unity indie becomes free?

They said they would give an iPhone kit discount to all 2.xx unity owners now that it is free. It's a bit if compensation for us paid users.

 

I'd just like to throw my two cents in.
Don't get me wrong, I love the unity software, and I find the company and the community to be very friendly and helpful. I'd even go as far as to say that up until now, UT's business ethic exceeds that of any company I have ever dealt with. Now I feel cheated. I paid $200 a little less than 6 months ago for an indie license, which is now free. I paid the $200 specifically for the fact that it would give me a competitive edge, despite the fact that I am only one person. Now a group of 6 people could easily all get the same version of unity that I have and make a similar, but superior game to the one I am developing and do it in a fraction of the time. So now, even though I started my project 6 months ago, they will most likely see my comments in the community and rip off my idea. They will release something that is out of my grasp, before I release mine. Even though I began my project first, and with an original idea, when I release mine, I will be viewed as the "cheap knock off". Furthermore, the $200 I spent, I viewed as an investment. I planned to sell the games I was making. Now, with millions of people having the same version I have, and releasing millions of games with similar quality, that will be impossible for me. My investment has been thrashed, and I'm still forced to shove a splash screen into the faces of my players. I wasn't one to whine about "I'm being treated unfairly" back when indy cost $200 but now, I genuinely do feel that way. As consolation, UT offers a discount on the pro upgrade (Which I was hoping my first few games would fund). I cannot afford to upgrade right now. The offer is only good until the end of the year. That gives me 2 months to come up with $1100. No way. Not on my best month is that going to happen. So I ended up paying $200 for only 6 months of lead time, and I only have one level in my game made. A group of 6 freebies could do that in a month, leaving me, the paying customer, to eat their dust. That's wrong. At least let those of us who helped them get to this point do away with the splash screen. I'm not asking for the souped up graphics, or the enhanced functionality of pro or anything like that. Just get rid of the splash screen. I think that is a very reasonable request for the $200 I spent.

 

Rejoice for all the new talent in the Unity pool. This took an extraordinary behind the scenes effort you can be sure, and I am sure will have far reaching and beneficial results. If there is one thing you cannot have too much of with a technology, its users.

 

One more thing. Sure there is the $99 iPhone upgrade, but I cannot afford to go out and buy an iphone and pay a monthly bill just to make the $99 upgrade worth my while. That's just ridiculous.
Hopefully UT will notice that they have displeased a vast majority of their paying customers and come up with something a little less half assed than the special two month window to upgrade at a discount.

 

Sorry psychentist, I don't think anyone (much less a team of six) is trolling the forums looking to steal ideas. Everyone has one or more pet projects they're looking to make.

 

Get an iPod touch for $200: no monthly bill. Actually the upgrade is $150, not $99. But considering it's normally $400, that's a good deal. Basically you're getting a free iPod touch, plus $50 to go towards your $99 Apple dev fee.

There's been maybe half a dozen people I've seen who are displeased. They've said they have over 13,000 customers. Doing the math, the phrase "vast majority" isn't coming to mind, sorry.

--Eric

 

Yeah I went with the Touch as well. Its a good way to go if all you want to do is develop stuff for the app store. I got one for about $150 off of ebay as well. Lots of ways to save bucks here and there.

 

I find it very hard to believe that a $200 amount is what is limiting people from making and releasing games. There is something to be said about a person/company not willing to make an investment. If you spent the $200, than you are at committed in that small sense (just as I am) to making a game.

People who refused to even make that step, honestly, won't be passing you by making a superior game. If they could make a superior game, and have their time/energy reimbursed, they'd do so. The hobbyists who just want to tinker around/etc will remain so, and you shouldn't feel like all of a sudden people will be ripping off your ideas and creating competition.

Real developers will continue to put out real products. People who only get involved with Unity now that's it's free will put out their own, though a vast majority will not. The quality of those projects, while good, will most likely appear to be hobby projects.

 

psychentist: You might want to read your sig.

