For someone who's actually using UE4 as an artistic break for web dev, I thoroughly recommend it. It allows you to create great environments with beautiful lighting. 4.7 can export to HTML5 too.
Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
41–50 of 249 posts
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a positive development, not sure the negative comments. 5% is chump change if a game is successfull. The engine is also open source (so no hidden malware), runs on Linux and WebGL.
>The engine is also open source I think you mean the source code is available (i.e., anyone can download it), which is different from its coming with an open-source license , which is what most people mean by "open source".
No, what you mean is Free Software
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#43It appears they've backed off on the royalties, too: originally, it was 5% of gross[1], and now it's 5% of gross after $3000 sales per quarter.[2] 1 https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/welcome-to-unreal-engine-4 2 https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/ue4-is-free
Does $3000 reset every quarter or it it a one-tune limit? Is it (gross - $3000) * .05 or gross .05 when the condition is met? The phrasing is ambiguous, unless I'm missing some grammar rules. And no, I'm not asking out of pedantry.
My initial reading is (gross - $3000) * 0.05, but I imagine they spell it out precisely somewhere.
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is free as in beer, which is the natural definition of "free" for most people.
It's free as beer until you take a sip from the glass. Also, the US isn't the land of the cheap sakes, which kind of doesn't fit "for most".
Sip all you want. It's free until you serve that beer for money in your successful restaurant.
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Ideological purity" is irrelevant. The point here is that people are abusing terminology to create ambiguity. As we are talking about software, the term "free" has specific connotations that differ from everyday language. UE4 is a source-available, gratis game engine. This is fine. It is not open source, nor is it free or libre.
Yes, you're right, the word "free" does have specific connotations. Those include, but are not limited to: - not subject to or constrained by engagements or obligations - given or available without charge So, is the product free, as in available without charge, as implied by the clause "available for free"? Yes. Is it free, as in not subject to or constrained by engagements or obligations, something that is in no way…
Except you are constrained by obligations. The obligation to pay a % of revenue. I mean I think the model is great. But calling it free is ridiculous.
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Ideological purity" is irrelevant. The point here is that people are abusing terminology to create ambiguity. As we are talking about software, the term "free" has specific connotations that differ from everyday language. UE4 is a source-available, gratis game engine. This is fine. It is not open source, nor is it free or libre.
Yes, you're right, the word "free" does have specific connotations. Those include, but are not limited to: - not subject to or constrained by engagements or obligations - given or available without charge So, is the product free, as in available without charge, as implied by the clause "available for free"? Yes. Is it free, as in not subject to or constrained by engagements or obligations, something that is in no way…
not subject to or constrained by engagements or obligations
Free software very much is subject to engagements and obligations, these being the terms of the respective license.
Is your argument based on an excessively restrictive, ideologically motivated definition of the word "free" that does not fully represent how the word is used in practice?
It's funny, because by your own statement, "open source" is also an excessively restrictive and ideologically motivated definition, what with OSI and FSF definitions being largely equivalent. For some reason I doubt you believe this.
When you're talking about software, you should not blame others for assuming "free" refers to the FSF definition, especially in announcements targeted towards technically inclined audiences.
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#47Has anyone got it to install? I downloaded installer for Mac (57mb), and when I launch/login, it says "No Engine installed", but no links on how to install the engine. My profile has a link to download the engine, but it just downloads the installer again.
When in the Launcher, goto the "Library" item on the left. You'll be able to install engines there.
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#48The Unreal Engine is free neither as beer, or freedom. Its free as in a mob protection money is given freely , with a lot of strings attached. Overall a very smart strategy. Free Software Walled Gardens I highly believe will start to become a common thing in the software industry. As you get most the benefits of Free Software, without the normally feared industry risks.
If you use it for non commercial purposes it is free enough.
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The engine is also open source I think you mean the source code is available (i.e., anyone can download it), which is different from its coming with an open-source license , which is what most people mean by "open source".
No, what you mean is Free Software
No, it's not Open Source either: http://opensource.org/osd
Re: Unreal Engine 4 is now available to everyone for free
#50How does it fare against Unity? My understanding, from previous versions, is that Unity offered a lot more tooling than Unreal. Also, Unreal's SDK demanded a lot of C++ code, which can be unappealing for small studios compared to Unity's Mono and several possible (managed) language choices. However, Unreal appears to be much more capable, and better performing. Also, is Crytek still competitive? It used to be competi…
If you don't need the C++ performance, my guess is it makes more sense to go with Unity and use their C# version.
It's not as clear cut. You can use C# with Unreal Engine if you prefer, and Unreal Engine offers a lot that Unity doesn't (e.g. Blueprints).
I recommend everyone interested in the two try both. I personally prefer Unreal Engine, but everyone is different.
Unreal Engine is also moving quite quickly, adding new features, marketplace content, improving the UI, etc.