We need a time sensitive multi-language Unity search engine: Google is not enough, wastes my time

we need a time sensitive multi-language Unity search engine: Google is not enough and wastes our time

Hypothesis
Unity is a coding developer tool first
Unity is an artist tool second

Artists are attracted to Unity to realise their vision
Soon they learn they must be programmers first

Coders are attracted to Unity to make games, a good revenue source
Unity final platform changes each week
Stable and Preview increase complexity - for newbies this is very, very confusing

Unity is a moving, evolving target - because they want to give us better tools
To learn Unity you must be prepared to adapt quickly, every month your code might fail
If you use ECS, for example, you are buggered every week

If you have an established product with users you must be careful with adapting the new changes
If you are a newbie you should look to the bleeding edge of SRP/HDRP, DOTS ECS Jobs, Burst, etc for artistic realisations

Google search shows old and new results
For a newbie this is inevitably very confusing
Code that works 3 years ago no longer works, in preview code that works three months ago eg ECS no longer works at all
Preview results mixed with Unity 5 results - what version of Unity should the newbie support?

I use Google time based searching - (Tools .. Any Time .. Past Month)
What worked 3 months ago for ECS does not compile today
For example Unity jp users have excellent material which we cannot discover unless we use Google translate
Unity blog, forum, answers, wiki, www - how to integrate? how to make multi language search engine approved by big Unity global organisations with today's capability?

Unity needs to provide a search engine like Unity list - but much better based on proven use cases and especially catering for newbie onboarding

 

Your post seems to have had a lot of thought put into it, but I disagree on the premise.

Unity's API is absolutely no different than any other API, library, or code base. It changes over time. If you want to write code for anything, you need to be able to solve issues resolving from deprecated portions of the API that you found somewhere online.

If you're using the time you're spending finding older code and adapting it to work with any breaking API changes, and learning how the API works along the way, you're not actually wasting your time. You're improving your skills that will allow you, eventually, to not have to Google code snippets for everything you want to do.

If artists want to dabble in code to get basic things running so they can have a portfolio piece, I think they can do that just fine. Those people are not using ECS, though. Those interested in ECS are likely developers, and a developer should be able to adapt and use Google effectively without needing a custom search engine.

Even if I were to buy into your premise that a need for this custom search engine did exist, I would disagree that it's Unity's responsibility to provide it. I mean... your example of Unity List isn't even provided by Unity, but a passionate and helpful user.

 

No. If you're a beginner, you should start learning the most stable thing. Most of the learning materials will be using that. You do yourself a favor and don't even try to begin with the bleeding edge. As a newbie, you won't make the next Call of Duty or GTA 6 anyway so you don't need the bleeding edge. You need stable foundation in knowledge and you can get it by not caring about the fancy graphics and all that, but caring about HOW you can do things and practice that.
And when you're not a beginner, then you can start to work with the bleeding edge. When you don't need the forum's help to rotate a cube around a sphere.

Also, I'm glad that Unity does not waste its resources on documenting and/or dumping tutorials and examples on things which are actually under heavy development and will be changed shortly. They have enough on their plates with that.

 

Your list of topics for new developers reminded me very much of a thread that started up a day ago. If you think newbie developers should look at those technologies then I believe you are vastly underestimating the actual difficulty of them.

A newbie shouldn't be focusing on any of them. They should focus on becoming familiar with the basics of the game engine and its editor because at the end of the day all the topics you listed require you to know how to use them.

https://forum.unity.com/threads/are-people-in-denial-about-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-game-dev.610234/

Using Google to search the web is no different from learning how to use any other tool. If you invest time into learning how to use your tools properly you will be able to achieve good results with them, but if you don't your results won't be any good.

There are many resources available to teach you how to properly use Google. I highly recommend taking the time to read and practice using them. Having Unity develop their own search engine won't magically remove the need to do this.

 

Heck, even as an experienced dev I stay away from the bleeding edge. Its called "bleeding" for a reason. Because its bloody hard work staying there. Even for the most experienced developers.

Unless you have a really, really good reason, there is no point being on the bleeding edge.

 

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments to my heat of the moment rant written after days of trying to get lots of sample ECS projects from github to compile.

I am not a game developer and I have basic coding skills. I'm interested in using Unity to make "real time" videos which look very nice. So, for me, the SRP/HDRP is critical. I am learning ECS so I can solve some "open terrain" problems - so I can get nice looking landscapes. I've coded up some Playables so I can control blendshapes on Timeline and get usable lipsync.

So I guess I have some very specific requirements from Unity that do not fit the more traditional game development model.

Your collective comments have helped me realise that I have chosen a relatively difficult path for myself, compounded by the fact that I am not starting with a good basic understanding of Unity development.

Thanks and Cheers

 

I think you would need ot study some established techniques of game development though, since you're making basically real time rendered stuff. Like how to fake your landscape in the distance (impostor meshes, prerendered and strategically placed images, etc). Unless I exaggregated the "open terrain" thingy.

 

@Lurking-Ninja You are right of course - I can just pick and choose the area I want to look at specifically. The "open terrain" problem is not exaggerated - it is a very difficult problem The good thing is that I learn stuff along the way - the downside is that it is difficult and may eventually be too much for my skills. Cheers