That would suggest to me that if you want to make a name for yourself, get out do it. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing.

Seriously, if you bought Unity 6 months ago, then you've paid just over a dollar a day since then for your license.

You've probably wasted way more money than that on snacks, drinks, lost change down the back of the sofa and so-on.

Do you also go into shops and demand refunds when that game/DVD/CD is placed into the bargain bin 3 months after you bought it at full price?

 

As I stated in my original post, the very feature that I paid for was a competitive edge, which no longer exists. I'm not really worried about what others are doing. I never was, and no, I do not waste money on things like junk food. I am very conservative with my money and when I bought Unity I did so as an investment, and did so with a great deal of good faith in UT. It will now be infinitely more difficult to make good on that investment due to the millions of people who are now my competition.
Have you ever bought something that was made with free software?
Ever bought a game made with blender? Ever bought an rpg maker game?
I haven't. Neither has 99.9% of anyone who uses a computer.
Also, I don't have $300 right now to buy an iPod touch AND unity iPhone. As much as I would like to, I just can't afford it.
The competitive edge that I paid for no longer exists. That was my main point.
Perhaps next time I'll keep my comment to a single sentence, or better yet, keep my opinion to myself. I should have known better. :evil:

 

I think that "competitive edge" was mostly imaginary to begin with. If you're concerned about a team of 6 competing with you, why don't you just get 5 more people to work with you now?

--Eric

 

As you can probably tell by now, I'm not that fond of people, and don't trust them as far as I could throw them. The people I DO know and trust have no interest whatsoever in helping me with my projects.
I'm not about to entrust my ideas to some anonymous username.
Is it so hard to accept that some people are pissed off about this? Just because I don't share your opinion is no reason to attack everything I say. That's a big part of why I don't like people to begin with. Do you have a point here, or are you just intent on telling me I'm wrong?

 

Torchlight is made with free software (ogre).

I think millions is an exaggeration. There aren't that many people which are really interested in developing a game. All the gamer kids with attention deficit disorder will lose interest in unity in a few hours.

 

If you don't want to take the chance that people will disagree with you and have different opinions and aren't going to hesitate to say so, then don't use public forums.

--Eric

 

psychentist, you are entitled to your opinion as everyone else is and no one is right or wrong (which is why it is called an opinion). One thing you are doing is over exaggerating your "competition". First of all, there is not going to be a huge surge of high quality games now that Unity is free (certainly not in the millions). You still need to be able to create assets, program, etc..., it is not like unity can make anyone able to create good games, the talent still needs to be there. Anybody who picks up Unity and creates a good game probably would have been able to create a game with open source software (maybe as fast or not).

One thing you also need to understand about working as a lone developer, you are never going to be able to compete with a team, no matter what software they or you are using, as far as the timeline for the project goes (more people = more hours = faster release, simple math). Another thing with working alone is that with a team, there are going to be people that can focus on a particular area and that area is going to be more polished. If someone in a team of 6 can spend 75% of their time on AI but you can only spend 12% (because you have to do all the other stuff), their AI system has a much better chance of being better. I am in the same boat as you as a lone developer right now. Currently I am looking at Cheetah3D to see if that is something I can learn for modeling. However I am only looking to do everything to get a prototype up and running (so the quality of the art is not so important for a prototype). After that, I will then begin to look for other developers to join in.

Just a few things to think about.

 

Sweet, Unity is free, Milkshape is free, Recorder is free for sound, that sums it up, wait, VS 2008 is free and Unity ROCKS for making it work with it, been playing around now for about an hour and I must say, UNITY YOU ROCK. As far as I am concerned this product is bar none the best on the planet now, that was before I learned it was free for Indies, but hey I am a pro owner.

So lets see,
Free Editor
Free Modeler
Free Studio

Now if I could just buy me some friends, I would be doing great!
Congratulations again UNITY TEAM YOU ROCK!

