Which Engine / Tools

[RimBlock]

So I have been playing around with Unreal Engine for this project a bit and it is quite nice but has a few downsides.  I am also looking at the CryEngine.

Current views;

Unreal Engine 4 (4.14) Docs.

• Positives
  
  
  Looks nice.
  
• Blueprint high level programming system is fairly nice (BP Ref). 
  
• API Ref (here).
  
• Lots of tutorials.
  
• High turnover of engine versions.
  
• Massive marketplace.
  
• C++ underlying programming.
  
• UE4 --> MySQL API tested and working.
  

[*]Negatives.

• 
  
  Texture on landscapes is a bit of a challenge so far.
  
• No water / waves system.
  
• Tutorials sometimes out of date.
  
• High turnover of engine versions (see previous item).
  
• Documentation not so good (more examples than manual and API reference).
  
• % fee on selling a game
  

CryEngine (5.2.0) - Not much experience yet - Docs.

• Positives
  
  
  Looks nice.
  
• Water / waves system out of the box.
  
• C++ & CE# underlying programming languages.Extensive documentation and API guide.
  
• Free on selling a game
  

[*]Negatives.

• 
  
  Landscapes import is a bit of a challenge so far.
  
• No water / waves system.
  
• Not such a nice dev interface.
  
• No Blueprints system (basic FlowGraph system).
  

World Machine 2 (Landscape creation and basic texture mapping).

• Fairly easy to use.
  
• Quite powerful.
  
• Difficult for precision but masking helps.
  
• Still have to get scale mapped between Game Engine and WM2.
  

3D Modelling Software

• 3DS Max - Ok, big learning curve.  Expensive subscription (US$187/month or US$1,489 / Year).
  
• Maya - Buggy, freezes, crash to desktop, lockups.  Fairly easy to use but not very usable in this state.  Expensive subscription (US$187/month or US$1,489 / Year).
  
• Maya LT - Not used much.  Fear same issues as with Maya but not seen so far.  Much cheaper subscription then others (US$32.10/month or US$246.10/year).
  
• Modo - Ok but not tried too deeply.  Single purchase price.  Expensive (US$1,799 one off payment).
  
• AutoCAD - Not too suited for this use.  Expensive subscription (US$ 215/month or US$1,712/year).
  
• Cinema 4D - Not used.  Very Expensive (US$3,695 one off payment).
  
• Cinema 4D Prime - Not used.   (US$955 one off payment).
  
• Mudbox - Looks fun for organic stuff.  Ok subscription prices (US$10.70/month or US$80/year).
  
• ZBrush - Not really tried.
  
• 123D Design - Not suitable as it is for solids and not meshes.  Free.
  
• Solidworks - Not suitable as it is for solids and not meshes.
  
• Blender - Trying now.  Free (plugins cost).
  
• Adobe Creative Commons- All Adobe products.  Sin$66/month (around US$40+).
  
• Substance - Buy to Own Indy license is US$19.90 / month.
  

Maya LT + Mudbox + Adobe + Substance / year = US$1,044.90.  (initial outlay = US$326.10.  Monthly = US$59.90).