CIS 4002: Advanced Projects in Computer Game Design

Game Engines for CIS 4002

Unlike CIS 3000, you are not restricted to any particular engine in this class. Indeed, one of the lessons of CIS 4002 should be how to chose the right tool to do the job. Of course, you can still use XNA if you want, provided that you satisfy the course requirements. However, you should also explore other options. In particular, if you are trying to get a job as a programmer in the industry, it often helps to have some experience in C++ programming.

On this page, we provide you with a list of some of the more popular game engines available for use. We know that this list is by no means complete. If there are any engines that you know about that feel need special mention, let us know and we will add them.

[Free Engines] [Commercial Engines] [Unreal Engine]

Free Engines

XNA is not the only free game engine available; there are many other engines out there. However, almost all of the free game engines have been developed for educational use. Some of them, like GameMaker, focus on making game development simple, and hence are way too underpowered for CIS 4002. You should make sure that you are properly satisfying the course requirements before choosing any of these engines.

The following is a list of free engines that might be suitable for this class:

Panda3D
This is a free 3D game engine developed at Carnegie Mellon. You can develop in either C++ or in Python.
Delta3D
This is a engine popular in academic work on simulations (scientific or otherwise). As such it is a very robust system with complex AI. You will probably find that it is a bit of overkill for games, however.
Irrlicht Engine
This is a free 3D engine being developed in Germany. It is notable for the fact that it is incredibly cross-platform.

Commercial Engines

By commercial engine, we mean an engine that has some form of licensing restriction. That could mean that it is an engine which requires you to pay for a license in order to use it (such as Torque). Or it could mean that you can develop for free, but must pay a fee in order to distribute the game. While you are welcome to use commercial engines, you may not use an engine whose license prevents us from distributing your game for free via the GDIAC website.

The following is a list of commercial engines with reasonable licenses and/or pricing:

Torque2D
This is a very popular game engine for indie developers. While not free, the cost of a license is no more than a Calculus textbook. The 3D engine, however, is a bit more expensive; talk to course staff if you are interested in this license.
UNITY
This game engine allows for very rapid development; it was used by CIS 4002 alums to create a complex game in less than 48 hours. It is also notable for its iPhone support. Like Torque, an indie license costs about as much as a Calculus textbook; however, this cost is for the 3D version as well.

Unreal Engine

The Unreal Engine is one of the most popular game engines in the world. It has been used for such blockbuster titles as Unreal Tournament, Gears of War, and Mass Effect. While it is certainly not an easy engine to master, experience in the Unreal Engine would be a significant advantage to anyone wanting to get a job as a programmer in the industry. Unfortunately, the license for the Unreal Engine is way too expensive for the average student.

However, Epic Studios has recently announced that they plan to make the Unreal Engine free to students for academic use. It has not been released yet, but they expect to make it available in late September, which is well before technical prototype. This makes it Unreal a real possibility for this class; we will provide you with more details as they become available.

With that said, we want to caution you about using the Unreal Engine. This is a very complex engine, and you could spend a significant amount of the semester just trying to understand how the engine works. This is not the purpose of the course; we want you to focus on making games, not engines. If you are interested in the Unreal Engine, then you really should purchase a copy of the textbook just released by Epic Studios.

Another issue with the Unreal Engine is licensing. We do not yet know the exact details of the license, but it will most likely restrict the what you can do with your game. In particular, you well most likely never be able to sell your game. While few students do that with their games in CIS 3000 and CIS 4002, you always have that option. More importantly, we do not know how the license affects competitions like the Independent Games Festival.