Could Unity really harness the cloud?

Just read this article and thought hey, why doesn't Unity start providing cloud services for it's AI, networking, game data, systems.

What if Unity games already had access to cloud systems built in, you could build massive game worlds with loads of characters and then the Unity engine would only need to stream in the elements within range of the player.

Unity games could be much smaller and it would allow for Unity to become a real player in the new field of Virtual Reality.

The engine would morph into a world building tool that you can use within VR to create your own virtual world.

 

Well, we have already begun to deliver cloud services: http://unity3d.com/unity/cloud-build

 

Both cool examples but what if our enemy AI scripts were being handled by the cloud, their pathfinding and decision making being done on the cloud?

How much bigger could our game worlds be without becoming dependent on the players hardware performance?

Strategy games with thousands of Units, Virtual worlds coming alive with active fauna and flora could be created for devices with modern low level GPU apis that allow them to draw more things faster and without hitting the limits of the devices CPU.

And even lower level devices could possibly be supported if the Unity cloud could also render distant objects as imposter sprites or bake them into a skybox texture.

Don't all those mobile phone providers need a killer app for their 4G or 5G hi speed networks?!

 

That's a bad, bad idea unless there was an automatic fallback to on-device processing when the network isn't available. But I don't think a game that doesn't naturally require an Internet connection would be the best place for this.

However, the best use cases for this sort of thing would be in MMO's - it already requires an Internet connection and all of the required pre-conditions already exist as data on the server. Unity could take advantage of the cloud here, and could be in a position to make MMO's easy to build and deploy. Take advantage of Unity Cloud Build to compile the client and server versions of the game seamlessly. Adjust the Network View component to be friendlier to MMO's (the object automatically appears/disappears based on distance and congestion, automatically assumes an authoritative server, has clear settings for client vs server, etc). If they decided to go this way, Unity really could make developing an MMO easy enough for newbies.

And that's where your cloud processing comes in!

This is a bit of a thread hijack, sorry.

 

Respawn the makers of Titanfall a modern FPS might disagree with your MMO only point of view http://www.respawn.com/news/lets-talk-about-the-xbox-live-cloud/

A system does not have to be fixed, it can be dynamic e.g. if you have a higher performance device it can do more of the work. Use a lower spec device and the cloud has to pick up the load or the fidelity has to drop. Disconnect from the cloud and just like any networked game you would need to change to an offline mode or reconnect.

Also like any game tech there will be minimum specs below which a good gaming experience cannot be provided.

Take VR as an example it currently requires 90fps to provide a great experience, offloading slower tasks to the cloud can give you more CPU/GPU to deliver a good visual/audio* experience.

*tactile, olfactory, haptic, gustatory feedback is still some way off for VR.

 

Yeah. And my experience in the VR will greatly improve when everything reacts to my input with 100ms delay, and even more when my WiFi got hiccups.

If it is not possible to create an actual GAME for the VR with today's technology without "harnessing the cloud", that's not a big argument for "harnessing the cloud", more of an indicator that, maybe, putting all your eggs in the VR basket might not be that smart a move.

Just sayin'.

 

I think you may have misunderstood this thread. The discussion here has been about moving the HEAVY processing to the cloud. No one in this thread is suggesting an OnLive-style "completely generated on the cloud" type experience.