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I'm wanting to test my hand at writing an RTS (something I've never gotten very far with), and so I'm looking for an indie engine that would give me the most success with a quick setup that I can then tweak and start to get the ins and outs of RTS design/development.

I've had a bit of familiarity with both Torque and Unity both, but never from that perspective.

Which would get me closer to base prototype faster?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Also note that the makers of Torque have shut down and are looking for a buyer to take over the engine. \$\endgroup\$
    – mghicks
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 19:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I landed on Unity for all of my creative projects henceforth. An RTS will simply have to work for it. ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – Lance May
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 19:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ FYI: the makers of Torque are back in business. Not that I recommend using it or anything... \$\endgroup\$
    – Nicol Bolas
    Commented Jun 29, 2011 at 9:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm currently using Torque for something, because there is one place it beats Unity - the GUI editor. Unity wins on everything else except this. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kylotan
    Commented Jul 3, 2011 at 4:20

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Personally, I would recommend Unity. In comparison to Torque I've been able to get basic proofs-of-concepts running far faster than before. (Of course, there is a bit of bias as I was far younger when experimenting with Torque)

But in general, it's been a far more pleasing experience to work with. Also in comparison to what I remember from the community at Garage Games, the Unity community is far more available to help with issues that my arise.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Were any of the PoCs RTS games, by chance? \$\endgroup\$
    – Lance May
    Commented Jul 14, 2010 at 21:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Lance Sadly no, it's mostly been Action-adventure stuff and recently fighting game mechanics. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jesse Dorsey
    Commented Jul 14, 2010 at 21:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ +1 for Unity, read about the horrors of Torque engines gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/2934/… \$\endgroup\$
    – David Young
    Commented Aug 25, 2010 at 17:44
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You might want to take a look at this tread on the Unity forums. There's also someone working on an RTS "starter kit" but I can't remember who.

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My Digital Media friends are currently using Unity for their game development. They seem to like it because it makes it relatively simple to add and use custom 3D objects and the script is rather easy to handle( none of them like programming, but they seem to be doing an OK job at learning the scripting in a semester's time ).

I don't have first-hand experience of the engine itself, but it definitely sounds like it's worth some experimentation.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Is their project an RTS, by chance? I'm not so much unfamiliar with Unity, more really RTSs. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lance May
    Commented Jul 14, 2010 at 21:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Lance May: No, it's a platformer still in development. Though it should be completed now- not sure if they're going to publish it online. \$\endgroup\$
    – IAE
    Commented Jul 17, 2010 at 22:02
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I haven't used Torque, and in general Unity is great for quickly getting something together.

I would add one disclaimer before you rush in though. Unity has an awful GUI system. Everyone I know who is using Unity in a professional capacity has had to buy a GUI system (I believe NGUI is a popular choice). RTS games often have a lot of UI elements and precious little of the stuff that Unity make easy (things like Physics, particles etc.).

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