RPG Maker Forums

I can't believe I missed this. I stumbled on it checking the Unity page to verify something for my blog post and found this.

Unreal is releasing the full C++ source code of their engine and editing tools for $19/month. If you never make a game with it, just being able to study that code (some of the best ever written) is worth that - and they've included provisions so educational institutions can use the code in classrooms for free.

If you distribute a game, Unreal takes 5% of the gross. That's less than they were (are) taking with the UDK, and lower than any other AAA game engine license I've seen.

Personally, this doesn't change anything with my plans for Dammerung - I'm still going to finish that and try to market it as a commercial product. I may even work on other RM title or two after that.

But I'm signing up for this. I figure it will take at least a year to get up to speed on the source, even with the forum and community support (Unreal isn't providing any direct support for this). One major prohibition for the code is no 'copyleft' code (like the GPL) may be added to it, so any forks or 'addons' or edits you see on their forums will be free to use however you see fit.

I don't see this as any real competition for RPG Maker - if you're using this engine, you want something easy to use, quick to create, etc... But Unity could be in for a world of hurt, especially if Unreal's asset/app store starts rolling. Right now they just have 'free' stuff up there, but users (licensees) will be able to submit assets for sale as well as Unreal. That would take away the one big thing Unity has going for it: and Unity comes with a $1500 price tag - even if you're eligible to release a commercial product with the free version, you're going to want the features of Unity Pro - and another $1500/yr to license their big asset package (or you can buy them a la carte).

Talk about some game changing stuff...