Kickstarter Drive Update #16, on Unity

[Brother None]

The 16th Wasteland 2 kickstarter update is penned by director of technology John Alvarado and details why the company chose Unity, out of all engine candidates.

Unity Technologies, with their Unity 3 game engine, was among the vendors that came to us with congratulations, goodwill and offers of support. Their engine stood out as an early front-runner on point 1 of our requirements. The artists loved its support for the native formats of the art tools we already use (3DS Max and Photoshop). I also like its built-in version control for assets and code.

At first it seemed to be missing a leg on point 2 (support for Linux platform), but I knew that we could get source code and therefore could provide the Linux port ourselves. Given that the engine is designed and structured to support multiple platforms, I felt it would not be insurmountable to port it to Linux (or actually hire some outstanding external contractors we’ve used before to do the job). After talking to Unity about this, we found they’ve already been working on a Linux port, so Unity is supplying inXile the Linux port alpha source code. InXile will work with Unity in order to port Wasteland 2 to Linux.

Where Unity really bowled us over was on point 3. Besides generous support available from Unity staff, the Unity Asset Store is a treasure trove of assets (3D models and code) provided by the large and growing community of Unity users. A recent Unity newsletter announced that the Asset Store customer base has topped 100,000, and the catalog has reached over 3,000 packages! We’ve been able to find all kinds of useful 3D assets and code in the Asset Store ranging in price from cheap to free! Having an organized marketplace like the Asset Store for finding assets and expertise fits right in with our desire to leverage and give back to the community. While we cannot share engine source code changes, we can share script code and components, as well as graphical assets as part of our modding support.

[Valka]

Thanks to John Alvarado for writing a very thoughtful and concise letter to share with the community! (I did read the full thing, and not just the quoted portion here). I don't think you could have made a better choice.

I am aware that there have been some squawks concerning the outlook for Linux support, either that there would be no true port, or that the development cost would be too dear if there were. I hope that now that more of the facts and choices are in evidence that others will view this in a positive light as I have.

Exciting times!

[Sub-Human]

PhysX support and badass graphics? This keeps getting better and better.

[Maradukh]

A nice read-up and a very convincing argument for your choice of engine. Looking at tech-demos of it, the engine seems to have extremely good potential if you know what you are doing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfDKNJztkwU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3LvEVlrH4&feature=related

[ButchinMelancholy]

I hope this will allow some refined and organic "pictorial" look, because I must admit that modern "top-down" games have tended to loose that feel to me, being too much "polygonish" and rough in a way, certainly because of the 3D... So now that some time have passed, I hope we can expect enough mastery to have that 2D art level with 3D depth and details.

[psychoo]

Excellent news! I was hoping you`ll chose Unity, for pretty much the same reasons what I read in your post. The community around it is huge, so you can have a solution to every problem very fast. The crowd based nature of Unity is also fitting for a crowd sourced project.
I hope the best guys, show what you can do with this engine, and deliver a killer game!

[Ejas12]

Awesome, I agree, you don't need bleeding edge graphics to make an engaging and awesome game. Some pretty looking games are dull. I prefer a compelling story over good graphics

[b0rsuk]

I enjoyed this read. You did a good job explaining the reasons behind choosing Unity. I like being informed this way. Almost as if you treated gamers with respect. I know it sounds ridiculous.

I also understood that Linux and Mac will get first class support, which is outstanding.

[gautraudj]

I'm convinced... but I certainly know nothing about game engines. Whatever works best for the team and gets out of the way of the artists and storytellers, go for it. We don't want the whole team to be fighting an uphill battle to implement every idea and feature.

Thanks for the update.

[The Tallest]

I was definitely excited when I had heard Unity had been chosen, this update just makes me even more excited.

GO MAKE THE GAME!!!

[Equidistant]

Unity also supports Flash and iOS, right? That would make porting to tablets a realistic possibility after release, if the Devs want to tackle that market. The success of the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition should give some clue as to the viability of such a move.

