Unity is Coming to the iPhone!

Joachim mentioned earlier that essentially we can build now, as long as we keep the restrictions in mind during development, and are pretty strict in our code execution speed.

-Jeremy

 

In general, yes. It's the same authoring application but with new APIs (for multi-touch and accelerometer input) and a new emulation mode (iPhone portrait or layout), so you'll just upgrade your license and build and keep on workin'. Of course you'll need to add any iPhone input code as well as tweak/adjust/modify your content to fit within the iPhone's (and iPod touch's) constraints.

 

HiggyB,
thanks for the answer. that is good to know. I hope in the future the API is able to incorporate more of the hardware. I think the GPS system could open up some really cool opportunities for multiplayer gaming with location based and proximity based features.

I really appreciate that you take the time to answer all of us.

 

I'll stick with my original mention of, I just want to give Unity money and get started

 

We too want to open up more possibilities so definitely look for continued improvements over time!

 

Before thinking in add new features, i want to see (not read) what is possible to do with it, for example a introduction video showing the capabilities and the specific features.

In fact unity3d lacks on videos, there are some free tutorial videos around the net and there are another few in the unity3d webpage but nothing else. Not needing to be for free but at least affordable.

Even more, IMHO, unity3d lack in derivate products, personally i will not buy a mug or a t-shirt but other people will do.

 

How about a session dedicated to that specific topic at Unite in two weeks? We'll be adding these sorts of materials over time, for the iPhone and otherwise.

 

To anyone reading this and thinking "yeah, that is a good idea" -- remember that Unify Community, which hosts the wiki that is an amazing resource for the community, offers things like t-shirts to help support that hosting. So, if you are looking for a Unity-related t-shirt, it is a great way to help ensure that Unify stays available as a resource and advertise that you use the best game development tool available.

The direct link to their "merch" page is:

http://www.printfection.com/unifycommunity

 

Yep. You and me both. I would gladly pony up the money at this very moment to have access to the application right now

 

Higgy I know that you guys probably won't say anything about it, but I assume that you guys aren't going to stop your device strategy with the iPhone. Can we assume that perhaps you guys might target Android devices in the future?

 

How many awake rigidbodys can be in an iPhone app and still have a good frame rate?

 

Okay, so the GPS and the camera will be not be available initially, will we have access to the photo library?

Thanks

Flash

 

So, I got my iPod touch delivered today , and paid Apple their year's fee.

But, I've never done anything like this before, and don't know exactly what I need to do (there is tons of legalese to sift through all over the iPhone dev site) in order to be prepared to publish games to the App Store asap, after October 22nd. There are some forms I have filled out online, but I'm not sure if that's enough to be ready. I assume we will get some kind of presentation on this at Unite, which can be downloaded for those of us not in attendance, but is there anything that can be said to us for the time being, to be as prepared as possible?

 

@Jessy - Nothing here is specific to Unity. To be able to put things on your iPod touch for development, you will need to deal with all the certificate stuff. So, when you have access to the program portal. Create a Development Certificate using Keychain Access. Register your device. You will get the UDID off of your device in Xcode and enter it in the Program Portal. Create an App ID and Development Provisioning Profile. Combined, these will let you use your iPod for development (like, actually put games on it). You will actually download the provisioning profile and upload it to your iPod.

Beyond this, you get into distribution and there are more forms to fill out and more waiting. In general, when using the program portal, you follow the green checkmarks.

It is a really cool feeling to see something you made on a device that you are holding, btw. Like the first time you compiled something and saw it run.

 

Hi Gregory.

Unity for the iPhone will initially be shipped as a separate application. So you will have two applications, but it can open normal 2.1 projects and scenes just fine

 

While I can't comment on Android in specific I can say that we definitely want to continue expanding our range of platform support, including the potential for future mobile devices.

Thanks for clarifying that point Nicholas.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I just wanted to be sure I wouldn't lose any work in the interim. I'm most concerned about my GUI to be honest and making sure that it scales appropriately to the iPhone without being a huge resource/performance sink.

If only I could afford a time machine to go to the future and see the presentations then come back and build the app

 

If I had a time machine, I think I'd have bigger fish to fry.

 

hmm... that could be an interesting game...
"Time Machine Fish Fry" or
"Time Fryer" or
"The Frying Time Machine"

 

Time Fryer Fish Machine?

 

Tip: Always make sure your time machine can move in the 3 ordinal dimensions as well as time. Lest you hop into the future and find yourself not at the Unity Iphone presentation, but in deep space due to the solar system having moved a couple hundred thousand miles away.

 

Good point - but simply make your Transform a child of the earth Transform before setting Time.scale = 10000 (or -10000, whichever direction you're going). Then everything will be just fine.

localPosition really is the key to travelling through eternity ;-)

So, does that mean Unity for the iPhone supports time travelling? Awesome!!!

 

Don't you need 3.5 Gigawatt for that ?

 

I don't know about that, but the above picture proves that you're onto something. As you can see from the display on the console, this TARDIS type 40 is obviously being driven by advanced Unity software. Of course they only installed Unity indie and are obligated to display the logo.

 

I have just noticed that Apple have scrapped their current iPhone NDA for developers as too difficult to manage!?!

