Unity 1.5 unleashed on the universe

Lol, you're getting very metaphysical today inside the Unity-verse. We love you guys too for this realease which is truly awesome... now go get some sleep

 

I had to download the latest .fbx exporter to get the new animation stuff to work correctly, but it's sweet!

Thanks--and I hope you get to sleep now

 

I can finally say thank you to everybody who worked very hard with this update, from the engine to the docs and the tutorials and the etc.

This one gave me more goosebumps than the versions I had before!

Awesome!

Ray

 

Great work all you guys. The site looks great! The profiles will really inspire new users as to what they can do.

 

It's absolute great! thks for you great work!!!

 

Finally done! Congrats David and Joachim and the rest of your team. Great job on the new release. And a "thank you" to Chris who worked with you guys to get that CINEMA 4D importer done which makes for a real nice workflow now (no need to export as .fbx anymore).

Enjoy the weekend folks!

Thomas

 

I'm getting a "Failed to update Unity Player" error in my browser after updating and trying to launch Unity web content.

I've tried the 1.5 bundle and the stand-alone installer for the player.

This is on an Intel Macbook Pro.

 

Hey D-Man!

While I've got your attention, I noticed a Unity logo when the download started (and before it errored out). Is there something special that we have to do to make those logos go bye-bye in 1.5?

 

Thanks, Joe!

 

Thanks, OTEE, this looks like an amazing upgrade! (Nice home page too.)

The mesh scripting is a fantastic surprise--sounds perfect for some things I've wanted to do for years.

And the rest of the feature list--wow.

 

Okay, I figured out how to get rid of the Unity logog on a widget, but when I create a Unity webplayer using the 1.5 release, I still see the Unity logo while the play loads in the web browser.

How do we override the logo in webplayers?

 

Let me take another look.

BTW, the new website is pretty cool, but you really need to get a link to the plugin download page on the homepage.

 

Okay, I'm stumped.

I tried taking out the classid stuff in the Unity-generated HTML, but I still get a Unity logo when my web-based Unity applets are loading.

So, what do I need to do? Is there a piece of template HTML available maybe? Or even better, could the next version of Unity just generate logo-free Widget and webpage code for Pro users?

TIA!

 

there is no link to the forums from the main page o!O

 

Yes, but it is on the Community page. That location makes sense to me

 

Hey Guys excellent work. I havent fired up the new version but I have read the new tut's. I'm thoughroly impressed. Its as though you were listening to me personally! I feel totally inspired all over again...Thank you -your work is utterly liberating for the artists in our little virtual community....
I hope karma comes by and sorts you out!
AC

 

>>>So, what do I need to do? Is there a piece of template HTML available maybe? Or even better, could the next version of Unity just generate logo-free Widget and webpage code for Pro users? <<<

I also would like to know/request this!

Regards,

taumel

 

There are two parameters to the plugin backgroundimage and logoimage.

Just set them to point to the url of the images you want to replace.

 

Hi,

so i can't use a internal loader gfx? Where do i find this in the documentation?


Thanks,

taumel

 

Keli,

I had no difficulty finding these parameters in the Widget HTML (see previous post) but cannot find them in the HTML generated for web-based Unity applets (see previous post again).

Just to make sure you understand - I am looking for how to remove the Unity logo that displays when non-Widget Unity webplayers are loading. We were told previously that this would be possible in version 1.5. This functionality is critical.

 

They are not present in the generated html. You just add them into the embed tag.

 

Okay, we're getting closer. Can you give me the syntax? Is it the same as in the Widget HTML and if so, do I need the ID string too? And, on that subject, do Pro users (who are using their own logo) need the ID string stuff at all in the Widget and web HTML, or can it be deleted?

Any plans to document this stuff eventually?

TIA.

 

I just noticed that there is another thread about the player, where joe has posted an example and link to the documentation: http://forum.otee.dk/viewtopic.php?t=2123

 

Everything looks mighty impressive. So far, I like the changes to the script docs. It will take some getting used to, but the additional examples are going to make things much easier to grasp for new users. Plus, the tutorials fill an important hole in the initial learning process.

Thank you for the great work! There's so much I want to try out, I don't know where to start. (Actually, I do. The mesh stuff is just what I needed for a certain game, I think.)

 

Agreed on all. Still some things i'd like to see personally, but this is quite an amazing update. Thanks congrats OTEE ; )

 

I reluctantly upgraded to 1.5 last night (reluctantly because I'm in a late stage of development and I didn't want to introduce new issues; a previous upgrade required some fixes to my game.) No issues!

- Script compilation even on my rather small project is noticeably faster.
- The true-type font import is pure gold! I improved the look of my text-heavy in-game tutorials with almost no work. Judging by the alpha texture it generates I believe this update also fixes the earlier "must be NxN" restriction on the font texture, so the font texture is used efficiently and the resulting font looks good and scales well.
- The distribution comes with an syntax-coloring text editor as a separate app, which I haven't seen anyone else mention yet. There's no code completion or anything, but it's great that Unity includes this. And the editor's code snippet drawer makes it worth checking out, even for someone who has been using something fancy like BBEdit or SubEthaEdit.

(The only problem so far is that I may have found a bug with left-justified text that causes it to misalign. Still looking into it.)

Very smooth update so far, especially considering the magnitude of the new features. Congrats!

