a few questions to get started with Unity

Unity Engine
1

Hi there :slight_smile:

I was leraning to use Torque Game Builder for the past few months in my free time and now they went out of business. So now I’m searching for another engine, which would suit my needs, and I think Unity might fit. However, I have a few questions.

-There are two versions of Unity, a free one and Unity Pro. As far as I understand, the free one lets me do anything, including selling my work as long as I am below 100,000US$, while the Pro version has no limitation and a few extra features. Did I get that part right?

-Unity is obviously a 3D engine, but it is possible to make 2D games, in the sense of actual 2D graphics, like Max and the magic marker (BTW, that game drew my attention to Unity), not 2.5D like the upcoming Donkey Kong Country Returns (though that would be cool as well).
The qestion is, how much of a trouble would that be? In TGB everything was made to work in 2D only, all my assets were drawn and assembled in Pixelmator. Would I have to use 3D modelling in Unity just to get 2D sprites on the screen? Talking of which, how do you even get 2D sprites into a 3D environment? How do I animate them? I know, I must sound painfully stupid to anyone who has made anything using Unity, but for me this is a totally new dimension, literally.
I don’t intend to use any crazy physics tricks or anything fancy, just a classic old-school platformer with jumping, running, shooting, climbing ropes and ladders, maybe swinging on vines, and fighting bad-guys, no cutscenes, tutorials or AI companions. Think of 2D Mario, then you get the idea. Possibly with local multiplayer, I love local multiplayer.

-I know the Mac App Store has not opened yet, but I was wondering, if anyone of the staff already knows if the games made using Unity would meet Apple’s technology standards? In terms of design standards, that task is up to me.

-As far as I understand, there are three script languages supported by Unity: Boo, C# and Javascript (I thought that one was just for websites?). Which one should I use? I learned Java at the university (I study math BTW), which is nothing like JS, right? I also know Torque Script, which is supposed to resemble C. So I guess, I should use C#, then? Or sould I use one of the other two? I’m working on a Mac, if that matters.

I guess that’s all for now. I would really appreciate any help. I was finally done learning the ways of TGB and started writing the actual game, when fate struck, forcing me to do everything from scratch again. But on the other hand, a new engine means a new opportunity as well, and in case of Unity, I could use some minor 3D touches to make the game nicer. Also, Unity’s interface is way more user-friendly.

2

Hello and welcome to Unity! =) Let me try and answer your questions:

  1. You’re completely right about that one. =)
  2. From what I understand Unity has very poor support for 2D sprites and animations. =/ You could always paste a sprite onto a plane, but I’m not sure how well that’d work for a full 2D game.
  3. You can upload Unity Apps to the App Store if you have the appropriate iOS License. =) (unless you don’t mean the iPhone/ iPad App Store, in which case I’m clueless as well)
  4. Java != JavaScript. Java resembles C# the most out of these 3 languages. I have no idea how TorqueScript looks, but considering your knowledge of Java, C# may be the best option. (Though I personally prefer JS (UnityScript)). Boo sort of resembles Python, but doesn’t seem to be very popular.
  5. I’m on a Mac as well, so bonus points to you! :wink:

Best of luck!
-Patrick

3

Thanks for the answers!

I have one more question: In Torque, there was a feature calle behaviours. Basically those were components, as they are called in Unity, which you write yourself. So I could write a script, which features Pong style paddle controls. i would define alle the buttons and fields of that component and how they are processed, then inside the editor, I could attach the behaviour to any object, set the fields and there you go. I could have two Pong paddles, attach the same beahviour to both of them and just assign different keys for controlling them. So I would not have to write the controls for each paddle.

Is there such a feature in Unity? I assume components → Scripts would be what i’m searching for?

OK, maybe someone else can tell me more. It certainly is possible somehow, Zombieville and OMG Pirates are 2D as well. And on a mobile device (I am targeting Mac PC for now, maybe i could port it to Wii, if I ever made enough money).
I don’t fear work, I fear running into an obstacle, impossible to overcome.

I mean the Mac App store, which is basicalle the same as the iPhone/iPad App Store, except… well, it’s for Mac :wink:
http://www.apple.com/mac/app-store/

OK, C# it will be then.

4

You got that right. There are some over here: http://www.unifycommunity.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page , and a bunch of others all over the forum.

Yes. I aware of a component called SpriteManager, but you can do on your own.

Sorry I dunno nothing about the mac part.

5

hi, welcome to a dark side…i mean 3D side.
Here’s 5 part video tutorial, that will help you quickly understand how basically unity and 3D works, do watch them all.

Also i am old TGE user, even bought a huge C. Kenneth’s programming book, no use now,heard what happened.

Anyway, enjoy your stay!