In this video, the speaker provides an honest review of the Godot game engine after five years of experience, detailing its primary strengths and weaknesses. He identifies the engine's generalized nature as a con, often necessitating "hacky solutions" for unique game mechanics. Another drawback is the lack of native console porting, though he notes third-party solutions like W4 Games are emerging to bridge this gap. On the positive side, the speaker highly praises Godot's free and open-source foundation, which guarantees cost-free usage and immunity from licensing model changes. He also highlights the engine's exceptionally supportive and open community, its developer-centric GDScript language, and its remarkable lightweight yet feature-rich design that enables quick project iteration. Despite a smaller user base and the absence of a commercial asset store, the speaker concludes that Godot remains sufficiently capable for his game development needs.
Exploring the Godot Game Engine: A 5-Year Honest Review
0:00 Engine Generality as a Con: The speaker identifies Godot's biggest con as its nature as a generalized game engine, which often requires developers to devise "hacky solutions" for unique game ideas, unlike custom-built engines tailored for specific problems.
2:00 Free and Open Source as a Pro: Godot's fundamental advantage is being a free, open-source project, ensuring it remains free forever. This provides stability, eliminates licensing worries (unlike Unity or Unreal), and fosters a reliable development environment.
3:18 Lack of Native Console Support: A significant drawback is Godot's lack of native support for porting games to consoles like Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation, due to legal and cost implications for an open-source project, thereby limiting access to a large market.
4:14 W4 Games as a Solution: W4 Games, founded by Godot's core contributors, offers console porting services for a fee (comparable to Unity's Pro license costs), providing a pathway for Godot developers to reach console platforms.
5:34 Sponsored Segment (Zolo Web Shop): A sponsored segment discusses the impact of the Epic v. Apple case, allowing iOS developers to direct users to alternative payment methods. Zolo Web Shop is presented as a customizable, low-fee (5% transaction) solution for selling in-app purchases via a web shop.
7:03 Strong Community Support: The Godot community, particularly on platforms like Reddit, is praised for its incredible support, open sharing of code and assets (e.g., goodshaders.com), and non-judgmental assistance, driven by the engine's open-source philosophy.
8:54 Smaller User Base Con: A con is Godot's comparatively smaller user base than Unity, which can make it more challenging to find readily available text-based solutions and tutorials online, as information might be less concentrated.
10:00 GDScript as a Pro: GDScript, Godot's native Python-like language, is highlighted for its simplicity and for being designed and evolved based on actual developer needs, rather than corporate financial incentives, thanks to Godot's open-source and community-funded nature.
11:09 Absence of a Native Asset Store: Godot lacks a commercial asset store akin to Unity's, where developers can purchase ready-to-integrate models, animations, and effects, though it does offer a robust asset library for add-ons.
12:35 Lightweight and Feature-Rich: Despite being lightweight (projects open, run, and export in seconds), Godot is feature-rich, enabling the development of successful indie games (e.g., Brodo, Buckshot Roulette, Slay the Spire 2), and facilitating a highly efficient iteration loop.
13:58 Overall Satisfaction: The speaker concludes that Godot's cons are not significant enough to deter him from using it, as the engine effectively meets his game development requirements.