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[Richard Kain]

Unity 4 is on its way.

This is hardly a surprise. Unity has been iterated fairly regularly over the past few years. A new upgrade was a foregone conclusion. What is really interesting is the new features that will be available in it. And one of the features I am most excited about is...

Unity 4 will have Linux publishing.

The IDE/editor environment will NOT be coming to Linux. (for now) But what we are going to get is the ability to publish Unity projects as standalone Linux executables. This functionality will be part of the base Unity 4 upgrade, and will not require a commercial license. This is a huge upgrade for indie developers who want to maintain support for Linux users. Unity games will finally be playable on all three major PC operating systems.

[Average Software]

Given that Linux already has a major desktop named Unity I can see this leading to all kinds of confusion.

[Nix]

Will Ubuntu's Unity stick around even though Gnome 3 now has similar features?

Anyway, Unity 4 looks awesome, particularly the animation stuff. Mocap animations are one of the biggest differentiators between low-budget and AAA titles. Unity is really leveling the playing field.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

afaik unity's full name is "unity3d", not just "unity" so it probably wouldn't conflict with the linux unity. people just say "unity" for short but the correct way to refer to it is "unity3d"

[Ludophonic]

afaik unity's full name is "unity3d", not just "unity" so it probably wouldn't conflict with the linux unity. people just say "unity" for short but the correct way to refer to it is "unity3d"

I actually think you have that backwards. It's proper name is 'Unity' but the website is 'unity3d.com' and 'unity3d' is more unique in terms of matching web searches and such so people often refer to it as that.

It predates the linux unity desktop by years, so they're not the one's causing the confusion in any case.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

ah, that makes sense, thanks for the correction

anyway, i haven't used unity much but i'm happy it's coming to linux too, more platforms are always good

[EdgeOfProphecy]

Given that Linux already has a major desktop named Unity I can see this leading to all kinds of confusion.

It has already been a source of much google frustration for me.

Update looks super cool.  I've given up holding my breath on native 2D support, though.

[bateleur]

Personally I think Unity coming to Linux could be a pretty big deal. I love Linux, but couldn't ever justify releasing stuff for it. Now I'll be able to do so basically for free!

[Mattivc]

Hmm, Unity was one of the last things keeping me on windows for my workstation. I just might make the jump now

Edit: Actually, is this just publishing to Linux. Or has the entire editor been ported?

[rivon]

Only publishing to Linux. Editor is still Win/Mac only. Maybe in the future it will be ported to Linux though.

[Richard Kain]

Only publishing to Linux. Editor is still Win/Mac only. Maybe in the future it will be ported to Linux though.

Yes, it's not yet complete support for the Linux platform. But it is a step in the right direction. Originally, the Unity editor was only on Mac, and just had publishing for Windows. They eventually ported the editor to Windows because the demand for it there was so great.

They have taken their sweet time getting Linux publishing working. The demand for that feature in the commercial space was much smaller. Recent developments in Linux software distribution and sales have probably affected that. I wouldn't hold my breath for a Linux port of the editor, but it is a possibility for the future.

[getluky]

I'm new to tigsource, but I spend pretty much 80% of my day in Unity. As an indie, I probably won't really use the new animation stuff, but a lot of the workflow improvements in 4 look awesome, especially all the new component management features.