4 ms·

It seems this news is a direct reply to yesterday's move from one of their competitors, Epic's Unreal Engine 4 announced to be free* to use. link: https://www.

It seems this news is a direct reply to yesterday's move from one of their competitors, Epic's Unreal Engine 4 announced to be free* to use. link: https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/ue4-is-free https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/ue4-is-free

jarsin 12y ago
Ya, as far as pricing it now seems there is no debate. No rev share and only having to buy the pro edition if you exceed 100k in revenue makes Unity superior on the price imo. Of course there are other factors to consider depending on the project.
- nsxwolf 12y ago
  An aspiring indie with zero track record should choose based on the strengths of the tools themselves. Making $3000 in a quarter is a pipe dream, let alone 100k over any time scale.
  - sramsay 12y ago
    Making $3000 in a quarter is a pipe dream? Why do you say that? The indie game market is not all that crowded, if we're thinking about games like Dear Esther, Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, Sword and Sworcery (all of which did way better than $3000 a quarter). Gamasutra, the other day, was lamenting the fact that there aren't enough games in this space. Assuming we're not talking about the very difficult mobile market (but just about high quality indies on the PC), why is it absurd to think that a small indie studio could be quite successful (even with a first game)?
    - cwyers 12y ago
      Because most of them aren't? You're naming the hits, but it's a lot harder to remember the games that failed (or the ones that didn't even make it out of development).
      - sramsay 12y ago
        Your observation is sort of predicated on the idea of a shipped game. Do you think there are mountains of shipped games in that market that made little or no money at all? I'm just not seeing that. What I see is some incredibly successful indie games where the niche is so narrow you can't believe it made money at all (think of a brutal puzzler like AntiRoom, which was another very successful one). I guess what I'm really asking here is what you think the barrier is, because it's not an incredibly crowded market. On mobile, just getting your game noticed is next to impossible. That's easier in this space. Or maybe you disagree?
        cwyers 12y ago
        Just check out the new releases list on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released_DESC&os=win#sort_by=Released_DESC&tags=492&category1=998&os=win&page=1 http://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released_DESC&...
        sramsay 12y ago
        I think my question probably seems overly naive or provocative (it's being down voted, after all). I'm really just trying to divine the source of your cynicism. Possibilities include: 1. There are too many games; it's as hard to get noticed in this sector as it is on the app store. 2. You don't stand a chance if you can't make a polished game, and a polished game is going to have a $100,000 budget (or let's just say, way more than "I think I'll download the free version of Unity" can afford). 3. Most games are mediocre at best, and yours probably will be too (because the designers of those hits really knew what they were doing, and you probably don't). Am I getting this right? All of the above? Some of the above? I've seen lots of indie games that I think are mediocre become hits. I've rarely seen a game that I think is a gem go completely unnoticed. Part of it, it seems to me, is that a really tight niche game can become a hit within that niche and make a surprising amount of money doing it. Take "Battle of the Bulge" by Shenandoah (which is an iOS game). $20,000 ask on Kickstarter for a game that is going after people who are into hex wargames. I'm going to guess that that game did considerably better than $3000 a quarter. They're making more, after all. Similarly, there are people out there who love side-scrollers and will basically buy any side-scroller that looks even remotely good. If it is good, is it really going to be a financial bust?
    - Guvante 12y ago
      I doubt 1% of games that are started on these engines are finished, let alone sold. That is why you won't make $3000, because you won't make $10. > Dear Esther, Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, Sword and Sworcery All of which cost at least $100k to make.
- s73v3r 12y ago
  What about version control? I remember you had to have Unity Pro in order to be able to use version control with other people in a sane manner.
  - kendallpark 12y ago
    You can set up your own version control via command line. There are tutorials on how to do this and what files types to ignore, etc. You just can't have it integrate into the actual editor... which as programmer is fine by me.
  - jsheard 12y ago
    Looks like that's still a premium feature, but you can get it standalone for $20/m instead of paying the full $75/m for Pro Edition. "Team Licence" http://unity3d.com/get-unity http://unity3d.com/get-unity
  - unoti 12y ago
    It's super trivial now to set up your own version control at the command line. One check box in editor preferences and I was up and running with my own private free mercurial repos on Bitbucket.
    - tomjen3 12y ago
      I remember this being the biggest pain in the ass with unity, so much so that I did want to use it for team development, so this is huge if they solved it. Do you happen to have a link to which setting to switch?
      - unoti 12y ago
        Here you go! "This is done by selecting Edit->Project Settings->Editor in the application menu and enabling External Version Control support by selecting Visible Meta Files in the dropdown for Version Control. This will show a text file for every asset in the Assets directory containing the necessary bookkeeping information required by Unity. The files will have a .meta file extension with the first part being the full file name of the asset it is associated with. Moving and renaming assets within Unity should also update the relevant .meta files. However, if you move or rename assets from an external tool, make sure to syncronize the relevant .meta files as well." http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/ExternalVersionControlSystemSupport.html http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/ExternalVersionControlSystemS...
chrisbennet 12y ago
Unity has been free for at least a year but they didn't seem to advertise it until until Epic made their announcement.
- ace22b 12y ago
  Free version was pretty limited until this release. Now free version is fully featured and pro version just has some team features and lack of revenue restrictions.
- msie 12y ago
  Now you can deploy to iPhone and Android without paying $150/month.
  - gambiting 12y ago
    You could before too. You would get the Unity splashscreen at the start, but you could deploy to any platform from the free version.
    - ercu 12y ago
      is the splash removed in Unity 5 free?
      - gambiting 12y ago
        Nope, it looks like it's there,looking at the list of features: http://unity3d.com/get-unity http://unity3d.com/get-unity

jarsin 12y ago

Ya, as far as pricing it now seems there is no debate. No rev share and only having to buy the pro edition if you exceed 100k in revenue makes Unity superior on the price imo. Of course there are other factors to consider depending on the project.

