Which do I choose: Old yet steady jME2, or new and developing jME3?
August 8, 2010 in Site & Project
Lately the question of ‘which version of jME should I choose?’ has been coming up frequently, mostly to our great delight of course. However unless we give newcomers some straightforward principles for them to make an informed decision for their project, we’re gonna keep repeating ourselves. That’s why I started this collaborative mini-event. Most of the suggestions actually came in through online chats, but the event was a success none the less. The comparison as of today is posted below, but please refer to the Do I Choose jME2 or jME3 wiki page for up-to-date information. As a bonus, I finally updated the technical comparison to a wiki page as well, courtesy of Kirill’s previous writeup.
Why choose jME2?
Stability right now
jME2 has been deemed stable since 2009, with no major feature additions or reworks since 2008. Although there are plans for a final point version release (2.1), jME2 is practically in complete feature freeze.
Support for low-end computers
jME2 fully supports OpenGL 1, while jME3 does not. Coupled with careful programming this means you can achieve very low hardware requirements for your project.
Abundance of Community Tools
With well written utilities like SceneMonitor, SceneWorker, HottBJ exporter as well as others ensure that you aren’t starting your path to jME enlightenment with a blank slate.
Thoroughly documented
There are literally hundreds of pages of documentation for jMonkeyEngine 2.0, detailing development practices with the engine from beginners’ levels through intermediate to advanced. Do note however that as jME3 grows more popular this documentation will be maintained by the community alone (see ‘Ever-improving documentation’ in the jME3 section below).
Why choose jME3?
Current- & next-generation graphics
From the beginning, jME3 was designed with modern principles and hardware in mind. Being shader based and only supporting OpenGL 2 or higher, jME3 is meant for the higher end of today’s computers, and what’s yet to come.
Actively developed
As opposed to it’s legacy counterpart, jME3 is very actively developed by a team of core developers and a huge community of contributors. Any aspect of jME3 can be brought up for debate at any time.
P.S. The earlier you get involved the greater the chance you can have a changing impact on the project.
Ever-improving documentation
The majority of new docs created today are documentation for jMonkeyEngine3. While naturally part of a grand community effort, these docs benefit greatly from the added support and continued iteration by core team members.
jMonkeyPlatform
With jMonkeyPlatform jME3 is the first jME version with a dedicated platform for application development, deployment, asset management and composition tools.
Integrated Physics
jME3 is also the first jME version to include a physics implementation by default. It is based on bullet physics and is developed and maintained by the core team.
We’ll be so happy to have you!
Naturally we are thrilled every time someone has decided to adopt jME3 for their [game-] development needs. Prospectively speaking, this means more testing, more commits, more buzz, more projects, more innovation; better community.
For something strictly technical, check the official comparison of the two engines.
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