PreviewLabs

From a self-compiled list of over 40 engines and middleware solutions, we selected 8 technologies we’re going to investigate:

• Unreal Development Kit: The new UDK is now offering support for iOS (Android and NGP probably coming soon), allowing prototyping of FPS and third-person action games on these platforms. We’re also going to investigate the Unreal Kismet visual scripting language, a system that allows programming by connecting nodes.
• Playmaker: In a way similar to Unreal Kismet, PlayMaker adds a visual programming system to Unity.
• Vision Engine: This engine seems to be similar to Unity3D, but offers more advanced features and integration with state-of-the-art middleware solutions.
• Rocket Engine: An engine for plugin-less browser game development, partly relying on HTML5.
• Qualcomm AR Extension for Unity3: An augmented reality extension for Unity, running on Android devices.
• Ürban PAD: A city-generating tool, which should allow us to create a city for a prototype in no-time.
• GameSalad: The creators of this salad are emphasizing that it’s good for prototyping, so we’ll have a taste!
• Game Maker 8: A tool in the running for 12 years now, often used by non-programmers to create games in a visual way, featuring a lot of drag-and-drop functionality.

After each test we will post our findings on this blog, so stay tuned!

An example of what the Unreal Kismet visual scripting language looks like