VR is becoming very popular among the masses. Thanks to their 360-degree viewing and immersive experience, the demands for VR ecosystem will increase. There are good hardware already in the market, from VR headsets to gaming stations. But the need of the hour is a good VR software.
A good hardware complements a good software. For VR to truly reach out to people, the content should be reach and software intuitive. Just like smartphone apps for which phones gained momentum, VR needs its software niche too. So let’s take a look at the essential software needed to design your own VR content right now!
Best real-time engines for beginners
To make your own VR software/content, there are two major steps. First is to create the design or the concept in a modeling software. Modeling software enables you to construct a 2D design or a 3D concept easily with help of powerful tools. The second step is to use real-time engines to give life to the concept. Real-time engines use various techniques to fit in your content in the VR ecosystem. Because of real-time engines, you could view the content in your VR devices and not in conventional screen.
In this article, let us look at the best real-time engines for beginners. These engines are free or of minimal cost, and very easy to develop on.
Unreal Engine
Perhaps the most popular out of all engines, Unreal Engine has a plethora of plug-ins and features for you to use. There is a huge community support in this engine, which could help beginners to navigate through its use and features. Also, the latest technologies are native to the engine, and a built-in marketplace ensures that you can test and buy different plug-ins and richer features for you to include.
Unity 3D
The biggest competition of Unreal Engine is Unity 3D for sure. Starting from nowhere, Unity 3D is now reaching heights thanks to its easy interface and aggressive marketing. You can also find tutorials and coursework for your needs, and a large community to help you out when your are stuck. Overall, this is another good, feature-rich engine for beginners.
Lumberyard
Lumberyard is a relatively new engine created by Amazon. It looks very promising with a growing community support and technical advancements in the engine by Amazon. This engine is based on the previous version of Crytech engine. Even if it isn’t as big as Unreal engine or Unity 3D as of now, it looks as if in 2-3 years down the line it may give a stiff competition. This is a free software.
Cryengine
Cryengine is a familiar word among the VR developers. Its games have been for long adorned by the game enthusiasts, thanks to its visual and technical capabilities. It has the most advanced features, it is in the game for a long time and is still very popular among the masses The only downside may be that you have to pay for what you get. But if you are intermediate in VR development and looking for a great engine to play around with, Cryengine is the solution.
Hence, novice and beginners have great options for real-time engines in the market. Since they are free or inexpensive, you can try multiple platforms and know your comfort zone. So try all and choose the best for your needs!
