Creating an educational game with unity

Hi
i m a pro programmer but i m a newbie in Unity. I ve got a project to create a 2D adventure game but i m looking if Unity is the most appropriate platform to do that.
I ve already looked and searched Unity features and forum but i still got questions so if anyone could help/advise it would be nice:
1. Can i connect with a web MySQL server (so the user logins etc).?
2. Can the game run in full screen on a PC?
3. Is it "easy" to handle manipulate text, so to ask question, handle&display answers etc
4. In the game i ll need to have some animation scenes (like tutorials, not videos) where the sprites/characters will play some scenes before game resumes. Is this possible with unity?
5. Generally i m looking for the most easiest and faster way to do this. Is Unity appropriate for this? Should i check Air too? Generally i do not care about FPS since this would be an adventure game (or at least i think that i should not care).

Any help/ideas/advice would be really appreciated.

Solomos

 

Yes. You can do whatever you want, it's a matter of programming it.

--Eric

 

thanks!

does it worths waiting learning version 5 directly?

 

1. Yes. It's recommended that you go through a server-side language, though, and not directly.

2. Of course.

3. Not really. It can be done, but 'easy' is not how I'd describe it. HTML would much better suit you here.

4. Of course.

5. I'd honestly suggest looking at HTML5 or Flash instead. They seem more suited to what you want to do.

Unity has a lot of strengths, but basic text-based games is not one of them.

 

3. very difficult and very tedious

It you try this, and aren't an artist, and you said you're a programmer, then you need to learn 2D drawing really well. Also, wait for the new Unity GUI and if it's not suitable then buy Daikon Forge. Using HTML5 or Flash won't get you published on multiple mobile platforms and desktops like you probably want.

 

Indeed, if the target is 'multiple platforms', Unity is back in the running. The only platform mentioned was PC, though.

 

Unity is still in the running. He said 2D. PC or not. 2D is 2D.

 

I see answers like this all the time on this forum, but I don't understand why it is supposed to be a useful or appropriate response.
You can do whatever you want, by programming, if you use C, C++, Java, Python, C#, or whatever, using libraries like OpenGL or DirectX.
This OP wanted to know about PC, but if he had instead asked about OSX or iOS, I would add Objective-C with spritekit to my list.

Obviously Unity is quite different from any of those options.
Reading between the lines, the OP is probably wanting to know not just if Unity is capable, but if it is well suited and appropriate for his game.
Actually now that I re-read, he even asked if Unity is the easiest.

My thoughts are that Flash would be easier for something this simple.
Are there tools out there yet for developing HTML5 content that make it so you don't have to write a ton of code yourself?

 

There's one solution to creating an adventure game easily in Unity: http://www.iceboxstudios.co.uk/adventure-creator/

Adventure Creator will take care of everything you mentioned Solomos, except the MySQL bit which you will have to code yourself.

 

I’m very curious about the more general question: Is Unity a good choice for creating educational software — assuming you can program. I used Flash for years (and Director before that) and it is a great tool, but limited. The advantages of Unity are pretty clear: multi-platform, 3D (research suggests kids retain stuff better if it is 3D — volumes, for example are easier to represent), it has a physics engine so teaching anything having to do with objects that roll, fall, have mass, etc. is going to be much easier. It can be displayed in stereo and Occulus Rift, (I teach at a university where we are installing stereo projectors in some classrooms) and Occulus may well be a factor in schools if, as I would guess, it can be shown that kids retain stuff from VR better.

All this with the caveat any game has to be fun if it is to teach.

In-game graphics in Unity, so far as I can tell, are awkward. I’ve done very little but my in game text apparently needs special shaders or it shows through walls, trees, everything). I’ve made a sine wave hang in 3 space, which is pretty cool to have the FPC walk around. But, whereas in Flash, it is very straight forward to build a graph that the user can click on and get information about the particular value at that spot, I have no idea how I’d do it in Unity. Well, as I think of it, maybe I do, but it wouldn’t be trivial.

Graphs could be built in 3 space simply by hanging chain of small overlapping spheres who’s value could be displayed if the user clicks on them or their parent gameObject. Maybe that’s all that is needed. In Flash I often did much the same thing.

In any case, all of the comments above are useful. I have no idea how many Unity developers there are who are interested in using it to create teaching tools but I’d be fascinated by just about anything any of you have to say.

 

Look into one of the third party plugins like DFGui or NGUI. One of these may be able to help you get an idea of what is possible. I think both of those have free versions. If your into HTML try out PowerUI as well. All allow in-game GUI's that should probably address your needs if I understand you correctly. Good luck, IMHO Unity is the #1 contender for developing educational materials available on the market.

 

Flash/AIR is very good for UI work, but the drawback is that Flash/AIR is only good for that sort of project. If you plan to have any sort of 3D graphics, or even expensive code (like physics and such), then you're probably asking too much of the platform. Not mentioning also the fact that you'll have to work in AS3 (or HaXe if you're brave), as opposed to the stately elegance of C#.

I started out as a Flash dev myself, and with all due respect to Adobe, once I switched to Unity, I wondered why I hadn't done it sooner.

I do miss the easy vector-animation features of Flash sometimes, especially when doing UI work, but really, that's a small tradeoff considering what you gain with Unity. Plus, the new 2D graphics tools and 3rd party UI kits are closing that gap pretty quickly.

I suggest going with Unity, but before you even start, have a look through the Asset store to compare all the existing UI solutions that are available. Which one is best is largely a matter of personal preference I think... whichever fits your workflow best.

Cheers