Unity vs Unreal (I'm Seriously Considering Switching To Unreal)

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:54 Full Time Game Dev Ad
1:28 Unreal vs Unity
3:02 Unreal's Nanite
4:25 Unreal's Lumen
6:49 Is The Switch Worth The Effort?
8:26 Conclusion

[thomasbrush]

Let the argument in the comments BEGIN!!! Ding ding ding! 

[sealsharp]

Unitys problem is that for everything you want to do, there are two packages:
* One that has some important things missing and is no longer developed since 2017
* The replacement which is in prerelease since 2017, still hasn't gotten all the features of the old system and will priobably slightly buggy until 2027 when it will de deprecated in favour of the next package that won't be production-ready until 2045.

[KhroMcKrakken]

I started in Unreal as a 3D Artist, and I'm more of an artist than a programmer. I remember you've said the same. When I've tried Unity, I struggled, because you do need to have a bit more of a programmer's mindset imo. If you're more logical than artsy, you will have an easier time with Unity. If you're more artsy, Unreal will be easier to understand.

And despite what you say here, Unreal does look better out of the box. You can create amazing AAA looking graphics with Unreal out of the box without actually trying, especially now with nanite and lumen. And if you want to make an open world, Unreal already has out of the box open world levels with occlusion culling. Plus Epic works with Quixel to have a free megascans asset library for Unreal users (super useful) as well as offering Quixel Mixer for free for Unreal users (if you choose to use it, I don't but it's there).

Does that mean Unreal is always better graphically? Absolutely not. Unity can 100% match Unreal's graphics, but you have to work a lot harder to get there.
And the free monthly Unreal marketplace assets.... I have so many... Even if you stay with Unity, you should start collecting those free assets, just in case.

Obviously there are way more Unity programmers than Unreal, but I'm sure that'll change soon. The devs I've spoken to who've switched to Unreal from Unity have said that if you already know how to make a game, it won't be too difficult to translate that to Blueprints. The most confusing hurdle from what I understand is the difference in naming conventions. Like GameObject vs Actors, PreFabs vs Blueprints, or Raycast vs Line Trace.
But again, I started in Unreal. It's where I'm comfortable. And a lot of people stick with Unity for the same reason, it's where they're comfortable.

I gotta say though that I do get excited at the idea of you learning Unreal and extending the FTGD program to include it.

I do recommend though to stop seeing Unreal as a AAA game builder. It's not. It's made to be easy to use for devs of all levels to do more with less effort.
I recommend after you finish your current game, when you get a bit of time for yourself, to play around with Unreal just see the differences. Make a tiny bite sized game. Understand where you might have challenges if you ever decide to switch to it.
And if Unity remains where you're comfortable, then don't ever worry about switching. You'll make Unity work for you.

[TorQueMoD]

So I'll give you some personal insight into switching game engines. I started my game design journey with Half-Life 1 back in 1999 and eventually switched to Source when HL2 came out (2004). In this case, it was barely like switching engines, more of an upgrade because HL 1 and 2 both shared the same level design software. For years I didn't want to move away from the Source engine because I knew it so well and I was worried it would take me forever to learn a new engine. Eventually, in 2009 I decided to make the switch to UDK (Unreal 3), and to be honest, it wasn't really as difficult as I thought it would be. It took me about a year to feel really comfortable with UDK, but for the most part, it was really quite similar to Source and I learned the basics in about 2 months. So my advice; don't let your knowledge of one engine prevent you from trying another one, even if it's just for a week or two. You might be surprised by how much more you learn. I've actually been thinking of playing around with Unity for this exact reason. Maybe I think Unreal is the best engine, but I could be missing out on some amazing benefits of Unity. Never let fear drive your decisions.

[lilgamedev]

As someone starting out game development in unreal, it’d be very interesting to follow someone else’s journey in unreal and the documentation of their workflow, especially from the perspective of a seasoned unity dev.

[Agent.Michael_Scarn]

Think Unity’s new policy has made this decision for you now

[ZephrusPrime]

I've been using Unreal since Unreal 3. Seeing where it's at now is mind blowing. It's never been a better time to be into Game Dev.

[EricOlorunfemi]

I feel you don't need to switch. You could simply just add it to your tools and use it where appropriate. No harm in knowing both. It takes like a few weeks to know your way around the interface of unreal if you're not rushing. But the advancements of unreal simply can't be ignored. They've put the power of AAA studios in the hands of Indie devs... Ultimately, it's the creator that matters more than the tool. But the tool still makes a huge difference. Oh, and let's not forget Unreal's Animation features which are practically second to none when it comes to 3D games.

[osmanerenkose]

I think Unreal Engine has a great future with lumen, nanite, megascans and many other features.
Edit after 8 months: I was using UE but I switched to Unity lol. It's better for indies

[CoffeeAI]

Probably a good switch but I imagine unreal will have other issues of its own.

[deepelements]

I used Unity for over 10 years at my last job and once the studio switched to Unreal we never looked back. I've used most engines out there and Unreal has been a game changer for me it's just simply amazing.

[imperfectgamedev]

After 10 years, I'm an Unreal fanboy, but the #1 rule of productivity is "go with what you know". I have used Unreal do make mobile games even though Unity would have been better. I got them done, and that's what counts. Most of the time, I work on 3D games, so Unreal is my bread and butter. Nothing wrong with just working within your limitations.

[duramirez]

This didn't age well with the current Unity Exodus 😆

[mattdehaven]

I have used UE for about 11 years. I have always toyed with learning Unity and about a year ago I took the plunge. My current project is in UE5, but my time in Unity made a significant difference in my development cycle, and made me look at a few workflows differently. This helped me a ton with efficiencies. I would recommend anyone serious about game development to learn both.

[imraanakollo-arenz]

I switched from Unity to Unreal for my end of year university project and it was pretty good. I'm definitely gonna keep with it going forward. Switching to Unreal for the next game can yield content as you can make devlogs about the game and videos about your Unreal journey. Epic also gives away free assets every month so if you just keep claiming you'll have a lot of stuff that can speed up development for you. As an indie I never really focused on Lumen and Nanite that much. You can use it for stylized stuff too. I mean, a lot of anime/anime aesthetic games are being made using UE.

Your game dev know how doesn't magically disappear when switching engines. You just have readjust to the workflow and you can still apply what you learned when developing. They even have documentation for Unity refugees to help acclimate.

I'd say try it out for a few mini games or a game and see how you feel. Generally I feel using both helps because then you can switch between which engine you think would be best for what you want to do.

[GabrielAguiarProd]

What a great video! Well I hope Unity keeps up with some features it tries to implement instead of dropping them so quickly.

[harlzthedev]

I started out making games in UDK so I have this connection with the UE4 and 5 engines, but there's something about the community that's been built around unity that is just so compelling plus c# is so much easier to comprehend as a beginner compared to C++

[PabloTheDolphin]

I personally feel like I've reached the peak of my career with unity as a senior game developer bar starting my own studio. And my previous role was at unity themselves. In terms of big name companies to work for, if I want more progression in my salary and seniority, I need to ditch C# and move diagonally with UE5 as my life boat to be that much more attractive to hiring managers.

[generalcjg]

Welp, now you certainly got an excuse to switch to Unreal since Unity now wants to charge extra fees to developers having their games using the Unity engine, starting in January 2024.

[ShieldSniper]

That comparison between unity and unreal at 8:01 is a bit sketchy