Unreal 5 or Godot 4

[jonnym]

Hi there,

I am looking for some advice on which engine to use, as I see there have been strong developments with Godot 4. I do have previous software development experience, and extensive use with UE 5 from an artists standpoint, but let’s assume zero for the sake of this question.

Essentially I have interest with creating various types of games. Let me provide some examples of existing games that consist of similar gameplay and functionality that I would like to explore: Quake, Conkers Bad Fur Day, Left 4 Dead, The Long Dark, Diablo and Diablo II, Hollow Knight, Chivalry, Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

I am very much interested in the combat mechanics for the last two. Multiplayer functionality is also a requirement, regardless of that being a goal further down the line. In terms of visual quality, currently, I am primarily interested in stylization. Ranging from retro Quake, to Team Fortress 2, The Long Dark, Sifu, etc. Realism might be something to consider.

I would like to publish to both Mac OS and Windows, and potentially other platforms. I was going to just dive head first with Unreal and C++, but I figured since Godot has made some leaps and bounds, I would explore if this was a viable option by asking the community. I understand that Godot is light weight, eases development compared to Unreal in certain aspects. I’m just not sure if it would be suited to the types of games and functionality I would like to pursue?

Any insight into this matter is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[BH67]

Godot is, as you’ve mentioned, already pretty impressive, and it’s only getting better. As far as I know, most of what you’ve talked about here, it can do.

I don’t know anything about implementing multiplayer, but given that this book even exists, pretty sure the engine has you covered there as well:

GitHub -...

From an art standpoint, Godot4 supports direct importing of .blend files, but like any other engine, you’ll have to do some tweaking and reworking in-engine to get it looking similar to what Blender shows you. Par for the course, but Godot’s support of Blender is improving as well.

The only thing I’m not sure about is where Godot’s performance limitations are at in relation to what UE can do (assuming you’re using C# in Godot. GDScript is interpreted). That said, since it’s clear you’re not trying to create GTA6, it’ll probably handle whatever you throw at it =)

[jonnym]

Thank you for your reply. I will make sure to bookmark this multiplayer book. Interesting to hear about Blender. I use other packages, but that shouldn’t be an issue when dealing with exported file formats, (I would assume).

I’ll have to do some further digging into Godot to see its full capabilities. It looks like the barrier of entry would be easier than Unreal, but I am not sure. It sounds like you suggest it can do everything I outlined, aside from realism. If that’s the case, then, it might be a suitable option.

[BH67]

@jonnym

It looks like the barrier of entry would be easier than Unreal

Oh by quite some distance actually, regardless of which language you start learning Godot in. UE shines with incredible capabiltiies, but it also has pitfalls on top of pitfalls to learn about before you can get there!

Whatever you choose, good luck!

[PaigeCameron]

Both have pros and cons. Unreal 5 is a powerhouse, especially for high-end graphics and complex games. But, if you’re leaning towards stylized visuals and a smoother learning curve, Godot 4 might be the way to go. It’s getting better with each update and is pretty solid for a variety of game types. Plus, Godot’s lighter and might be easier to dive into without getting bogged down.