 

Unfortunately, this is a limit that you've chosen to impose upon yourself. Unity isn't making it hard for you. You are.

 

I'll be your friend for free! I know you really are a nice guy.... you just pretend your not!

 

Sweet! +1 for the skipper! Thanks Seon
Seriously folks, this is the best move that Unity has ever made, and as a self proclaimed project manager / financial manager, this is going to project them so fast and so far, that they will go beyond the stars on this one! Be ready for some cool stuff is all I can say.

 

Hey, just want wanted to put my 2 cents in. First of all, I can sympathize for both sides of the argument but I am slightly biased towards one side. I did purchase Unity Indie in addition to iPhone Basic less than 60 days ago. In defense of psychentist, what he is concerned about is the "Barrier to Entry" for other game developers. Initially the barrier to entry for developers interested in developing games using the Unity engine was $200. It does sound like a small amount of money on its own but to many people, especially to indie developers (like myself), it is quite a bit of money. I'm sure the cost has deterred many developers from using Unity. Now with all the hype being generated about Unity via word of mouth, the $5+ million investment they received, Unite 2009 as well as Unity Indie becoming free, it is without a doubt that it has attracted many new developers to it (in addition to the users who were initially turned off by its $200 price tag). What this does is lowers the barrier of entry to ALL interested parties to ZERO. Now any Joe Blow is able to create a game for practically zero overhead and zero risk. There is a lot of indie talent out there who would be extremely interested in this piece of software. Just take a look at the top paid apps of all time (http://www.apple.com/itunes/billion-app-countdown/). The majority of them were developed by indie studios. This WILL raise the competition, forcing us to work much harder than we already are. Don't get me wrong, I am all about competition but the $200 *limited time* discount no where near offsets the additional competition that exisiting loyal paying customers must face. Yes, there are free engines out there but which of them has the polish and ease of use that Unity has? Are these free engines as multi-platform as Unity is? Giving a product of this calibre away for free isn't an insignificant event, this an enormous game changer that will have significant repercussions in this community. Personally, all I ask for is a $200 credit for the Unity Store without a time frame (this is in addition to the $200 discount I would already be getting for the Unity Indie license which isn't really a discount at all). But honestly, for the moment, I am holding out on getting the refund until the very last minute to see if Unity has a change of heart and spices up the deal. QED.

 

You hit the nail on the head.

There won´t be "millions", but there will be enough
people with zero risk making games that will be
even harder to compete with them in a crowded web
game portal or iPhone´s store that your game won´t
even have the chance to be seen.

I´m already hearing the replies: "Build something
cool and they will come". Nope, that´s not the way
it works except for a very few games. But nobody
thinks: "I´m an average guy that will build
average good games".
Those who are building games for fun that isn´t a
problem. But not for those who are "seriously"
building games. That´s not fair.

We know it won´t happen, but what if Unity Pro
became free? Those who paid for Pro paid to have
a better tool to build games compared to those
how bought Indie.

UT, at least give us the store credit, as noobles
said.

TIA,
Inovora

 

Bring on the competition. It'll just push me to work harder, and produce something even better. It will also weed out those that can't take the pressure in the first place.

 

I am sorry but complaining that it is now harder for you to make a game because more people can do it with no cost is not something that UT needs to worry about, that is your job. If someone is able to make a better game faster and able to market it better, why should you have an upper leg because you could pay $200 (and while $200 is a lot of money, as far as game middleware goes, it is pretty cheap). The person who makes the best game should get the best return on their game, not the person who can spend the most money (yes, this is an idealist point of view because if you have more money, you will be able to sell your game better). You talk about 2 markets, iPhone and Web.

The iPhone is kind of a crapshoot with apps. From what I understand, only the newest apps and hottest apps are easy to find from browsing the app store. For me tho, when I look for an app, I either ask friends for what they recommend or research on the internet, not just install/buy the first app I find searching the app store.

The web is little different but to be successful, you need to do the same thing. First thing is get on a successful web portal and then is to market your game so when someone researches your type of game, they find you first.

