Best Visual Scripting Asset? uScript Vs Playmaker Vs Brain Buider Vs Antares Universe

I'm sure other people would also like to know by having an open discussion, since reviews can be compromised.

Here are the links to the website of each of them:

uScript

Playmaker

Brain Builder

Antares Universe

 

There is already a thread on this if you search the forum, anyway my pick is still playmaker.

 

uScript on my side

 

The other thread only discuses Playmaker Vs uScript, therefore it's not as thorough.

Why do you chose Playmaker? Have you tried the others?

 

Why? Have you tried the others?

 

I have uscript, I just find playmaker easier.
haven't used the others

 

Actually, that's a really good point. Saying one is better than the other ones is pointless unless you say which other tools you have tried and what's the main reason for making that choice.

 

Question. which one comes with full source codes and ability to make custom extensions?

 

That's a good question. Anybody know?

 

I don't own all of them but I can tell you you don't get the source with PlayMaker or Antares Universe.

Antares Universe has a free edidtion and by reputation the most powerful, while by reputation PlayMaker is the easiest.

PlayMaker is 1/2 price or so in the Asset Store until July 23rd. Why not buy it and also download Antares Universe Free and report your findings back to us after you've used them both?

 

I really thought Spagetti Machine looked good myself.

 

Hadn't seen that one. Is that another name for Brain Builder?

 

i havent tried playmaker, but i have tried antares universe, and i found it more complicated to use than uScript, uScript is really simple to use and the use of .net reflection makes it really easy to integrate with other scripts and the fact that uscript generates C# code from the graphs and you can expose variables and objects from the graphs to regular code is very useful.. also its very easy to create new nodes for specialized uses in uscript.. its also easier on the eye hehehe

thats why i prefer uscript over antares universe

 

Nops, if I recall correctly it's just a "stubs" code generator, it doesn't actually create executable code.

I've written a detailed blog post about why I think Playmaker is the superior Unity solution for visual logic, you've probably read it from the other thread. My opinion still remains. One of the problems with uScript is that it's too cluttered (although not as much as Antares), it gives you more power upfront but it requires the kind of knowledge of details that a programmer has - and programmers are already used to their own tools, visual coding seems (and IS) slower for them in most cases. The other problem is that it generates code that you can't maintain, like one of those old Fox / Clipper code builders. It makes you life easier from start but it gets you stuck "after the fact".

Brain Builder looks very interesting and I admittedly haven't played with it, but my first impression from the videos is that, being highly reflection-based, it doesn't give you anything more that a good visual studio + resharper combo would. It even "looks" and "reads" like text, top-to-bottom, tabbed, etc, so you don't even gain one "axis of freedom" like with uScript, PlayMaker and Antares.

Visual logic is especially suited for high-level design, designers love it, splitting low-level logic from the game rules is a truly winner combo that I've only seen well done with Playmaker (Visual FSMs for high-level, C# actions for low-level). With minimal management it's very easy to split work between designers and coders. Designers can prototype what they want, pass it on to coders for polishing / added action functionality, while they move on to define in practice other high-level gameplay rules - instead of keeping their arms crossed while coders slave off. That makes lots and lots of sense especially after you try it, and results in sensibly faster productivity even for the smallest, two-person teams.

 

Thanks, I just bought PlayMaker this week and that's what I was hoping for as you describe. I've done plenty of coding but whenever I try to visualize the 'action' in my game I'm not thinking: There's Something! Shot It!

Different characters, different places, different objects, different action, different adversaries, different times of day, different weather, different sounds...and I was wanting a way to organize so that the game can change play based on any one of those.

I need something like PlayMaker just to keep game play with that many variables somewhat coherent; not that I mean any one of those elements is unusually complex by itself (at least not with Unity helping out).

 

I always find these discussions really interesting because I see visual coding as a way to eliminate syntax and focus on some core fundamentals of programming, logic in general, and architecture.

