I’ve started to explore Unity and might take the plunge (Indie version for now). I’ve had a game idea for years that I’m starting to move seriously on, and am excited about Unity so far.
Sorry to make you wade through details, but if anyone has experience to help me judge any of the following questions, I’d be grateful!
1. My concept calls for a 3162-triangle object–AFTER culling backfaces. It would NOT have to collide, and could even be an untextured solid color (though a pattern would be nicer). But it would have to have shading, rotation in a plane, and would have to be visible in its entirety. (It’s hard to explain but think of it as a flat slab with a complex coastline cut out of it, framing the game. The jagged edges of the “hole” would have thickness. It can’t be a static image because my game calls for it to be rotated, and so the light on the edges would change. Collision isn’t a worry because I can apply other means to make sure the game action never touches it. It’s visually important, but the only true interaction is that it rotates in response to what you do. Yet all that coastline detail IS vital (long story) so simpler isn’t really a good option even for low-end users.
So… is that practical in any way shape or form? I’m prototyping the game in Flash now and it handles that element OK (I fake the thickness with a second coastline offset 2 pixels). But real 3D in Unity would be great! Would 3162 triangles just kill, say a 64 MB Radeon 9600 Mobility? (In fact, I’d rather the game run on even an old G4 iMac with 32 MB! Am I dreaming?)
If that polycount makes you do a spit-take, then what kind of polycount CAN I get away with? I don’t see how I can simplify the coastline any further without losing vital detail, but we’ll see. There would of course be a whole 3D game with other objects (much simpler) going on in the middle of the “hole.” And I don’t want it to need a really high-end machine… all I have is a PowerBook G4!
2. I may need up to 200 (smallish) objects on-screen at once, reacting as collider triggers with each other AND implementing physics. Only about 3 to 10 of them would actually be moving, but they’d have to bounce off all the rest. And the rest can’t be a static mesh because they’d be deployed in different arrangements. They CAN all be simple sphere colliders though. Again this is hard to explain, but imagine 200 robots that seldom change formation, but shoot at each other with projectiles that richochet from robot to robot using physics. Seen top-down.
Am I crazy? Would this push the system reqs high? (This quantity is killing my Flash prototype–I’m getting maybe 12 fps on a G4 and 20 on a G5, when I’d rather have 30 on both.) Maybe I should just use Torque 2D since my concept can work OK top-down, but I prefer the 3D style, and a terrain that has highs and lows.
3. How hard is it to work with Lightwave (which I’m actually only just re-learning after LONG absence)? The manual says “The Lightwave FBX exporter only supports one texture/material per object. If you need more, then you have to split your object into seperate parts. Map each object seperately and load them all into Layout, then export.”
What is the implication of that in practice? When would that cramp my style? I’m stuck with Lightwave since I’ve already bought it for other reasons.
4. I’d also like to implement very custom mouse and gamepad control. To that end:
a) Can I read raw mouse x and y delta, and do my own thing with them that varies during the course of the game? (Like ignoring x at times, and ignoring y at others, and applying math to the mouse delta before using the result to move my player object?)
b) Can Unity stop the mouse from hitting the screen edges and interfering with the above? (I’d have the mouse pointer hidden anyway.)
c) Can I read raw gamepad joystick values, and do my own thing with them? So that I can react to x and y differently when the stick is near center, vs. when it’s near the edge? Such as ignoring small motions at times… but ignoring everything BUT small motions at others?
d) Can I trigger force feedback vibration effects? (Not needed, just cool!)
5. How smoothly can a ball, driven purely by physics, roll over a mesh terrain? If the terrain has gently rounded hills and valleys will the ball roll in nice gentle curves too? Or with the triangles of the terrain mesh make the ball wobble and jitter? I want the surface to “feel” very smooth as you watch the ball’s movement. (Example: a robot rolls a slow but heavy round bomb towards an enemy, and the curves of the terrain make it follow a weaving course.)
I’m thinking of half a dozen hills and valleys, nothing TOO complex, so maybe I can afford enough polys to keep the ball’s movement smooth?
Many thanks for any advice or reactions! I’m willing to put some time into the 15-day trial, as long as there’s hope that Unity is the right engine for this.
Also, if any of the above would demand the Pro version (more than I can afford–for now) that would be helpful to know.