I'm looking to get into (as everyone else) the iPhone game development business. I've been programming for a while but have only recently forayed into the Mac development world, although since I've been working with Java for a while learning Objective-C wasn't that big of a deal other than learning memory allocation.
From this, you can safely assume I am not looking for a "teach me basic programming" engine, I want a fully fleshed out engine that can create commercial quality games.
Some of the things I'm interested in:
- Good documentation - tutorials and demos - APIs a must
- Good support - responses in 3-4 days, not likely to shut down tomorrow, English speaking reps
- Extensionable engine - reasonably easy to add new bits to the engine or heavily modify it without having to change 1000 different classes
- Working engine - especially since I'm doing iPhone apps which aren't that complicated, I expect most features (animation, networking code, basic collision detection, etc.) to be built in
- Reasonable cost - this is somewhat subjective so I'll define: I expect not to have to pay more than $1000 a year for upgrades. The initial cost may be up to $1500 (all required packs included), but if it's more than $1000, I don't expect upgrades to cost more than $500. Upgrades are defined as full version releases, not "content" or "add-ons".
- Likely to continue regular updates - I appreciate some companies quality test their code, but I also appreciate companies that release code more than once every 3 years. I expect an upgrade or update (free or pay) every 6 months to a year
- Integration with XCode - running the engine with XCode or a full featured IDE is a huge plus. Ease of importing libraries factors in here.
I appreciate all responses, especially those from the voice of experience that would impact iPhone development with a specific engine or experiences with support. If you have a comment about why something is bad (like documentation) please explain what makes it bad and also what a "good" example would be and why that is a better choice.
I will of course be developing on a Mac, so compatability is a must.
Update: It seems the two engines that offer the most are the Unity and Torque engine. Aside from price differences, can someone explain the ease of use of the engines in comparison?