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[Tycho Brahe]

no, i think it's a good move by them. i'm just concerned about all the people who are constantly learning new engines, new platforms, new technologies, and never finishing games. this seems like it'll be learned by 10,000 people, cancelling their 10,000 game projects; and before they finish a game in unity they'll cancel it and learn irrlicht or pygame or whatever other buzzword or new technology appears. learning new game engines is usually the worst thing you can do for productivity

summary: while there's a lot of potential for great games there's also a lot of potential that the excitement over this will cause even more people to never finish games, so i see it as a bit two-sided

yeah, that's why my tools of choice are good old C++, opengl and sdl. Most of them are older than me!

[PGGB]

holy shit

VVVVVV rewrite in Unity confirmed!

[nihilocrat]

Okay, levelling my first valid complaint: for some reason various right-click options do not exist, or certain operations are completely not obvious.

First, I can't rename any of my materials. There doesn't seem to be any kind of such option, right clicking on anything does not give me a rename option, there is no rename option in "Edit", and double-clicking on a Material does not let me modify its name.

Second, I can't add new input axes. There doesn't seem to be any way of doing it, there are no buttons and right-clicking does nothing. The manual states:

Adding new Input Axes

If you want to add new virtual axes go to the Edit->Project Settings->Input menu. Here you can also change the settings of each axis.

Oh, gee, that's helpful. Tell me where to go but don't actually tell me how to do it.

Grumpily storming off to the Unity forums...

edit: Like I suspected, it's stuff that's completely non-obvious for people used to Windows.

For the elucidation of others:

To rename, click the name and keep the mouse pointer on the asset for about a second. It should let you then edit the name.

To create new axes, either duplicate an existing one using Ctrl+D, or modify the "Size" variable directly under "Axes" in the Input Manager. Ctrl+D is a handy shortcut to remember.

[deathtotheweird]

...

Click on what you want to rename once, then one more time (but avoid double clicking) and you will be able to change it's name.

Unity was made first for the Mac, so they built their interface out of a lack of right clicking.

To add new input axes, open the input manager and change the "size", in this screenshot I put the size to 8 so it lets me define 8 different input axes. Size is used a lot, and it doesn't make a lot of sense but you should know now that you may need to use it for other things in the future.


the interface isn't the best but it's not impossible

edit: ninja'd, wasn't aware of the keyboard shortcuts thanks

[Matthew]

On Windows F2 will rename an asset (which is a standard explorer hotkey).

The Input Manager thing is quite common as a pattern throughout Unity.  Really the Input Manager is just a big array--hence the size thing--with the Inspector naming the elements after the first string variable it finds.  You edit a lot of things this way in Unity (including your own stuff, which is quite handy).

[sqrrl]

Unity generally makes game development so much easier and faster (once you get how it works), that it may be worth learning now and switching your project over.

It really depends on your project though. If you're doing a game with retro-ish 2D graphics, don't bother.

Ok, so I haven't finished any games yet, but I've got a solid understanding of gml.
Would I stand a chance at learning how Unity works?

[LeFishy]

I have been using Unity for about a year now and am being pressured by peers and others to learn to program "properly" I fear it becoming free will only compel them to argue further on its lack of merit.

They fail to understand I want to make games... not engines.

Unity is great.

[___]

I have been using Unity for about a year now and am being pressured by peers and others to learn to program "properly" I fear it becoming free will only compel them to argue further on its lack of merit.

Fuck those guys.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

hahaha no just show them your finished games and show them their lack of finished games

[GregWS]

I have been using Unity for about a year now and am being pressured by peers and others to learn to program "properly" I fear it becoming free will only compel them to argue further on its lack of merit.

Fuck those guys.

Yes, fuck them and all their middleware hating.  I think whenever programmers start bitching, we should tell them to learn how to design games.  That'll teach em'.  :D

[Melly]

It's decided, my first 3D game will be in Unity.

[Gryphon]

I have been using Unity for about a year now and am being pressured by peers and others to learn to program "properly" I fear it becoming free will only compel them to argue further on its lack of merit.

Fuck those guys.

Yes, fuck them and all their middleware hating.  I think whenever programmers start bitching, we should tell them to learn how to design games.  That'll teach em'.  :D

When I first started programming, I figured "hey, I don't need to use other people's game engines!"

Then reality struck...

Creating a game engine is so time consuming... my first 3D project will definitely be in Unity, but I WILL finish my other games first...must resist...

[Mipe]

It's decided, my first 3D game will be in Unity.

Are you sure? I heard Unreal 3D was just released basically for free 

[BorisTheBrave]

I have been using Unity for about a year now and am being pressured by peers and others to learn to program "properly" I fear it becoming free will only compel them to argue further on its lack of merit.

Fuck those guys.

As a hard core programmer who does bitch about middleware, I feel I need to justify myself.

I complain mainly about game maker. It's clear there are many users here who are not aware what makes a good tool, or what they are missing in using game maker. Unity and Construct seem better, though I haven't evaluated them, so I whine less. It's not the use of other peoples game engines that I object to (in fact, you should), it's how much these platforms lock you in to only what they offer. Only their language. Only their graphics engine. Etc.

Secondly, there is a tendency for game to feel samey. Obviously, the skill of game design is to avoid that, but I find in practise what happens is that someone picks an element to innovate in, and then goes with the easiest route for their middle where in other aspects. I'm constantly amazed by how many innovative games use tile based levels, and platformer mechanics. It's like it's a base from which to explore from. But it isn't, it's just one of many genres, let alone inventing your own. Unity hasn't established a similar feeling with me yet, but I feel it will.

Finally, want to know how many completed games I have under my belt? Zero. I'm a developer for the Box2D physics engine. My coding and advice has enabled hundreds of games, saved people hours of time, and formed a strategic part of other more complete engines you might have used. Some games that have gone on to win prizes, earn people money. I don't think zero games produced means zero impact on the community, and neither should you, if you value getting tools like Unity in the first place.

</impassioned-plea>

[Mipe]

Box2D? Then you indirectly contributed to numerous (has anyone counted them at all?) games with Box2D physics.

Building finished products is one thing, building components that everyone uses is another. I tip hat to you.

[BorisTheBrave]

Thanks. Though I should say I did not write the engine myself, I joined after it was largely done, and do the less glamorous parts. So you should really tip your hat to Erin Catto, who wrote the original engine.

[Mipe]

That I do. 

Without these people working tirelessly to refine game components, numerous artists and generally programming challenged individuals never would have been able to develop games. That goes for Game Maker and stuff, too. While largely cursed tool, it still remains a gateway to publicly accessible Elysium plains we call game development.

Okay, that was a little cheesy, wasn't it?

[easynam]

If everyone just made engines, there would be no games

[shrimp]

If no-one made engines, there.......

you know...

[moi]

Make engines, make games, choose only one