Unity3D

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testtubegames
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Unity3D

Post by testtubegames »

So, in the comments section of a recent blog post, I casually mentioned that I was starting some development with Unity3D.

If you haven't encountered Unity before, it's a game development environment (aka software) that makes it very easy to build games that can go on *tons* of different devices. So, the games can be played on the web, or downloaded as standalone games on PC or Mac, or sold in the iOS app store, or android, or, or, or...

So, yeah, a bunch of places. Very great for a on-man studio. I always wanted to get Agent Higgs on android, too, but it would have been way to much work to build it again. Or, perhaps I'd like to sell an extended version of Shocktopus -- with a bunch more levels than I can squeeze into the web version -- that people could play on their PC or Mac. Or I'd like to get the new version of the Gravity Simulator working not only in the browser, but also on iPads, because how cool would it be to swipe planets with your finger?

The big downside, as ARP pointed out, is that some people don't have Unity installed in their browsers. It's free and easy to do -- it's a plugin just like flash is -- though any barrier to play is a bad barrier. Maybe people are casually browsing and don't want to take the ~5 min to install it. Or maybe they're on a school computer and they can't. Frankly, I don't have a great sense of how many people this might shut out of my games. As with everything else over here at TTG, I'm looking at it as an experiment.

I thought I'd bring the discussion in here (a slightly easier format for long-form chat). What do you think of the pro's and con's? What might I be overlooking?
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robly18
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Re: Unity3D

Post by robly18 »

I personally am not so sure about it. Some of the games I've showed my friends were in the school library, or otherwise in the classroom, which usually don't have it installed.

I'm torn really. While I think it would be a great addition, I don't think it would be very good for classroom or school use.

So if i had to say yes or no to unity...

I say yes! I mean no! I mean....

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A Random Player
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Re: Unity3D

Post by A Random Player »

I don't think they should require a download, like you said. While I don't think you'd need to download Unity to play a game on iOS/Android (Do you? I think you might though), like you said, it would shut out some casual browsers. Basically, everything you said. (Oh and also showing a game at a friends house without Unity)
Though if there is some sort of way to compile Unity3D to flash without requiring a download, I'd certainly want you to use it! :D
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testtubegames
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Re: Unity3D

Post by testtubegames »

A Random Player wrote:Though if there is some sort of way to compile Unity3D to flash without requiring a download, I'd certainly want you to use it! :D
There used to be a way to do just that -- but support was discontinued a few months back -- so I'm afraid that's off the table, it seems.

At some point, if this ends up being a big enough issue, I *could* think about rebuilding certain games in flash, too. That takes extra time, but once you have a game (the art, the mechanics, the code structures, the level design, the music), it isn't out of the question to change the code over to another language.

Feels a bit silly, since the whole point of Unity is it can play anywhere, including the browser... but, hey, I gotta do what works.

Also, a Unity game feels completely 'normal' on any system. So on the iPhone, say, my game would be just an app like any other. On a PC, it's just a game that you've downloaded. Easy. But that darned extra plugin to play in the browser...!
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Re: Unity3D

Post by A Random Player »

testtubegames wrote:
A Random Player wrote:Though if there is some sort of way to compile Unity3D to flash without requiring a download, I'd certainly want you to use it! :D
There used to be a way to do just that -- but support was discontinued a few months back -- so I'm afraid that's off the table, it seems.

At some point, if this ends up being a big enough issue, I *could* think about rebuilding certain games in flash, too. That takes extra time, but once you have a game (the art, the mechanics, the code structures, the level design, the music), it isn't out of the question to change the code over to another language.

Feels a bit silly, since the whole point of Unity is it can play anywhere, including the browser... but, hey, I gotta do what works.

Also, a Unity game feels completely 'normal' on any system. So on the iPhone, say, my game would be just an app like any other. On a PC, it's just a game that you've downloaded. Easy. But that darned extra plugin to play in the browser...!
Perhaps you could build the games simultaneously in Flash and Unity, so we'd have access to both when they are released. This wouldn't be an increase in work from normally assuming equal times for all platforms (You'd make it as an Android app, iOS app, and flash game): Without Unity, you'd need 3 versions of the game, one for each platform, but with it, you'd only need 2 versions (Flash, Unity for the rest), and as a bonus it'll be downloadable.
$1 = 100¢ = (10¢)^2 = ($0.10)^2 = $0.01 = 1¢ [1]
Always check your units or you will have no money!
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