Check out the notice they post between login and the iPhone Dev Centre.

 

Don't know about the "too difficult to manage" part, but, yes this is true and posted earlier in this thread. You'll also notice a lot more free and detailed talk here and in other threads. I understand during Beta, but afterwards it was a foolish PR mistake to keep the NDA going. Apple moved like sludge on that one.

 

Are there any vidoes of games created with Unity for the iPhone? What kind of performance is it seeing? How stripped down due the textures and polygon counts have to be?

 

you guys think you will become millionaire. Beware. Think of that you must pay taxes to your local tax offices for your earnings in the appstore. In additon to that what do you do if apple reject your app.

 

I'm pretty sure everybody is aware of taxes. I hope nobody's actually expecting to make millions.

Make another one?

--Eric

 

Better yet, fix the problem and resubmit.

 

Coming from the most highly regulated gaming industry in the world (gaming) I can offer this advice. Avoid re-subs, they're costly and time consuming. Fortunately its free to re-sub to Apple so either be willing to invest a fair amount of time or get it right the first time.

By that I'll give an example. In Australia the hardest region to pass a game in is Queensland, they are very strict on Nudity, weapons et al in games. So that's the first place games are tested. If it doesn't get passed there, we don't bother submitting it else-ware.

Likewise you can use a local market as a testing ground, test it with family and friends... actually best to test it with people you don't like or know. They'll be more honest about it. If you get an overwhelming "you're going to hell" opinion then it'll either be rejected or go onto great success.

 

Point taken. Collectively, we've only heard of one game denied, and I don't know the details. Of course you want to get it right the first time, but submitting an iPhone App is clearly not like getting licensed for a console or even the console download services and there is no publisher to satisfy (unless you want to go through a publisher for advertising purposes. )

It's much more like releasing a shareware game. Apple's denials are usually based on methods (do you handle private information right, are you a trojan horse), overlap with what Apple already offers on the iPhone (mail apps, etc.), trademark or copyright infringement, and in the case of pornography, content.

The paranoia comes from some takedowns that people don't see eye-to-eye with Apple on.

As far as the millionaire thing. The days of mega bucks are over on the iPhone. You really needed to be in that initial release when there was a rush for anything quality. On the other hand, it still looks like one of the most promising markets there is for independent developers with some talent.

 

I've actually just started researching the App store relative to gaming on a recently acquired iPod Touch. My initial research has revealed that although there exists just under 1,200 titles in the game section, very few can be considered true "A-rank" titles. In addition, many of these games are simply slight variations of previously existing titles.

Pricing ranges from freebie to $9.99 USD in most cases. However, the most successful pricing seems to hover around the $1.99 price point. Anything more, and sales start to drop relative to pricing, with the only exceptions being releases from large name companies like Electronic Arts.

Most likely, most of us small time developers are going to want to create small games with a low price point, then polish the content enough to make a lot of people want to buy it. Strangely enough, your choice of icon and screenshots taken of your game appear to play heavily into the consumer's decision to buy. (Perhaps more so than the description itself.)

Basically, when you design your games, you'll want to make it as obvious as possible to the user what it is they're expected to do when they pick up the iPhone/iPod touch to start playing. A poor interface design could potentially kill off a particular title before it even gets off the ground.

 

Yes, it's what I am considering right now. In my country to get a VAT id you have to pay 5000+ euros of taxes per year even if you don't sell a game. Anyone knows if Apple require a VAT id to europeans registering as individual?

 

Sorry, If I missed it mentioned already in this thread... will the iPhone support reflected (and refractive) water?

thanks.

 

The iPhone doesn't support render textures.

 

Upon further review we've decided to change our decision with respect to the Unity iPhone Publishing Basic license and the support (or lack thereof) for the WWW class. The WWW class will be available in both the Basic and Advanced licenses! Please note that socket connections as well as our built-in multiplayer support will remain Advanced only.

Note: a website updates will be made shortly to reflect this new information.

 

Woooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys rock! One round of beer for you guys in 2 weeks during Unite!

 

Awesome!

 

That is great news

 

Thank you for hearing us out and adjusting your position. :wink:

Regards,
Afonso

 

you guys are awesome! Thanks for adding WWW Class to Indie!

 

Great news for both those who were slightly disappointed by the original Indie featureset, and anyone who has already committed themselves to develop using Unity 3D.

This just firmly underlines the Unity Teams committment to their community, thanks guys!

 

Thanks y'all, the countdown continues!

 

Thanks to those how opened their mouth, Shiva and Unity3D.

 

Great news!

Another question: will the source produced by Unity iPhone compile under the latest iPhone SDK or you need to have SDK 2.1 installed?

 

Superb news about the WWW class.

 

That is wonderful news.

I posted this before but didn't get a response. Are the any demo videos of what kind of performance the iPhone apps built with Unity3D are getting? Any teaser videos? I'd love to see some/any videos of what to expect!

 

It may work with the 2.0 SDK but we're focusing our testing and development on the 2.1 SDK in particular so you really ought to update your SDK install.

No, not yet.

 

The iPhone Publishing page states...

Could someone explain what this means. What is a Combiner?