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Unreal Engine 4 FREE...

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by BrUnO-XaVIeR, Mar 2, 2015.

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  1. QFS

    QFS

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    If you said a few years ago that Unreal Engine would be free for everyone I would have said you're crazy.

    I never would have thought I'd see the full UE go free.

    What a bold business move. If UT doesnt make a bold business move too, they're f^&ked.

    And it was definitely timed to ruin whatever announcement UT was going to make too. (Just like what happened last time).
     
    WillBellJr and BrUnO-XaVIeR like this.
  2. Rico21745

    Rico21745

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    I like you. Unity should hire more people like you.

    I only hope Unity's announcement is enough to get excited about.
     
  3. elbows

    elbows

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    I'll wait and see what that announcement is before I decide whether anything was ruined.

    Personally I hope it ruins Autodesks plans, but I'm not sure if my dislike of Autodesk is entirely rational or not.
     
    Teila and SunnySunshine like this.
  4. ZJP

    ZJP

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    No.
    a) Unity works well (very) on lower and middle configurations
    b) Compilation time is very fast
    c) Csharp (native)
    e) Asset Store

    These four points are not negotiable for me.
     
  5. yoonitee

    yoonitee

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    I'm intrigued. o_O I reckon Unity's developed a way to make games using the power of thought alone.
     
  6. QFS

    QFS

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    Never underestimate a lower price point. Just because something is better doesnt mean there will be brand loyalty if their is a cheaper and equal solution out there. Places like WalMart live by that fact. They ruin other businesses and other products that may be "better" but nothing beats price in the end.
     
  7. Neoku

    Neoku

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    Maybe at end the bigger game engine companies understand that in the world of games development the most important are the developers and not the tools, today is a new beginning.
     
    gridside, WillBellJr and BrUnO-XaVIeR like this.
  8. tango209

    tango209

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    It's not that I don't understand that some actually have a hard time with even that small of an investment. My statement was more of a big picture thing. There will always be edge cases.
     
  9. thxfoo

    thxfoo

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    When C# for UE4 was discussed here, some people said I'm crazy when I said Epic will not support that actively and that it will stay 3rd party.

    But if you look at the current UE4 EULA, it is even worse than not actively supporting it, they actually added a clause f#cking the business of anyone trying to sell such a solution.

    The EULA clause says you can make money with everything UE4, except with adding a new programming language. It is a anti-Xamarin clause. UE4 avenged Unity. Nice.

    Not sure if this is good business wise, but I like that move very much.

    Here the anti-Xamarin clause:
    Edit: this f#cks Xamarin because they give you the integration for free, but want money for the statically linked IOS runtime.
     
  10. Zeblote

    Zeblote

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    How is this good? Gotta buy the engine and then spend even more money to make it useful?
     
    Teila, BrUnO-XaVIeR and pushingpandas like this.
  11. plink

    plink

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    Walmart is guilty of what you're saying but Starbucks is not. They positioned themselves as a premium brand and slapped a premium price on their products. Starbucks strategy has been to move into new areas and to try to buy out small shops with the threat of surrounding them with Starbucks locations if they do not sell. Equally shady yet not the same.
     
  12. Neoku

    Neoku

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    http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/02/281608.shtml : "Starbucks: The Wal-Mart of Coffee"
     
  13. orb

    orb

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    I'm sure it is very rational, having spoken to architects :p

    You don't have to use it. Assets can be models (trees are very much in vogue - they're handy) or niche functionality that the engine developers most likely won't implement (how frequently does the average mobile user need fluid dynamics? Or specific AI solutions?).
     
  14. Fortyseven

    Fortyseven

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    I dig it. As an edge case, I'm happy. ;D

    But yeah, I know what you're getting at. UE4 already had such a crazy low barrier to entry, that this isn't really quite as explosive an announcement as the hype machine would make it out to be.
     
  15. gurayg

    gurayg

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    Although Unreal Engine was 19$ monthly, I thought most people was subscribing for a month and then cancel their subscription until they're close to a release.(Logical)
    If a small game project takes 8 months to finish; one would only subscribe for 2 months in 8 months which is 5$ a month to Epic guys.
    So looking at their excel sheets; rather than making 5$ for some of their user-base, it would be better to make a move on Unity's pro/free strategy and take a bite from its user-base.( also Logical)
    What I'm saying is; Unreal was very close to "free" before the announcement. It is just a bit more "free" now.

    Hopefully we'll all see a good move from Unity tomorrow and everybody wins at the end.
     
    ashenbee likes this.
  16. Teila

    Teila

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    Yeah, my son subscribed some time ago and forgot to unsubscribe. I wrote them a nice email and they reimbursed me all the money he paid other than that one month he used it. I was impressed. Not enough to try it myself, but good PR for them. It left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling.
     
