Thats wrong. The Unreal Engine is the most expensive engine we ever used. But it's totally worth it.
I meant comparing to a newly developed one. UE is made for mass production and as such doesn't have specific features just for one game genre. Sure, you can make some great AAA arcade games like Assetto Corsa (yeah, that is not a simulation game, even some would think so), but you can't make great simulation games. Simulators are all about reality.
Quote
Thats simply not true. There is no strong fokus to any genre in the unreal engine 4. When SCS started developing ETS the UE4 doesn't exists. They never had the choice to use it. There are real racing games made by UE4 e.g. Assetto Corsa.
That is the main "problem" with UE. It's not focused on any specific genre. Therefore you can't or it is too hard to make some specific situations and features required for some genres (like bus simulators). You're right, when SCS released ETS, UE didn't exist, but they've had a chance to switch to it few years ago, but the suggestion was spectacularly rejected, mainly because of the reasons I'm mentioning. Money was not an argument there. "On The Road" is made in UE and it is a complete trash comparing to ETS2. It doesn't even have decent graphics, not to mention gameplay itself.
Quote
Which limitations you are talking about? Do you have any specific argument against the engine that is not prejustice?
I don't have any prejudice about UE, quite the opposite. I love it and even use it myself for some projects. If I must be specific here, I'm talking about AI behavior, optimization issues, physics, etc. I'm not saying all of this couldn't be bypassed by some extensive coding, but the job itself is way harder in UE then in an engine that would be developed specifically for those features.
Quote
Developing an own engine is not possible for us. How should we develope an engine and a game with 4 programmers in total?
Lack of manpower is a serious issue, no doubt, but you need to understand that your customers don't care about your business problems. I work as a designer at the moment, but I'm an educated industrial manager with 15+ years of experience in business and you can fully trust me when I'm saying this. Final product is all they care about. If you want to compete, you need to overcome your issues, or someone else will take your place. Making AAA games is not a job for just 4 developers. It's simply impossible to handle for such a small team.
Quote
Sure, money and profits are important for us. It's simple: If we had decided to make an own engine then TML would no longer exists.
If you really think this, then your managing stuff is not doing their job as they should. There are a lot of ways of funding the early development, so the statement that TML would go bankrupt if you made your own engine is, simply, not true. It's just a matter of management. Nothing is impossible in business if you have the knowledge, especially in 21st century. Resources are available for those who are willing to stand out.
I'm sorry, didn't want to go off topic with this, but some answers really surprised me. It was never my intention to insult or discredit anyone, just had an opinion, based on my extensive knowledge and experience, that you can do better. And I'm sure you can. If you want 