gamifi.cc team - Rudolf & Matej presented on local tech/mobile/games conference experience with Unity & game development in general. We also list some other tools that might help you. First part covers business tips & reasons to use Unity.

1. Developing applications & games
in Unity engine
Matej Jariabka
co-founder of gamifi.cc

2. Introducing gamifi.cc
• Indie studio from Brno, CZ: David Jozefov, Rudolf Kajan,
Matej Jariabka, Martin Wilczak
• Experience with games for Win, XBOX360, Windows Phone
• FireFighters: Whatever It Takes!
(world finals of Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 – 3th place in Game Design category)
• Yggdrasil: The Tree of Life
(world finals of Microsoft Imagine Cup 2012 – 6th place in Game Design category)
• The Great Wobo Escape
multiplatform 2.5D action puzzle platformer, in development since 01/2013

3. How we discovered Unity
•
•
•
•
•
We have a game, we don’t have an engine
What is a trend, what others use?
Platforms!
No re-inventing the wheel!
Thinking 5+ years in advance

4. Why is Unity a clear choice for us
•
•
•
•
Easy multiplatform development minimizes risks!
Easy to use
We can create what we need (editor)
Minimum training required

5. Platforms supported by Unity
• Consoles current-gen & next-gen
• Mobile
• Desktop

6. Platforms supported by Unity

7. Unity vs Kickstarter 1/2
Is Unity popular on Kickstarter?
40%
of games in TOP15 Most Funded Video Games use Unity
*As of 11/2013

8. Unity vs Kickstarter 2/2
How much $USD Unity games raised on Kickstarter.com?
$16 403 255
6/15 games in TOP15 Most Funded Video Games
*As of 11/2013

9. How to choose a game engine
•
•
•
•
•
Don’t start to make a game by creating an engine!
Know your limits and goals
Make choice in line with your business model
Choose for a game type - FPS, MMO, Casual
Don’t be afraid to invest (a little)
– tools, support, licence type, modules, etc.

10. Alternatives
• CryEngine
– Several options for licensing
– Visually rich & powerful
• Unreal Engine
– Flexible for game genres, multiplatform
– Free, or 25% from profits over $50k

11. Why Unity - PROS
•
•
•
•
•
Unity if free (low/limited price)
Multiplatform tool
Support and ongoing development of new feature
Asset store, plugins
Indie standard

12. Why Unity - CONS
• Unity Pro is not free
• Requires skills! (coding)
• Will require customization

13. Unity for non-developers
Prototyping
Build
Test
Deploy
• Easily integrate non-developing people into the flow
• Less and less complex work for dev team

14. Prototyping
Quick feedback
• Does it look good?
• Is it working as expected?
• Does it fit to the concept?

15. Test
Testing is independent on Dev team
1. In Unity: File -> Build & Run
2. Publish through Unity Web Player, send .apk, .etc.
3. Testing, bug reports, etc.

16. Deploy
• Publish on Store / Marketplace
• Texts
• PR & Marketing

17. Unity Web Player
•
•
•
•
Share a whole game through just one URL
Win / Mac OS + any browser is required - universal
Unity: File -> Build & Run -> Web Player
Dropbox Public directory (copy public link)

18. Unity Hardware Statistics
• Useful for setting a minimal HW requirements
• Simple but free, anonymous stats: OS version, GPU,
CPU, memory size, display size, device manufacturer
• For Web player, Mobile, Editor
• stats.unity3d.com

19. Rudolf Kajan
will continue

20. Indie Game Development
with XNA & Unity
Rudolf Kajan
co-founder of gamifi.cc

21. 2008
2009
MoonGate
Engine
2010
Firefighters
2011
Yggdrasil
2012
2013
The Great
Wobo Escape

22. Smart Multipurpose Interactive Learning Environment
• With visually impaired
players in mind
• Educational aspects
• GarageGames
• Torque

23. #1 - Use Tools!
•
•
•
•
Time is better used making a polished game
Easy to ramp up new people
Moving between projects is easier (2D/3D game switch)
Lots of available tools (Unity)
• BUILD GAME, NOT TECH!
• Reinventing the wheel is a trap – 75% done easily, rest
super-expensive

24. #2 - Iterate Small Idea
• “Like <insert AAA title name>, but better!”
• Multi-platform cloud-based MMORPG with social
aspects
#3 - Stay Visible

