Unity. Is this thing for real? - by SubJeff
SubJeff on 15/12/2012 at 15:30
I've just started learning Unity and wtf seriously is this thing really all its cracked up to be? It looks like I'll be able to make a game using just the Unity engine and JavaScript, the programming language I know best (and I don't know it well, but still), and then be able to push it out
across multiple platforms!!I don't know if I'm dreaming here but this thing seems incredibly easy to get to grips with if you know a little JavaScript. The Unity editor seems pretty sensible and well laid out and there are some very basic, and by virtue of that very good, tutorials at (
http://www.unity3dstudent.com)
I've got an idea for a very simple game that I think would be really fun (I had a dream about it I don't see anything else using the same mechanic) and thought I'd give this Unity malarkey a go.
Does anyone else have any experience with it? Does anyone know how exactly it generates the cross platform stuff? It can't be converting things to native code, can it? I know The Room on iPad was made with it which makes me think it must be a really good platform, for iPad at least, as The Room looks and runs great on an iPad mini.
icemann on 15/12/2012 at 15:35
I have some experience with it having worked with groups developing a few games and simulations in it. Though in our case we did all our scripting in C#. It's super easy for the most part to work in and there is a lot of good tutorials for it out there.
The cross porting is just a matter of compiling it in the program with the target platform set if I remember right, though mobile platforms you don't have the ability to port to unless you pay for it I think.
faetal on 15/12/2012 at 15:40
Hey SubJeff - if you need any music for that thing, let me know. Dead keen to start writing music for games - happy to take direction while I get started too.
No pressure though, if you have something lined up already.
SubJeff on 15/12/2012 at 16:00
Yeah icemann I'm surprised at how easy I'm finding it. I haven't made anything beyond concept learning/testing yet but it won't be long before I have some proof of concepts.
Wow faetal that's a kind offer. Crazy thing is I was just thinking about music for this game I want to make! What sort of music do you make? I was thinking along the lines of this: (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSp0j7vXDYk)
but if/when you see the game you'll understand why.
faetal on 15/12/2012 at 16:11
I make all kinds. Most of my musical time was spent with my electro rock band, but since the PhD has killed my ability to dedicate that kind of time, I'd sooner switch to just something I can do on my lonesome in front of the puter. My home studio can cope with most stuff - I have Cakewalk Sonar 8.5 Producer Edition, a slew of soft synths and plug-ins, an (
http://virus.info/page/render/lang/en/p/54/do/Virus_TI2_series_feature_overview.html) Access Virus TI and some electric guitars and a bass, so I can pretty much make what I want. If you were wanting to do it yourself though, that's cool. There's a plug-in you may be interested in though which is basically a soft synth which does all of the old C64 style sounds. I'll try to find out what it's called.
SubJeff on 15/12/2012 at 16:36
I don't want to make the music myself - there is no way I could do it anyway. Once I had the game done I was going to ask if anyone wanted to do the music for it, but you've just volunteered!
I either want that chiptune stuff, or stuff like this: (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtfb4OuTH6o)
Definitely electronic and a bit trippy/dreamy. Turn your bass up and wait til about 1min 30s in when it really starts.
faetal on 15/12/2012 at 17:00
Ooooh, me likey. I'd like to have a pop at that then if that's ok? If for whatever reason I fail in this, I have a good friend who writes music under the moniker Deathboy who writes some music quite similar to this.
SubJeff on 15/12/2012 at 17:18
You're welcome to contribute. The prototype won't be done for an age mind you, but if the music fits...
catbarf on 15/12/2012 at 17:52
We use Unity a lot in my major, especially for rapid prototyping of game ideas. It's great in that it can automate a lot of tasks that are normally tedious to code, like quaternion rotation, collision detection, camera control, and client/server networking. I'm not sure why it seems to get such a bad rap with gamers, because it's a powerful platform for game design.
And as you noted, it's great for cross-platform development. I think some of the iOS settings might be limited to the Pro version, but it can definitely compile for a wide variety of platforms.
