is uLink dead? [Update: DevResponse inside, uLink is alive!]

The description of the latest uLink Evaluation download file is uLink_1.5.8_Lina_(2014-03-13).exe

Is uLink no longer active?

Anyone else using uLink?

Thanks.

 

I am not sure how active that uLink is, all I know is that we do have a lot of beta testers who have moved from uLink to our networking system's beta. Either uLink didn't provide what they needed or it is not supported any longer :/. I have heard quite a few talks with uLink, so maybe it's still alive via the community and just not as heavily developed anymore?

 

The last contact I had with uLink was a couple of months ago, and they were working on a big release a.k.a 1.6 But yes, it seems they have gone very quiet, as they used to have regular releases. One bad thing about uLink is their community management/Unity forum presence has always been very poor.

I am evaluating Forge Networking (as @farrisarts as posted above), in place of uLink, as the server runs in a Unity instance like uLink, which is important to me, and because they will be offering Windows Store Apps and WP8 support, which is also important to me.

 

Hi

i am using it too.. and its not dead, just they seem to be too busy to talk to anybody.

The latest (inofficial?) version is 1.6 beta just from february 12, 2015, making it just a week old.

I did not see any announcement, but here you can get it

http://download.muchdifferent.com/versionfinder/list_all_versions.php?product=ulink

Just please.. its not announced. i dont know the status.. could be a horrible nightly build, could be stable.. i did not try it yet. That was just for a heads up, development is not dead

 

I like to thank you all 3 for replying!

 

Here is an email from someone at uLink with some updates...
Looks like they are alive and kickin', but just been busy.

---------------------------

Thank you for the information and questions. It's true unfortunately, we've all been crazy busy with only development, obviously at the expense of the forum and announcing new versions. This is something we're currently working hard to solve, it will take a little time. I'm sorry. We're currently way more responsive with our centralized support portal/email (support@muchdifferent.com) which is simply due to it being easier to track, assign and follow up on.

However we've continually been pushing out new versions of the 1.6.0 "Birgit" beta (latest is build 33):

• http://download.muchdifferent.com/versionfinder/list_all_versions.php?product=ulink

We've also finished our TCP implementation and Steam Networking integration (with NAT-punchthrough):

• http://download.muchdifferent.com/ulink/uLinkTCPSocketDemo-beta29.zip
• http://download.muchdifferent.com/ulink/uLinkSteamSocketTest-beta29.zip

On top of that we've been making sure uLink 1.6.0 works on both PS4 and Xbox One. All this is mainly due to our much shorter new development cycle. The downside is that the short cycle time frame has limited us when it comes to communication, as you have noticed.


Now to answer your questions

• Yes we're actively working on WebGL support and will ship it with the final 1.6.0 release - before or at the beginning of April. Our WebGL implementation is based on our TCP implementation. If you wish to get a head start, you can try the TCP implementation and compare network performance and give feedback.
• We definitely want to support Windows Store and Windows Phone and we've made sure to fix any dependency issues. Unfortunately it the actual official release will most likely been sometime during summer.

Sincerely,
Aidin

-------------

 

We are using it too but now concerned about whether it will still work for Unity 5. We have other options but haven't had time to check them out. I looked at their website and the last stable version was sometime last year. Current version is still in beta.

 

Did you read my post above?

 

uLink has worked flawlessly for me and my colleagues for some game prototypes (in the MMO genre). I would highly recommend it (that being said without seeing Unity's new networking architecture in 5.0 yet).

 

I'm using uLink for more than one project and it works (almost) perfectly except with a few tiny flaws. I'll continue to use it until something better comes up, which will most likely be Unity's new networking engine.

Currently, there's a problem with uLink in Unity 5, and keeps spitting out compiler errors about some classes being defined twice, but hopefully Unity or MuchDifferent will post a fix or workaround soon.

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/ph...ple-times-errors-after-upgrading-to-5.306605/

 

Did you log a bug with uLink at support@muchdifferent.com ?

They usually have a one day response turnaround.

 

I'm working with uLink, since last year. I also have concerns about it because of their lack of support regarding the forum that so far is the only place where we can solve our doubts.
The last answer I got at my post somewhere it in their forum, it was last year. Since then, no my posting was answered in one year later. I create periodic posting in the forum on questions I have, but there is no answer.
This is very worrying for users who are getting to know the company packages.