Did UT make it harder for developers to create games and make money off them by making Unity free? For some yes but for some no. One thing it will do it make developers work harder on there games now that there is more competition, and that is only better for the end customer.

 

Thank you, noobies! I'm glad I'm not alone on this one. I'd also like to point out that my investment isn't limited to just the $200 i spent on unity, but I previously only had a p.o.s. dinosaur computer. I forked out a grand for hardware with the specific purpose of creating a 3d game and hopefully profiting from it. So my investment actually stands at $1200 right now, which is more than a full paycheck for me. Then UT decides to give away unity for free, allowing any random guy to become legitimate competition for what I'm doing. Then they have the audacity to ask me for an additional $1100 to keep that competitive edge. When I started this project, there actually wasn't that many indy game developers except for the rpg maker community (which has been proven to not produce marketable material). The stakes are pretty high for me, they just got much higher and I've just been dealt a S***ty hand. Forgive me for glaring at the dealer. As a husband and a father with very real financial responsibility, it actually took me about 4 months to save up the $200 worth of extra spending money. It's not because I'm bad with money. I'm not. I have a mortgage, a car note and $40,000 worth of student loans...
As I said, investing in unity was a big leap of faith for me, which is something my past has a way of warning against. Now, my investment has a value of $0 plus any hardware Joe Schmoe may have already been equipped with. So basically, I'm back to square one. I don't regret my investments! I'm very pleased with my new computer and with unity, but now instead of being ahead of the game, I'm on level ground again. A lot of my work has virtually been undone with this new development, and I think it sucks. I worked hard for that lead and now its gone because Mr Moneybags gave UT $4 million and said "make it free". I doubt Moneybags worked half as hard as I did for his $4 million than I did for my $1200. In fact, he most likely pays others to do that work for him, a luxury I will most likely never have. Its yet another example of the rich man destroying money making opportunities for those not born into privilege, which is the story of my life! (And for most of you here as well, whether you realize it or not.) I am not giving up. In fact, I am more determined than ever to make this thing work, even despite the fact that when I state my opinion I immediately take fire from multiple directions (which is also the story of my life). I've spent far too much time, money and effort ignoring naysayers and researching software to stop now. I just hope for the sake of what little sanity I have left, UT will let me get rid of that tattle-tale splash screen that will in the near future greatly cheapen my efforts. No one likes to buy products made with free software. Yes, there are exception to that rule, just like any other, but not many. I hope I'm wrong about this screwing me over, I really do. I may change my position in the future, but the way I see it now, this is a second degree burn for those of us who honestly paid our $200 and helped make this possible for the freeloaders. If I were eligible for the refund, yes, I would take it but ONLY because I really need the money right now. Again, I am very happy with Unity itself, though I am quite displeased with the decision to make it free. I only hope Unity and the free programs I've mated it with will be enough to give me a return on my good faith investment, and more importantly, I want to see my babies come to life and bring some joy to the people that I don't even really like that much. I am human, and full of conflict just like any other. I just want to make a life long dream come true without Joe Schmoe f@#$ing it up for me! I'm tired of constantly defending my position against people who don't understand it, and I'm done with it. Think what you will.

 

The truth of this whole matter is that you, not the software, are the game developer. The software does not make games, developers do. The 'edge' isn't what makes a game profitable, successful, or even finished for that matter. It all rests on you, the developer.

You need to embrace that you, not software, are in control of the games, and therefore how you see your competition.

 

Thanks for agreeing with me.
As I said, the problem isn´t competition, it´s unfair competition.

I received the following letter from UT:

"To show our appreciation to our Unity Indie customers we've decided to offer you an upgrade of your Unity Indie license to Unity Pro for just €749..."

That isn´t appreciation. It´s making new customers,
new money on the table.