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  17. plink

    plink

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    If you read the article, you'll see that they aren't undercutting their competition with cheap coffee. They're clustering stores to take up market share. Very different than what you're claiming. I'm no Starbucks apologist or anything and I don't use them. I'm just saying that they don't try to sell discounted product as you claim. Anyway, back to Unity/Unreal! :)
     
    WillBellJr likes this.
  18. Neoku

    Neoku

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    The SB strategy is not only clustering, is clustering and offer more cheap prices than competition, when competition is killed they only maintain one coffee shop and return to the normal prices.
     
  19. HemiMG

    HemiMG

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    From the article:
    How does that refute what he said? Starbucks is more expensive than the competition. Most of the people I know who rave about Starbucks are the type of people who don't make their own coffee, and don't know much about coffee. They prefer Starbucks because they perceive the expense as added value. I prefer smaller coffee shops because Starbucks really isn't that good, and the smaller shops are often cheaper. Starbucks took the exact opposite approach that Walmart did, just like plink said.

    Edit: Oops, he beat me to the punch. But If you think Starbucks is cheap, then you clearly haven't been to any other coffee shops. Starbucks is well known for being overpriced.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2015
    plink likes this.
  20. plink

    plink

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    The article you posted does not say that anywhere... because that's not what they're doing.
     
  21. yoonitee

    yoonitee

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    What? Why is everyone talking about Starbucks?

    P.S. I'm in Starbucks right now! :eek: Spooky.
     
  22. chingwa

    chingwa

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    It's like last year all over again... except I would have thought people would have gained some perspective since then instead of running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. I feel like this move by UE4 reeks of desperation and certainly doesn't have any of the impact on me that their announcement last year did. I certainly am not going anywhere... I'm very interested in hearing what Unity has planned tomorrow. :)
     
  23. Yozies

    Yozies

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    Another Unreal Engine death nail in the Unity coffin.

    Although, Unity developers should have realised it's death was imminent.

    You're abstracting yourself away from the metal, in an industry where it's imperative that you're close to the metal.

    Also, using Unity over Unreal Engine is unethical - if you're going by the closed source nature of Unity.
     
  24. orb

    orb

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    Still leaves it open for CoreCLR etc. though.
     
  25. jcarpay

    jcarpay

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    My guess is that UT will drop the free version and offer the Pro version only.
    For the indies there will be a royalty based license while the 'classic' license (the current Unity Pro users) option remains available as well. That would be the only way to compete with Unreal without upsetting the current Unity Pro user base.
     
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  26. ashenbee

    ashenbee

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    Although I find the C# a far more productive language, I was impressed with the blue print system a few months ago. And having all the engine's capabilities without buying a license is nice for a lone wolf like me.

    Ultimately, it comes down to getting work done to get the game out the door. I'm finding I'm more productive per time unit with Unity than any other engine I've tried over the last few years.
     
  27. elbows

    elbows

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    I don't think there is much doubt that the asset store was considered a success worth copying by the likes of Epic.

    It is entirely possible to see the asset store as a good thing, without being forced to take a position as to whether a particular function/tool should be part of Unity rather than provided by a third party. That latter argument can certainly be had and is a better fit for your point than suggesting the asset store as a whole is a bad thing.
     
  28. ZJP

    ZJP

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  29. TheValar

    TheValar

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    Lol, says the troll who declared Unity "dead in the water" a year ago. And really? using closed source software is unethical?
     
    Jingle-Fett likes this.
  30. Games-Foundry

    Games-Foundry

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    Real life cost comparison. Were Folk Tale developed on UE4, our engine costs would have been more than an order of magnitude larger. UE4 has a nice look, but that is not the only reason to choose an engine. #happywithunity
     
  31. BFGames

    BFGames

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    I take Unity's monthly payment/one time payment over royalties any day. But then again making games is my job. For hobbyist's its a nice offer!
     
  32. Moonjump

    Moonjump

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    Corona SDK has also gone free. Game engines going free seems to be the theme of GDC 2015.
     
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  33. Compressed

    Compressed

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    Now, if only i was able to make games ;_;
     
  34. Seth-McCumber

    Seth-McCumber

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    I think we are now at the point where Unity NEEDS to change it's pricing or they are going to lose users
     
  35. plink

    plink

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    My guess is that so many people were signing up for just one month and then canceling (while continuing to use it) that they figured they'd just give it away in order to gain much more market share and that hopefully, their overall revenues would be far greater down the line as hobbyists and small teams matured into robust companies etc... In other words, less desperate, more strategic.

    As already stated though, this is only a good thing for the dev community at large as but I'm excited to see what Unity unveils tomorrow as well.
     
    chingwa likes this.
  36. yoonitee

    yoonitee

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    Maybe Unity and Unreal have decided to combine both engines into a single engine...

    Sorry, I lost control of my senses for a moment.
     
  37. ZJP

    ZJP

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    What about models, audio stuff?..

