LO1: Software Research

Unity:

Unity is an older engine that is also free for anyone to download and use. The main features of unity are a basic modelling and particle system and the main difference is that Unity uses traditional script coding and does not have blueprints in the same way that UE5 has. This means that there is a much steeper learning curve with the engine. This means that not as many people learn with Unity because Unreal 5 is now out. It also does not support a lot of very complicated and high quality models before the project becomes too large or needs to much computer power to run effectively. It does however provide a good gateway into the more traditional side of coding for games and level design. This is because it supports both 2D games and 3D games allowing developers to practice and refine their skills in both aspects of game development.

However Unity does have some features that are useful such as better modelling tools that Unreal engine which allow the seamless creation of assets for games. This also means that only one peice of software is needed to be learnt by the developer. The game engine also uses a very good coding language which has a lot of documentation and makes it easier to use. It also has the option of adding loads of different addons such as weapons or movement already built into the engine.

Unreal Engine 5:

Unreal engine 5 is a new game engine that is the successor to Unreal Engine 4. The game engine has many new features that allow the game developers to streamline and learn the software much more easily. One of the main things about the game engine is the fact that the engine itself helps to remove the need for other programs such as hoodini or blender, these are usually used for modelling. The engine provides its own set of comprehensive modelling tools that can be easily learned. this means that placeholder objects can be easily and quickly placed into levels to block them out. This also allows anyone to pick up the engine. And get into the industry. Other features that the engine has are Nanite. This is a way to make massive open world games which can be run on much lower machines. This is because nanite uses polygons and reduces and increases the amount of polygons depending on how close the camera is to the object. This means that massive open worlds can be loaded in all at one time without need a powerful system. The last main part of the engine is its support for both normal scripting as well as being able to use blueprint coding this is a much more visual way of coding that is easier to use and understand. this makes it much easier to code a functional game. As well as reducing the time it takes to get a finished product.

Constraints: The engine does have the constraints such as needing higher processing power to run the engine. This means that the engine can only be used by a lower amount of people. This limits the amount of people that can use the engine successfully. Another limitation is that the amount of storage needed for the engine itself is far more than Unity at 50 GB minimum and the models that can be added easily allows the engine to consume upwards of 150 GB.

PC:

Depending on the hardware of a PC they can run almost any game with any type of graphics this is because they are both larger and more powerful than other devices. They can also be modified to have better or worse hardware allowing them to easily run any required game. For example ray tracing and high quality models can usually be easily run on PCs because of there full size CPU and GPU unlike other devices where the 2 have to be combined. This mans that they can run larger games such as Forza Horizon 5 which is a massive highly detailed multiplayer game. That is run of servers that people join. For the average pc which ahss btoa Ryzen 3500x and a 1080ti it will be able to run majority of AAA titles like Forza and Call Of Duty. However some games require high specs to run optimally such as Star Citizen. This means more money for the parts of the PC. 

Phone:

For phone games they have to be quite limited in both the graphics and the size. This is because of the size of the processors that can go into these phones. Because of the size and the amount of heat generated and the amount of cooling that can be fitted into the phone. The games that can usually run o phones are usually quite simple and basic from both a design and graphic perspective. For example geometry dash and clash of clans. Both games are still enjoyable and both still have good graphics the games are just not 3D because of the hardware limitations. Games must be able to run on a average chipset such as the A16 Bionic from apple this is a good processor chip that allows most game to run effectively. However some phones can be designed to run higher requirement games and some phones will be only able to run very basic games such as a Nokia phone with the game snake. If a phone can run much more graphically intensive games it will run the risk of overheating and damaging the phone. This means to combat this phone either have to have a fan or they are larger to allow for more heat dissipation into the air.