Dark ui Pro Only ?

Don't get me wrong, I like dark UI skins as much as the next person...

But I get angry when I see people whine about it not being included in the free version of Unity. It's free software. You're not entitled to anything, so don't act like they owe it to you to provide a feature you want.

And the excuse about eye strain doesn't hold up, either. If you're actually staring at your editor window for that long each day, it means making games is pretty much your profession, right? So the Professional edition is probably the one you should be using anyway.

"Indie" doesn't mean you get to pursue your dream for free, with everyone else bending over backward to help you get there, and then if you succeed, you get to be a millionaire. Now Unity offers almost every feature currently reserved for their paying customers in their free edition, and people still find things to complain about.

Ridiculous.

 

I really don't understand you ! have you read any of the posts at all ?

1. Unity is not freeware, read the conditions of personal-edition !
2. If you gonna learn unity you be using alot of time in front of Unity every day. not really professionel, right?
3. Death is exactly the question, "giving" all the newest features away, and then let the ui spoiling the first impression and the second ant the .... Make no sense !

 

how about chroma skin

 

I liked the dark skin for 3 years. Recently I had to make a better UI with nested grouping bordered boxes for our plugins, and on the dark color scheme there's just not enough colors to handle it and make everything obviously discernible (because when you specify red in Inspector scripts it adds dark gray to everything, so the result is dark grey + red), leaving you with not many usable color choices. However, in the light UI we had way more options and it looks more colorful overall with our Inspectors, so I've switched to the light skin permanently.

Down with the dark skin!

 

If you don't like you dark ui , can i havet ;-)

 

itd be cool if normal and dark was for everyone, and then customizable theme (and maybe.. idk 3 themes) was for pro? then again, UI theme is kinda a lame thing to focus dev time to.. but like... could have 1 guy work on it ??

i think i like free editions skin better.. i cant stand dark themes.. makes me sleepy lol

i like blender's "hexagon" .. its THE BEST
if unity pro had this color scheme id probably buy it just for that LOL... (eh not really but almost)
for some reason this color scheme has a mind trick for me that makes me think the task im doing is waay easier and funner than if it was a different color scheme lol .. same color scheme when i made wolfenstienET maps (for that editor) when i was like 14

 

If only there was a way haha.

 

@I am da bawss LOL

 

I hope that the Unity team gets fed up with this ridiculousness and makes a patch that converts all the whiner's skin to bubble gum pink and day glow orange with white text.

First everyone was whining for a refund, now everyone is whining that the FREE version doesn't let them use the status symbol color scheme. You guys want your cake and eat it too. Ridiculous...

You know what I've been doing?

I've been playing with render texture, async loading, LOD, the new shader, reflection probes, webGL builds, and projectors. And it's freaking awesome!!!

 

Frankly? I don't care about black skin. Black text on white is easier on the eyes anyway (tried both black on white and white on black in different software, quickly returned to black on white).

 

Context is everything.

 

Physiologically, dark skin > light skin. A light skin causes the eyes to constrict which leads to strain. A dark skin relaxes the pupils which is of course healthier.

There's a reason why pretty much all professional graphics software uses a dark skin now. Hint: it's not because it's pretty.

 

How often do y

._. why

Anyway... I do miss the dark skin, but Unity seems more gray than white. I know my eyes aren't the greatest, but I could swear the editor used to be as white as the forum here. But now it looks gray, like the gray highlights in this forum. Was it... ninja'd?

 

Nope, it's always been grey; RGB(194, 194, 194). So, 76% grey, which is pretty easy on the eyes as long as you don't have the brightness on your screen set to "arc light".

--Eric

 

As someone who has legitimate vision problems , so bad he made his own Chrome extension to darken webpages, I have to say using the 30 day trial on Unity 4 was a massive releif, even though it was wasted just for the color scheme.

 

The light skin is really that bright? It's always seemed a lot darker for me. Now maybe I understand why some people struggle with it.

 

"Arc light" is exactly the setting my main monitor ended up at after calibrating it

 

I have Pro, so this doesn't affect me, but Unity has nothing to gain from keeping the dark skin from Personal Edition. And so they have nothing to lose by making it free. It makes no sense to me. I would have bought Pro even if light-gray was the only option, in fact, I did! Back when I first started using Unity 2.0.

 

If Unity want to be able to distinguish a personal version from a pro one, there is other way that doing it by the color of the skin. For me there is no sense to not let a user choose the color of his tool, if the tool in question allow to change it. And it is the case for Unity.

 

The sense of entitlement is strong in this thread.

