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Unity 5 Announced

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Bael, Mar 17, 2014.

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  1. landon912

    landon912

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    Seems like we are finally getting some REAL graphics and sound updates. Unity's been dragging their feet in the realistic section for years. I'm excited!

    Going break the 64-bit barrier and hopefully we are getting Realtime-GI and a shader editor!
     
  2. UndeadButterKnife

    UndeadButterKnife

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    They just released 4.4, 4.5 will probably take 4-5 months, 4.6 will also take something similar if there is going to be something like that, that is 8-10 months just for two 4.x versions. Presumably, a major number increase would take longer than a point release. That makes it a year best case, and a year and a half worst case with 2 more 4.x series releases.
     
  3. im

    im

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    @ Nasarius

    if they cant reach deal with Xamarin they simply should let us use Microsoft .NET on platforms that support it. Its free they should not have to change all that much and its the latest .NET why go 2nd best and pay a bundle to do so when you can get the best for free! They then could leave existing Mono support for platforms that do not support Microsoft .NET...
     
  4. User340

    User340

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    But aren't they already doing that? I thought on windows 8 they've abandoned mono for microsoft .net?
     
  5. TylerPerry

    TylerPerry

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    That's only because they had to.
     
  6. J_P_

    J_P_

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    Ugh. I at least hope they learned from last time and won't try to skimp on the upgrade discounts.

    ??

    Unless they're hiding it somewhere, I'm pretty sure we're still on 4.3.4
     
  7. TylerPerry

    TylerPerry

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    Iirc 4.4 is a console only upgrade.
     
  8. UndeadButterKnife

    UndeadButterKnife

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    4.4 was released for console versions only. They are currently working on 4.5.
     
  9. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Looking forward to another major upgrade. Sweet. I've been getting mighty tempted to grab a Pro seat for personal use for a while now...

    I believe that's the case, and I'm pretty sure it's been said that it didn't magically solve all the problems that people hang on the GC.
     
  10. kenlem

    kenlem

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    In the past, they accepted preorders at discounted pricing for 4 long before it shipped. Not sure I would have upgraded my pro license if they hadn't given a decent upgrade price.
     
  11. cynic

    cynic

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    I don't see this being a solution at all. All this would do is cause more fragmentation. Settling on .NET is also not an option because Unity is multi platform. Leaving OS X users to this ancient Mono because they simply can't agree is not an option and would only piss all OS X users off. We're already stuck with a crappy code editor.

    Something needs to happen in this department sooner rather than later. What would it mean for the future if we keep on being stuck on an ancient runtime for another couple of years, i.e. the whole 5.x release cycle.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2014
  12. Thomas-Pasieka

    Thomas-Pasieka

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    64bit should make a whole lot of people really happy ;) Personally looking forward to this update (and all other updates in-between).
     
  13. Alf203

    Alf203

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    Sorry but there is no reasoning behind your timeframe, you're just guessing randomly. The contents of an update and the number of bugs justify the time it takes to release an update.

    Here is my "educated" guess:

    4.4 was a while ago (console only) and 4.5 will probably come out very soon. Since they are previewing the gui and it is not in 4.5, it means that the 4.x update the gui is in is probably at an advanced stage.

    The reasoning is that if they are talking about Unity 5 now, it most likely means that 5 is in a decent stage (at least some type of alpha) which means those 4.x updates might be close than you think.

    On another note, I'm really excited to see what they did with audio!
     
  14. im

    im

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    @ cynic

    it's called leverage. it's a threat. its make you look less dependent.. see we dont need you'all that much we have other options, better options, cheaper options. we only now need you for platforms that don't already have microsoft .net and we are talking with microsoft to expand the platforms that .net runs on...

    i mean u can't come to the table with no cards. you have to come with some cards or at least bluff em...
     
  15. im

    im

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    @ Thomas Pasieka

    yes 64-bit editor / runtime is very important for me since at least for the map-ity stuff i'm playing with you need well over 32-bit...

    plus 32-bit application on 64-bit systems are actually runned by WOW64 a x86 emulator and then there is the marshalling of calls to 64-bit os / libraries and that all has to degrade performance and increase memory usage even if just a little bit...

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384249(v=vs.85).aspx

    http://blogs.msdn.com/b/joshwil/archive/2004/03/11/88280.aspx

    http://blogs.citrix.com/2011/10/13/wow64-memory-mapping-of-32bit-apps-running-on-a-64bit-windows/

    ok not always but sometimes, depends, but at least we would have the option and the ability if we need it like in my case with map-ity, so option to is a good thing, like the commerical said more is better then less...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r6udb4LNcw
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2014
  16. cynic

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    Yea sure. The thing is, there are quite a few paying users, which might not really care for how UT strikes this deal with Xamarin. Why should they? It is not their problem. However, they are interested in developing on a relatively modern platform and keep asking for this for a while now. If for some reason an agreement can't be made, UT might be better off exploring other options (platforms/languages) besides the current scripting language alternatives to integrate mid term, rather then clustering the platform and alienating paying customers.