25. XNA
Games
Custom game logic
Custom Content
Components
Starter Kits
Extended Framework
Application Model
Content Pipeline
Core Framework
Graphics
Audio
Input
Networking
Math
Storage
Gamer Services
Platform
DirectX
XDK
.NET Framework
.NET CF
• Lots of o-o-b
functionality
• Documentation
• Community content
• VS integration
• Just MS platforms
• Future Support

26. XNA – Content Pipeline
.X
.FBX
XNA Content Pipeline Flow
Importer
Content
DOM
Processor
Content
Compiler
.XNB
• Lots of o-o-b
functionality
• Documentation
• Community content
• VS integration
.TGA
• Just MS platforms
• Future Support

27. MoonGate Engine
• Violates previous
tips 
• PC & Xbox360
• Used by students
• X360
optimizations

28. Firefighters: Whatever It Takes!
• RTS
• IC Entry - NY
• 3rd Place
Worldwide
• Educational
Aspects

29. Yggdrasil:
The Tree of Life
•
•
•
•
Simulation
Cloud-based
IC Entry - Sydney
6th Place
Worldwide
• Educational
Aspects

30. Yggdrasil: The Tree of Life
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Azure
Worker Roles
Compute Roles
Cloud DB
Message Queues
Thin Client
AR

31. Yggdrasil: The Tree of Life
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Azure
Worker Roles
Compute Roles
Cloud DB
Message Queues
Thin Client
AR

32. The Great Wobo Escape

33. Fast Prototyping
• Quick Pivots
• Test ideas – TuDee,
then develop your tools
(NOT engine first)
• TEST ON PEOPLE!!!
(HCI, video recs,
notes) - they will do
stuff you do not expect!

34. Unity
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Extendable Editor
Browser & Inspector
Scene Hierarchy
Mecanim
Shuriken
Scripting
Networking
Asset Store

35. First Iteration of Basic Components
03/2013
07/2013

36. Current Consumer Mobiles
•
•
What you can reasonably expect to run on current consumer mobiles:
Lightmapped static geometry. But beware of:
•
•
•
•
Animated characters, even with fancy shaders! But beware of:
•
•
Overdraw, or, lots of layers drawn on top of eachother.
Particle effects. But beware of:
•
•
•
Massive crowds or high-poly characters
2D games with sprites. But beware of:
•
•
Using a lot of alpha-test shaders
Bumpmapping, especially using built-in shaders.
High polygon count
High density on large particles. (Lots of particles drawn on top of each other. This is another overdraw situation)
Ridiculous numbers of particles, or particle colliders.
Physics. But beware of:
•
•
Mesh colliders.
Lots of active bodies

37. Current Consumer Mobiles
• What you CANNOT reasonably expect to run on current
consumer mobiles:
• Fullscreen screen image effects like glow and depth of field.
• Dynamic per-pixel lighting (multiple lights marked Important and
not baked into the lightmap)
• Every affected object is drawn an additional time for every dynamic
light you use, and this gets slow quickly.
• Real time shadows on everything
• Unity 4 offers native support for real time shadows on mobile
platforms, but their use must be very judicious, and likely limited to
higher-end devices.

38. Tools We Use and Love
•
•
•
•
•
Unity3d
Blender
GIMP
Zbrush
BlackInk
•
•
•
•
TuDee
VS + UnityVS
Serializer
GameAnalytics

39. Tools We Use and Love
•
•
•
•
•
Unity3d
Blender
GIMP
Zbrush
BlackInk
•
•
•
•
TuDee
VS + UnityVS
Serializer
GameAnalytics

40. Level Design
•
•
•
•
Idea – Level Beat Chart
TuDee / Excel 
Generated Prototype Scene in Unity
Parallel Testing / Adjustments
– Actors
• State Machines, FSM, experimental FFSM, INDIE RAIN!
– Triggers

41. Animations

42. Poor Man’s Motion Capturing
Kinect & PS Eye

43. Generated Art + Tricks

44. Generated Art + Tricks

45. Light Probes

46. Batching
Rule of thumb: don’t use more then a few hundred draw calls per frame on mobiles or a few thousand
on desktops for current hardware.

47. Web & Blog
Twitter
Facebook
DeviantArt
IndieDB
Youtube
Steam
www.gamifi.cc
@gamificc
/gamificc
gamificc.deviantart.com
/members/gamificc
is.gd/tgwe_youtube
is.gd/tgwe_steam