Inovora

 

Sorry, I don't see the argument about the $200 being some sort of barrier. My wife works as an assistant manager at a pizza joint, her income amounts to like $400 a week if she is lucky, so she spends $350 on a laptop for herself for school, that is $150 more than Indy cost. Time is money, and you spend time to make money. You spend money to save time. Unity will do right by Indies and what not, just email them, communicate with them and they will communicate with you, but by no means come up with some excuse that $200 is some barrier to stop others from competing with you.

Its human nature to get stuff when it is free.
It takes more than just getting this tool to all of a sudden becoming a millionaire. I welcome anyone who gets it at $200 or free or $1500 or more. Everyone has desires, just different roadblocks to obtain their desires, don't focus on what others get, focus on what you can do with what you have, no matter the cost.

 

I understand what you are trying to say, I think , but this comment is the exact opposite of that:

"Its yet another example of the rich man destroying money making opportunities for those not born into privileged"

How is UT making Unity free destroying money making opportunities for those not born into privileged? If anything it is making it easier, not harder. It sounds like you want it to be easier for you but not other people.

 

Although you are upset, I'm glad to see a significant increase in your determination to make a successful game. More power to you! Use the anger and channel it towards the successful development of your game, after all... "Anger is more useful than depair", Arnie said that in Terminator 3. I'd be very curious to see what you make!

Hey man, prove those naysayers wrong. I say develop your game, release it and eventually you'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

After all, you don't have a choice. From a business standpoint, Unity made a great call. A 50% increase in their user base in one day that originally took them 5 years to make. Multi-million dollar deals don't just show up on your doorstep everyday. Had I been in their position, I would've taken the 5 million in an instant and I'm sure you would to. Is this decision going to alienate a few of my customers, sure, but they are a business after all and their main priority is to make money.

In conclusion, we should all stop wasting our breath and time on something we have no control over and keep on developing! Unity isn't responsible for our success, we are! Having said that, how about everybody headover here (http://musegames.com/community/immunitychallenge/) and vote for "Tiny Titans". Thanks! Bwahaha

 

Less whining more game making.

*cracks whip*

 

What is unfair about the competition? That you got Unity Indie when it still was $200. Ok so they have a $200 advantage but you have more experience with the tool, worth more than $200 IMO.

Also if you are going to quote me, at least quote a full statement and not a small part of it which can take things out of context.

 

And? Why can't it be both? They are a business and as all businesses (at least one's who want to stay one) they need to make money. Fortunately, I think Unity tries very hard to do both, that is.. make money AND show appreciation to it's users.

Two things I see coming out of this. More users that will benefit all, and more users which will drastically change the flow of this place. It will take some adjusting, especially for those who have been here for awhile.

~LK~

 

If 'a lot' of your work has now been undone - it means you haven't actually done much of anything other than buy Unity. You're the one making the game, not Unity - you should now have a 6 months head-start worth of experience under your belt (well worth $200), and something to show for it.

Nobody cares about your financial situation - just like nobody cares about your game idea until you've actually made something out of it. There are people even poorer than you that couldn't afford the $200 Indie version - complaining about losing some imaginary 'advantage' you gained by paying the $200 fee makes you no better than this 'Mr Moneybags' you seem so hung up on.

People that are serious about developing their game (the people you actually WILL be competing with, and DO need to worry about) will do it irregardless of the cost and barriers in their way. There will always be someone with more team members, more cash, and more experience - it's not an even playing field, it's a business. Everyone, and I mean *everyone*, has an idea they're sure will be the 'next big thing' in gaming. Ultimately the only thing that is going to separate you from everyone else is how far you actually take that idea.

Unity going free is a great development - it means more exposure, a larger user base to draw wisdom from, and an increased market share to spur engine development.

 

Bael said:

I said "a lot of my work has VIRTUALLY been undone."
You're not paying attention.
I was talking about working to save money to buy the machine and unity. I was talking about working to get a development tool that everyone in the world didn't have. I was talking about working to obtain a cutting edge tool that would help me create something that not just anyone can create.

