Search Unity

  1. Megacity Metro Demo now available. Download now.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Unity support for visionOS is now available. Learn more in our blog post.
    Dismiss Notice

Visual Scripting: Bolt vs FlowCanvas

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by tom_coursow, Jan 24, 2019.

  1. tom_coursow

    tom_coursow

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2016
    Posts:
    4
    Hi,

    I wonder for quite some time now how Bolt and FlowCanvas Compare to each other in productivity...
    I know the comparison chart from Bolt's website and lot's of Tutorial Videos from both products but I never saw a detailed comparison from people which already used both for more complex projects.

    For example it looks a bit annoying that you have to configure non engine realted usages in config screens all the time instead that it just works.
    While FlowCanvas seems to be a bit redundant at showing the blackboard values in multiple places and to make sure everything does reflect back to the components correctly...

    Can someone give me some insights how both products feel in terms of speed and productivity please?

    Best regards,
    Tom
     
  2. kdgalla

    kdgalla

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2013
    Posts:
    4,615
    Haven't tried either, nut thought I'd mention that, according to the AssetStore page, looks Bolt will be on sale during global game jam (which starts tomorrow).
     
  3. nicknameminivan

    nicknameminivan

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2020
    Posts:
    4
    Hey,

    I would really like to know more of this two tools.
    Have somebody experience in both of this tools? Im coming from a Unreal background and my company is now considering switching to Unity because of Unreals bad developed AR features.
    We want a visual scripting tool in unity which can fully handle all our projects like Blueprint.

    For me it seems that FlowCanvas is the "advanced" Visual Scripting System, when you look at the comparison chart from FlowCanvas a lot of features are missing in Bolt.

    Bolt seems for me like a very "user-friendly" Visual Scripting System, which can do more than Playmaker, but will lag some advanced Feature for a real developer in the long run.

    Can somebody confirmate this and tell his experience?
     
  4. Ryiah

    Ryiah

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    Posts:
    20,954
    Only if you completely ignore the upcoming Bolt 2 which is basically an equivalent to Unreal 4's Blueprint system.

    https://ludiq.io/blog/bolt-2
    https://ludiq.io/bolt/download

    We don't know when it's releasing but it's currently in alpha and will be a free upgrade to current licensees of Bolt.
     
    tom_coursow likes this.
  5. tom_coursow

    tom_coursow

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2016
    Posts:
    4
    I tried using both of them for small excersise projects... and none of the two I would use for professional games...
    Same for me... I was hoping to find some Blueprint alternatives but compared to Blueprint there is SO MUCH missing... Be it convenience in UX or Features like Inheritence...
    But my tests where a while ago maybe the two changed...

    My point for switching to Unity was just that Unity C# does not crash all the time when doing mistakes in code... Unreal C++ explodes instantly in all directions... Thats why I tried pulling my none coder friends to Unity but in the end we still use Unreal most of the time...
    Because in the end I feel Unity is a bit bloated with legacy stuff... there are multiple systems for the same things and the UX is not as good as in Unreal...

    We would more likely switch to Godot in the future than switching to Unity... But please keep in mind that I don't want to say Unity is bad... It's just not for us... IN the past Unity once was my main engine but somehow I ditched it more and more.
     
  6. tom_coursow

    tom_coursow

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2016
    Posts:
    4
    Yeah I red that some time ago as well, if it is prod ready I would give it a try again...
    But I wonder how it's future will be if Unitys Visual Scripting will be prod ready...
     
  7. Ryiah

    Ryiah

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    Posts:
    20,954
    One important thing to note about current visual scripting systems is that all of them are designed to be replacements for MonoBehaviour scripting. Unity's visual scripting system though is designed to be a replacement for DOTS scripting. It won't be able to create MonoBehaviour scripts at all. Currently you cannot create a game solely from DOTS.
     
    tom_coursow likes this.
  8. tom_coursow

    tom_coursow

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2016
    Posts:
    4
    Yeah thats one of the legacy points I mentioned... Now the legacy stuff even reached unity's core game programming principles...
    I can imagine that DOTS is necessary so this is not as bad as all the other stuff but what I understand from Unity is that they want to get rid of MB in the future right?
     
  9. Ryiah

    Ryiah

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    Posts:
    20,954
    Unity themselves have never said anything about removing MB.
     
  10. nicknameminivan

    nicknameminivan

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2020
    Posts:
    4
    Heyhey tom_coursow,
    Yeah looks like we had the same problem. How long ago did you testet this two tools? For me they feel right now very mature, i have a feeling that it is posible to get projects done.
    You say there is "so much" missing for you, can you remember what it was, expect the UX and Inheritance?

    My main engine was alway Unreal but i feel the time is over an I will ditched it more and more. Funny that I go the other way...