Unity3D

[Daywolf]

I'm actually pretty impressed how it's come along. Take a look at this mario remake:
[ 60fps ] Super Mario 64 HD - Unity 3D Engine Remake Gameplay (https://youtu.be/tgVH0N6ao7Q)
vs.
Super Mario 64 Full Playthrough (https://youtu.be/XnqGFn0Byg4?t=295)

I haven't downloaded the game, don't plan to (looks like Nintendo forced him to stop anyway), it's not a full game but still made by one guy. I see room for a ton of improvement on the texture art, but gameplay wise it looks pretty good. Sound is good too.

I have some games using Unity3D, but really lately I came across the long dark (https://youtu.be/diRPolJzmjc) that really impressed me with all of it's recent development. It's not a one man team, but they have like about a dozen people working on the game. It's a lot of progress for so few people.

Then I came across Star Break (https://youtu.be/L6ZFNKsuuus) this weekend. This too is a Unity game, and looks really great. imo needs more content before I pick it up, but otherwise a solid game there.

Then I picked up Ravensword: Shadowlands (https://youtu.be/I4Tm9xEoeiM) on Android a few years ago, an Elder Scrolls type of game. Not so great on the PC release later, but it was ground breaking for Android where not even AAA studios were really touching it at the time, and since they have now - we mostly see ports.

I think the only drawback, which is no big deal for the indie devs, is that it's using mono which is still stuck on an older version of C# for the scripting, which isn't bad for the vast amount of tutorials made to use it with Unity. But otherwise wow the games coming out of this run so well even on slower computers/laptops and little devices.

[R Flair]

Unity is pretty amazing. I think the limitations with scripting languages are the only real drawback I've heard. Its just a matter of time before something amazing using unity gets released.

Pantheon rise of the fallen also using unity. Would say their environments are a step up on The Long Dark, but it does have a more minimalistic art style. I think most of the second wave of indie mmos being developed right now are using Unity with the exception of Camelot unchained, who built their own engine. Hope it was worth it, because the game looks like its suffering art and design-wise.

[Daywolf]

I think it has two scripting languages, C# and Unityscript which seems to be a quasi-javascript. I don't know about Unityscript, I haven't looked at any vid tutorials on it. I'm more into C based languages, and what I do know is that they are using a dated version of C# about 5yrs old. Not a bad thing though, only a poo-poo for AAA's looking for middle-ware development w/o limitation, which for the money they'd go with UE4 or something like that obviously.

Even though it's using older C#, it does have integration with MS visual studio (https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/unitytools-vs.aspx). I haven't tried it yet, I still need to reinstall VS after a wipe. I'm just at the point of reading a book I picked up and watching some various youtube tutorials like this one on 2D RPG (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_4rJ_acBNMH3SExL3yIOzaqj5IP5CJLC) (a series about 90 minutes).

I've been screwing around with app game kit 2 for some months, targeting Android. But it's a pain in the butt, especially with limited documentation. I was amazed how vast the resources have become with Unity compared to a few years back last I looked. A lot of people are using it now I guess.

You've played TLD? I know a few that post here have. They started that for ipad it was I think. One of those i's. They hit the limit though, moved to larger systems. Obvious design target was for the slower ipad, using the snowy setting and all. They have improved the shaders etc, it still looks great, especially walking through the forest with headphones on, you hang on every noise very immersive. They plan to add some green zones next year I think the dev road map said. That will probably crank up the detail like you are talking about. Maybe not this much in real-time CGI Animated Short & Tech Demo: "The Blacksmith" - by Unity Technologies (https://youtu.be/dDLog0Vqpo4) but it seems to have good potential of real-time rendering for gaming etc.

[R Flair]

Ya, I don't think Unity is lacking at all in compatibility with top quality graphics. Lots of great demos out there and games in the works.

I wasn't aware that you couldn't use current C# with Unity. When i used it, I used javascript and built a level following a book tutorial.

I personally love C#. The ease of use with VS languages is just so much more efficient than old languages. If I can't use VB or C# I don't even want to code. When I was in school I just felt like old C languages and derivatives like java just felt so antiquated. Even their SDK was a joke compared to visual studio.

Unity is pretty versatile from what I hear. Not a professional, can't speak personally but I've read its incredibly adaptable for just about anything you want to do given the right addons and tools (which sometimes you have to develop yourself). Still a far cry from the days of building everything from scratch.