I was happy to go with universe even though I didn't know the unity reference docs when I started because I was interested in learning coding lessons in a visual environment. I'm not sure you don't learn those with the other two, I actually own all three but haven't used playmaker or uscript in some months.

Theres also something great about runtime debugging visually that I believe all 3 systems now support?

 

I haven't used uScript or Brainbuilder but I did try out Antares before sticking with Playmaker. Antares may be fantastic, but when I tried both products I just "got" playmaker much faster. And having used it now for almost two years it hasn't stopped me from doing anything that I want. I come from an artist background although part of my background is being a technical artist so I am used to using advanced logic and node based software. I also knew a bit of Javascript and C when I tried both Antares and Playmaker. If I had stuck with Antares I am sure I would have found out it's a great tool but since I got used to Playmaker so fast there really wasn't any need for me to go deeper into Antares.

This isn't a very deep explanation of the reasons why I like Playmaker but I just wanted to say that for me personally, Playmaker was extremely intuitive to pick up and it hasn't let me down in its flexibility yet. If it had, I would have been forced to try out the other options.

 

I have all three, Playmaker, uScript, and Antares Universe. I don't have Brain Builder so I can't really comment on it. So far what I found the differences are :

Ease of use :
Playmaker > uScript > Antares Universe

This is due to the fact Playmaker is higher level (abstraction) than uScript and Antares Universe
BrainBuilder looks like it took a even higher level abstraction than Playmaker.

On the otherhand....

Low level accessibility:
Antares Universe > uScript > Playmaker

Antares Universe is closest to "raw" scripting than the other two. It almost mirror/map what Unity scripting system offers, so you can achieve anything you want with it if Unity scripting system offers it. It has the lowest level of access, but highest level of "overhead" in term of learning than uScript and subsequently Playmaker.


I avoid voting on this poll because I think it is unfair to call one product "best" because this is largely subjective opinion depending on who you are and what you want to do. This is like comparing Assembly Language to C++ to Visual Basic.


So it really comes down to what you want, or what type of person you are. For coders, it seems they almost always go with Antares Universe. If you are designers/artists background with limited to no coding experience, Playmarker is more suited for you. And uScript sits in the middle.

 

I have used Brain Builder a lot since the 1st version ! The totally rebuilt 3rd version is fantastic !

In fact Brain Builder helped me a lot (as a beginner !) to understand how to code in Unity ! Brain Builder was/is a good personal teacher.
Thanks to this great plugin I have learned the relations between the different components and I could understand/build the rules little by little.
Through the simplicity to use I could create my first small 3D games. And it was very motivating...

Now I'm not afraid anymore to code in javascript (for more freedom and power !).

I have Playmaker and I have tested Uscript (Not Antares !) but I could do things with Brain Builder within a few minutes I couldn't do in the both other systems, as a total newbie in 3D !!!

Brain Builder for total beginners = perfect !!!
If you already have some knowledges in 3D, maybe Playmaker, Uscript, Antares...

6R

 

Let me rephrase my question:
which one integrates with at least:

- cInput 1.0 or 2.0 so that the player can choose custom keyboard + mouse configurations,
- NGUI or ex2D or 2D toolkit,
- UniTile or some popular stuff on the Asset store,
- mini-map stuff, - character inventory stuff,
- logic so that player moves to certain places, events are handled, or states are maintained.


and:
- it generates full sources (or at least some codes you can use)
- no black-boxes shipped with your game. (at least sources for run-time).


open to fair suggestions.

 

Yes. good question. If someone knows please let me know!

 

Good thread. One that each one explains the reasons finaly. Keep 'em comming.

 

None comes with sources (the effort to create it is massive, noone wants it to be ripped off)
Each of them allows you to create your own custom nodes / events etc


A thing to keep in mind here: PlayMaker is no visual scripter, its a visual state machine editor. It can't do everything but the part it can do, it does better than the competition.

