Question to the Community #1 (Unity Engine)

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Lost Cipher, Dec 4, 2010.

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How do you rate the Unity Engine in use for the iOS platforms? (Please Explain)

Poll closed Feb 2, 2011.
  1. Good

    17 vote(s)
    73.9%
  2. Bad

    2 vote(s)
    8.7%
  3. Indifferent

    4 vote(s)
    17.4%
  1. Lost Cipher

    Lost Cipher Well-Known Member

    Jul 6, 2009
    148
    0
    0
    Hello Lost Cipher here;

    For the past few weeks I have begun developing a Science Fiction universe to be used in concert with the development of a Multi-Platform Space Combat/Exploration RPG. Once Gameplay Design and Universe Development is completed, and Financing and a Development Team is secured production of the title would begin. Most likely: Late 2011/Early 2012.

    It is my goal to present informative and insightful questions to both the development and gaming communities of the iOS platforms over the course of the next few months. I ask that you be respectful, inquisitive, and informative. Otherwise do not post and or troll. In stating that please understand that my knowledge of coding and engine development is limited (Though I intend to learn more). My primary role in the development of this title would be Game(play)/Universe Design and Financing.

    If you have suggestions for other engines please PM them instead of posting them in this thread.

    With that said and done, now onto the question; What are the iOS' development community impressions of the Unity Engine? In regards to the iPod Touch? iPhone? and most importantly iPad?

    Pros? Cons?

    Please explain in moderate detail in your posts.
     
  2. Bane Games

    Bane Games Well-Known Member

    Nov 7, 2010
    101
    0
    0
    Brisbane, Australia
    Unity is Awesome

    We've just completed our first game with Unity called Flick Buddies. We've absolutely loved working with Unity and it has made development for iOS devices a breeze. We had our first playable prototype up on both iPhone and iPad in hours and it took a total of about 200 hours to complete our first game.

    I'm currently writing up a full review of Unity3 including the few negatives we found and I'll link it here when it's finished if you like.
     
  3. 99c_gamer

    99c_gamer Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2009
    659
    0
    0
    Flick Buddies looks amazing I didn't know Unity was that good for 2D.

    But Im guessing you will use it for 3D
    For universe design Unity would be pretty fun to use.
    If you're talking about financing a project and starting from scratch then
    something Unity is the way to go.

    For a real space shooter you could build the engine from scratch.
    I would not recommend that. Building from scratch would mean using OpenGL
    The advantage is that your game can be extremely lightweight and fast.
    But If you're making a console style game that's not much of an issue.

    But what else are you comparing Unity to? I dont think it's the only professional tool out there.
     
  4. Bane Games

    Bane Games Well-Known Member

    Nov 7, 2010
    101
    0
    0
    Brisbane, Australia
    While Unity is primarily built for 3D, it does have some 2D support. The best option for 2D is to use Sprite Manager 2 which is a robust 2D package. It can be purchased from the new Unity store and from what I've heard it is excellent.

    We made do with rendering everything in 3D with an orthographic camera to give the impression of a 2D, top down game.
     
  5. minyx

    minyx Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2010
    58
    0
    0
    What about all the addition Apple APIs like game center, in app purchase, etc? Can you integrate them into your Unity projects?
     
  6. FancyFactory

    FancyFactory Well-Known Member

    Sep 9, 2009
    247
    0
    0
    software development
    Germany
    Not out of the box, but there are several great plugins for Unity, like http://prime31.com/unity/
    With some XCode/ObjectiveC knowledge you can write your own wrappers and so everything is possible.
    I tested several engines in the last two years but Unity is simply the best. My next game will be made with Unity again.
     
  7. MKingery

    MKingery Well-Known Member

    Sep 1, 2009
    88
    0
    0
    Artist
    Omaha NE
    We are exclusively unity with all our projects at SkyVu.

    great community, and support - there are a few nitpicks with memory management that should be resolved with unity 3... it also handles cutscenes pretty poorly :)
     
  8. c0re

    c0re Well-Known Member

    Apr 15, 2009
    444
    0
    0
    Building a fighting game with Unity for 2 years, and to put it simply, it's an awesome engine, which offers everything to feed any serious needs.
     
  9. EFC

    EFC Well-Known Member

    Jul 6, 2009
    93
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    #9 EFC, Dec 13, 2010
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2010
    I like it. you need less code to make a game, they are usually the most expensive part of game dev.. as they are in the most demand, makes it alot cheaper to make anything, maybe half the cost, which has got to be good.
    you still need the important bits.. i.e gameplay code, but the engines done for you.. and some low grade scripting and setting up guis which used to have to be tweaked by a usually annoyed coder are easy for non coder types to do.

    the negatives being .. you still need a coder to make a game ;)

    Id be interested to hear what the people that voted bad thought.. wonder why they havent posted there reasons... id probably ignore any bads that didnt give an explanation and put them down to ignorant kids.. or coders with superiority complexes that dont need it.
    its not perfect.. but its way better than anything else out there atm imo.
    keeping your drawcalls under 25 is hard work and before the 20mb limit it was pretty difficult to get a build under 10mb, but thats not a problem anymore. building to device is just a click now, providing youve set it up right. which is great.
     

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