    At the end of the day, the whole Mono mess was their decision in the first place. Now better make sure to support decently up to date versions of it going forward. How will the situation look in 5 years time? If Mono is a dead end, it's about time thinking about alternatives.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2014
  17. im

    im

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    well unity use of .net was brilliant i think better than what other engines like udk have to offer its what got me here

    and using mono was also brilliant and its like you have two side microsoft and xamarin and u play them off each other. its called leverage. u basically get them to favor your direction by threatening to get closer to the other side. a lot of countries do that with us vs russia. so they play us of if u dont give us aid we go get aid from russia, if u dont let us torture our citizens we will go get support from russia, if you dont let us have our dictatorships we will go side with russia. ect... its old game. unity should learn to play it, if they are not already doing so. it works miracles... it worked better when it was .net early days vs java, but i bet microsoft .net would love new giant customer and xamarin at least should feel a little scare of losing a customer... its like having to friends and playing them off the other to get the better deal...
     
  18. VFe

    VFe

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    I wouldn't classify either as brilliant. Mono is a mediocre technology, and Unity was severely over invested in it, especially when the product was new and mono was much much worse.

    Now we're paying for that poor decision, there were far better options for scripting languages/cross compile targets,, even if hindsight is 20/20.

    Everyone else is advancing rapidly and unity is stuck in the Stone Age comparatively.
     
  19. cynic

    cynic

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    I understand what you're saying. The problem is that .NET is not a universal, i.e. multi platform solution. Therefore spiting Xamarin by going with .NET would divide the user base end essentially abandon a large part of it, leaving them to a legacy version. That's not good for anyone. One might as well integrate Java instead and get rid of this whole mess, but that's a totally different discussion of great depth, I'm sure. ;-)
     
  20. cynic

    cynic

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    +1

    I totally agree.

    However, personally I'd like to see Unity keep on supporting at least one "proper", statically typed full fledged programming language with vast library going forward. As fantastic as some scripting alternatives are, they're no replacement and certain concepts are just a pain to integrate that way.
     
  21. Dantas

    Dantas

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    I bought my Unity 4 license 1 month ago, will I get a free update if this is true?
     
  22. VFe

    VFe

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    Hah, I actually agree with the first of the two posts, for how unity actually uses it's scripting languages, java would have been a better choice.

    I'm pretty convinced that the decision to use mono is almost entirely related to mono touch, and wanting to support mobile, which Java would have lacked...at the time, though they could have just done the byte code interpreter in house.

    Though hell, I think even ruby would have been a much better choice(though it doesn't fit your criteria, and I personally dislike it), in terms of having a relatively mature ecosystem.

    I'm just suck of being stuck with decade old .net.
     
  23. Alf203

    Alf203

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    They probably have a grace period, I would guess. You should contact sales once Unity 5 is available for pre-order.
     
  24. pkid

    pkid

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    The article also says:

    " the addition of support for the WebGL graphics API"

    That is huge news if it's true.
     
  25. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Yeah but...
    That's a stated interest, not a promise.
     
  26. TylerPerry

    TylerPerry

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    Where is that quote from?
     
  27. kryptopath2

    kryptopath2

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    that quote is from joystiq.com

    they hope to expand the reach. i don't understand it as they hope to integrate it..
     
  28. pkid

    pkid

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    The way I read it the "hope" is referring to expanding the engines reach, not that they only hope to add WebGl. They are hoping to expand the engines reach because they have added WebGl.
     
  29. Meltdown

    Meltdown

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    It isn't 2 years old, it's 1 year and 5 months old. Unity 4 actual release was announced on November 13, 2012.
    http://blogs.unity3d.com/2012/11/13/unity-4-is-out/

    To be honest, I would like to have seen more features, such as...

    - Upgrade to latest PhysX
    - Upgrade to latest Mono
    - Much improved Visual Fidelity/Lighting/Rendering features
    - Deprecation of UnityScript and Boo
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2014
  30. TylerPerry

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    They did say they were upgrading lighting and they also said they were doing something to do with physically based rendering. Though IMO it does seem a bit lacking for a major release if that is all they have, but for me WebGL more then makes up for it.
     
