Unity 3.0 just released. What do you think?

#1 I own Unity Pro + iOS Pro (did so in 2.x and own the 3.x counterparts too since early beta).

Its powerfull if you want to do 3D where build size does not matter cause you won't fit under the 20mb range, but for 2D I don't use it as the 20mb border is an important aspect at least to me.

one thing to keep in mind when coming from this side here is that with unity you don't get sources, so if you don't like an aspect it can be hard to impossible to get around it depending on what we talk about.

#2 @Marc that is something I always ask to myself about unity, HOW you can make a game without source? you are completely tied to the features they put available for you but! if you need for example some particular changes for your game? Torque isn't the best example about getting source for better because the engine is NOT good (iTGE in my case)..

However there is many games using unity out there, mmmmmmm!!!

I was following Unity 3 news closely, now they release it I will check it out soon :)

#3 That depends. if you need to change the engine, you can't
but unity is designed for this kind of working unlike torque which was (aside of TGB, which only has partial focus) designed and built for FPS primarily and secondary, with anything else requiring deep hook in. also torque was never designed for scripting of whole games, it was designed to be used through sources with using scripting to provide interactivity scripting.

thats where the fundamental difference is. unity isn't designed for any kind of game its just an engine where you have to script whatever you need.
has pro and con aspects, con is that if you have no plan of anything you won't do a performant mp fps for example which with tgea / t3d is there out of the box. also you can't change the behavior of the engine even if you wanted to and had the technical knowledge which can be a pro for torque (its bad architecture with a lot of interrelations though makes it a very annoying thing to use if you want to replace something. worst case example is that although over a decade has passed, still large parts hook up on simobject and netobject in 3d, trying to replace the networking layer is like walking with big foot shoes in a mine field)

#4 "HOW you can make a game without source?"

Is this concern overblown?

I've worked as a programmer at small and large corporations. At a large corporation (multiple $100M+ customers) we often wrote things from scratch or had source code access and we could get things 95% the way we wanted. At a small corporation (one $100M+ customer) we would buy more things off the shelf without source code access--we could get things 80% the way we wanted and sometimes had to wait a few months for a non-critical fix. In the end, maybe it's not such a big deal, and leaving library fixes to their owner usually makes development faster and cheaper. But I'm new to game development. Perhaps things are completely different in this arena? :)

#5 If a platform is badly supported, having source is great. If you need to embed your game in a game portal's special DRM/launcher/whatever, having source is necessary. If you have a better sound/GUI/network system, source is great.

No engine is perfect for every conceivable purpose, and that's where source helps. I know Unity tries to give the impression it can be used for absolutely anything, but that isn't really so. It's great for what it can do (just building a frickin' 3D game, make it look awesome and don't give a crap about protection). It also allowed n00bs like certain jouralists to start building a little game of their own :)

(OK, they never finished. It may not be the fault of the engine :)

#6 Thats a bit hard.
Protection can be achieved on standalones through similar systems as you apply to torque games too, thats not a problem :)

Unity is more about productivity and "getting to the end of the project" then about "do 100% of what you want, do that twice, trice, ... but never finish them" like 98% of all torque projects where you are just too often hunting bugs and where GG basically is using the source availability as a reasoning on why 12 months for freaking bugfix releases should be acceptable, especially if the engine never worked out of the box at all in its soon 2 year or so of existance.
But that is basically the price of the costs of the license + sources and the missing support contracts but it wouldn't get better with update contracts at all as most due to their experience with GG wouldn't consider to pay for it until GG has proofen to fullfil the basic expectations with such ongoing costs (the past 3 years would make anybody run as fast as he can if the model would switch ... iTGB has taken a massive hit due to its first 6 months too where each game you released would have cost you a mere nothing of $100 onetime which I saw as more than fair idea wise but was unsatisfied by it cause iTGB 0.7beta got sold as 1.0)

#7 Side note: Unity 3 isn't workable. The OnCollisionExit and OnTriggerExit delegates aren't raised... a huge bug :)

#8 I don't get the point and context of your comment

#9 Game Developer Magazine has an article this month where "Unity Tech." is listed as a "company to watch". ..quite an honor to grab that spotlight.

I downloaded Unity3.0 and I played the 3.0 soldier demo in the browser. It was simply decent for an indie example/representation IMO. ..well, better than you would normally see anyhow.

Question;
-Does the engine ship with a 3.0 example level to review ? I have looked and I don't seem to find one.

#10 @eb - 3.0 doesn't seem to have any sample projects with it. I was surprised that they didn't include a sample project like Unity 2.x.

Now I just need to find time to make some 3d apps.

#11 > Does the engine ship with a 3.0 example level to review?

If you click on Support | Resources | Tutorials you'll find a great tutorial with art assets and initial level design already in place explaining how to make a "3D Platform Game". It was designed for Unity2 but Unity3 is mostly backwards compatible. I was able to follow along with minimal, straight-forward changes.

You might also check out the example levels under Support | Resources | Example Projects.

Of course, these weren't designed to show-off Unity 3's newest features.

#12 hmm..not sure why I would want a unity 2.0 example when the purpose of looking at the 3.0 example would be to inspect the new features.

I used this wording specifically: "Does the engine ship with a 3.0 example level to review". :P

#13 I think you must go to Unity and ask there :P

#14 I am finding Unity 3.0 to my liking....the 'character' locomotion system is interesting[IK to keep feet planted!]. Since I'm an Artist, and am more prone to 'assembling' gameplay rather than 'writing' gameplay[collect[inventory],kill[damage],evade[locomotion]...how much more 'mechanics' do you really need?], I find the Unity 'system' a tad more palatable. The Editor is very nicely integrated...I find Tabs and user defined panel locations work well with my workflows...a very 'visual' approach to compiling. Reminded me a bit like Unreal Editor...and a touch like Houdini.

All in all, I'd say: take a peekaBoo yersef, it's free!

#15 @Edison: the context is what I think of Unity 3, the point is that is so bugged that isn't usable, so answering to the OP in plain and more understandable English: I think that they rushed the release too much getting out a product that cannot really be used. Almost any 2.6.1 working game breaks upgrading to 3.0.

Bottom line: Unity 3.0.0 is an error... maybe they published the wrong binary... I don't know, have to wait 3.0.1 to use it in real world.

#16 Unity 3.0 pro does come with a sample boot camp level plus all the scripts and art assets. I have been with Torque since 2003 and still try and stay faithful but can't seem to get over the hump. I bought Unity 3.0 pro about a couple of months ago and so far it's....well...interesting. So far it is doing everything I personally want to achieve. Rex you are right, the 'character' locomotion is very cool. I did not know this could be achieved. The feet stay level with the surface you are walking on and if you come up to step or something to step up on the 'character' actually 'STEPS' up. Very cool. Just my opinion.

I just dable in gaming as a hobby. Some people work on cars, go fishing or other hobbies. This just happens to be mine. So,for me, what ever is the easiest works best. I am not a strong C++ programmer, believe me I have tried, but I am pretty decent in VB. Using Unity is in no way a reflection off of Torque or their products. I think there are a lot of very talented and good people here who try to help others as much as they can. People like Tom Spillman who has helped me out a few times and I know has helped others and is now part of their team. I just wish I could have picked up C++ better. One of these days who knows I might figure it out...:)

#17

Quote:Almost any 2.6.1 working game breaks upgrading to 3.0.

Then finish the 2.6.1 project, and start the next one with 3.0. Changing engines in mid-development is rarely a good idea, for just this reason.