This week we are submitting a massive update to our Master Audio plugin for Unity. Version 2.0 is all but here.
The UI has been seriously streamlined to keep your workflow at top speed. Sound groups now have weighting so you can keep your favorite effects triggering most frequently without overplaying them, new controls have been added to keep rapid fire effects from generating audio artifacts, and more.
Upgrades have also been made under the hood to keep Master Audio the top audio plugin for Unity 3.xx and 4.xx. Details coming very soon! And a video of course.
I got a reply from the Asset Store and they said it’s only a single directory now, so the problems da bawss experienced should not happen. If you are upgrading from V1.4 or older you may see the problem if you do not first delete the MA files before importing. So I recommend everyone do that. Thank you!
Just submitted V2.0 to the Asset Store! The price will be going up so anyone on the fence can get a bargain by purchasing before that version goes live. As normal, I will make a new video but can’t promise that it will be finished before the new version is available. I’ll do my best.
I also added a “pro audio mixer” to the main prefab. Here’s a preview:
I got 1.4 when it went free for a while. One thing I feel that I didn’t like was I need to define enum by modifying the source. It would be better if you can use int and don’t enforce enum, and let my app define the enums. Is that improved in 2.0?
Ah no… no strings. They are not good for mobile. What I meant is instead using enum, the library can use ints internally. I can cast my enum to an int when calling your API.
What do you mean strings are not good for mobile? This is new information for me. I have had a couple people ask for the ability to use strings because they don’t want their sound designers digging around in code. I am not sure how we could do integers and not make it more confusing to the users.
Strings in C# generate garbage. This was my experience with c# in XNA projects. I assume it would be similar. Actually you can do int, just have an API to index by array, and let application define the enums if they want. If the user wants string, they can use a dictionary to map (slower than int of course).
The last chance offer was a short window, didn’t get to it.
The only thing I’ve read is that it’s super slow to use GameObject.Find(string) on mobile. True, strings are objects unlike ints and generate garbage to be collected eventually, although it is a relatively small object in the size of strings Master Audio is using. Unfortunately for non-programmers (which includes most sound designers), the only easily understandable options are string and enum. I must have the Inspectors and Audio Groups continue to have readable and understandable names when possible.
I appreciate your experience with XNA, however I also believe it will be a non-issue for this particular application. Thanks for sharing your findings, I will keep an eye on it.
Indeed, I’ve been following the lengthy threads. We are 100% mobile in our studio so we don’t want sizeable problems like that. It has to be weighed with alienating non-programmers though in design considerations. I’ll see if I can come up with a way to do it to satisfy both parties.