 

This is not true. Eye strain is from prolonged/extended exposure. Unless your monitor is overly brightened, and you are working in a dark environment the colors on the screen have virtually no impact. Or more accurately the impact is so small that every other adjustment to your equipment/environment/habit completely offsets it. Typically the UI in Unity (and most other content creation tools) takes up 25-30% of screen space and unless you have face pressed up against the monitor, your monitor is taking about 30% of your visual field. The color of the UI is impacting <10% of what your eyes are taking in and even then is is a normal source. If you had a small flash light pointed in your face for several hours, sure, it will bother your eyes. The UI of any content dev app will have not have any impact. If you are getting eye strain, you are doing something that needs to be corrected. Move back, take breaks, calibrate your monitor, modify the lighting in your room, make sure there are no bright lights in your eye-line or reflected.. Or make your game darker. The scene/game views take up much more space than the UI and will have more impact.

I can understand preferring/wanting the dark interface, It looks nicer (except on projectors). Graphics professionals (sometimes) use dark because we prefer it as as well, If color is critical we go full screen (50% grey is more optimal for color matching than dark or light) But there is no physical relief it provides. Eye health is concern for professionals, but eye strain is easily avoided, and minimally impacted by what is on your screen. If you are working on a painting or model that is very bright and filling the screen, just rest your eyes a little more often. Though eye strain is annoying, it is not damaging, and very, very easy to avoid.

 

I think it's best that it keeps for pro users

 

Its is not the light source / brightness off the screen there is stressing "hurting" your eyes.
The eye works like a camera and like in a backlight photo, you have to compensate to get the details back in the objects against a bride light Background "Ease Of Focus".

 

This is just straight up wrong on so many levels. First off, you can experience eye strain for many different reasons, not just because of prolonged use and overly bright monitors. Although I have to say a lot of developers are working in dark rooms with bright monitors long in to the night. While that isn't ideal, I don't think it's the right thing to with hold a potential fix just because you do not agree with their ways of working...

Another common reason for eye strain is trying to focus on something dark while the surrounding is much brighter (see Thjellesen's post for a perfect example of this). This is also why most graphics program are dark, so you can easily focus on your work and not the interface.

Also looking at a monitor with too much blue light before going to bed will mess with your sleep cycle. And the brighter the interface the more blue light will be emitted from the monitor.

You can get a great collection of research on this from: http://justgetflux.com/research.html


The biggest problem I have with this is that Unity is holding this interface behind a $1500 pay wall. This is something a lot of people obviously want and the Unity team is saying that the price is $1500 for a darker interface. That to me is unreasonably expensive for a interface.

I would gladly pay say ~$25 for the darker interface, no problem. But apparently that isn't an option so I guess I'll have to go else where.

 

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/me...ity-free-and-forum.245824/page-6#post-2003135

--Eric

 

My though`s on Unity 5.

Great but expected move to make free version contain all engine tools.

However, I hate you for this Unity, the light skin, you will get bombarded for this childish move to force free developers this light, eye killing skin. This is what breaks Unity 70% for me.

 

UE4 is reasonable to use, like Unity is. I believe that the problem stems from if you want to veer off the path. Then you're heading for murky engine waters. If all you want is lovely visuals, then UE4 has you covered. But it doesn't have you covered at a decent framerate. UE4 packs a lot of allure and sparkles up front and with Unity you have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to even turn those on.

But given Unity's priority is speed, I know where I'm best off since they both CAN look the same. People naturally have a hard time swallowing this because Unity as a company does not do enough demonstration.

Yeah probably broke it for you with Unity 4 as well.

 

You keep saying "you" like there wasn`t many, many other developers really bothered by it, Like there wasn`t feedback for this change from year 2011 with thousand of votes.

I bet you have free pro version with normal dark skin and that`s why you can afford defend it.

 

As someone who uses the personal/free version of Unity, I accept that some things just aren't included. Unity have taken a massive step including pretty much all functionality in their free-ish version. If you don't like the light skin you don't have to use Unity. People have managed to stare at grey interfaces for decades.

 

I'm not. On the beta group I have a post up where I actually propose reasons why Unity should provide dark skin for personal users. So you're wrong. Any other beta user should be able to confirm that.

I just think it's kind of pathetic how much people whine for it, that's all. I don't disagree that it should be available by default.

 

Yes, people have managed to stare at light interfaces at decades. But then all major softwares switch to dark ones by default. Maya, 3dsMax, CryEngine, Blender, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Unreal Engine 4(and previous versions), even Visual Studio has dark theme, since staring at bright code UI for years will drain your eyes.

And then there is Unity, one last major software with light skin. Don`t get me wrong, I love Unity Engine, I love it`s features and I think it`s the best engine and best choice for indie developers, even for commercial ones.

But this just hurts me more that this powerful free tool with it`s features and packed everything, but so simple, yet powerfull, even health features as UI color is hidden behind 1700 pay wall.

Then I apologize. But from your previous post it seemed like you have Dark Skin and then you don`t mind defending this move.

