Hi All,
If I want to make a webgame out of any AAA quality PC game, which is the best way to do that?
Obviously Unity is the choice of 3d engine for web deployment, but what I understand is that I can use all my 3D assets in Unity but I will have to rewrite pretty much all the code(AI, physics, shaders, collisions etc…)
Is there any way to use source code(written in c++) from the existing game in Unity?
Thanks in advance
Without getting a source license of Unity (requires business and is mentioned to be 5 to 6 figure), no
half the stuff you mentioned is not needed anyway. Physics and collision is all handled by PhysX in Unity for example.
Shaders require rewrite anyway as you must port them to CG and shaderlab.
The rest, depending on how it was done, is pretty straight forward to port behavior wise but you will have to change the way they access things. Unity uses a flexible component approach and does not give you any possibility to hook into the actual game object hierarchy
Thanks for reply
So with Unity source code license it is possible to connect Unity with game source code?
Its true that PhysX handles the physics of game, but for example lets say that all your cars are tuned for a racing game or damage on collision is also coded, or maybe enemy behaviour. Can you reuse all those tuning and other stuff in Unity(with source code license)?
What I am trying to evaluate is, “how can I keep the rewrite of code minimum and yet make a webgame out of existing title?”
Thanks again
I’m sorry, but realistically, I think this is pretty much a dead end. You can reuse assets and such from an existing game written in C++, but there will be a lot of rewriting and redesigning code.
It will essentially be a remake using the same assets.
I read somewhere that Grigon Entertainment(Korea) made Fusionfall(a MMO webgame in Unity) for Cartoon Network out of some existing PC game.
But I couldn’t find any reference to how they did it?
Here comes another query, what are the advantages of Unity source code license then, compared to Unity Pro.
What more possibilities Unity source code has to offer?
They started Fusionfall using the Gamebryo engine, and were using Unity for rapid prototyping, but they realized that they could just do the whole thing in Unity, so that’s what they did. Any C++ source code will have to be rewritten.
If you really need to do something that Unity doesn’t already do, which at this point is very little.
–Eric
I think the most obvious advantage with a source code license is that you could replace some of the libraries used.
For example, you could switch to Havok from PhysX, or you could replace OpenAL with FMod.
A source code license might also be interesting if you are targeting a very specific console platform and need to micromanage memory and threads.
Another advantage is that you can fix bugs before they are fixed, verified/tested and released by the UT team, which may take several months or more.
I may be wrong, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to get a source code license just because you currently have a game written in C++. The whole reason to use Unity is because you can be very productive with its tools - and this basically requires you to develop in C#/Unityscript/Boo. If it’s advanced tech you’re after and have the money for a source code license, there are probably better engine alternatives - UE3 or similar.
Thanks for detailed explanation,
My choice of Unity is mainly because of the Web deployment and increasing use of Unity for 3D webgames.
That being said next target would be to minimize the amount of rework(Art and code).
Which for art its mainly rebuilding the scene in Unity, and make shaders and particle effects(…)
But for code, as you guys said that rework is unavoidable, then best solution will be to dig around Unity Pro Trial and then evaluate the need of Unity source code.
:roll:
If you use Torque3d, you get the source so you can include your c++ into the mix “easily” – heed the quotes! Integration is never easy.
Good luck!