darkSpyro

Game developers on here, what is better for game development, Unity or Unreal Engine? Especially in terms of beginner-friendliness and level building.

I hear people say Unity is more beginner friendly and easier to get stuff done with, while Unreal has more firepower and is a bit tidier. No idea though, it's just what I hear from programmers because I'm definately not made for that - I just open the mystery game project to test features, make sure my assets are looking good and build levels :U

I agree with Bifrost. But from what I've seen Unity can make for more cartoony styled games, while Unreal uses more complex assets. Also, it's harder to input Blender models in Unreal but easier in Unity. There is also optimization in Unity for consoles, although it also requires your input to port the game into the console, which does take some time. Those reasons are why I switched to Unity for my game.

But I don't know all the information, just what I know I can do for my game.

IIRC, Unity is better if you are good at programming and want something that is more open to working with code made from the ground-up. Variety in your gameplay and making unique game mechanics is easier in Unity, as you have more freedom to make what you want. But in regards to graphical horsepower, the engine is sort of last-gen.

Unreal Engine 4 is obviously one of the most visually impressive engines out there, and it's being used by a lot of AAA developers as of late for that very reason. It's also very easy to pick up the basics for. It also uses some unique coding languages that are visual based (if you've ever played LittleBigPlanet and played with it's "logic" system, you'll be right at home). UE4 also has some very solid frameworks for getting you started on making a game in a variety of different genres, from third-person adventure games, to FPS games, to top down games. However, because Unreal Engine 4 uses it's own, unique coding languages, this means importing code made in other programs is a lot more difficult. It also means you have to learn UE4's way of handling coding, which is not the same as more standardised coding languages. This is why some model importing can be troublesome in UE4.

Neither engine is inherently better than the other, really. As a developer, you have to be able to weigh the pros and cons of each engine, and see which ones have the most pros and the least cons for the development process of your particular game.

As a general rule, though, I would say Unity is friendlier to programmers who want the freedom to apply their skills how they know best, while UE4 is friendlier to designers and artists who want to make a pretty and immersive game, but aren't trying to do anything too particular or groundbreaking with the game's mechanics.