Why doesn't Unity's GUI work for you?

1.) That's just way too many for me
2.) Yes, there's switch cases, if statements, and lots and lots of spaghetti code
3.) Yes I have. Still doesn't fix the completely broken event system.

 

NGUI is $38. This is the guy creating the new one Unity 4. Working on it for over a year. Maybe the $38 is a sign. lol.

 

YES! It'll be released on August 38th! ... wait, that doesn't work. Maybe reverse it? The 83rd? No?

Wait, wait. I know.
38 - 8 = 30
30 / 10 = 3.
Half Life 3 confirmed.

 

I have to admit I've been wondering about the timing of that... Coincidence? Maybe not?

 

The new gui system will be released on the version 4.3f8..

 

I hope....


I hope it's not so bad and they make working usable work-arounds to NGUI and OnGUI coding.

 

What evaluation criteria do you guys use?


1) Must have full-source codes. Any DLLs needed to be ship means minus points.
2) Must have a grid-view, list-view, combo-box with variable settings.
3) Must have events or event-driven model.
4) Must be able to form the HUD part easily.
5) Vendor must show their demos in black-skin Unity.
6) Vendor must test their product in Android and iOS, now that Android and iOS basic is free.
7) Able to do mock-ups of complex HUDs and complex grid-view oriented lists easily.

 

I'm a little curious about that one. What bearing does a pro-only editor skin have on the GUI system?

 

Let's just say that several GUI vendors did their nice little products using Unity-Free, collected lots of money and never bothered to look and see how their GUI helpers look like when using UnityPro black skin. It looks simply horrid and gray upon gray color, not legible.


Even after getting all that money, they do not even bother to license UnityPro for themselves to see issues customers encounter. They do not even bother to make a build of their product using the free AndroidPro and free IOS-Pro to see their product crashes on Android and iPad devices.

 

I can see the point about GUI helpers not looking quite right. But, as long as a GUI helper doesn't do anything TOO fancy it should look right.

As far as actually licensing Android and iOS Pro, why not Android/iOS Basic (which are free)? I mean, if something works in Android Basic it will work in Pro.

 

The GUIs helpers were very complex as far as I can see. Maybe they want to do their branding and logos more than GUI helpers. On the other hand, vendors who have black-skinned Unity have correct GUI helper implementations.


BTW, Phobic, what is your recommended GUI choice?

 

I would like to break a lance for DLLs instead, though I know I might be a rare case.

Reasons why I prefer a DLL:
1) I usually don't use Unity lose scripts, but actually work with DLLs for entire projects (more easily maintainable, easier to share with collaborators, easier to update, and they work better with Visual Studio - though on the con, compilation time can become slightly longer, and you have to take additional steps to take advantage of conditional compilation). That said, DLLs don't interface well (at all) with lose Unity Scripts, while they work perfectly with other DLLs.
2) Source code is cool. But that also means that, each time a new release is out, you have to re-apply all the changes you made. Way better to have a DLL with good support that takes care of bugs quickly so you don't have to code the stuff you bought (and if you need to add additional features, you can always use extension methods). Obviously, if good support is lacking, then it's a no go. But as far as I'm concerned bad support is a no go even on lose scripts.
3) DLL assets are easier to update. As long as the API stays the same, files can obviously be changed and/or deleted in DLLs by their creator. On the contrary, if for example a lose-script asset doesn't need the script "SomeClass.cs" anymore, there is no way to delete it automatically when updating (I mean, unless the author creates an editor command which "cleans" their library, but it's a pain in the ass ).

 

I see it in similar order. Plus it doesn't render in 3D which is required by game designs.

The last one (4.) has been confirmed to happen because of the way the IMGUI system works and fixing it would require a heavy rewrite of the IMGUI itself. However, you could avoid it by using a single button in the app.

 

The problem with GUIs is that a "GUI" means different things to different people having different expectations.

Some of the GUI frameworks may totally satisfy some users, and some of them can't. And this is true per project.

We are all looking from different perspectives to something that seems to be the same subject, but in fact it isn't. It turns out there are many different GUI genres and you cannot rely on a single system to satisfy all the needs (so probably the New new GUI won't).

 

There is a new entrant which started later than eDriven but has progressed much further than eDriven, with GUI designer, tween support, word-wrap and FREE right now. The vendor is looking for people to beta-test his product - SQUID from XNA and ported to Unity - http://ionstar.org/

 

Thanks for the link! Looks promising

 

I don't get how I would do things like create texture atlases, etc... in a GUI tool designed to work externally to the game engine. I understand why the developer's want to develop a tool that works in multiple engines. The real question is WHY WOULD I?

Gigi

 

That vendor has a forum on his site and is not very active on the Unity forums. I am not sure because the Skinning Manager, GUI designer and Layout manger all work inside Unity as far as I can tell.


You downloaded the wrong package?

 

Make sure you have the latest package: http://www.ionstar.org/?page_id=8
Here's the thread for updates: http://ionstar.org/forum/index.php?topic=101.0
Some general help: http://ionstar.org/forum/index.php?topic=45.0

After package import -> read stuff in Docs folder

Cheers

 

Hi eskimojoe,

Just FYI, we have created a product, "ListView for Unity UI", that makes it easy to create ListViews using the new Unity UI. It's fully featured and uses the same code interface as the .NET ListView control.
Here's a link to it on the Asset Store if you're interested.

http://u3d.as/content/endgame-studios/list-view-for-unity-ui/998

 

Necro'd and an advert - that's got to be worth extra points

 

OnGUI suits my needs, so the new stuff doesn't work for me because I don't intend to employ it

 

He's just showing creativity, is all. They took rude and added rude and annoying. That's worth something.

 

Damn I keep missing that. I always assume it's relevant if it's on the first page. At least I'm not the one who necros them

 

One nice thing about immediate mode is that it basically NEVER fails. I can't say the same for some of the heavier UI packages.

 

Heads up for everybody who considers answering: This thread is more than a year old!