An Experience-based Comparison of Unity and Unreal for a Stand-alone 3D Game Development Course

Dickson, Paul E.; Block, Jeremy E.; Echevarria, Gina N.; Keenan, Kristina C.

doi:10.1145/3059009.3059013

Cited by 36 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Learners of C#, either experienced or inexperienced programmers, appear to experience a greater learning curve than learners of C++ (Chandra, 2012). While Unity and Unreal are of equal quality (Dickson et al, 2017), Unity as a GE has been found to be more user-friendly, and easier to learn compared to Unreal (Dickson et al, 2017). Also, Unity has an extensive online community and online resources (e.g., 3D models, software development kits; SDK), and documentation (Dickson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Rationale and Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Guidelines for the Development of Immersive Virtual Reality Software for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology: The Development of Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), a Neuropsychological Test Battery in Immersive Virtual Reality

Kourtesis

Korre

Collina

et al. 2020

Front. Comput. Sci.

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Virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD) appear to be effective research tools, which may address the problem of ecological validity in neuropsychological testing. However, their widespread implementation is hindered by VR induced symptoms and effects (VRISE) and the lack of skills in VR software development. This study offers guidelines for the development of VR software in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology, by describing and discussing the stages of the development of Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), the first neuropsychological battery in immersive VR. Techniques for evaluating cognitive functions within a realistic storyline are discussed. The utility of various assets in Unity, software development kits, and other software are described so that cognitive scientists can overcome challenges pertinent to VRISE and the quality of the VR software. In addition, this pilot study attempts to evaluate VR-EAL in accordance with the necessary criteria for VR software for research purposes. The VR neuroscience questionnaire (VRNQ; Kourtesis et al., 2019b) was implemented to appraise the quality of the three versions of VR-EAL in terms of user experience, game mechanics, in-game assistance, and VRISE. Twenty-five participants aged between 20 and 45 years with 12-16 years of full-time education evaluated various versions of VR-EAL. The final version of VR-EAL achieved high scores in every sub-score of the VRNQ and exceeded its parsimonious cut-offs. It also appeared to have better in-game assistance and game mechanics, while its improved graphics substantially Kourtesis et al. VR Research Software Development increased the quality of the user experience and almost eradicated VRISE. The results substantially support the feasibility of the development of effective VR research and clinical software without the presence of VRISE during a 60-min VR session.

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Section: Rationale and Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For these reasons, Unity was preferred for the development of VR-EAL. However, either Unreal or Unity would have been a sensible choice since both GEs offer high quality tools and features for software development (Dickson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Rationale and Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guidelines for the Development of Immersive Virtual Reality Software for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology: The Development of Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), a Neuropsychological Test Battery in Immersive Virtual Reality

Kourtesis

Korre

Collina

et al. 2020

Front. Comput. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A game engine should simplify and speed up the development process, allowing students to create interesting games in a short amount of time time, e.g., in a few months. The task of finding the most appropriate game engine for a given degree is not trivial, and there are several reports of difficulties in this choice [15,16,42,43]. Dickson [15] suggests using the Unity game engine [54] to teach game development.…”

Section: Gd Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is a difficult language to master in a three-year degree, especially a BA. There is, inclusively, a rather negative report concerning the use of C++ and Unreal Engine for teaching purposes, which concludes that the engines' blueprints visual scripting system is the only feasible choice for game creation in a short amount of time [16]. The problem becomes less relevant if we consider that: a) the C# inheritance syntax is based on its C++ counterpart; b) C++ is itself built upon the C programming language, which is itself taught in our degree, as discussed in Subsection 3.3.…”

Section: The C# Language and Its Implications On Lectured Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down Design of a CS Curriculum for a Computer Games BA

Fachada

Códices

2020

Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

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Computer games are complex products incorporating software, design and art. Consequently, their development is a multidisciplinary effort, requiring professionals from several fields, who should nonetheless be knowledgeable across disciplines. Due to the variety of skills required, and in order to train these professionals, computer game development (GD) degrees have been appearing in North America and Europe since the late 1990s. Following this trend, several GD degrees have emerged in Portugal. Given the lack of specialized academic staff, not uncommon in younger scientific areas, some of these degrees "borrowed" computer science (CS) programs and faculty within the same institution, leading in some cases to a disconnect between CS theory and practice and the requirements of GD classes. In this paper, we discuss our experience in adapting the CS curriculum of a three-year computer games BA in accordance with GD requirements. We used a top-down approach, where the game engine used for GD informs the choice of CS topics and programming languages lectured in the CS curriculum. The discussion is centered around the choices taken and the theoretical and empirical rationale behind our decisions. Preliminary empirical results indicate a substantial increase in GD project quality and a clear improvement in the students' technical skills, as well as in their experimentation and adaptation capabilities. CCS CONCEPTS • Applied computing → Computer games; Education; • Software and its engineering → General programming languages; Design patterns; Object oriented development.

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“…Multiple game engines are available, including Unity, Quest 3D, CryEngine, Blender, Unreal, Torque 3D, etc. and it is possible to compare them regarding their functionalities and features [24,25]. A model export workflow from Revit to Unity 3D has been proposed by the Penn State CIC Research Group [26].…”

Section: Transferring 4d Simulations In Vr Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automating the Integration of 4D Models in Game Engines for a Virtual Reality-Based Construction Simulation

Bourlon

Boton

2019

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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This article is part of the first steps of a more global work in progress. It aims at automating the integration of 4D simulations in virtual reality environments, to easily generate 4D simulation alternatives in such environments. The final goal is to support collaborative constructability analysis sessions based on intuitive simulations of the construction process using BIM models. The results show that while it is possible to create 4D models in a game engine directly from a BIM model and an existing schedule, several improvements still need to be made in order to achieve the desired situation. Similar to most workflows presented in the literature, the one used in this work is not free of limitations. The evaluation of the application shows that most of the problems encountered come from the imperfect transfer of the model from the BIM software to the game engine.

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An Experience-based Comparison of Unity and Unreal for a Stand-alone 3D Game Development Course

Cited by 36 publications

References 13 publications

Guidelines for the Development of Immersive Virtual Reality Software for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology: The Development of Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), a Neuropsychological Test Battery in Immersive Virtual Reality

Guidelines for the Development of Immersive Virtual Reality Software for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology: The Development of Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), a Neuropsychological Test Battery in Immersive Virtual Reality

Top-down Design of a CS Curriculum for a Computer Games BA

Automating the Integration of 4D Models in Game Engines for a Virtual Reality-Based Construction Simulation

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