I studied computer science years ago but during my professional career in game development I rarely touched any actual code. I mostly worked in project management and production roles. So when I decided to start Project Pinecone as a solo developer, that changed things. Suddenly I had to code. The first big question was: Which engine should I use?
Since I want to create a retro 2D pixel-art farming RPG, the engine doesn’t need to be able to do everything, it just needs to do the right things well. So I started my research and looked at four engines: Unreal, Unity, GameMaker, and Godot.
Unreal is obviously an incredible engine but it’s also huge and primarily built for large, complex 3D games. For a small 2D pixel-art RPG it felt like using a cannon to fire at a fly.
Another factor is that Unreal’s core language is C++. Since I’m not very familiar with it and it’s quite complex, learning both a large engine and a difficult language at the same time didn’t seem like the best idea. So while Unreal is amazing, it simply felt like too much engine for this project.
Unity looked like a much better fit in terms of scope. It supports 2D very well, uses C#, and has a massive ecosystem of assets, plugins, and tutorials thanks to its long time on the market.
However, Unity made some controversial decisions regarding its payment model in recent years. While some of those changes were later adjusted the situation left me with a lingering feeling of uncertainty about the platform’s long-term direction. That perception might not be entirely fair but it was enough to make me cautious.
GameMaker was actually a very strong candidate. It’s lightweight, designed specifically for 2D and tile-based games, and uses its own scripting language. Many great indie games have been made with it but for some reason, when I tried it, it just didn’t click for me.
Maybe I was still overwhelmed at that stage of my search or maybe the workflow simply didn’t match the way I think about building systems. On paper it would have been a great choice but tools also need to feel right when you use them and GameMaker wasn’t feeling right for me (still not sure why).
In the end, I chose Godot as it has a lot going for it:
- A very strong 2D workflow
- A relatively simple scripting language (GDScript)
- A lightweight editor
- An active developer community
- It’s fully open source, with no royalties or monetization attached to the engine itself
When I started learning it, the structure and logic of the engine simply made sense to me in a way the others didn’t. And that’s ultimately what made the difference for me.
During my time working with experienced programmers, I often heard a sentence that stuck with me: „The engine isn’t that important. What really matters is that you like working with it and what you actually make with it.“
In the end I realized that the key is to pick a tool that feels right for you and then just start creating.
Where Things Are Now
I’m still learning Godot every day and I expect that will continue for quite a while. But so far, I’m really happy with the progress I’ve been able to make. That’s how Project Pinecone began and how it continues to grow every day.
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Until then, I wish you all the best,