 

The text editor, Unitron, that is now included is a huge leap over the bare bones window from before. Another barrier broken down for beginners. How great would it be to turn that into a code completing, class-context-aware (just made that up) editor!

1.5 is the wreck all barriers-to-entry version, no?

 

while i can't speak for others, this release is huge for me (especially the enemy scripting!). the only thing that i think is missing in general, and that has been a constant source of frustration as i continue to de-noob myself, is the lack of concentrated info on game production do's don'ts with regards to unity.

IMHO there should be a page that states, for example:

-keep your meshes around 1500 polys, less if you want your game to work on older machines.

-meshes below 1000 polys will still cost 1000 polys.

-limit trigger messages to 100 a frame or less

-make sure that non-visible scripted objects will not be updated

-group nearby objects onto the same texture

-vertex vs pixel lighting render calls

etc. etc. etc.

all of these (and more) i found buried in forum posts. this should be a "game design with unity 101" page. for people who have a game production backround these things may be obvious but for noobs like myself, especially when trying to learn 100 other things as well - you end up wasting tons of time having to redo things once you happen across some post that sets you straight. a page of caveats like this i think would save alot of headaches.

; )

 

Awesome idea.

Maybe the Unity website could host a "memo pad" page where developers could make entries, each on one simple, widely useful tip in less than 50 words. To keep things organized, there could be several categories, but otherwise, an open format.

 

Perhaps these could be put on the Unify wiki under Tips and Tricks.

 

Agreed, this isn't OTEE's job to teach us all about the paradigms of game creation, but a user created forum about these topics in a centralized place would be great. The Wiki could be a place for this, and maybe a new section (similar to "External Tools") could be made for general game topics?

 

The general game topics idea is probably already better handled elsewhere, already.

But I do like this memopad idea of a place on the Wiki where we (developers) can contribute to an ongoing, categorized, master list of pearls garnered while working in Unity.

I remember the day I had my "don't mess around with Unity project folders outside of Unity" epiphany. It'd be nice if we could each share (and as a group perhaps glean) all the practical, little things about Unity that we're learning each day.

 

that was my thinking as well. my mac crashed a few months ago so i don't have the forum links anymore but i do have a few text files with cut pasted info that could start it going.

while i agree in general, alot of the items listed above are specific to unity, so at the very least i think OTEE should monitor it to make sure the page is correct current with respect to new releases etc.

 

Good point for scripting, but a lot of your examples I thought had more to do with OpenGL parameters than with the Unity engine? I guess I was saying making a very general forum about game creation inside or outside of Unity.

 

The wiki is there for you guys to do this sort of stuff with. If you lost the link you can always get to it by going to the unity site: http://unify.bluegillweb.com

 

The new documentation may be the single best thing about 1.5--and that's saying something.

A collection of beginner tips at Unify is a good idea too.

(And FYI, my 4000-poly mesh animates full-screen, script-driven, with 1024x1024 texture and music, at well above 30fps on a 700 Mhz G4. And that's before U1.5. My beginner tip for Unity is about physics: objects that aren't touching each other cost a LOT less processor time. I piled up 150 cubes and the old G4 struggles. But if you separate them into smaller piles, the speed goes way up. Because force on one block transmits to everything it touches. So more objects = more force math of course, but also more TOUCHING = more force math--even forces that aren't strong enough to break friction and cause motion.)

 

I started a page here:

http://unify.bluegillweb.com/scriptwiki/index.php/General_Performance_Tips

Please hack it to bits.

-Jon

 

You rock, aarku!

 

That's really cool. And I don't know it could have an RSS feed, but then the page could be used as a Mac screensaver too.

I added a tip about Tags, which are a great thing.

 

It's a nice tip, but you should add it at the top so that the newest ones are first.

Cheers,
-Jon

 

The Tip of the Day page has already taught me about Tags, and I already can't imagine how I ever lived without them!


Thanks, Morgan!

 

Glad to share I'm always using "tags" in Director simply by naming my assets and looking for words in the name string. It's nice to have REAL tags in Unity.

(Layers and Tags seem similar, but I'm thinking Layers are meant to be used for rendering-related stuff--like ignoring objects for lights and shadows.)

 

Exactly! I do that in Director too (i.e. car_red, car_blue, car_green)!

I agree that Layers appear geared mostly for rendering, since that functionality is tied to them - just like Maya layers. And tags appear to be a handle for refering to catgories of objects in our code.

Boy, Unity is just so well thought out, isn't it?

So, who are you in the Director world, Morgan?

 

Yes, that's exactly the technique

I do some game creation in Director (like board games and promotional Shockwave games), plus I have a site management app built in Lingo that I offer to my Web design clients. But I don't seem to participate in any online Director communities.

I was once really into Shockwave 3D, but it joins the ranks of 3D systems that never went where I wanted in terms of actually getting things to happen without a long battle. VRML, Shockwave 3D and Blender all looked good at first, and then weren't productive for me in practice. Unity is!

And it's good that Unity fans keep mentioning it, because the cumulative positive buzz is what made me finally check it out. And I probably would have gone with Torque (because I thought my game would be fine in Torque 2D) only they don't have a free demo. I'm very glad now that my game has moved to 3D, and the more I hear, the less it sounds like Torque can match the usability of Unity.