    Funny that your message is approved by BrUnO XaVIeR. He was selling assets on the Store. Before..... in the past ... :p
     
  38. LaneFox

    LaneFox

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    Can we call it Unreality?
     
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  39. HemiMG

    HemiMG

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    I feel the same way, although a royalties option would be be nice for initially launching a business. $1500 is 5% of $30,000. So, over $30,000 a year UE4 is more expensive than Unity. It's pretty simple math, so I'm not sure why people don't get it.
     
  40. Em-de-Nem

    Em-de-Nem

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    I'm pretty interested how Unity Staff will react to this. It was very obvious since a while that both the business and the development model is not user-friendly anymore; I saw this several times in the IT industry, partially this is why Unity became succesful in the ancient times... The problem is that when a small team of talented people makes something great and it grows too fast (like Unity did), it is simple impossible to hire the proper (= extremely talented) people for keeping things great and succesful. So as the 'conventional thinking' in development, HR, sales, etc. take over the 'geniuses', the product turns to be less and less intuitive, revolutionary and up to date in quality/pricing.
     
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  41. Kondor0

    Kondor0

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    Unethical? what are you smoking, brah?

    Anyway, this whole "Unity is dead" was said a lot when Epic announced the subscription model and open source but Unity is still here.

    Compared to that announcement, this news are not that shocking (people were subscribing for a month and then dropping the subscription anyway and making an engine free doesn't really attract talented devs, we in this community know it pretty well).

    The "death of Unity" sounds like "the death of consoles" or "the death of PC gaming", prophecies that keep popping up in gaming forums but never actually happen.
     
  42. Ostwind

    Ostwind

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    It's not that simple :)

    "When you ship a game or application, you pay a 5% royalty on gross revenue after the first $3,000 per product, per quarter. It’s a simple arrangement in which we succeed only when you succeed."
     
  43. zenGarden

    zenGarden

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    If you have lot of people using your 3D engine and selling games using it, you should not worry.

    Games are something that promotes your 3D Engine better then the 3D engine itself coud do.
    So Unity i don't think they have a problem with Epic new offer.
    The only thins UT must find a way to offer non limited engine to all small creative indies that can't afford or invest 1500$.
     
  44. Xaron

    Xaron

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    Well you should return to your math class then because the first $12k are free so you have to earn 42k. And if I want to use Android and iOS the calculation is a bit different as well.

    For me Unity has its benefits for mobile platforms. As soon as Epic catches up there, Unity will definitely have a problem with the current insane pricing structure. Actually I'm not against 1.5k for Unity but never understood why I have to buy Unity Pro for desktop when I only want to develop for mobiles?
     
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  45. LaneFox

    LaneFox

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    Maybe thats the change? I've always thought it was weird too how Multiplatform is the selling point, but its basically a different product for each platform.
     
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  46. DoubleNibble

    DoubleNibble

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    Another point to mention about the royalty vs. one payment license is that with royalty based system the engine provider is much more invested in your success, because their business model depends on it. With one time purchase they already have your money, no matter how your product does in the end.

    I'm not sure that lowering the already low entry barrier for UE4 hobbyists is going to change much (at least for me). I do love carrots, no matter who dangles them in front of me and competition is always good. Looking forward to seeing what Unity will announce tomorrow.
     
  47. BFGames

    BFGames

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    I pay 900$ per/year for my subscription. So even with those numbers i can make around 30K before its more expensive for me. Now this depends on where you live, but 30K is not much where i live. So i would need to spit out a lot of games, making profit from those at a very low threshold before it was worth it for me business wise.

    But the most important thing for me is that i just like Unity more than UE4. And thats the most important thing when you pick the tools you work with really hehe :)
     
  48. vexe

    vexe

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    The thing about Untiy is, you don't like the editor? you can write your own. You don't like the serialization system? you can write your own, you don't like the GUI layout system? you don't like the property drawers API? etc etc. And yes I didn't like any of those but I was able to write my own stuff. This is something I value in Unity, it lets you do whatever you want however you want... Then the asset store, you don't need to make a game to make $, you can just write something that people want and sell it. Plus the smooth and fairly straight-forward workflow, all +. What I do miss however, is more low-level memory access, and a better gc

    For me personally, if UE offers equal or better editor customizability, I've got no reason to stay. Oh wait.. maybe I do have, because I spent so much goddamn time learning Unity, writing code for it, we've got people relying on the tools we write because it's helping them, etc etc. So it's not that straight-forward from a practical pov to 'just' leave Unity, unless you're a new-comer or got nothing to lose.
     
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  49. Dreamaster

    Dreamaster

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    This is simply the best post... EVER. K guys, I'm out to go download UE4... should have my AAA game done in a few weeks to share with everyone!
     
  50. 0tacun

    0tacun

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    Everyone is complaining about 5% for the engine but no one finds it odd to give 30% to the publishers for ... hosting. Wouldn't mind to give unity 5%, too.
     
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