Switching between platforms takes too long... still.

I've been using Unity for six years, and it still has to re-import everything when switching between platforms.

1. Why isn't there an option to maintain multiple libraries?

2. If this is a "pain point" for a paid service, can Unity please be open about that? And what service is it?

3. Is there an official "best way" to NOT have to re-import everything that does not require pushing builds to the cloud?

thanks

 

This is a significant irritation for me. What bugs me even more is when I switch from standalone Windows x86_64 to Linux it defaults to Linux x86 and starts the update immediately. Then I have to wait for that to complete before I can switch Linux to x86_64 and start it over again.

My project is fairly large, and the process of getting from Win x86_64 to Linux x86_64 takes about 80 minutes on my laptop and about 35 minutes on my higher end desktop.

 

I believe they are working on fixes for this, but it involves an overhaul of the whole import pipeline. They mentioned it in a few Unite talks from the recent years.

You can use a local cache server, or maintain multiple copies of your project (per platform). I do both.

 

As of now, the only viable way to deal with several platforms is to have multiple versions of your project checked out on disk, and to use version control to pull/push changes between them,

Or I guess you could use cloud build?

 

i've seen few plugins for this, might be worth a try also,
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/60040 (maybe some others too)

 

You also should download, install and use the cache server for your version of Unity. It still takes a long time to switch the first time you switch platforms, but it caches that compilation information in the cache server and makes subsequent platform switches much faster.

https://unity3d.com/get-unity/downl...237.695510854.1506342669-348635746.1499370804

Click the "Downloads" dropdown for either Win or Mac and download the Cache server... do this for the Unity version you're using for development.

 

We deal with this by creating 'shadow' projects parallel to the main Unity folder, with symlinks to the Assets subfolder. The main project can switch to any target, though generally I keep it at Win64, and the shadow projects are each set up for a separate target (Win65, PS4, XBoxOne). The biggest annoyance is that Unity's Perforce integration won't handle the symlink, but we usually do all of our 'actual' work in the main project and only use the others for building or testing specific things.

 

why aren't you pushing to a cloud?

 

The cloud is not a solution for this. I usually want to test fixes locally first (in the editor). many things can be implemented and verified in the editor itself, without the need to run on an actual device.

 

This is actually the basic solution I'm thinking about, and it's much simpler than my idea for implementation!

I was thinking of writing a script that would handle switching the build target in Unity, and firing off a script to change the Library symlink to the appropriate folder.

But having separate projects per platform (e.g. app_ios, app_android) makes sense.

Have you run into any issues with GUID weirdness or meta file problems?

 

I will investigate this, Dustin, thank you!

 

It has been 2 hours already.. And just about 40%... There is no meter or projection statistics.. If there were a projection about left time then I needed not to wait in front of the screen all this time.. Frustrating.. I wish the there will be approximate time left for switching platforms and build times for a project in the next releases... Does not need to be 100% accurate..

 

It takes about 6 hours to switch here. We set up a remote asset cache server, and it seems to be working (its like 80gb now, and the log file seems to show it is downloading assets from there), but it still takes the same amount of time.

At this point, we just leave it switching overnight.

 

A streamlined solution for this would be amazing to have for sure

 

It took me 10 hours or so to switch project. I don't remember that happening before 2019 versions. I am building for Windows, but needed to do a test for Android. After I am done, ¬10 minutes I have to switch back. I guess another day of waiting. (actually took 10 minutes the second time)

 

I found Windows Defender usage tends to spike for me when switching or doing IL2CPP builds. so I just disabled it for now. I found this out because google searchs found the docs even mention that pausing windows defender or other anti virus software with IL2CPP builds increased build times by 50%. it's possible it also affects switching platforms.

 

Yeah, you should add your project folder to exceptions. That's pretty much the first thing we do when we start a new project.

 

I usually have a git repo(let's name it "Android Repo") for the project with platform set to Android. Then I clone this git repo in another folder (named "iOS Repo") and set the platform to iOS. Most of my development happens in Android platform and I commit pretty frequently on this repo. Now, If I have to make a build on IPhone, I can simply pull all the commits in cloned repo(iOS Repo) without having to switch platforms. Git pull is almost instant and saves a lot of time