Like 7-8 years ago no commercial engine supported Linux. Every game developer knew that Linux users were a few, and they only played free games. I was working with Ogre3d then, and suddenly, Phoronix came up with this fancy new engine that supported Linux natively, Unigine. Impossible not to fall in love with it.
But soon I realized that Unigine was a sort of platonic love. The developers refused to provide the engine for evaluation, unless you were an established studio (which probably, didnt need to try another engine). Very few people knew how to properly use it, as I discovered later, when hired for a project. The documentation was scarce, and you had to figure out how the things worked by looking at the provided samples.
Since then, most of AAA engines became free to use and implemented Linux support, leading to even more videotutorials and such. Unigine, still closed, still very expensive, has been relegated to some post, once in a year. Like today, when I read in Phoronix that a new MMORPG project has switched from Unreal Engine to Unigine 2. Im really amazed by such decision, but they have their reasons, that you can read in the original post. I just wish them the best luck.
But soon I realized that Unigine was a sort of platonic love. The developers refused to provide the engine for evaluation, unless you were an established studio (which probably, didnt need to try another engine). Very few people knew how to properly use it, as I discovered later, when hired for a project. The documentation was scarce, and you had to figure out how the things worked by looking at the provided samples.
Since then, most of AAA engines became free to use and implemented Linux support, leading to even more videotutorials and such. Unigine, still closed, still very expensive, has been relegated to some post, once in a year. Like today, when I read in Phoronix that a new MMORPG project has switched from Unreal Engine to Unigine 2. Im really amazed by such decision, but they have their reasons, that you can read in the original post. I just wish them the best luck.
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