PlayCanvas vs Unreal Engine

Overview

Unreal Engine

Stacks377

Followers392

Votes34

PlayCanvas

Stacks30

Followers65

Votes0

GitHub Stars11.0K

Forks1.5K

PlayCanvas vs Unreal Engine: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between PlayCanvas and Unreal Engine, two popular game development platforms.

Performance and Optimization: PlayCanvas is a lightweight engine that focuses on web-based games, offering excellent performance and optimization for browser-based experiences. On the other hand, Unreal Engine is a powerful and feature-rich engine that provides high-quality graphics, advanced physics simulations, and extensive systems for game development across various platforms such as PC, consoles, and mobile devices.
Ease of Use and Learning Curve: PlayCanvas has a user-friendly interface and a simpler learning curve, making it an ideal choice for beginners or developers with limited experience. It provides intuitive tools and a visual programming interface, allowing for quick prototyping and development. In contrast, Unreal Engine has a steeper learning curve, but offers more advanced features and capabilities for experienced developers.
Platform Support: PlayCanvas primarily focuses on web-based games and supports HTML5 and WebGL technologies, which enable games to run on web browsers without the need for additional plugins. On the other hand, Unreal Engine supports a wide range of platforms, including PC, consoles (such as PlayStation and Xbox), virtual reality (VR) devices, and mobile devices (iOS and Android).
Customizability and Extensibility: PlayCanvas provides a relatively limited range of customization options, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. While it offers a solid set of features for web-based games, the level of customization is not as extensive compared to Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine, on the other hand, provides a highly customizable and extensible framework, allowing developers to create complex gameplay mechanics, advanced graphics, and custom plugins.
Asset Pipeline and Marketplace: PlayCanvas offers a streamlined asset pipeline and a built-in marketplace, making it easier for developers to find and integrate assets into their projects. It provides a library of ready-to-use assets and a collaborative workspace, enabling developers to share and collaborate on projects. Unreal Engine also provides a marketplace where developers can find and purchase assets, but its asset pipeline is more complex and requires additional steps for asset integration.
Community and Support: PlayCanvas has a smaller but active community of developers, with a dedicated forum for support and discussions. It provides documentation, tutorials, and sample projects to help developers get started. On the other hand, Unreal Engine has a larger community and a wealth of resources, including official documentation, forums, video tutorials, and live training sessions. The extensive community and support network of Unreal Engine can be beneficial for developers seeking assistance or learning resources.

In Summary, PlayCanvas is a lightweight engine suitable for web-based games, offering excellent performance, ease of use, and a streamlined asset pipeline. Unreal Engine, on the other hand, is a powerful and feature-rich engine, providing high-quality graphics, advanced customization options, extensive platform support, and a larger community and support network.

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Manual

Advice on Unreal Engine, PlayCanvas

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

Unreal Engine	PlayCanvas
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.	It is an open-source 3D game engine/interactive 3D application engine alongside a proprietary cloud-hosted creation platform that allows for simultaneous editing from multiple computers via a browser-based interface.
Photoreal Rendering in Real Time; Blueprints: Create without Coding	Open source; Tiny engine footprint; Mobile optimized; Zero compile time.
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 11.0K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 1.5K
Stacks 377	Stacks 30
Followers 392	Followers 65
Votes 34	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 11 C++ 6 Blueprints 5 PBR 4 Source Available 4 Suitable for any projects Cons 6 Heavy 1 A lot of "heaviness" myths around	No community feedback yet
Integrations
Python C#	Vuforia Firebase Felgo Ninject PlayFab Pushwoosh

What are some alternatives to Unreal Engine, PlayCanvas?

Unity

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.

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.

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.

Related Comparisons

PlayCanvas vs Unreal Engine: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between PlayCanvas and Unreal Engine, two popular game development platforms.

Performance and Optimization: PlayCanvas is a lightweight engine that focuses on web-based games, offering excellent performance and optimization for browser-based experiences. On the other hand, Unreal Engine is a powerful and feature-rich engine that provides high-quality graphics, advanced physics simulations, and extensive systems for game development across various platforms such as PC, consoles, and mobile devices.
Ease of Use and Learning Curve: PlayCanvas has a user-friendly interface and a simpler learning curve, making it an ideal choice for beginners or developers with limited experience. It provides intuitive tools and a visual programming interface, allowing for quick prototyping and development. In contrast, Unreal Engine has a steeper learning curve, but offers more advanced features and capabilities for experienced developers.
Platform Support: PlayCanvas primarily focuses on web-based games and supports HTML5 and WebGL technologies, which enable games to run on web browsers without the need for additional plugins. On the other hand, Unreal Engine supports a wide range of platforms, including PC, consoles (such as PlayStation and Xbox), virtual reality (VR) devices, and mobile devices (iOS and Android).
Customizability and Extensibility: PlayCanvas provides a relatively limited range of customization options, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. While it offers a solid set of features for web-based games, the level of customization is not as extensive compared to Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine, on the other hand, provides a highly customizable and extensible framework, allowing developers to create complex gameplay mechanics, advanced graphics, and custom plugins.
Asset Pipeline and Marketplace: PlayCanvas offers a streamlined asset pipeline and a built-in marketplace, making it easier for developers to find and integrate assets into their projects. It provides a library of ready-to-use assets and a collaborative workspace, enabling developers to share and collaborate on projects. Unreal Engine also provides a marketplace where developers can find and purchase assets, but its asset pipeline is more complex and requires additional steps for asset integration.
Community and Support: PlayCanvas has a smaller but active community of developers, with a dedicated forum for support and discussions. It provides documentation, tutorials, and sample projects to help developers get started. On the other hand, Unreal Engine has a larger community and a wealth of resources, including official documentation, forums, video tutorials, and live training sessions. The extensive community and support network of Unreal Engine can be beneficial for developers seeking assistance or learning resources.

PlayCanvas vs Unreal Engine

Overview

PlayCanvas vs Unreal Engine: What are the differences?