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Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?

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Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?

#1

Post by raytopia »

Given Unity's recent announcement what's your favorite engine/framework to work in/with and why? It can be one you made, niche, or super popular.

My favorite is Panda3D [0] because I can use it from Python and C++ and that it lets you code your game how you want while being batteries included at the same time. It was used for some of Disney's MMOs and themepark rides too so it's production ready. Overall it's a lot of fun to work in and I'm also always discovering cool new features like the very good async support it has.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?

#2

Post by wsc981 »

I haven't used many engines, but I've been programming some simple games with LÖVE [0] and (to a lesser extent) LÖVR [1] and like them both.

But maybe not real game engines, as you need to do quite a bit of work by yourself. I guess it depends what your definition is of a game engine.

I tried Unity and didn't like it. I don't like drag & drop interfaces, but I understand the appeal.

---

[0]: https://love2d.org

[1]: https://lovr.org

Re: Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?

#4

Post by citeguised »

As hobbyist, if I would plan a serious project (with the goal of shipping, and a concrete idea), I'd use PhaserJS or ThreeJS, depending on 2D/3D. Mainly because JS/TS is my the language I am most productive in. And the result can be packaged to any target thanks to Electron and similar solutions. "Curious Expedition" and "Vampire Survivors" are two more popular games made with web-tech. (Although Vampire later moved to Unity)

For Desktop/Mobile I'd use Godot or MonoGame with C#.

For silly stuff or really short games and/or prototypes, Pico-8 is hard to beat.

And when the low-level itch starts, Raylib with C.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?

#5

Post by Philorandroid »

Godot has been remarkably fun to work with, and was way easier getting started in than I'd thought it'd be, coming from some topical UE4 experience. Scriptable with a flavor of Python, programmable in C#, and most recently with native C++ modules that don't require rebuilding the engine.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?

#7

Post by adamredwoods »

wsc981 wrote: post #2

I haven't used many engines, but I've been programming some simple games with LÖVE [0] and (to a lesser extent) LÖVR [1] and like them both. But maybe not real game engines, as you need to do quite a bit of work by yourself. I guess it depends what your definition is of a game engine. I tried Unity and didn't like it. I don't like drag & drop interfaces, but I understand the appeal. --- [0]: https://love2d.org [1]: h…

Lua is hanging in there, and those Lua skills can be transferred to Roblox! (although I'm not really a fan of the Roblox api...)

Re: Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?

#9

Post by Silamoth »

Godot is easily my favorite game engine. The node system is simple yet powerful, truly a joy to use. For the most part, I feel like I have a good level of control over my projects without having to get too low-level. It doesn't feel like I have to organize my code around the engine's architecture, like with Unity or Unreal. Godot is also free and open-source and very lightweight. Support for C# and 3D has been improving, especially with Godot 4.0. And it has pretty good cross-platform support.
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