Official Bolt 2 Alpha cycle has restarted

Hello,

We are inviting all of you to fill up this short survey to officially get you on our alpha list, understand your context better, your expectations, and where the efforts should be focused on.

My name is Laurent, Product Manager for Bolt Visual Scripting. If you have missed it, I strongly recommend reading our latest announcement regarding Visual Scripting in Unity. In short, Bolt is now available to all users at no additional cost. This is made to help all creators jump in Unity more easily and achieve their goals faster than ever!

Bolt visual scripting is now included in all Unity plans, at no additional cost.

Announcement on the Blog
Discussion on the forum

Now what about Bolt 2?

@UnityHas has mentioned in a previous thread that the Alpha cycle had restarted, following some initial details from @Adam-Blahuta, and I wanted to spawn a new thread to celebrate this, and take the opportunity to share a few more details, as well as collecting more information about all of you interested in Bolt 2.

First of all, why is Bolt 2 relevant?

Bolt 2 has been worked on for a while with the intent to bring Bolt based Visual Scripting to new heights. Bolt 2 is a rearchitecture of Bolt that will be fully integrated in Unity as opposed to be an Asset Store asset (Bolt 1 will stay on the Asset Store). It features C# code generation, which can be turned to platform native code reaching the same performance as writing the code itself. Script preview shows real-time side by side views of the graphs and code, also updating the current graph selection, allowing to learn C#, review graph code, and debug it more easily. Bolt 2 introduces classes providing object-oriented concepts to group graphs, functions and variables together. Variables are strongly typed and referenced, simplifying the maintenance for the graphs. And should feature many more new features such as Vertical Flow, Compact Units, Port Proxies, Tweening, Delegates, C# Events, Advanced Coroutines, Chunking, Generics, Port Promotion, Overloading...

One important thing to note is that Bolt does not support DOTS today. We have been working at providing Visual Scripting for DOTS based projects and this is still progressing. We are now discussing the necessary convergence across all our node-based graph tools.

Should I start Visual Scripting in Unity with Bolt 2 for my current production?

Short answer: no. Bolt 2 is not ready yet. Bolt 1 is stable and mature, and is fully supported by our dev teams for the duration of the current Unity LTS releases. So if you intend to ship a project with Unity 2018, 2019, or 2020, the proper option right now is Bolt 1 that you can get today from the asset store.

Now if you are interested in exploring Bolt 2, and help us finish it the best way possible, understanding that there are still possibilities that content made in Bolt 2 couldn't migrate to newer alpha releases, and that a number of bugs still exists, we're happy to get you on board!

I understand Bolt 2 alpha means it is not production ready today, but I'm still excited to join and provide feedback to help finish it, can I be invited to the party?

We know it's been a long wait for some of you who have been participating in the Bolt 2 alpha before the acquisition. We want to get Bolt 2 alpha available to all to get your feedback, however we also judged it would be a better experience to start small and progressively add new users to the pool, up to the point we can open the flow gates to all.

So right now Bolt 2 is in private alpha, invitation only. As we consider more users to add to the pool, we figured it would be great to know more about your interests.

We are inviting all of you to fill up this short survey to officially get you on our alpha list, understand your context better, your expectations, and where the efforts should be focused on.

In the meantime, please join the official Discord server to chat with the team and other users.

We're very excited by all of this, talk to you all soon.

Laurent

 

Happy to see this moving forward! These are exciting times indeed.

 

Thanks for making it available for everyone!

 

Thrilled to see the progress and commitment to Bolt 2! Best of luck, you got this!

 

This is awesome! Thank You.

 

Super Exciting!

 

Thanks for making this available to everyone! Looking forward to trying out the alpha.

 

Making Bolt Free is a very good move, thanks for that.

Thanks to the Ludiq team and Unity team also.

 

Looking forward to Bolt 2! Hope this is going to be as good as many expect it to be

 

Amazing.

 

WOW! can't believe you guys made this FREE!

Using Bolt for couple of years, I did not regret for one second paying for it. And don't regret now either seeing it go free.
Happy to know that everyone has access to this amasing tool.

Looking forward towards Bolt2 and a wider integration.

 

Looking forward to Bolt 2!

 

Thanks for making Bolt free, as someone who bought the tool back while in Ludiq's development, I think it's what is best for the tool and the community. Also for Unity as it now has a standardized included Visual Scripting tool to compete with Godot VisualScript and UE4 Blueprints.

I can't wait to get to work with many more new Bolt users, and maybe be able to help out some of the new users getting started. Also being able to collab with more people with the tool will be amazing!

Filled in the survey for Bolt 2. Can't wait for the full release.

 

What are your plans for Bolt?

Could you consider integrating shader graph, particle system,physics, terrain, foliage, mesh system and post-process pass into one cohesive unification with Bolt and SRP?
Like Houdini.

 

Yes, we are actively discussing what are the next steps to progressively bring our various node based tools together, to unify visual scripting across the engine.

 

First of all, why is Bolt 2 relevant?
I would say please watch this video to answer its relevance, these updates alone make it truly amazing to me (classes, bolt assets), I sooooo want to use the bolt assets to simplify the code identical to scriptable objects. That coupled with the interface seeming easier to use, I'm not sure I even want to try bolt 1 and am so ready to try bolt 2! It seems like this may be a long road ahead though?...

I'm a visual person and can't program with C# in visual studio etc.. my slight dyslexia makes it too difficult to write code (bouncing back and forth just to spell words correctly) but I've been using playmaker as of late and today decided to look into bolt as these programs make it possible for me to makes games! Im soo excited to use bolt 2.