  31. Meltdown

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    I guess we will have to wait and see what these 'lighting' improvements are. I think of CryEngine and Unreal Engine demo's and all those fancy lighting features, I hope Unity 5 at least has a few of them...
     
  32. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

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    Very true. When companies release statements people often neglect those little modifiers like "hopes".

    I never make predictions get my hopes up about upcoming tech, it's almost always falls short. I don't get my hopes up about rumors. And I personally don't see a lot of future in web games. They aren't going away or anything, but I believe it had it's peak as a game platform. I also have no faith in the (and don't look forward to dealing with) the browser manufacturers, and the state of the web to deliver on the hype that surrounds html5/etc. I just don't see it bringing anything new to the table that we don't already have. (except banner ads that burn up your GPU). I may be wrong, but I don't see it.

    However, having said that...
    If had a chance to place a small wager on Unity announcing WebGL support in the next few days... I would. Ignoring rumors, there is enough info available to draw that conclusion. It should be interesting.
     
  33. TylerPerry

    TylerPerry

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    I don't have the mental ability to comprehend this but it says raytracing:

     
  34. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    I don't know if I'd bet on it, but something definitely needs to be done about the whole plugins-getting-murdered thing, and working towards WebGL seems like a potentially viable long term option there.
     
  35. Ferazel

    Ferazel

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    Wow, I wasn't expecting Unity 5 announcement until Unite. I am also in the same boat with buying a 4.0 license < 1 month ago. I hope that we can get it a free upgrade if we upgrade our other seats.

    A visual shader editor would be nice.
    WebGL will be nice (as long as it's not a hot mess of mono incompatibilities like Flash was).

    I'm not really sure how they are going to dramatically revamp the audio engine. I mean Audio hasn't seen too many advances in the last 10 years or so in games as a whole. Unless they have simulated bouncing sound, which was significantly CPU intensive from last I looked into it. The biggest quibbles that I'm sure are fixed from the current engine is, sound effects that play at the same time shouldn't be louder or at least should have a limiter put on them, and let us multi-edit audio assets!

    I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing more about this tomorrow!
     
  36. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    I guess I gotta call Unity Technologies in the morning if they are taking preorders soon for Unity 5 :(... I JUST upgraded my Unity Pro license over a few weeks ago so (February 25th to be exact as an early birthday present)... :'( Just UGH, I hate when this happens!!
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2014
  37. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    Same here dude... bought it less than a month ago... early birthday gift
     
  38. bigzer

    bigzer

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  39. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    Damn it Dogzer... this is getting SOOOOOO good :)... Too bad it is 2:12am in Boston... I should probably call the sales people and see if I can get something worked out since I JUST bought my copy of Unity 4... Are they dropping Beast?
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2014
  40. Don-Gray

    Don-Gray

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    64 bit is pretty much all I've been waiting for the last several years.
     
  41. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    It's about time :)... and PBR shaders in Unity 5? Alloy is already filling that void :) and PhysX 3.3 is something I've been wanting as well as real time GI that I can bake down :) so no more tweaking and rebaking... I hope the rules are the same...
     
  42. Hikiko66

    Hikiko66

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    No. Call them when they actually announce it.
     
  43. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    You're totally right... I will do that... I SERIOUSLY hope it will not be long... it would SUCK big time if I couldn't get this
     
  44. bigzer

    bigzer

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    I don't think you should worry, Unity isn't Microsoft.
    I was in the same situation with U4 over a month and a couple of weeks, and they activated the upgrade on my licence without trouble.
    Wait until tomorrow and when you see the upgrade on their website send them a mail to get your free upgrade activated on your lisence.
     
  45. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    I got my fingers crossed... I am also making a very visually detailed game too :) so this is WORTH it
     
  46. Velo222

    Velo222

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    Darn, nothing mentioned about a physics upgrade. :( I was really hoping they'd improve physics performance -- perhaps even sudo-multithread it.

    I was also hoping they'd do some serious work on bridging the "graphics" gap between Unity and engines like UDK and Cryengine. What was mentioned with the lighting and physically based shaders sounds like a good start, but not nearly enough imo.

    The audio thing sounds lame to me though. I mean, sure it's cool, but I think there were far more high priority things to focus on than audio. Really wish physics performance was upgraded though -- and the garbage collection problem.
     
  47. nipoco

    nipoco

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    Where comes that quote from?
     
  48. Velo222

    Velo222

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    Well, if physics is getting upgraded, then count me in as someone being excited :)

    If not though, then count me in as a sad panda.
     
  49. Hikiko66

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    The wider the quality gap between audio and graphics, the more broken immersion feels.. even more so with something like OR.
     
  50. nipoco

    nipoco

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