nsxwolf 12y ago
An aspiring indie with zero track record should choose based on the strengths of the tools themselves. Making $3000 in a quarter is a pipe dream, let alone 100k over any time scale.
- sramsay 12y ago
  Making $3000 in a quarter is a pipe dream? Why do you say that? The indie game market is not all that crowded, if we're thinking about games like Dear Esther, Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, Sword and Sworcery (all of which did way better than $3000 a quarter). Gamasutra, the other day, was lamenting the fact that there aren't enough games in this space. Assuming we're not talking about the very difficult mobile market (but just about high quality indies on the PC), why is it absurd to think that a small indie studio could be quite successful (even with a first game)?
  - cwyers 12y ago
    Because most of them aren't? You're naming the hits, but it's a lot harder to remember the games that failed (or the ones that didn't even make it out of development).
    - sramsay 12y ago
      Your observation is sort of predicated on the idea of a shipped game. Do you think there are mountains of shipped games in that market that made little or no money at all? I'm just not seeing that. What I see is some incredibly successful indie games where the niche is so narrow you can't believe it made money at all (think of a brutal puzzler like AntiRoom, which was another very successful one). I guess what I'm really asking here is what you think the barrier is, because it's not an incredibly crowded market. On mobile, just getting your game noticed is next to impossible. That's easier in this space. Or maybe you disagree?
      - cwyers 12y ago
        Just check out the new releases list on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released_DESC&os=win#sort_by=Released_DESC&tags=492&category1=998&os=win&page=1 http://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released_DESC&...
        sramsay 12y ago
        I think my question probably seems overly naive or provocative (it's being down voted, after all). I'm really just trying to divine the source of your cynicism. Possibilities include: 1. There are too many games; it's as hard to get noticed in this sector as it is on the app store. 2. You don't stand a chance if you can't make a polished game, and a polished game is going to have a $100,000 budget (or let's just say, way more than "I think I'll download the free version of Unity" can afford). 3. Most games are mediocre at best, and yours probably will be too (because the designers of those hits really knew what they were doing, and you probably don't). Am I getting this right? All of the above? Some of the above? I've seen lots of indie games that I think are mediocre become hits. I've rarely seen a game that I think is a gem go completely unnoticed. Part of it, it seems to me, is that a really tight niche game can become a hit within that niche and make a surprising amount of money doing it. Take "Battle of the Bulge" by Shenandoah (which is an iOS game). $20,000 ask on Kickstarter for a game that is going after people who are into hex wargames. I'm going to guess that that game did considerably better than $3000 a quarter. They're making more, after all. Similarly, there are people out there who love side-scrollers and will basically buy any side-scroller that looks even remotely good. If it is good, is it really going to be a financial bust?
  - Guvante 12y ago
    I doubt 1% of games that are started on these engines are finished, let alone sold. That is why you won't make $3000, because you won't make $10. > Dear Esther, Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, Sword and Sworcery All of which cost at least $100k to make.
s73v3r 12y ago
What about version control? I remember you had to have Unity Pro in order to be able to use version control with other people in a sane manner.
- kendallpark 12y ago
  You can set up your own version control via command line. There are tutorials on how to do this and what files types to ignore, etc. You just can't have it integrate into the actual editor... which as programmer is fine by me.
- jsheard 12y ago
  Looks like that's still a premium feature, but you can get it standalone for $20/m instead of paying the full $75/m for Pro Edition. "Team Licence" http://unity3d.com/get-unity http://unity3d.com/get-unity
- unoti 12y ago
  It's super trivial now to set up your own version control at the command line. One check box in editor preferences and I was up and running with my own private free mercurial repos on Bitbucket.
  - tomjen3 12y ago
    I remember this being the biggest pain in the ass with unity, so much so that I did want to use it for team development, so this is huge if they solved it. Do you happen to have a link to which setting to switch?
    - unoti 12y ago
      Here you go! "This is done by selecting Edit->Project Settings->Editor in the application menu and enabling External Version Control support by selecting Visible Meta Files in the dropdown for Version Control. This will show a text file for every asset in the Assets directory containing the necessary bookkeeping information required by Unity. The files will have a .meta file extension with the first part being the full file name of the asset it is associated with. Moving and renaming assets within Unity should also update the relevant .meta files. However, if you move or rename assets from an external tool, make sure to syncronize the relevant .meta files as well." http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/ExternalVersionControlSystemSupport.html http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/ExternalVersionControlSystemS...

chrisbennet 12y ago

Unity has been free for at least a year but they didn't seem to advertise it until until Epic made their announcement.

ace22b 12y ago
Free version was pretty limited until this release. Now free version is fully featured and pro version just has some team features and lack of revenue restrictions.
msie 12y ago
Now you can deploy to iPhone and Android without paying $150/month.
- gambiting 12y ago
  You could before too. You would get the Unity splashscreen at the start, but you could deploy to any platform from the free version.
  - ercu 12y ago
    is the splash removed in Unity 5 free?
    - gambiting 12y ago
      Nope, it looks like it's there,looking at the list of features: http://unity3d.com/get-unity http://unity3d.com/get-unity