P.S. I don't need bolt 2 to tie in with dots as Im not sure I could wait that may years (maybe if considering it possibly do it in the background after bolt 2 is released )

 

I am pumped for the move to make Bolt 1 free and the move towards Bolt 2 alpha. Curious about this statement: "Bolt 2 is a rearchitecture of Bolt that will be fully integrated in Unity as opposed to be an Asset Store asset"

Will this just mean we bring it in as a package, or does it actually indicate some tighter integration with Unity proper now that the product has been brought in house? Hmmm.

 

Hello, I have filled in the questionnaire and signed up. When can I receive the new version of the document package?

 

Looking forward to starting with Bolt 2 now that I completed my first Cross-platform app with Bolt 1.

 

I will be soo happy if I can be part of bolt 2 Alpha Test ..

 

We predict many dependencies to be created on Bolt moving forward, so our current intent is to include it as a core functionality of Unity as opposed to an optional package generating deep dependencies that would turn into a complicated version management problem. We're still working at confirming this plan.

 

At each iteration, the team will consider adding new alpha users to the private pool, to the point we get to a public alpha. So it is hard to predict when you will get access.

 

That would be great. The reason why Blueprints is so powerful for UE4 developers is because it's integrated into practically every part of the engine. I'd like Bolt to one day be integrated into the animator pipeline, making animation state machines and programming functionality seemless. Bolt could be used for many other things as well, like Behavior Trees. Although I don't like how Blueprints is forced on game developers. I'd like visual scripting to be a helpful tool for most developers, while those who prefer creating their own functionality in c# can easily do so.

 

I'm still trying to convince co-workers that visual scripting is, in fact, scripting, just easier learn and use. It somehow feels like upgrading from MS-DOS to Windows10.

If Bolt 2 becomes an engine package and can actually generate performant code, it'll be amazing to see what the community will do with it!

 

About the convergence of Visual Scripting solutions within Unity, and I know it may be waaay to early to respond to that, but do you guys think you are going to port the existing Bolt 2 frontend to UI Toolkit / GraphView any time soon (as in, will it be a priority)?

I ask this because I would very much like to begin creating my own extensions of Bolt, with my own types of graphs and all, and I have already spent a good deal of time learning an relearning the GraphView API as time passes and it is updated, so if I didn't have to learn Bolt's as well it would be great. Of course, I expect this conversion to take a big deal of time even if it is a major priority, but I don't mind the wait if it is something between like, a year or two. If it is not a priority I very much expect it to take much longer than that, so I'd probably just go and start learning Bolt's already. I mean, as soon as I get my hands on this alpha.

 

@laurentgibert
Is there any plan to parse C# scripts to generate Bolt graphs?
Ludiq devs weren't planning that feature https://support.ludiq.io/communities/5/topics/3976-c-parsing-to-graph

 

I cant wait to see bolt2 moving forward again. Ive missed it

 

We are evaluating our options. Our goal is to unify the experience across the tools, so it seems a good avenue is to progressively merge/port/transition things over to a unified stack. More information to come as we progress on this analysis.

 

No plan about this so far. It's kind of a challenge this topic, to say the least

 

FYI, Bolt 2 already generates performant code.

 

I think of additional small packages that you can add. for example, a package to support the new input system, another that supports VFX, like addons there in the package manager. it would be a possibility.

 

So glad that this is happening with Unity!
Creating "code" from Visual scripting is nice,
do you have plans to create Visual scripting form "code" ?
That would be interesting too

 

I actively participated in the new version, I bought Bolt1, and I also filled out the test form.

But I didn't get a new version, and I couldn't even get a refund.

It's not fair to me. I've been waiting for this for a long time.

 

When did you buy bolt 1? Only a specific time window applies. I don’t think they necessarily have finished all refunds to those who were eligible. As for the new version it’s free in the store just go to the asset store type bolt and add it to your list.

 

Can I get an Alpha version for tests somehow?
We are working on an indie startup, we are using AR, there is a block of work with coding, we wanted to start testing Bolt-2 to make a decision on its use.

 

@LaurentGibert any news regarding getting into the alpha? I filled up the survey already.. still waiting for the invitation

 

Ok, I filled out the form. Hoping that I get in

 

How will we know if we've been granted access to help test and be a part of the Bolt Alpha? I filled out a survey form but I am not 100% sure how I will gain access to it or how I will know I've been granted access to it.

If there's some way to give clarity on this, that would be marvelous!

 

Its just soooo beautiful!

 

Yes it looks great much better than the unity dots visual scripting, I hope this will be the default and not the dots UI, that one is not ready.

 

Looks too colorfull. Dots VS is much better

 

Here we go
Ok lets add a grayscale filter

I like the colors because they are all functional

 

Even if Bolt was grey scale in my option still way better than dots (dots is a turn off), but I also fancy the colors of Bolt (the colors match the code), like originally posted it’s sooooo beautiful !!!

 

That's a two-year-old Photoshop mockup shared when Bolt 2 was first announced. Bolt 2 right now looks like this. They took the colors straight from the new Unity theme guidelines and should fit the native flat look perfectly.

 

No need to worry about DOTS VS vs Bolt 2. They are two separate things for two different areas of Unity so they aren't in competition with each other.

 

@PanthenEye
Greatly appreciated, it still looks fantastic!

@Grimreaper358
Very true

 

The mockup is more polished, for example the horizontal lines in the collision box don't fill up the box in the new native screenshot

the text is also better aligned in the mockup
and the text is easier to read

 

Does this mean some people have gotten in the alpha?

 

All Bolt 1 owners had access to Bolt 2 alpha before the big Unity acquisition. Right now Bolt 2 is in closed alpha, released to a select few community members who know the asset very well.