Is there any plan to support Unity for Windows Phone 7, is a very ver interesting market growing every day for windows phones, and about October would be even more windwos phones around there with their version 7, it would be possible in a future to port to this smart phone? what is the actual limitation, if there is? Cause right now I have my pro license and planing to get my iphone and android license, but I see that my best choice for a XNA engine is SunBurn, but I really prefer Unity because I already know the worlkflow and all the possibilities.
Unity Tech would need a special exemption from Microsoft to run native code.
–Eric
Unity Tech : Can we run your holy native code ?
Microsoft : Nope.
Would have to depends on how open Microsoft is to all this. I think would need some sort of sdk/api from Microsoft to integrate Mono into it, i guess.
I don’t expect MS to be allowing access to native code in the near future.
My guess is that they eventually plan to merge the Windows and the Windows Phone code base. Since Windows 8 will be running on ARM, I think it’s just a matter of time that they will be the OS for Windows Phone. Just with some UI distinctions. By Windows Phone 8 maybe? Or Windows Phone 9?
As long as all apps are written in managed code, they could for the most part preserve compatibility. But if it’s in native code, it won’t work on the next platform. Thus, all the games made with it wouldn’t work on the next platform.
Though I could see a possibility if there was a special webplayer plugin for Windows Phone IE10.
I think WinningGuy is probably right, MS is making steps to make Windows their singular OS that can be deployed on anything, just with a different front. I think eventually all Unity would need to to do support Windows Mobile devices is just make sure its compatiable with RISC windows.
Unity is written in C++. Converting the entire engine to C# probably won’t happen, especially since all the middleware (PhysX etc.) would have to be converted as well.
–Eric
We just need to convince some big publisher to foot the bill! Come on EA!
That does not make it any better.
The middlewares used are opted for the code, getting a similar optimization on C# is a thing of an eternity to achieve.
And then there is the real problem: The whole graphics engine is useless too, WP7 is XNA only and XNa really is not more than a simplified subset of DX with enough limitations to make it a nightmare to port Unity I guess.
Anyone who wants to target X360 XBLIG and all the mobiles might want to look at the delta engine which will be released on Aug 22nd right after the GamesCom according their press mail sent out yesterday, thats likely more along your interest.
Yeah.
Just wish we could still use the Unity editor with it. haha
I think unity will probably adopt windows 7 phone eventually, just not until it becomes really popular and catches up to android. And I think it will. I think eventually we’ll have a two horse race between ms and apple. The reason I think this, is because of how badly google are messing up Android.
It has to be one of the most hostile, pirated, anti-developer platforms on planet earth. It’s a shame because it has great potential.
I doubt unity is gonna targeting as long as its MS.NET 4 + XNA + very limited system access. Its really painfull going there with a crossplatform engine that didn’t start out exactly for this limitation and then expanded to other platforms like the DeltaEngine which crosscompiles to others not to XNA (so it limits all others down to the xna limitations which are significantly more limited than what Unity has to bear anywhere else … I would say even more limiting than flash molehill and thats already extremely limited.)
I doubt this will happen. Microsoft already have a program out for people to develop games on windows.
Yeah they said it wouldn’t happen for xbox too.
Business is business. If windows mobile ever took off and became a serious contender to apple, then I am sure money would change how things looked.
It hasn’t happened for Xbox either.
Unity does not support XBLIG / XNA targeting only native code XDK
You will only be able to develop for the RISC version of windows 8 with C#?
I know windows phone 7 mobile OS is c# only but in saying Unity will only need to support the RISC version of windows, Im refferring Windows 8 RISC, which if not at version 8, then at some point down the line will probably become MS’s mobile OS. Which I can’t see any reason why windows would make C# the only language able to be run on Windows 8 RISC.
So you’re saying Windows Phone 7 is already a dead-end OS? I haven’t seen any announcements from Microsoft about that.
–Eric
Well I do not not know, this is all suspicion of course.
But after seeing this video about Windows 8:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p92QfWOw88I
Microsoft is making Windows 8 more like a mobile OS. Already Windows 8 RISC will be Microsoft’s tablet OS. Microsoft seems to have the aim of making Windows 8 lighter, more usable on touch devices, and usable on RISC platforms. It’s my personal suspicion that Microsoft just pushed Windows 7 phone OS out the door because they needed to get a mobile phone to the market ASAP, and could not wait for Windows 8 RISC. But really Microsofts ultimate goal is to have their desktop, mobile and tablet devices all running essentially the same Windows 8 backend, just with a different UI front.
I suspect this because it’d be easier for MS to have just Win8 development going instead of Win8 RISC + Win8 mobile development going as something completely different, why would they keep their Phone OS seperate from their tablet OS if essentially their supposed to be doing the same? Also, Microsoft seems to have the tendency to always do what is easiest for developers, and try to set it up so developers have to jump through the fewest hoops possible. And making it so an app could be run simoultaneously on Win8 desktop, Win8 Tablet and win8 Phone would be the most beneficial to developers.
Think about this as well. If Windows 8 RISC is going to be on all Microsoft tablet devices, why would microsoft make it so you can develop something for their tablets that won’t also run on phones or pocket-sized media players? Certainly this is to compete with Apple, and a Tablet is intended to be something that does everything the phone or pocket sized device does, just on a bigger screen. In order for Microsofts Tablet and pocket sized devices to have that relation, the pocket sized devices will have to be Windows 8 RISC… or something further down the line thats based on Win8 RISC.
I do think there will be future revisions. MS aren’t so stupid as to lock in every programmer to c# and not C++. Apple failed/gave up trying (objC) and android failed/gave up trying(Java). Waiting for windows to do the same.
Mango is in development and Mango Beta 2 in devs hands and on their devices, its by far no dead end.
I also don’t think that Win8 will replace WP7, win8 will fill the major gap that MS has shoot in their leg the past 4 years and thats the lack of a tablet usable OS, cause WP7 is not suited for it and Win7 Tablet is a joke, a very bad one actually.
But like Google they will keep their phone and their tablet OS seperate in the favor of offering targeted solutions not the “1 wash half arsed” approach that iOS went by which makes the iPads so kids gadgets from the productivity and functionality point of view due to the lack of the other 50% of the relevant tablet functionality (I have iPad1 and 2 and love them, but they will never ever compete with a real tablet or something like an Acer Transformer, not even in its dreams)