[dmazz]

Sweet, I forgot Unity has physx which now has Apex destruction for free, which means we'll be getting impressive destructible environments. Check the videos out.
http://developer.nvidia.com/apex-destruction
My hope is that it's integrated into the turn based combat of the game, as the destructible environments of Silent Storm really added another layer of strategy.

Also the dirt cheap commercial grade A.i and pathfinding middleware from xaitment is available too. http://sites.fastspring.com/xaitment/pr ... aitcontrol They should put them in the asset store at that price point.

Don't know what modding opportunities the asset store may provide, but I hope they work with Unity to get something up, user made content and modding is the future after all, and Unity should get the earliest train. An up to date 'Wasteland 2 Modkit' being available at the asset store (source code too) would be cool. If Unity provides a Wasteland 2 section, associated user made tools can also be distributed also. (in the long term though to support multiple games being Unity mod friendly, the asset store browser will need a major upgrade.) That seems to be the plan, hope they aim high. "I think the Asset Store will facilitate ongoing collaboration with the community on modding tools that can be offered in the store for free." One complaints about the asset browser is that it doesn't remember where you were when you click on the back button. Slows down browsing the store alot and gets infuriating after a while.

Also in regards to other platforms like iOS, it sounds great. More sales and greater exposure to a wider assortment of game players. Saying that I have no doubt they'll be focused on the PC version right now and only after the game is released will be they porting to other platforms. Also would be cool if they integrate some form of save online transfer feature that syncs saves from to the pc and ios/android versions.

ps
Another Unity suggestion is for them to implement a asset store wide robust security apparatus that allows asset users to trial a product.

[Scopic-Agent]

Awesome news! I'm also doing a game in Unity, its great to hear we have something in common
Though I think before the 3.5 release a AAA game like Wasteland 2 wouldn't be feasible...good timing for both Unity & inXile. Can't wait to see what you guys can do with it. Now go create !

[RussianNeuroMancer]

After talking to Unity about this, we found they’ve already been working on a Linux port, so Unity is supplying inXile the Linux port alpha source code. InXile will work with Unity in order to port Wasteland 2 to Linux.

Results of this work will be available only for inXile, or to other Unity Technologies customers too?

[suz]

Can't say I'm not disappointed, picking up an engine with great graphics capability only to make it scalp view isn't something I expected.

I'll reserve final judgement until when i see it but i can't see much potential for anything but a ghetto gta1 look with faked perspective and better lighting Hope the story will at least make up for it.

[Drool]

Can't say I'm not disappointed, picking up an engine with great graphics capability only to make it scalp view isn't something I expected.

They said it would be top-down from day one.

[suz]

Can't say I'm not disappointed, picking up an engine with great graphics capability only to make it scalp view isn't something I expected.

They said it would be top-down from day one.

I'm not going to look up when exactly they first said they'll address fan feedback, but I'm pretty sure they have in the latest video.

[The_A_Drain]

Happy to see a positive reaction here, I've heard a few knee-jerk morons assuming it's going to be some lo-fi web-based game for no aparrent reason. I guess the fact Unity has a web-player is a 'reason' but it's not a very good one, a simply google for some tech demos would reveal it's a suitable engine for something like this.

I work with Unity primarily and I could not be happier about this decision, neither inXile nor the fans will regret this decision it's going to be awesome.

[ButchinMelancholy]

i can't see much potential for anything but a ghetto gta1 look with faked perspective and better lighting

They have said (several times?) that it would be isometric-like, with a slightly higher point of view than Fallout, and probably more top-down and elevated for the world map.

[Zeronet]

Can't say I'm not disappointed, picking up an engine with great graphics capability only to make it scalp view isn't something I expected.

I'll reserve final judgement until when i see it but i can't see much potential for anything but a ghetto gta1 look with faked perspective and better lighting Hope the story will at least make up for it.

They're making it a non-rotatable.zoomable isometric view that they have control over art assets, meaning they can make highly detailed art whilst knowing exactly what the enduser sees. This means they can cut corners on the art assets whilst still making a great looking game.