In my opinion. ULINK is a very good product, but if the company does not prioritize communication between users of its products, it will havê not a long future.

 

Try the support email Meltdown posted above. They're usually pretty fast at responding there.

 

Actually, my last 3 support emails have been ignored, I'm beginning to think uLink is in fact.. dead

 

They are always like that. We have been using them for quite some time and they have the worst customer support.

 

They have always responded to my emails within one business day, this is the first time I've been ignored, and 3 times in a row, really concerns me.

 

Naw, a friend of mine has had it happen many times in the past. It is normal behavior. Maybe they are on vacation.

 

Damn long vacation, considering my emails were like 3 months apart.

 

LOL Yep, I agree with you on that one.

 

I'm going to email their CEO and see what's going on.

 

I keep in touch with Ashkan, one of the uLink developers, from time to time. We exchanged a couple emails today, and he said they are still working on 1.6, but he did not give any details beyond that.

Please let us know if the CEO responds.

 

complicated! (T.T).
I really like this product. It is my first game style Lobby, and this product meets my needs perfectly and is very easy to understand the basics and produce fast with him. All natively. It Is Wonderful.
If improve the relationship with customers, would be perfect and also very profitable!

 

I agree @neoneper. uLink (and the rest of the Unity Park Suite) feels like a very polished networking solution, and I think their documentation is very comprehensive and informative as well. Hopefully, the lack of communication with customers will be fixed.

 

We're well aware of all problems (especially the fact we're in practice sometimes unreachable, rest assured we're not sitting idle twiddling our thumbs), working out a solution however has taken far longer than anyone would have wished for (or expected) due to several unfortunate circumstances. MD is a NPO and as such has to contend with a different set of challenges than a regular company - I can't go into more details than that. I guess you might not wish to hear my latest prediction (which again is "3 months until 1.6") since it has been said once, twice, thrice, and more.

 

Thanks for checking in, Petter. Yes, an NPO can be a challenge.

 

Good to hear from you, Petter. It's good that the betas for 1.6 are public at least, but we definitely would like to hear from MD on a more regular basis. Hopefully, those challenges get sorted out.

 

Nice to see you guys in here responding Petter

And no I don't think any of us have heard about a 3 month release till 1.6 lol so you can use it freely.

 

It is good to read that uLink is still very much alive!

 

Any news?

 

We moved on. I believe they are still alive but moving slowly.

 

I just noticed that they recently started uploading uLink 1.6 betas again. Six versions in the last few weeks.

 

Any updates with regards to them, they are very sluggish in answering emails as well. my company has been trying to purchase the license and its been nearly 2 weeks now and we still cant get a proper email conversation going with them. any idea on how to get in touch with someone there.

 

They are no longer active. Use their betas at your own risk. The suggested thing to do is Unity's multiplayer instead.

 

as far as I understood unity's multiplayer still can run unity server instances, and isnt very stable either at the moment? Any other viable alternatives?

 

uLink is still a very solid solution, I would still use it. The only problem is if there is a major flaw or bug, you wouldn't be able to get it fixed. But in all the time I used, it, I never had any issues.

 

This is correct. I had a very long talk with @Ashkan_gc a couple of weeks ago, and I was very very hopeful because uLink is a solid product. uLink isn't in development anymore according to him, and neither is Pikko server. The company is fine and stable and doing well, they are just focusing on other areas of business as I understood it that isn't related at all to this product.

 

Nobody in their right mind would go production with a networking library that is no longer supported. This is a good case for open source. In general besides Photon and SmartFox most of these Unity networking solutions seems pretty fly by night, it is too bad Unet is in the state it is still.

 

uLink has ceased development, but is now open source for existing customers so at least we can fix issues. Hopefully it will go public open source eventually as it's a pretty solid product.

 

Why is it like this pleas, i need help...

 

Best help I can offer is you're not going to get any help for your Lura Networking problem when you post it in a 2 year old uLink networking thread. Start a new thread so people who know Lura will know what it is, or contact the Lura developers.

Also, posting your support request as a 1 start review on the asset store is the wrong way to go, and is just going to piss the developers off. That's not what asset store reviews are for.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/network/lura-networking-79869

 

does anyone have uZone files?