 

Bad reasons to want dark UI:
1. I want it (too bad)
2. It's bad for the eyes (it's not - these people probably have terrible monitor calibration)
3. Everyone else does it (and?)
4. It's childish (being childish has nothing to do with it - some people do pay for dark UI)

Good reasons to want dark UI:
1. Unity needs to look good regardless, and consistent as a recognisable product.
2. Splash screen is sufficient as well as >100K. I don't think splash should change if UI goes dark for personal.
3. If Unity needs to rely on UI to sell, something is wrong with the pro services offered
4. Asset authors will not be required to make garish interfaces or work twice as hard on UI

That's my take on it. I do think if Unity does decide to give the dark UI, it's the nail in the coffin for changing personal splash screen. That's giving just too much leeway and free owners will have to suck it right up with a straw since Unity does need money to survive.

 

That would be awesome.

 

Give a inch people want a mile!

 

You don't think it's bad if everyone else's products looks good and unity bad? How's that a bad reason.

 

Not sure there's a point there.

 

Agree on all topics, I though moderators and Unity members had to "stick" with Unity decisions, but I am glad you said your own opinion.

Btw agree on everything except childish. I think and this is my pure opinion, this world was and is used to defend Dark Skin->Pro version decision as well as attack people who want to change it.

This isn`t like: But I want this button to have flowers around it or I want to have nicer sounds when clicking on buttons.
This "need" of dark skin is made on eye factor, that it really bothers me, and when you work with this engines severals hours a day, your eyes are getting sooo drained from that bright color.

 

Hi Hippocoder
I have worked in the games industry as an artist since 97 ,I hate scripting with a passion, and so whilst Unity has a reputation for fast prototyping, if one can't code or is dyslexic then Unity becomes very counter intuitive.
I saw some great stuff at GDC this year but for me the single most exciting and empowering approach was UE4 's blueprint.I know they are not perfect but for rapid prototyping it is well integrated and thought out. I find it hard to understand why playmaker isn't a native function in Unity or why they don't write their own version. it seems that the idea of Unity being easy to learn is a misnomer, yes you can drag assets in but once you need to control them its scripting or a third party tool with limited tutorials . speaking of tutorials there are now to many told versions and the path to learning Unity 5 is not very clear.I really want to like Unity but without a coder I am dead in the water.

 

End of the day, they are a company who just cut a massive portion of paid users out the loop. If I was Unity I'd do whatever it takes to keep the money flowing. What's more important a dark GUI or the engine sticking around?

That dark GUI won't mean much if Unity go bust.

 

pro work, shadow, very nice.
it got good colors and an inviting environment

just keep it up at 60fps, no matter what..

Assassin's Creed Unity looked good, but quickly became a joke after their 30fps cap

 

Unity should support UI customization because it's part of the fundamental accessibility features for any computer interface:

• Don't hard-code your colour scheme
• Don't only rely solely on colour to convey information
• Provide high contrast alternatives

Not supporting basics techniques for visual accessibility is simply amateurish and alienates users with any form of low vision or colour vision deficiency. If you were taking a class on computer interface accessibility, on the slide titled "Colour and Contrast" this stuff is literally the first few bullet points.

 

Is there any science for it, or is it just something someone cooked up to bulk out classes?

Since if there's proper resources provided and evidence, then Unity has a decent enough reason. If it's just a class, it's meaningless.

 

+1

A engine, which name shall not spoken, supports even 7 additional color vision defiance preview types ranging from deuteranomly to achromatopsia.

League of Legends assures that people with color defiencies can play it without issues, too.

And that's pretty professional and nice towards the customer.

 

So? Unity still needs actual reasons. Such as evidence that the unity colour scheme impairs anyone somehow. I'm not fighting people, I'm telling people what will help.

None of this stuff came up until Unity gave away the entire engine. Crazy times.

 

The accessibility guidelines are real. I think the one they are referring to may be "Flexibility". This guideline is for your software to provide a flexible, customizable user interface that accommodates a variety of user needs and preferences. That's pretty generic but that is because it is basically just common sense best practices.

I don't have an issue with the gray color in Unity free but I can see where providing the ability to customize the colors would be a great thing to do for others. In VS I use a medium gray background very much like Unity free has so it already works for me. Others may find themselves with eye strain if staring at it for too long. Kind of one of those things where you cannot really judge how it effects someone else.

 

I guess being on the unity forums is far more damaging for the eyes, yet so much time is apparently spent here.

 

What, you don't use a browser add-on to re-color it?

 

I tried crayons but keeping the window in the same place all the time is time consuming.

 

Nope, I just have sensible (and dynamic) desktop colour scheme from f.lux and good room lighting.

 

Another thread that derailed to the dark skin debate ...

(ShadowK, your conclusions are very interesting.)