CryEngine is one of the most powerful game development engines available in the market, it’s used in the creation and development of games which include; rendering of the 2D or 3D graphics, scripting, asset management, physics, audio management, animation, networking, artificial intelligence, memory management, threading.

Learning CryEngine is essential for anyone willing to start game development for any platform. Many games were created using CryEngine like; Far Cry sequel, Crysis sequel and many other games, the complete list of games created using CryEngine could be found here.

This post is a road map for anyone willing to start learning CryEngine online for free from scratch, the post will present and compare between the best online sources where beginners can start from and follow along, the sources stated in this post is for full structured courses so you won’t find a link to a single video or a group of unrelated tutorials.

If you just want the bottom line (the road map to learn CryEngine) and you don’t wish to read the entire article then go to the “Bottom Line” section at the end of the article.

Start Learning UDK for Free from Scratch

World of Level Design

World of Level Design is the first free online outlet where beginners can start learning CryEngine through video tutorials as well as text; you don’t have to register to have access to the training.

Structure: The training is divided into 3 sections, each section is divided into lessons and each of these lessons covers a certain topic in CryEngine. The training is available as video as well as text.

Interface: The interface is quite simple, click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the page where the lesson resides.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The training is well-structured and organized for beginners.
3. The training is available as video as well as text.

Cons

1. The training isn’t provided by the same instructor which makes the user’s experience inconsistent.

Verdict: This is a very good outlet for beginners to start learning CryEngine; especially for those who don’t mind the inconsistent experience.

CyberGameArts YouTube Channel

CyberGameArts YouTube Channel is the second free online outlet where beginners can start learning CryEngine through video tutorials.

Structure: The training is divided into 35 video lessons, each of the video lessons cover a certain topic in CryEngine.

Interface: The standard YouTube interface.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. the training is well-organized and structured for beginners.
3. The instructor makes it very easy for beginners to start and follow along.

Cons

1. The training covers an old release of CryEngine.

Verdict: This is the best place for beginners to start learning CryEngine through video tutorials.

CryEngine Documentation Portal

CryEngine Documentation Portal is the third free online outlet where beginners can start learning CryEngine through a text based tutorial. You don’t have to register to have access to the tutorial.

Structure: The tutorial is divided into 4 sections, each section is divided into tutorials that covers various topics in CryEngine.

Interface: The interface is simple, just select the section you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the section’s page where you can select the tutorial you’re interested in.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The training is well-organized for beginners.

Cons

1. The training doesn’t make it easy for beginners to start and follow along.

Verdict: There are other better outlets stated in this post for beginners to start learning CryEngine from scratch.

Desura (Update: Not Available)

Desura is the fourth free online outlet where beginners can start learning CryEngine through a text based tutorial. You don’t have to register to have access to the tutorial.

Structure: The training has a “learn by doing” style, the entire training just resides in a single web page.

Interface: There’s no need to navigate between sections and lessons as the entire training is just a single web page.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.

Cons

1. The training doesn’t cover CryEngine in depth and it’s not suitable on its own for beginners to start learning CryEngine.

Verdict: There are other better outlets stated in this post for beginners to start learning CryEngine from scratch.

Bottom Line

The recipe for learning CryEngine for free

1. CyberGameArts YouTube Channel is the best place for beginners who prefer video only tutorials.
2. World of Level Design is the best place for beginners who prefer both video and text tutorials.

Remember that the first step is always the toughest step, and the aim of this post is to provide you with resources that will help you take your first step in CryEngine.