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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.
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).
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.
Pros of Amethyst
Pros of Unity
- Because it's a powerful engine, you can build anything16
- C# language14
- Very Popular12
- Easy to Use7
- He Has A Free VErsion6
- Cross Platform6
- 2nd Game Engine In The World5
- Good Choise4
- Very Large Showcase4
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Cons of Amethyst
Cons of Unity
- Hard to get started with4
- Clunky UI4
- Closed source4
- No consistency with updates3
- Requires to build a lot of tools3
- Gigantic by being 9gb (thats what setup says)2