Hi all,
Just wondering if Unity will be available on any other platforms in the future? What is being worked on?
Currently:
- PC
- Mac
- Web
- Nintendo Wii
- Apple iPhone
What is in the pipes?
- Symbian?
- XBLA?
- PSN?
Cheers,
Peter
Never heard of those last three…
I want Unity for Linux.
Symbian is a form of linux, most often used as the OS for mobile phones.
XBLA is the XBox Live Arcade, the distribution network on the XBox.
PSN is the PlayStation Network, the distribution network on the PlayStation3.
It would be great if we had these options, but for the last two, it would be similar to using Unity for the Wii-- very expensive because it would require a dev kit for that particular platform.
Linux on the other hand would be great and hopefully not too hard to accomplish!
We’ve said it before and I’ll now say it again: the Wii and iPhone are our first moves off the desktop/web but not our last! We’re definitely interested in expanding the range of supported content platforms going forward. I can’t commit to or comment on anything in specific just yet, but know that it’s firmly on our radar.
Well, since the PS3 runs a custom Linux distribution, having PS3 and Linux support will likely come together.
I myself believe that Linux support ant PS3 support would help boost sales of Unity, and make help push Unity to the forefront of game dev tech, and put it nearer the lead in cross platform compatibility.
I also believe that support of more platforms in in the future, but not anytime soon.
FWIW, supporting one specific (custom) Linux distro on a fixed platform (fixed hardware/software) is nowhere even close to the same as offering generic Linux support across a variety of distributions and hardware. The testing required against a variety of hardware and software combinations, and the bug fixing and adjustment that induces is not negligible in any way.
Thanks for your replies.
Unity for Symbian, with similar cut-down features as for iphone, would be a brilliant move. Mobile phones are getting more powerful and cheaper all the time.
I’ll be keeping my eyes open for other platform support over the coming months/years 
I am primarily a console gamer, so I eagerly await either. I love the Wii, but Nintendo are too much of a bunch of boneheads for the Unity Wii support to be useful to many of us. May they rot in hell for what they have done with the Wii, lately, even if it has saved their company. :evil:
You’ve got to be kidding me. This is a joke, right? Why would you name your OS “Symbian”, when it is one letter off from “Sybian”??? 
Haha! Never heard of Sybian - but have now. Very funny!
No joke though - Symbian website
Well, I’m not always right.
The variety of Linux distributions available and in use today is staggering, but not overwhelming. Te most used are Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora, I think. So having support for those at least shouldn’t be impossible (am I wrong again? Oh, well, not my lucky day).
Like I said, the PS3 uses a custom distribution of Linux, so if Linux support os dealt with, it might help with PS3 support (am I right?), at least in the most basic senses.
(WOAH! He IS right! Who’d ever name their mobile OS THAT?!?!?! At least, anything close, like Symbian. And yes, I’ve heard of it, but never seen/used it.)
Yes, that bridge can be crossed as it’s quite possible to offer support, but I wasn’t discussing whether it was possible or not. I just wanted some recognition that supporting that one particular distribution, on that one specific hardware configuration (PS3), is not the same, or even close to same as offering generic desktop support. There’s more work in ensuring multi-distro support as well as dealing with all the hardware specific issues (video cards and drivers, there’s a stable world of goodness 
). So it’s possible, just quite a bit more work.
Perhaps it is your lucky day?
Well then, lucky me!
But, on my sort of thread hijack, would a system somewhat like that be possible? If so, might it be implemented in the future? 'Cause man, would I love shadows, even if it cost $200!
So within not too many years (notice I say it in a rather open fashion, ranging from one to 10 years), we should be seeing support for Linux, at least, if not support for other platforms?
Isn’t that better off in the other thread we’re both posting in right now?
Earlier in this thread I said:
Almost all mid-high range Nokia phones are Symbian, so you’ve probably seen/used it, just not known what it was. it doesn’t look like anything special - it just looks like a mobile phone OS
Or were you referring to Sybian 
There are a couple of Linux distros for the PS3 you can use for tinkering around with (they don’t support all the PS3 features, such as the small detail of hardware 3D access), but if you’re claiming that’s what the PS3 runs as its own operating system, then no. What it runs is “System Software” (really, that’s what it’s called), with XrossMediaBar for the GUI and libCGM for 3D graphics.
–Eric
Not at all. The hardware architecture between the PS3 and a Desktop computer is completely different.
The PS3 uses the CELL microprocessor. It’s very parallel as it contains the main processing core (Power Processor Element or PPE) and 8 Synergistic Processing Elements (SPE).
It really is a pain to create high-performance code using the CELL as it’s hard to debug and see what goes in and out…
It’s not trivial at all to create a high-end engine for the PS3 which is why the few engines that provide that are very expensive (Gamebryo, UE3, …).
Besides, even if Unity provided such a solution (which I hope they will later) it would be completely out of range for indies (just like Wii/WiiWare).
Note: When I’m saying indies, I’m talking about individuals, not small company for which it’s completely affordable but you still have to get your “developer license” from Nintendo in the case of Wii games…
Just to clear any potential confusion: XBLA and PSN are not platforms, they are distribution methods. The platforms are Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.
Sure, a distribution method might have some extra requirements (and both XBLA and PSN have them), but one does not start calling shockwave.com (for example) a “platform” because they “have this requirement to have their logo”. The platform is web in this case; shockwave.com is the distribution method.
I agree with the view on supporting the Symbian OS here (specifically the S60).
The Samsung Omnia HD phone is due out in the next couple of months with some really stunning hardware (particularly for games). The Omnia will be a Symbian based phone and is one of the most anticipated.
As mentioned above by Pixelthis, all of the mid to high end Nokia’s also use Symbian, most notably the very popular Nokia 5800 which is similar in power to the Iphone. So the market is quite large and likely to expand rapidly with the extremely capable Omnia HD and Nokia N97 (both due out pretty soon).
I have been in Flash development for a while and the Flash community is really excited by the prospect of building games for the Symbian OS. I’m a real beginner with Unity but it seems a hundred times more capable than Flash at games creation so it would be a shame to let another technology dominate that potentially huge market.
Here is some info about the Omnia HD for those interested:
Oh my, Unity is becoming very big with these plans …
I want Unity (player or webplugin) for Linux too plx 