Dear,
application developers in Unity 3D. I wonder what the reason of not having an application support for Linux? I have a team that is determined using Unity 3D for its versatility of tools. But already defined in our Game Design Document that our application will run on Mac OS, Windows and Unix.
The developer has an opinion on this? And if you have a project to linux when will this launch?
We didn't make it yet, because adding a supported platform is takes a significant amount of manpower, time and attention. At all points in time we have been making Unity better in other ways, which has been taking up all our manpower, time and attntion.
We would like to have a linux player however, and it's likely to appear one day. Not today though :(
If you need it very very badly, you could try running it in Wine.
For the games market, Linux compatibility gets you 1% more business, maybe.
Most developers are using Max/Maya and Photoshop, which means they are on Windows already. A developer using Linux+gimp+blender would still be cross-testing on Windows, since that's the platform most customers will be using. There's pretty much no one with a bunch of Linux boxes and $1500 just waiting to buy Unity3D.
Most Linux users who play games have a copy of Windows, bought specifically for games. Linux-only people who also spend a lot of money on native-Linux games, that's a tiny market.
Sure, the world will be a better place when we are all running Linux, and I'm sure the fine folk at Unity Studios spend their free time improving Apache and OpenOffice. As cool as Linux-compatibilty would be, being in business and state-of-the-art 2 years from now would be even cooler.
As mentioned above, Wine is a solution.
All the standalone builds I have created with Unity 2.6, I have sent to someone who is only running Linux and they have been able to run it in Wine without a problem. Not the perfect solution, but definitely workable.
Unity 4.0 will ship with a preview of a Linux Export feature that will allow you to publish content for 32-bit and 64-bit desktop systems. Please see Unity Pro
Some thoughts:
1 - Yes Linux is still a relatively small platform on the desktop. But is has potential for enormous growth once games can be played on it. Many people would leave Windows entirely if they could play games on Linux and they actually prefer to play their games on Linux. Those that offer games on Linux would definately have an advantage here. Once games become available, it will in turn boost Linux and attract more users, it could definately grow fast. For the consumer, it is the last piece of the puzzel missing.
2 - the average Linux user is more interested in playing games than the average Windows or Mac user. Linux has a unique crowd, Many are heavy users witch are also serious gameplayers. I hardly meet Linux users that do not play games, whereas on Windows there are many often older people that hardly play at all. It could wel be that Linux has 10% of the gamesplayers waiting to fill their needs.
3 - a market segment may be small, but if one has little competition, it may still be attravtive, especially if the segment is more profitable than the rest of the market and even more if it has potential for rapid growth. It think this is the case, Linux is just yearning for better games, that is what is holding Linux back. If gaming comes through, Linux could grow rapidly in the consumer market. For the consumer MS office and Photoshop mean nothing, but safe banking is becoming crucial.
The rise of Linux on the desktop has often been announced, but realistically it was not ready for the common consumer. Too much was lacking or half baked, nor did it look well compared to Windows. It simply was not ready to take that role. But Windows did not really advance much apart from gui changes and it has become a sitting duck as Linux is making rapid progess in all areas. MS is now loosing consumers big time to other platforms like Android and IOS and OSX.
And as the world is looking for more durable growth and awareness is changing, open source is emerging as a new driver in the economy. You see it everywhere. Open Source is hot. A few years ago Linux was in many ways a downgrade from windows. A lack of good quality apps and it often did not feel stable, and content did not look that good either. But times are changing, there is an explosion of creativity on Linux happening inspired by the succes of open source in the mobile space. Everyone is working hard to make things perfect. A year ago the Linux desktop seemed clunky and hopeless, but now we see it come through big time. Linux is no longer a poor man’s Windows, It stopped trying to copy Windows XP, now it is becoming something much better.
Never underestimate the power of open source, once it finds its direction it is an unstoppable force.Simply the involvement of so many enthousiast people all over the world creates a tidal wave. Simply look at Apple, not so long ago nearly bankrupt and rescued by MS, now twice as big as MS. Look at Android how it is storming ahead on the waves of very enthusiastic people.
Windows on the other hand lost much of its appeal. It is a dangerous state when ones product is mostly used out of habit. The consumer is ready to try something else and they are doing that in great numbers, discovering that there is more out there then Windows.
Windows is losing its position as the all purpose platform. All bankfrauds are being done through Windows. Windows is becoming peoples greatest security risk. It is inherrently unsafe and no antivirus program is changing that with two million exploits found every year. As people become more aware of the risk, Linux comes into the picture.
Like a train it takes time to gather momentum. But once more people discover Linux and stick to it this time, it will start to snowball. In the past it simply wasn’t good enough, many had a quick look and than returned to Windows. But that is different now. I am typing this in Ubunty 12.04. Ever since I installed it, my time shifted to Linux and I am very fond of W7 too. Why? because it simply looks and works great, I have everything I need, and it is totally safe.
So yes, there certainly are some good reasons to want to be part of this growing movement, not only is it unclaimed land, it has potential and one can play a decissive role in bringing about this potential if one provides the last piece missing. Being in the right spot on the right time is what it is all about, seeing the opportunity others fial to see.
In the games business we see a lot of companies all trying to fish in the same pond with a huge lack of imagination. All trying to copy the succesformula, but only a few actually have succes this way. On Windows unity 3d is not a big player, but on Linux it might become huge and profit from the growth its provokes. precisesly because these people are also Windows and Mac users it will have a wider effect too. it takes vision to create succes.
And we have to understand Ubuntu’s Unity is much more than a PC platform, its form factor works great on all devices, desktop, notebook, netbook, tablet even smartphone. That creates a huge space. It may succeed where W8 fails. Why? Because manufacurers are not very keen on making MS big on other platforms and be pressured again and have to share their margin with big brother. And consummers show no interest at all for Windows on phones even with billions spent in marketing.
Adobe once took the decission Apple was not that interesting for their multiplatform Flash stuff. That decission came to haunt them. When they did not need Apple anymore, Apple no longer needed them either, and as IOS grew to be a mayor platform, they were toast.
I think Linux is destined to rise, just like Apple was destined to grow to fame. Open source is spreading in the New Age. Not recognizing that could be a costly mistake. It is no longer enough to create value for customers, relation and community building are becoming central. Look as valve, they give away this great program “source filmmaker”. why are they doing that? Like Google they are investing in goodwill to create a developer community, and they are possibly creating a whole new market that they can later exploit. It takes vision, doing what all the others are doing is no longer enough.
And remember one thing: Companies rise and fall but Linux is here to stay. No other platform has the staying power of Linux. it grows organically and it goes on and on and on.