I am in the process of designing a open source game. Well it is more then just a game it is a full fledged ecosystem.
This project is essentially a fully customizable turn based crpg system. The core is a means to run scenarios.
Think NWN but on steroids. People who create the modules can overhaul assets, rulesets, story line quests etc…
Obviously there would be a extensive scenario included as this is a game just a super modable game.
At this point I am looking into technologies that could help alliviate some of the work. I already know UE4 can get this done but a Open project and UE4 seems a bit scetchy not even sure it is allowed and I think this project can build a awesome community so I would love to keep it open if possible.
Lots of tools would need to be made to help simplify the content creation ecosystem so I am looking for a solid core to build around.
The amount of work (for assets) is probably equal to any other engine, as due to being opensource, you are excluded from all assetshops anyway.
In terms of accessability I would say java is way better (tons of minecraft mods, despite no mod api kinda proove this)
It is pretty easy to use ScriptEngine in java, so you could also allow scriptable stuff for the module creators.
So all in all, I would say yes, working choice.
UE4 has fancier grafic possiblities, but I guess you gonna focus mor on the gameplay anyway.
Unity has a good Assetstore, but due to being opensource you cannot use it, so you stay witha somewhat advanced engine, but all the interesting plugins that make unity nice are gone (like a solid voxelengine for a few $ ect.).
JME3 runs fine on almost any desktop, as a linux user I never had any problems, while unity makes some issues for example in the game Rust for me. I have yet to encounter a UE4 game.
Did I mention that jme3 is kind of a (hyper)active community? So much interaction is very rarely seen anywhere else.
Hyper community hype! Yea unity is not even a option and the only real advantage I see with UE4 is blueprint scripting but any dedicated modder would take the time to learn a script system look at bethesda papyrus such a terrible script system but people learn it.
It is good to hear this eine can be this flexible because java will always be more approachable for a project over c++ which can mean more contribution and participation.
Well in java you can use popular and well known script languages, like javascript and lua with good integration, so that front is covered.
Alternativly you could offer java based plugins/modules via a modding api, the benfit would be the vastly superior ide integration and thus a easier learning curve.
You could also do stuff, like trying to write a own blueprint like language, but I guess the time is better spend elsewhere. However JME does not hinder you ding that in any way.
Yea no need for writing parsers that is what modern scripting language are for and why ruby and groovy are so popular the dsl. For instance I can instead of a blueprint in ue4 could use say groovy to make a dsl that defines the ruleset for the scenario. As a ruleset defines dice rolls, movement , combat abilites, attributes and how they legally behave etc…
The more I think about it the more I realize how flexible this engine could be compared to the likes of other engines lol.
I think jMonkey lacks some pure “power” in comparaison with UE4 and Unity, but it is also far more scalable and tweakable. It offers freedom and is purely open source. But don’t forget to think about your target, since JME won’t run on all devices.
Note that I’m currently developping an entity editor that is inspired from Unity 3D. If you are intending to use an Entity Component System, we could talk about it.
As for lack of power not sure what power you mean. Sure ue4 can output serious performance but for 1 this is turn based and 2 not everyone can model, texture, rig, and uv a 41k poly realistic model and bake it for low poly use to get that visual fidelity that performance allows.
This concept is not really targeted at the typical gamer but more the people who thrive off table top creativity and are getting upset about the way the crpg is heading. NWN was the greatest crpg concept born and to this day still popular because of the freedom. I want to take it beyond that essentially.
By power I mean more than performances : great industrial tools for creating content like AI, physic, particles, animation, great UserInterface to allow whole team to work fluently togethe, large community of thousand of profesionnal users, stellar documentation and exemple projetcs… Let’s be honest, those industrial soultion are more powerfull than jMonkey.
But jMonkey has for it the flexibility to become anything you want, to realise whatever you desire, while the concurrent solution leads you again and again to industrial standards and remakes.
Good luck for your project and please, keep us in touch ^^
I do agree there but at the same time jme does not have such a huge company like epic, or crytek or whatever who makes their living off building industrial grade engines and tools for AAA studios. I would think the average individual does not even come close to flexing the ue4 capabilites but they do have to deal with restrictions placed on it by corporate goals.
Either way I love open source and want my project to be open source. I think this just might be what I am looking for flexibility wise. Only thing left is to learn how it works so I have a better idea if it is the right choice.
Thanks a bunch I will for sure do my best to keep ya updated this project will be epic I feel and fun to create.
