Within this article I will try to cover all the pros and cons of developing using Unity3D.
I thought the best way to achieve this would be to get expert advice on the subject, so I enlisted the help of two expert mobile game developers who also have extensive knowledge of the gaming market. On the one hand, we have Iván García Suber, coordinator of Trinit, Association of Computer and Video Game Developers of Zaragoza; on the other, the game developer Aitor Román Ibanez Androtiyas. Among them they have made several collaborations that have appeared as apps within the Android Market, the most famous being Dragon Pet. I interviewed both of them about their Unity 3D user experience and they shared their insights with me.
As industry experts and knowledgeable about the tool, they explained that one of the biggest beneficiaries of using Unity 3D is Android. Being in the market with more users and more devices in circulation has many advantages. This is reflected especially when analyzed from a social point of view.
Aitor Román explains: “We can say that Unity3D has spent more time preparing and developing apps on the Android platform and that shows in its benefits.” These benefits are also used by Google when developing games with Unity3D
Unity3D Limitations
Like any tool, it has strengths but also some limitations. The expert Iván García helps us discover more about the latter.
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The most obvious is that it doesn’t allow us to start from a base, or from a template, but in another way, and you have to implement details. If you don’t you will have to start from scratch with each game. “As a general purpose engine, it doesn’t give you anything to work with. Some people develop games and expect everything to be drag and drop, but it’s not. In fact, I always thought it would take a bad engine to make it work well.” “, explains Iván García.
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From a graphical point of view, it is also lagging behind compared to other engines like UDK. While, on the contrary, Unity 3D allows you to program ‘shaders’, yes, from scratch. However, Iván García admitted that the moment of truth for small developers in the world is graphic design for smartphones.
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A level physics engine, despite using NVidia PhysX, doesn’t offer as many features as other tools like UDK or CryEngine. Unity 5 is expected to update 3.3 PhysX, especially performance issues, and is expected to add other functionality.
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The fact that there are more expensive licenses can be a limitation for freelance developers and small development groups. The more expensive licenses mainly provide graphical and performance improvements, but are only worth it if you have a medium to large team and an ambitious project. Also “the developer himself depends on whether the developer is going to exploit these resources,” adds Román Aitor.
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When it comes to developing games with Unity specifically for smartphones, there are some hurdles. However, you don’t have to pay expensive licenses. For example, Unity free allows you to publish on Android, iPhone and Windows Phone, the most popular platforms in recent years.
In conclusion, I can say that Unity 3D is a solid tool for beginners and also for users who don’t have many resources at their disposal to hire people for game development. It’s also this group of independent developers and small businesses that benefit the most from using Unity.