Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

RPG Maker VS JMonkeyEngine

Compare RPG Maker VS JMonkeyEngine and see what are their differences

RPG Maker logo RPG Maker

Make your own PC game with RPG Maker. Our easy to use tools are simple enough for a child, and powerful enough for a developer. Try it free today!

JMonkeyEngine logo JMonkeyEngine

What is jMonkeyEngine? It's a free, open source game engine, made especially for Java game developers who want to create 3D games using modern technology.
  • RPG Maker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-18
  • JMonkeyEngine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-20

RPG Maker features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    RPG Maker offers a highly intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it accessible even for beginners with no programming knowledge.
  • Rich Asset Library
    The platform includes a vast library of pre-made characters, music, and tilesets, helping users to get started quickly and create professional-looking games.
  • Scripting Flexibility
    Advanced users can utilize Ruby or JavaScript scripting to customize and extend the functionality of their games.
  • Community Support
    RPG Maker has an active and supportive community that offers a wealth of tutorials, plugins, and forums for troubleshooting and sharing ideas.
  • Cross-Platform Export
    Games created on RPG Maker can be exported to various platforms including Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, broadening the potential audience.

Possible disadvantages of RPG Maker

  • Limited Scope
    The engine is primarily designed for creating 2D RPGs, limiting its use case for other game genres or 3D game development.
  • Performance Issues
    Games created in RPG Maker can suffer from performance issues, particularly with larger projects that include many assets or complex scripts.
  • Asset Restrictions
    While the asset library is extensive, it can still be restrictive. Custom assets usually need to be created or purchased separately, adding to the development cost.
  • Licensing Costs
    Although there is a free trial, the full version of RPG Maker requires a paid license, which could be a barrier for hobbyists or small developers.
  • Learning Curve for Scripting
    While the basic interface is easy to learn, fully leveraging the engine's capabilities through scripting (Ruby or JavaScript) can have a steep learning curve.

JMonkeyEngine features and specs

  • Open Source
    JMonkeyEngine is open-source, which means it's free to use and has a wide community of developers who contribute to its development and offer support.
  • Java-based
    It is built using Java, which makes it accessible to a large number of developers familiar with the language and benefits from Java's portability across different platforms.
  • Cross-platform
    JMonkeyEngine supports multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, enabling developers to create games that run on various devices.
  • Rich Feature Set
    The engine comes with a comprehensive set of features such as advanced 3D graphics, physics integration, terrain generation, and a user-friendly scene graph.
  • Active Community
    An active and responsive community provides forums, tutorials, and additional resources, helping both new and experienced developers.
  • Integrated Development Environment
    It includes its own SDK with an integrated development environment, which simplifies the process of game development by providing tools such as scene composer, model importer, and debugging tools.

Possible disadvantages of JMonkeyEngine

  • Java Performance
    Java generally has performance overhead compared to languages like C++ often used in other game engines. This can be a downside for performance-critical applications.
  • Limited Mobile Support
    While it supports Android, the engine's capabilities and performance on mobile platforms are not as robust as on desktops, and iOS support is limited.
  • Less Mature Asset Pipeline
    The asset pipeline of JMonkeyEngine is not as mature or comprehensive as those found in more established engines like Unity or Unreal, which may require additional effort for asset management.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    Compared to mainstream engines, JMonkeyEngine has a smaller ecosystem. This means fewer third-party integrations, add-ons, and professional-grade assets available for immediate use.
  • Steeper Learning Curve for Java
    For developers not familiar with Java, there might be a steeper learning curve to become proficient with the language and its associated tools compared to more widely-used game development languages.
  • Less Commercial Support
    Being open-source and community-driven, JMonkeyEngine lacks the commercial support that some other engines offer. This can be a disadvantage for large-scale projects requiring professional backing.