Now I have worked to obtain a free development tool. Now that cutting edge tool has become the norm. It's the same tool that everyone in the world can now get for free. Obviously my project isn't gone, but the edge I had a month ago in the form of my development environment is no longer an edge. It's the same development environment everyone else is using, and yes, it makes a difference when it comes to making the sale in the end.

ryanzec said:

Its a matter of economics, ryanzec.
Currently, there is a demand for games made with unity. There are companies like pop cap games that are willing to buy unity games from independent developers. Demand is limited. Now that anyone can create a game with unity, supply will increase exponentially, diminishing the amount that these companies are willing to shell out for these games. Its a matter of supply and demand, but also of opportunity. When these companies start to get overwhelmed with requests to evaluate third party indie games, those opportunities will begin to disappear. On the outside, it seems like a door opener, but really, the number of doors isn't changing, the number of people trying to get into those doors is increasing, leaving more people with doors slammed in their faces. I know I use a lot of analogies (doors), but Its the easiest way to get my point across.

That's why I bought unity in the first place. That's also why I didn't put it on limewire for all the world to get for free. You make me sound like an asshole when you put it that way, and maybe I am, but I'm still trying to get that competitive edge. Without that edge, a business cannot profit.

 

I understand what you are saying, psychentist. Not going to tell you that you are a fool for bringing up this genuinely valid worry. In truth, this may cause a sudden rise in available product along with a sudden decline in available slots for that product to fit into.

I am, though, going to tell you that I do not believe this will be the case. At least, not at first. For a few reasons.

1. As stated before, just because a tool is free does not mean everyone can make anything out of it. Blender is a prime example of this. It is actually a genuinely decent modeling tool, and a ton of fresh "wanna-be" modelers have downloaded it hoping to break into the art. The number of those that actually succeed in doing that is depressingly low. Building a game, especially by yourself, requires you to basically take on and excel at NUMEROUS roles/arts. Just because you have Unity does not mean you have the skill to script, model, compose, and design. It helps... but people who genuinely will have those required skills would have likely gotten Unity... or something equally as competitive, anyway. This "free" offering is going to bring an influx of two types of people. Type A are people who will not have the skill to do anything with the tools given them, but try for the novelty of it. Type B will have the skills... but would have either gotten the tools whether they were free, or more likely already had a tool to use but came here to see what Unity has to offer. The number of truly fresh designers who would not have gotten into game design if Unity was not free and have the skills to take advantage of it, I dare say, will be almost nil.

2. The narrowing field of opportunity that you perceive may end up being the reverse. There are countless large, and very influential portals/publishers that do not accept Unity content at the moment. The very reason they do not, is because there is not enough high-end Unity content to make setting up the infrastructure to handle it worth the effort. If all the designers that come over to us who would have used a different tool to make their content suddenly start using Unity instead, a lot of those portals/publishers are going to open up. This will actually mean MORE opportunity for us Unity developers. Not less.

If you doubt me, go ahead and browse the forums a bit. Almost every thread created by someone new to Unity who took advantage of the free offering were previously working with a different engine. They were ALREADY your competition. You didn't get any new competition. What you actually got were new comrades. New people helping to broaden the market for Unity content. New people pushing the development and proliferation of Unity. When they were using Torque, or Blender, or Ogre, or any of the other engines out there; THAT is when they were your competition. Now, if you put a little effort into it, you might just get something amazing. Lets go ahead and call it a "friend".

It is always easier to walk a path someone else cleared. Those people you are worried are going to steal your concept, take your opportunities, and destroy your edge may very well be the ones that make your dreams even possible.

Now that I have written a BOOK on my opinion, I will shut up now. Anyone who actually read all of that, I apologize. It was a long way to go just for me to say "this will help, not hurt".

