Homebrew Question Homebrew using UnrealEngine4 in future?

[Nicat93]

Once homebrew becomes viable in Switch, will we be able to make games using UE4?
Also just a noob idea, since UE4 supports Switch and is open-source can it be used to figure out how switch's system works if needed?

 

[_______]

Also just a noob idea, since UE4 supports Switch and is open-source can it be used to figure out how switch's system works if needed?

To get to understand some API, maybe. To understand the whole system & syscalls, not so much I guess. Its like you have access to Xcode, doesn't really help you if you wanted to find an exploit and jailbreak the phone.

 

[Nicat93]

To get to understand some API, maybe. To understand the whole system & syscalls, not so much I guess. Its like you have access to Xcode, doesn't really help you if you wanted to find an exploit and jailbreak the phone.

I don't mean to understand whole system but it should have some Switch specific stuff in it which should explain how things are executed and stuff a bit more, if those guys haven't figured it out already. But again, I am not very knowledgeable in the matter, so I'm not entirely sure if I understand it correctly

 

[smilodon]

UE4 is a HUGE engine. We would have to find a way to port it in switch barebone userland somehow, get video acceleration working and a billion other consideration I don't even know about.

If we get SDL to work, that will be great already.

 

[Nicat93]

UE4 is a HUGE engine. We would have to find a way to port it in switch barebone userland somehow, get video acceleration working and a billion other consideration I don't even know about.

If we get SDL to work, that will be great already.

Wait a second... port it? I asked UE4 because it has support for Switch, is open-source for free and it lets indie devs to create games already after some not-so-long-procedures to get required tools for compiling, so I thought it wouldn't be that difficult once we get inside Switch.
Unless I am totally misunderstanding everything you just said, it shouldn't be as complicated as you said... I hope

 

[Elrinth]

I don't think it's possible as UE4 uses Switches normal devkit...
For homebrew, you'll be using something different than the switches normal devkit. Atleast that's what I'm understanding.

 

[delete12345]

Wait a second... port it? I asked UE4 because it has support for Switch, is open-source for free and it lets indie devs to create games already after some not-so-long-procedures to get required tools for compiling, so I thought it wouldn't be that difficult once we get inside Switch.
Unless I am totally misunderstanding everything you just said, it shouldn't be as complicated as you said... I hope

The boldfaced part is incorrect.

UE4 developer here. Unreal Engine licensing explicitly said UE4 is not open-source, and it is not compatible with GPL, LGPL, and similar derivative licenses. It is also not free, because you have to pay Epic a royalty equal to 5% of all worldwide gross revenue actually attributable to each of your product, regardless of whether that revenue is received by you or any other person or legal entity. If it's free, you wouldn't even be paying for the royalty fees in the entire lifetime of your sales product. It is also not free because you may be subject to a fee in which you are paying for paid contents.

For more information on the royalty fees, please check the EULA section #5, Royalty, in regards to what fees you may be subjected to.

Source - Unreal Engine EULA

 

[Nicat93]

I don't think it's possible as UE4 uses Switches normal devkit...
For homebrew, you'll be using something different than the switches normal devkit. Atleast that's what I'm understanding.

I wasn't aware of the devkit Switch. I thought we could develop once we had needed software, which apparently is not easy to get as well.

The boldfaced part is incorrect.

UE4 developer here. Unreal Engine licensing explicitly said UE4 is not open-source, and it is not compatible with GPL, LGPL, and similar derivative licenses. It is also not free, because you have to pay Epic a royalty equal to 5% of all worldwide gross revenue actually attributable to each of your product, regardless of whether that revenue is received by you or any other person or legal entity. If it's free, you wouldn't even be paying for the royalty fees in the entire lifetime of your sales product. It is also not free because you may be subject to a fee in which you are paying for paid contents.

For more information on the royalty fees, please check the EULA section #5, Royalty, in regards to what fees you may be subjected to.

Source - Unreal Engine EULA

Yeah sorry, you are correct about it not being free and open-source, it is more like, you can access source code without paying anything beforehand. But afaik most of the homebrew are for free (no need to pay any fees to Epic), so we could say it is technically free

Anyways, after searching a lot more I learnt one sad fact, which I should've guessed. The official tools by Nintendo and DevKit are given/sold to only some devs. So an important part is compiling games for the console and the tools for it are given by Nintendo strictly to some devs. And I guess it would be impossible to create a compiler for Switch, so there goes that idea/hope of mine ... unless Nintendo makes them public or someone gets their hands on those official tools unofficially . I doubt either will happen anytime soon.

 

[Deleted User]

UE4 is a HUGE engine. We would have to find a way to port it in switch barebone userland somehow, get video acceleration working and a billion other consideration I don't even know about.

If we get SDL to work, that will be great already.

SDL is a breeze, once we can make any level of primitive OpenGL calls, or get a framebuffer that actually displays out to the screen other than stdout/stderr, I'll get it running.

 

[lordelan]

It's not that easy.
You can make games in UE4 and compile them for the Switch but you need the Switch SDK for it as there is the compiler which is definitely not open source (and will never be). Also it is copyrighted Ninty stuff so you can't even share your compiled game even if you have the SDK yourself to compile it.
Only thing possible would be to share your whole UE4 project of the game you made so everyone can get the needed SDK files from Ninty (it's free if you subscribe) and compile it.
Then again it won't work unless the Switch is hackable so that titles can be run (like in Loadiine) or installed (like with WUP Installer).
A solution for this last point would be to buy a devkit Switch instead of a retail one obviously.

 

[DSpider]

...so everyone can get the needed SDK files from Ninty (it's free if you subscribe) and compile it.

I don't think "everyone" can get the SDK from Nintendo.

You have to be a (proven) games studio to even get your foot in the door. I don't think they do business with single individuals.

 

[lordelan]

I don't think "everyone" can get the SDK from Nintendo.

You have to be a (proven) games studio to even get your foot in the door. I don't think they do business with single individuals.

I'm talking about the SDK (software) not the devkit (console hardware).
Everyone can get it. As I said, just subscribe.
That's what I did to get my hands on the 3DS and Wii U SDK to port some small Unity games I made over to those consoles.
It may be the case that the Switch SDK is still not open to the public (every subscriber) but usually it will be in the future.

 

[Frysenberg]

It may be the case that the Switch SDK is still not open to the public (every subscriber) but usually it will be in the future.

Didn't the Switch SDK leak back in June, or was that a hoax?

 

[lordelan]

Didn't the Switch SDK leak back in June, or was that a hoax?

Yes but I'm not talking about a leak but the official way to get it.