[Daywolf]

Oh far from antiquated, it's still a necessity for Linux. For fast and easy, sure C++/C#, but if you want stability it's C. If you wrote anything mission critical and with long expected up-time, C is highly recommended. I was a CS maj in college (note: I'm not a wizard), C. I should have taken multimedia instead though, I pref it much more. I mean like animation and modeling etc. but it doesn't matter, that stuff was easier to learn without classes compared to programming.

Yeah a long way from scratch, I use to need to calculate all my sprites through an imagined grid system then program a dozen lines all being strings of numbers. Now I just pull out my Wacom and scribble it out, save it and I'm done. Import and assign hehe.

Sure javascript, which was actually unityscript, but some call it javascript even though it isn't. It's Unity's own version of a javascript derivative. Every engine tends to have it's own modified scripting language of some sort, then adds some sort of C/C++/C# based language. Yeah even though the C# is a little dated, Unity is still used in school curriculums. But whenever Mono (http://www.mono-project.com/news/) gets updated, then Unity gets the newer version of C#.

[Baler]

Don't get me wrong I like unity. But a lot of quote Game makers end quote who use it never push the boundaries. Same goes for unreal engine. 9 times out of 10 you'll be able to tell what engine the game is running on. There are even cases of people blatantly building their games off free demos that can be used with the engine.

Making video games is a kids dream today. But please leave it to the professionals. No one wants to fund you kickstarter while you learn how to code and make art for a sub par game made in what can be a novice friendly engine. One more thing, I hate people who make video games for $$$ not as a passion. I say that "video games are made by people with a job not a passion now-a-days."

Don't misconstrue what I'm saying. There are those 1 out of 10 games made in these engines that kick some serious butt. It's just the mass produced sub par games that have slowly given engines like Unity, Unreal and stuff like game maker a bad rep in some social circles.

ps. that mario 64 on pc looks sick. Too bad nintendo doesn't make PC games or PC ports. *sigh*

[entruil]

can't say i've kept up on a lot of this but my take a while back is that unity is very viable for novices and professionals alike...

of a lot of the suites built to streamline game production unity was by far the most indepth and powerful ... was a while when a lot of really talented people were really advancing it as a whole... again tho, i havent been following the stuff so lots of words and nothing came out...

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/index.html

[entruil]

I personally love C#.


from msdn article (Visual Studio and Xamarin) (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt299001.aspx)


'You can work with all Xamarin features through any edition of Visual Studio 2015 (Community, Professional, and Enterprise). Note also that as of March 31 2016, Xamarin is included with all editions of Visual Studio 2015 and no longer requires a separate license.'


makes me hype... but i have a ways to go before i can actually be hype...

[Daywolf]

Making video games is a kids dream today. But please leave it to the professionals. No one wants to fund you kickstarter while you learn how to code and make art for a sub par game made in what can be a novice friendly engine. One more thing, I hate people who make video games for $$$ not as a passion. I say that "video games are made by people with a job not a passion now-a-days."
Wow geez, where you the one that did a 1 star to my thread rating too? lol you really hateses them indies.

Everything you said you can apply to AAA's. Are the mass hoards of WoW clones pushing any boundaries? Which is worse, self-financing/kickstart or dealing with a corporate investment board that tells you how they want the game made for best profits regardless of gameplay? Those boards are exactly what you $$$aid.

What's a professional, anyway? And does that require micro-payments? ;)

I assume you are not pointing that reply directly at me... I think. I'm not a kid and I've made quite a bit of money in my life coding, mostly in robotics. I deeply encourage indie development, and quite frankly has been my goto when looking for new games especially the past decade. Indie games are actually often the top selling games, and/or most awarded. Minecraft? EVE Online? FTL? to name a few, and there are many to name. It's actually the indies that push past the cookie cutter games, and for good reason, investment corps are not willing to take chances with their monies.

Anyway, obviously for the topic, it includes indie discussion too since Unity is primarily the leading indie engine now. Some AAA's are using it now too, like with making a Total War game, but then spoiled it with excessive micro payments. Some others too, like Star Wars, Ubisoft, Square Equinox, those Oddworld people, the youtube trailer list is here (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDE83B6C26F7F4CA2).

[entruil]

cool man

[R Flair]

I think the worst is behind us with the crowdfunded crap. People are more cautious after seeing quite a few flops in various genres.

Personally I think the video game industry is about to be reborn so to speak. Like Baler said, it has definitely lacked passion in recent years. People know this and that is why they've been willing to help fund indies. Eventually some games will release from passionate developers and it is going to really show up these AAA paint by numbers games we've been plagued with for nearly a decade.