 

Ok, I know I sound all doom and gloom. I know I sound like i'm being jealous of the guy who can now get unity for free, but look at it this way:
guy A makes say... 10 bucks an hour.
minimum wage is say, 6 bucks an hour.
(i know, these are bullshit figures but the numbers aren't important, only the concept. Bear with me.)
so state A raises minimum wage to 7 bucks an hour. great for everybody, right?
wrong.
guy A whines about it and people tell him "it doesn't affect you, you're pay isn't going down, don't worry about it."
in response to the minimum wage increase, all of the retailers in state A raise their prices to reflect the greater purchasing power of the majority. Guy A's wages didn't decrease, but he now has less purchasing power than he did before the increase. Therefore, the minimum wage increase helped no one, because those making minimum wage have the same purchasing power they did before, and those who's pay stayed the same now have to battle higher prices.
Even worse:
State A raises the minimum wage to 10 bucks an hour.
in response, all of the retailers in state A dramatically raise their prices to reflect the dramatic increase in purchasing power of the masses. Guy A used to have a decent job. He underwent specialized training to get his job making 10, and does a harder, more complex job than other people in order to make that 10. Now, his purchasing power is dramatically decreased because of ridiculous price increases. The time and effort he spent in his specialized training is effectively destroyed, and he's on level ground with the 16 year old burger flipper. Now he can't feed his family unless he makes 14 bucks an hour.
Raising the floor doesn't help the guy on the floor. It hurts everyone who's NOT on the floor.
As the guy who spent his $200 six months ago (and is therefore not eligible for the refund) I WAS just above the floor. That gave me a slight edge over the guy on the floor. Now that the floor has been raised, the time and effort I spent saving my $200 is effectively destroyed, and I'm now on par with the less deserving guy who invested no time or money in obtaining unity. Am I starting to make sense?

 

I get what you are saying... and the analogy you written out is sound, EXCEPT... it is only tenuously linked to this actual situation. It is not the same circumstances, or even the same outcome.

This is more akin to if guy A was paid in... I don't know... Rupees for doing his job. He was paid well, but Rupees are only accepted in so many places (Hyrule only, as far as I know). He does a skilled job, so gets paid for skilled labor. Unfortunately, being paid in something that is only accepted at certain places, no matter how "wealthy" he becomes, he only has so much opportunity to "buy" anything.

Guy B is paid in... uhm... hearts (go Castlevania reference). He actually does the same job, only paid in different currency. Now, he hears of this other job... doing the same exact thing... but paying in rupees. He never got paid in rupees before, but they are offering to hire him without any interview. Just come in, and get hired instantly. So... he decides to try it out. Did he suddenly become competition for Guy A? No. He actually always was competition. The only difference is now they both use the same currency.

In this case, nothing for Guy A has changed as far as competitive edge wise. In truth, if Guy B turns out to be helpful and improves Guy A's skills on the job, Guy A just GAINED an edge.

Even more importantly, now that so many people are being paid in Rupees, more places are going to start accepting Rupees.

{Turns off his creative license switch}

Now, if anyone actually followed that, hopefully you get what I mean. The people who are switching to Unity always were your competition. The only real thing that may change is, due to this influx of Unity content there may actually open up a few more markets to sell this content to.

 

ChaoticHeart:

Thank you. I was writing my "book" on the economic part while you were writing yours, and didn't get a chance to read your post before posting mine.

That said... That does make a sort of sense, but life has taught me that often times a "friend" is not quite what you may think they are. I've developed a lot of defenses over the years, and often times I apply them when I don't need to. All I can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I really do hope you're right here, and I'm starting to be more understanding/sympathetic to your position, but I hope you take the time to consider mine as well. There are two sides to this coin, and I don't want to be another one of those rpg maker guys who spends ages (and money) on a product that I can't sell.
By the way, I do use blender, but not for the scene building and programming. I just make the models and animations in blender and import them to unity for scene and programming. Your blender example actually serves my point too, though. Blender is free, anyone can take the time to learn it, but have you ever bought a game made in blender? I haven't. All of the blender games I've seen seem to be more of the same (at best), and not worth buying. Wouldn't you feel cheated if someone told you they were selling you a cutting edge game development environment for $200 and you installed it only to find out it was blender, a free program that loads (I didn't say millions. :? ) of people are already using?

