Quick A: Use unique_ptr when you can.

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Being smart with smart pointers: avoiding shared_ptr overuse

To allow unique_ptr/shared_ptr, you may use template:

// Dispatcher for make_unique/make_shared
template <template <typename...> class Ptr, typename T>
struct make_helper;

template <typename T>
struct make_helper<std::unique_ptr, T>
{
    template <typename ...Ts>
    std::unique_ptr<T> operator() (Ts&&... args) const {
        return std::make_unique<T>(std::forward<Ts>(args)...);
    }
};

template <typename T>
struct make_helper<std::shared_ptr, T>
{
    template <typename ...Ts>
    std::shared_ptr<T> operator() (Ts&&... args) const {
        return std::make_shared<T>(std::forward<Ts>(args)...);
    }
};

template <template <typename...> class Ptr, typename T, typename ... Ts>
auto make(Ts&&... args)
{
    return make_helper<Ptr, T>{}(std::forward<Ts>(args)...);
}

And then

bool get_resource_parameters(Param1& param1,..., ParamN& paramN)
{
    //...
}

template <template <typename...> class Ptr>
Ptr<resource> open_resource(...)
{
   Param1 param1;
   ...
   ParamN paramN;
   if(!get_resource_parameters(param1, ..., paramN))
       return nullptr;

   return = make<Ptr, resource>(param1, ..., paramN);
}

And check for nullptr instead of split bool and smart_pointer.