Universe can do what uscript can do and what playermaker can do. It definitely wins against uscript cause it has visual debugging (without that the tool is useless for designers, they can't identify bugs if they can't see what flows wrong. We used uScript for months and its even easier to follow the code and data flow in badly written code than it is in uscript even less as its flow and data handling is absolutely invisible and undocumented), but its state machine support is not as intuitive as PlayMakers.

uscripts only 'fictive benefit' is that it generates c# code. fictive cause its of no use as no human being can work with that on a 'use it to modify' base, its just a big pile of connector code. it only grants that it will likely work on every c# supporting platform

 

I guess non-coders have a question in their mind (at least I have) that which of the above would be suitable to create a game from inception until release... However, I am afraid that none of them help/serve better than pure coding if you do not know how to turn your ideas into real game mechanics (logic-wise), if you do not know what kind of techniqes are used to build a game etc.

They are tools, but hey, even if I would have ArchiCAD in front of me I could not design a working house, since I have no knowledge in house-architecture... I own Playmaker but still, I cannot make a make with it, there is a missing link: my limited knowledge in making games in general

 

For non-coders, it would be better to get a visual scripting system.


For example,
As you may know, there are several scammers here who use different names and steal other people's works then claim it as their own work. They often want upfront money, or do nothing for the whole week and give you shoddy codes. Or give hundreds of excuses for delays.


You can easily spend thousands hiring a scammer/developer who has no experience and want money upfront and give little or no works. Or give you nonsense that you can throw away.


So, this is a safe investment... (that is, getting a visual scripting tool) You get everything done the way how you want it to be.


Just from an employer's Point of View.

 

If you are not familiar reading code go for Playmaker. If you have enough technical knowledge and at least basic programming understanding I would go for uScript (my preference thus far). I would prefer to actually write in javascript rather than use Vizio allthough it's fine. I found extremely hard to even read Brain Builder's visual code, but that's I guess is due to the fact that I am kinda used to reading actual code (JS, allways JS)

Even if I use uScript I find myslef I do so for prototyping and then actually go in JS once again, allthough I would really like to be able to stay in visual script.
That said, while I found Playmaker limiting my imagination for rapidly doing stuff due to actually being a state machine, I can see how it can be usefull for not prototyping but rather specialized function like for example as an animation state machine or AI. I really would not use it for game logic, allthough this seems something that Playmaker is made for.

 

this is my point;
Uscript still like a code tool; but playMaker is more fun ,you can fcous your game with few time to learn tool;
and PlayMaker just like a tool to everyone not only those cooders, so this means, anyone can make game!

 

These is also blox2 which is my prefered choise.
It reads every third Party API automatically And create Blocks which can be used then for visual scripting. And it also creates c# code for you if you want. I love it

I think the biggest + for playmaker is the big community. The blox community is awesome but pretty small

Is brainbuilder still active/supported? It looked interesting and simmilar to blox but i read in the forum its "dead" since they concentrated on their ipad APP?

 

for what its worth, Learn C# and or basic coding, it will help you in and outside of the Unity Community

 

But visual scripting helps you to even get into it and understand the basics like variables, bools, floats and all that stuff in a nice way. Its good for people with "scriptophobia" and you have a higher rate of sucess cause you dont have to hunt for typeerrors

 

Im just old fashioned LOL good point

 

There's absolutely no reason to choose between visual-logic or coding, both complement each other quite nicely. If you use code to interface with mecanim's Animator Controllers you already do it, btw.

 

I found another one today: "NODIFY2" . It is pretty simple to use and OPEN SOURCE ! And you can make high-complex games with it ! I am so amazed . Ok i calm down. Here is the link to the forum-thread: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/open-source-free-nodify2-visual-scripting-library.280142/

Have fun...

 

1.Is uScript the same as iCanScript??? Is visual scripting similar to Scratch by MIT? Thanks for this thread guys. http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules/beginner/asset-store/introduction-to-icanscript