Did Jonathan Blow waste time by not using Unity or Unreal?

Storyline

• No specific in-game storyline was discussed in the provided subtitles.
• The discussion focuses on development choices (engines/technology) rather than plot.

Gameplay highlights / strategies / key tips

• No direct gameplay strategies, mechanics, or player tips were covered in the subtitles.

Key points from the video (development philosophy)

• The game couldn’t realistically be made in 2–5 years using Unity or Unreal, because the project is described as “incredibly big” and “incredibly complex.”
• The video challenges the idea that using an off-the-shelf engine is simply a “faster = same quality” trade-off:
  • Most games on Steam are said to “suck.”
  • The speaker argues that genre-redefining games are typically built by teams aiming for ambitious, difficult work rather than the “easiest route.”
• Even if an engine speeds up early progress:
  • It may look worse / run worse than what was ultimately achieved.
  • Teams may need to “fight the engine” during later development—getting started is fast, but the cost shows up during production.
• Despite these disadvantages, the speaker notes:
  • A similar game could be built “kind of” with an engine, but it would likely miss some signature features, such as:
    • Less distinctive shaders
    • Possibly no cool custom overhead map system
• The speaker frames the project as more than just a game:
  • They built a good game
  • An engine intended to be open-sourced
  • A new programming language
  • These outcomes wouldn’t be achieved the same way by simply using Unity/C#.

Mentioned gamers or sources

• None were explicitly named in the provided subtitles.