RPG Maker videos

RPG Maker MV: IN-DEPTH USER REVIEW

More videos:

  • Review - RPG Maker MV Hands-On Review
  • Review - RPG Maker Games - GC Positive

JMonkeyEngine videos

A Closer Look at the jMonkeyEngine

More videos:

  • Review - jMonkeyEngine -- The Others Game Engine Series
  • Review - jMonkeyEngine3 Engine Showcase

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RPG Maker and JMonkeyEngine)
Game Development
75 75%
25% 25
Game Engine
72 72%
28% 28
3D Game Engine
72 72%
28% 28
Gaming Software
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using RPG Maker and JMonkeyEngine. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare RPG Maker and JMonkeyEngine

RPG Maker Reviews

16 Scratch Alternatives
RPGMaker deals with building-based services where users can develop high-range games into simple 2D games in real-time. This platform can let its users bring their imagination and creativity into reality with the help of some skills related to programming. It can even permit clients with detailed customization with the help of accessing a user-friendly interface so beginners...
Trending 10 BEST Video Game Design & Development Software 2021
RPG Maker MV is the latest installment and best version out of several options. This version builds upon the philosophy of developing games without programming expertise. An abundance of Sample data, Character generators, Sample maps, and other resources have been included in the engine to streamline projects.
The Top 10 Video Game Engines
The best thing about RPG maker is the same reason why it occasionally gets a bad rap—just about anyone can use it to create a game.

JMonkeyEngine Reviews

The Top 10 Video Game Engines
Right off the bat, the team boldly claims that using their engine will be easier than utilization and outright learning C++, which is true. C++ can be a hang-up for many not familiar with programming, and jMonkeyEngine can be a great option for those who want to create games without really breaking your back trying to learn a whole new language.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, JMonkeyEngine seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

RPG Maker mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of RPG Maker yet. Tracking of RPG Maker recommendations started around Mar 2021.

JMonkeyEngine mentions (23)

  • Unity's Licensing Changes: Discover Stride a Community-Driven Open-Source Engine
    > Unfortunately, this is yet another open source game engine with too small a user base. I wonder why some engines are seemingly destined for success and others... aren't. Godot got really big, despite a somewhat similar feature set: https://godotengine.org/ (really nice 2D support, 3D rendering was worse until version 4, GDScript has both a nice iteration speed but also has gotten some criticism, while C# was a... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • My recommendation on which language and libraries to use for the engine.
    There more `bare-metal` engines like https://jmonkeyengine.org/ (well it is not C++, it is Java based)... Source: about 2 years ago
  • [Hobby] Need help implement Continuous Collision Detection in a classic top-down multiplayer space shooter
    This project develops a cross-platform Subspace client and server written in Java. It was developed from scratch on the idea of extensibility and modularity. The server is based on modules/frameworks highly optimized for scaled, networked, grid-based, infinite world physics. The client is based on the JMonkeyEngine, a minimalistic modern developer friendly, open source, game engine. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Godot 4.0 Stable
    > Godot is one of those pinnacle FOSS projects that just totally impresses me, especially given the state its in now, with 4.0. It is definitely one of the success stories, at least so far. For example, there are projects like jMonkeyEngine (a game engine in Java, on top of LWJGL) that don't get as much attention and their movement forwards is way slower: https://jmonkeyengine.org/ There's also Stride 3D, which is... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • I can't think about another video game using Java. I mean, there WILL be more but i haven't saw them.
    It is, or at least was, efficient. Java has a great game engine called https://jmonkeyengine.org/ that at the time could compete with Unity, not sure the status now. And LWJGL, the lower layer for ooengl, was quite nice to use and it is efficient to go that low level if you plan to do a game that does not fit the stereotypes in such game engines, as you will find yourself fighting the engine more than the actual... Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing RPG Maker and JMonkeyEngine, you can also consider the following products

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

Unity - The multiplatform game creation tools for everyone.

GDevelop - GDevelop is an open-source game making software designed to be used by everyone.

Unreal Engine - Unreal Engine 4 is a suite of integrated tools for game developers to design and build games, simulations, and visualizations.

Blender - Blender is the open source, cross platform suite of tools for 3D creation.

Stencyl - Make iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android, Flash, Windows & Mac games without code using Stencyl.