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Choosing between MAUI and Unity for my game

A topic by Someone created Apr 25, 2023 Views: 620 Replies: 4
Viewing posts 1 to 3

Hi! :) I know that Unity is better for games in general and MAUI aims for applications.

But the case is that I made a game that is kind  a dungeon crawler with fixed or animated images, and text and sound effects for combat, and simultaneous ambient music.

It was made in Winforms, just because it's what I use for my apps.

But now I upgraded my laptop PC and I can run Visual Studio (at least 2019, maybe 2022 too) and Unity at good speed. So I wanted to rebuild my game to be able to port it to Android and Mac too, and modernize it.

My game has no moving sprites, only gif animations. It may have some moving image maybe in a future. It just needs simultaneous sound effects and music, which were tricky to do in WinForms. No 3D, all is 2D. The controls are picture boxes, and buttons, and text controls.

So to create something like this, what should I choose?

I need this:

  • Play sound fx and music at the same time, easily.
  • Be able to animate some graphic in 2D, or at least play a gif, a video, or move an image in 2D
  • Have buttons, picture boxes, etc as in my game now
  • Create several screens that appear in particular moments (the intro to a level, the end of game, etc)

Now it does it all in Winforms.

I may choose MAUI because it is a way to familiarize myself with XAML for other apps. I am not sure if Unity may be better or if it excessive for this kind of game. There may be lots of things in Unity that I will not use.

What is your opinion? Thank you so much!

(1 edit) (+1)

Using non-game making frameworks for making games can be interesting, but it will throw up roadblocks that you don’t need (like your multiple sound issue). People who usually make a game in a non-game framework usually do it for those specific challenges, like remaking Doom in Excel.

IMO if you just want to make a game, I suggest using a made for purpose tool. Try Unreal (my tool of choice), Godot (really good open/free option), or Unity (if you must :P).

It’s usually easier to learn a new tool than fighting against a tool you’re familiar with, it will also open possibilities that you may not have thought of (just don’t go too far, feature creep is a beast).

Thank you! I like how Godot and Unity look. The problem is that as my game is mostly butons, fixed images or simple animations, and sounds, it can all be done with Maui and xaml. In Unity, Godot, and Unreal, maybe it's overkill to use them for this?

I mean, I don't have moving sprites or 3D, it's not needed to have a gamepad, or arcade features at all.

Do you think that in this particular case, it has sense to use them? Are those prepared for making a game that is mostly screens with UI and clickable parts?

(+1)

Engines are tools and you should use the one that suits you best. In the same way that you eat soup with a spoon and not with a fork.

From my own experience, I know that it is difficult to move from your comfort zone, but you must carefully evaluate what you want to do in the future.

Unity and Godot are multipurpose engines and allow you to do many things (3D and also 2D). What you spend today learning to use those engines will be used tomorrow in another project.

You must evaluate if what you gain by learning to use these new engines compensates you in the future.

For example, with Unity or Godot, if you want tomorrow, you can add animations or 3D elements, instead, I understand that this is impossible to do with MAUI (I can't make a deeper comparison, because I don't know that tool).

If you want to port your game to Android and MAUI doesn't allow it, that's another reason to learn a tool that does. But of course, you must evaluate the time that you are going to invest learning the new tool, and that is a process that only depends on you.

In general terms it is always a good idea to learn new technologies instead of clinging to just one.

thank you. Yes, Maui can compile to Android and Mac too. I think I'll use it for this, but also have a look to Unity and Godot.