 

LOL as an analogy guy, I get what you're saying.
But what i'm concerned with is:

What happens when company A decides they only need one guy to work for rupees and they get rid of guy A because guy B showed up. Guy A helped to build company A but now guy B is reaping the benefits of guy A's work.
(I.E. the freebie reaping the benefits of my $200 investment, and me not getting to sell my game to pop cap because they only needed 1 unity game and I was the second one to the door, when guy B got it for free and made a so so game in a hurry.)

 

I do understand your point... more-so about the possible added competition. Despite my own believe that it will turn out differently, I will be keeping an eye on the situation.

I could always be wrong. This could end up being a bad thing for all of us "established" designers. In all honesty, though, I sincerely do not think so.

 

ChaoticHeart: Thanks for taking the time to actually explain your position to me, and to consider my position, instead of just telling me I'm wrong and calling me lazy/jealous/whiner,etc. It makes a world of difference, and I'm actually starting to see how this could be a good thing. Your logic makes sense to me, and I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong. At least now I can see both sides of this coin instead of just the "tails" side.
Thanks also to noobies who offered me encouragement even when he disagreed with my position. That means a lot.

Okay, leap of faith time... (oh god... gulp)
You guys wanna help me with my project? I'll help with yours, if I can.

 

Always glad to help out... just not sure how much help I will really be. I am about a two month old newbie with Unity. Still building my own skill-set. I can script/code... but only because I have a decent background in it before I came to Unity.

Slowly, I am honing my skills to be more Unity specific. Ask what you need, though, and I will provide what I can.

{Grin} If that leap of faith seems a little large, don't give any actual details. Say what you need, but keep it vague. That way, there is not really anything to be stolen.

I know, for certain, if I cannot help there are a ton of others on here who gladly will.

 

I'm a 6 month newb (as you probably already know)
really, what I need is more people to test my game and tell me what they think, but I have a really hard time trusting people with my works in progress.
Also, I'm making a monster in blender, but I'm really bad with walk cycles.
I have a goblin that I made for another project and I got him walking, but there's a pause in his walk cycle, where he's standing still but sliding forward. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna run into this same bug when I make my new monster.

 

I think that's very true.

http://www.opserver.de/ubb7/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=296371#Post296371
By the way, there will be an improved free edition of Gamestudio. The Gamestudio engine isn't that bad but unfortunately their editors look like from 1996.

I am curious about how the rest of the competition will react in the next few weeks.

 

Alright, I'm a little confused right now...

I got the email with the deals... iPhone offer seems interesting as I was thinking about buying it anyway. But if I take the offer, will I still be able to upgrade to 2.6?

 

Dot release have always been included for free so 2.6 is free for anyone who owns a license for Unity 2.x, no matter which deal you take.

 

Thanks,

That pretty much makes the decision for me

 

That is rich! Giving unity away for free, for thousands of kids to use-- kids who are too young to get a job because the state has "child" labor laws- who can now use it to teach themselves, and maybe even make some money by making games-- this opportunity given to thousands of kids around the world, many of whom couldn't have previously afforded the $200 for Unity--- is the "rich man" denying you the chance to make money? Because you weren't born into privilege?

Dude, you don't know how privileged you are! You've spent what -- $200,000 of other people's money? ($40k for student loans, probably $140k for a house and $20k on a car note?) That other people's money has allowed you to live a life of luxury compared to the vast majority of the people in the world. And you're crying because you feel you've lost your competitive advantage because Unity is now available to the kids who barely have a house and internet?

Really?

Spending $200 on a tool is not a competitive advantage.

 

I read this to somebody in the room, and they said (and I agree with):

If your competitive edge is that you can afford to pay $200 for a license, you shouldn't be making games.

 

@Matthew, I just choked on my pizza, spit out my chocolate milk and almost had a heart attack laughing.