Overview

Unity

Stacks1.7K

Followers1.4K

Votes78

Amethyst

Stacks5

Followers20

Votes0

GitHub Stars8.0K

Forks735

Amethyst vs Unity: What are the differences?

# Introduction
When choosing a game development tool, developers often compare Amethyst and Unity to determine which is the best fit for their project. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, so understanding the key differences between these two platforms is crucial.

# **1. Learning Curve**: Amethyst has a steeper learning curve compared to Unity due to its focus on Rust programming language, which might be unfamiliar to some developers. Unity, on the other hand, uses C# which is more widely known and easier to pick up for beginners.

# **2. Community Support**: Unity has a much larger and more active community compared to Amethyst. This means that getting help, finding resources, and troubleshooting issues is often easier and faster with Unity. Amethyst, being a relatively newer platform, might have limited community support.

# **3. Customizability**: Amethyst allows for more customization and flexibility in game development compared to Unity. Developers have more control over low-level systems, making it suitable for more complex and specialized projects. Unity, while powerful, has limitations in terms of customization.

# **4. Performance**: Amethyst is known for its focus on performance optimization, making it a preferred choice for developers looking to create high-performance games. Unity, while still a capable platform, may not offer the same level of fine-tuned performance optimization that Amethyst provides.

# **5. Licensing**: Unity follows a freemium model, where the basic version is free but additional features require a paid license. Amethyst, on the other hand, is open-source and free to use, making it a more cost-effective option for indie developers or small studios.

# **6. Platform Compatibility**: Unity is known for its wide range of platform compatibility, supporting various devices and operating systems. Amethyst, being a newer platform, might have limitations in terms of platform support, making it less versatile compared to Unity.

In Summary, understanding the key differences between Amethyst and Unity in terms of learning curve, community support, customizability, performance, licensing, and platform compatibility is essential when choosing the right game development tool for your project.

Advice on Unity, Amethyst

Alexey

Software Engineer / Game Developer at Norlin Games

Jun 11, 2020

Decided

When I started to learn game development, I've tried to use Unity multiple times because it's the most popular option. But never get it worked because of the clunky UI which is very hard to understand for a new user. After some time, I've decided to try UE4 despite there was a lot of rumors that it's "heavy" or requires an AAA team. And suddenly it clicked, everything works as I expecting, UI is clear and much more powerfull, no need to build custom tools to work on the game itself. Blueprints are very helpful for beginners, C++ has a lot of "syntax-sugar" - macroses, a lot of convenient in-engine types for everything. Later while working with Unreal, I've realized it has very consistent roadmap with constant improvements and adding new features. At the same time, each major version update is painless so you can upgrade your project during development to get new features. UE4 is free to use with the full list of features and you only have to pay royalty after getting your first $1 million from the project (and that's just the default case, you can always discuss custom license with an upfront fee, if you want to).

92.3k views92.3k

Comments

Arthur

Software Engineer at Value Industry

Mar 1, 2020

Decided

I chose Unity over Unreal Engine because Unity has a more user friendly UI for beginners looking to learn game development. Additionally, as someone who uses a lot of online resources to learn new languages and tools, I found a lot of tutorials covering game development with Unity as the core engine. This doesn't mean Unreal is not a great choice for game development, I just personally found learning game development much smoother with the amount of resources available with Unity.

89.8k views89.8k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Unity	Amethyst
Unity is the ultimate game development platform. Use Unity to build high-quality 3D and 2D games, deploy them across mobile, desktop, VR/AR, consoles or the Web, and connect with loyal and enthusiastic players and customers.	Uses gfx-rs to render graphics with OpenGL, and soon Vulkan and Metal. It is meant to be used for 2D and 3D, with various utilities for both types of games.
-	High Performance; Built for 2D and 3D; Uses all CPU cores to run internals and logic
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 8.0K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 735
Stacks 1.7K	Stacks 5
Followers 1.4K	Followers 20
Votes 78	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 17 Because it's a powerful engine, you can build anything 15 C# language 12 Very Popular 8 Easy to Use 7 Cross Platform Cons 4 Clunky UI 4 Closed source 4 Hard to get started with 3 No consistency with updates 3 Requires to build a lot of tools	No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available	Rust

What are some alternatives to Unity, Amethyst?

Godot

It is an advanced, feature-packed, multi-platform 2D and 3D open source game engine. It is developed by hundreds of contributors from all around the world.

Unreal Engine

It is a game engine that helps you make games. It is made up of several components that work together to drive the game. Its massive system of tools and editors allows you to organize your assets and manipulate them to create the gameplay for your game.

Gamemaker Studio 2

It has everything you need to take your idea from concept to finished game. With no barriers to entry and powerful functionality.

Panda3D

It is a game engine that includes graphics, audio, I/O, collision detection, and other abilities relevant to the creation of 3D games.

pygame

It is a cross-platform set of Python modules designed for writing video games. It includes computer graphics and sound libraries designed to be used with the Python programming language.

Corona SDK

It is a cross-platform framework ideal for rapidly creating apps and games for mobile devices and desktop systems. It builds rich mobile apps for iOS, Android, Kindle and Nook. Build high quality mobile apps in a fraction of the time.

Buildbox

It is the easiest drag and drop game maker software.Make your own games without coding and export them to iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC and Microconsoles.

AppGameKit

It is an easy to learn game development engine, ideal for Beginners, Hobbyists & Indie developers. It solves many problems caused by mobile device fragmentation. With it you can code your game once and then deploy your game to multiple platforms. Different resolutions and input systems are all easily handled by it.

Amazon Lumberyard

It is a game engine with no royalties or seat fees, frictionless integration with Twitch and AWS, plus much more on the horizon.

Phaser

It is a free open source HTML5 game framework. It uses Pixi.js for WebGL and Canvas rendering across desktop and mobile web browsers. Games can be compiled to iOS and Android apps via 3rd party tools.