y ago

Visual programming tools always seem to end up being troublesome. How hard is it to do non shooters in UDK?

notastartup 13y ago
I'm not sure based on the screenshots and demos but it seems very intuitive, and it's actually one of the main reason I want to get started with UDK. I know C++ is gonna be a challenge but Lua pretty much looks like python, which is a huge win over UnityScript which is like Javascript. It's funny because I was looking to see if I could use Unity with a python like language and Lua seems bang on the spot. More reason to learn Lua as an excuse to use some thing like Lapis, a Lua framework for Nginx OpenResty which lets you write apps directly on Nginx. http://leafo.net/lapis/ http://leafo.net/lapis/
- atrilumen 13y ago
  Under the syntactical surface, Lua is really more like Javascript than Python. Unity has support for Boo, which is just a Python-like front end for the CLR. I'm pretty fond of it, myself. I prefer to use it whenever I can, inside Unity and elsewhere. The docs could use a lot of love, but it's still very easy to learn and extremely productive and a joy to write. I rarely touch MonoDevelop / Xamarin Studio; I write Boo in Sublime Text, and find it very satisfying. Another path I've been tempted to explore is to use Moonscript with Gameplay3D, but Unity is hard to leave. I could be wrong, but I have the impression that Unreal is too unwieldy for a solo developer, which is how I plan to stay for the foreseeable future.
- teamonkey 13y ago
  To be clear, Lua is used in CryEngine, not Unreal4/UDK. Unreal3 had UnrealScript + Kismet. Unreal4 has Blueprint, which is Kismet taken to extremes, but UnrealScript is no more. And it's already been said, but in Unity you can use Boo, which is very similar to Python.
teamonkey 13y ago
Unreal4 seems way more flexible in this regard than previous versions of the engine, but I haven't played about with it enough to be sure. In any case, the limitation was never down to the scripting method, more the way that the engine was designed and what it specialises in. Remember that full licence holders had the C++ source.
- Tloewald 13y ago
  A full license for UDK is quite pricey, so isn't really germane to this discussion. If you need to develop in C++ then your cost structure (in cash or opportunity cost) means that worrying about paying $1500 for a development tool won't even move the needle. Maya / Max seat $5000+ (and devs tend to need them too) Unity's biggest payoff is in workflow. If what you care about is the most polygons on the screen then UDK or Cryengine will win. If you care about the price of getting something out the door and it isn't an FPS then Unity clearly wins.
  - teamonkey 13y ago
    I meant that even if you can afford the full licence and get the C++ source, that doesn't mean that the engine can make any kind of game you want. It's not really a question of constraint by language so much as the way the engine's built.