Have to say the first big kickstarter release with Shroud of the Avatar has been something of a flop. I expected better things from British, but I'm honestly not surprised. His vision and the game he ended up making were two very different things. He wanted to make a multiplayer successor to Ultima, but the fans tried to warp it into an Ultima Online sequel. You can really see where his vision ends and the pleas from fans began.

I think Pantheon and Crowfall are going to be two games that really break from the mold and show people what a passionate indie team can produce. Also looking forward to Saga of Lucimia. And this is relevant, because all 3 are using Unity!

[Daywolf]

I think the worst is behind us with the crowdfunded crap. People are more cautious after seeing quite a few flops in various genres.
I don't know, I've never paid into like indiegogo or kickstarter, imo that's all a newer thing as far as the websites/listings go etc. Though I know plenty about those, have followed some projects rinsing through there.

But early access isn't new, which was especially the thing before kickstarter etc in regards to dev tools (in all forms). Some games too, such as Minecraft, which I've had since early-early alpha that I bought into since it looked like a really promising game :)

I've bought way more tools that way though, I generally do not like early buggy games, unless they really show potential in an actual working distributed alpha state. I rarely sign up for even beta testing (I think last was early closed beta LOTRO pre-release). I wish tools were that way, I have many, but often those don't turn out so well after their early development stages. I know I blame a lot of that on the easier languages, too easy to mess up and poorly design. But often open source tool projects tend to iron out those problems (e.g. Blender 3D).

[R Flair]

My point is that people have seen too many shady kickstarters, and aren't so readily parting with their cash to fund them. Crowdfunding has been a thing for about 4 years now, but even Pantheon, which I believe is legit, failed to pull 800k because they didn't have much to show.

Now we have the most hyped game in history, No mans sky, getting bad reviews and this is only going to make people less susceptible to hype. ArcheAge was another huge case of early access being used to sell a game that was drastically changed towards the end of development.

I dunno where I'm going with this, kind of off topic, just rambling at this point.

[Daywolf]

I figured that about NMS before it was launched. What they were doing, or trying to do, is wildly difficult on a massive scale. On top of that, like I was saying, people were expecting too much; reading too much into dev blogs and interviews and inventing hype etc. and maybe much of that to drive vid clicks for personal ad revenue off youtube. People more so now want to be noticed before a release of a game, so they can draw revenue from endless LP vids once it's launched.

Mostly the public's fault, but at the same time PR failed, which ultimately puts the weight of blame on themselves, the developers. Just like that vid I linked in the thread I started on NMS, their PR campaign consisted of a game area the developers actually designed rather than generate as the game actually works, then played it off as just a place they liked. Ouch! (as falling off a cliff in UO use to say hehe)

imo it still has potential, it's just I think it drew in too many regular AAA gamers for an indie game that they expected AAA on release as they might be use to. I guess like WoW in space hehe

Another down vote! No, Baler didn't do the first one hehe. I'm sure if Pokesan were around he'd call it a false flag event :D I put him on my friends list so I can keep track of his bannings... this is the longest he's been un-banned lol

Kerbal Space Program (https://youtu.be/RkDOOsGg-9I) is another developed on Unity. I didn't know this until recently, but explains the low sys req. When I bought Space Engineers I was deciding either that of Kerbal. 10/10 Steam -
96% PC Gamer.

[R Flair]

Won't defend some of the deception regarding NMS, but the game turned out exactly as I expected. I like it. I enjoy watching streams of it. Its a game for people who like exploration, but it was passed off as a game for everyone. As such, people who don't really care that much about the exploration aspect were disappointed. I personally think its hilarious that anyone thought it was anything else.

[entruil]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161101006610/en/Unity-Unveils-Tools-Advanced-Graphics-Performance-Introduces

[entruil]

daywolf sry for desecrating your thread with soros-general link... just sayin'

[Daywolf]

eh yeah well they have a solid history of updating it. They have a lot of business, so well funded to do it. It's a nice engine for indie and AAA casual and mobile games. I almost bought some editors for it over the weekend, but decided to put it off for a while since I'm mainly working with another specialized game engine atm and am just dabbling with this one for learning purposes right now for use later.

[Secrets]

http://unityeq.com/index.php?pages/play/

all that needs to be said

[R Flair]

Never understood the appeal of remaking eq in unity and resigning it to just a browser. should export it to client and add dl link.

[Slathar]

TRUMP LOST LOL @ THE LAND WHALES