Comments on: Casual Connect http://www.raphkoster.com/2009/07/21/casual-connect/ Raph Koster's personal website: MMOs, gaming, writing, art, music, books Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:02:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Nicholas Francishttp://www.raphkoster.com/2009/07/21/casual-connect/comment-page-1/#comment-149520 Nicholas Francis Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:16:25 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=3050#comment-149520 At Unity, we are certainly very keen on being used for MMOs - and Cartoon Networks' Fusionfall also shows that Unity is certainly able to deploy MMOs. With our web deployment and 14million installed plug-ins, I think Unity makes perfect sense as a platform when making an MMO. There are currently over 10 MMOs in development that use Unity, so we're by no means anti-MMO - (can't give you names, NDAs and all that :) What Unity does <em>not</em> currently have is the full MMO stack (with backend servers, billing, lobbys, etc) - instead, we've partnered up with various companies that specialize in this. I'm currently aware of integrations for Neutron SDK, SmartFox and NetDog. Quite a few of our users have asked us about providing the complete vertical stack but we feel that it is a task best left to people who are dedicated to doing that. Hope this clears the confusion up. Cheers, Nicholas Francis Unity Chief Creative & Co-founder At Unity, we are certainly very keen on being used for MMOs – and Cartoon Networks’ Fusionfall also shows that Unity is certainly able to deploy MMOs. With our web deployment and 14million installed plug-ins, I think Unity makes perfect sense as a platform when making an MMO.

There are currently over 10 MMOs in development that use Unity, so we’re by no means anti-MMO – (can’t give you names, NDAs and all that :)

What Unity does not currently have is the full MMO stack (with backend servers, billing, lobbys, etc) – instead, we’ve partnered up with various companies that specialize in this. I’m currently aware of integrations for Neutron SDK, SmartFox and NetDog. Quite a few of our users have asked us about providing the complete vertical stack but we feel that it is a task best left to people who are dedicated to doing that.

Hope this clears the confusion up.

Cheers,
Nicholas Francis
Unity Chief Creative & Co-founder

]]> By: Dave Nicholshttp://www.raphkoster.com/2009/07/21/casual-connect/comment-page-1/#comment-149398 Dave Nichols Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:58:11 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=3050#comment-149398 Ah, ok. A little confusion there, as your reference to mmo kit and "engine" left it sounding like Unity was anti-MMO in nature. I'm aware of the need for a back-end, and have looked at net dog and others. I'm happy with the functionality Unity provides to artists for MMO production -- their import pipeline includes full FBX support. The C++ plugin functionality is also nice because it lets one avoid a low-level license fee, yet still allows low-level integration of middleware. Ah, ok. A little confusion there, as your reference to mmo kit and “engine” left it sounding like Unity was anti-MMO in nature. I’m aware of the need for a back-end, and have looked at net dog and others. I’m happy with the functionality Unity provides to artists for MMO production — their import pipeline includes full FBX support. The C++ plugin functionality is also nice because it lets one avoid a low-level license fee, yet still allows low-level integration of middleware.

]]> By: Guy Russonhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2009/07/21/casual-connect/comment-page-1/#comment-149380 Guy Russon Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:52:51 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=3050#comment-149380 I take it this Unity 3D is nothing to do with the Game Engine (Unity 3D) for WWIIoL / Battleground Europe then? Anyway, I hope KingsIsle gets a mention. Quiet achiever there. I take it this Unity 3D is nothing to do with the Game Engine (Unity 3D) for WWIIoL / Battleground Europe then?

Anyway, I hope KingsIsle gets a mention. Quiet achiever there.

]]> By: Derek Licciardihttp://www.raphkoster.com/2009/07/21/casual-connect/comment-page-1/#comment-149368 Derek Licciardi Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:02:49 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=3050#comment-149368 The first is in their support of a headless server on Windows. It's specifically not meant to be a MMO backend. http://feedback.unity3d.com/pages/15792-unity/suggestions/164004-networking-headless-server-support Then this post talks about how Unity + a back end can do it. http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=27942&highlight=mmo Here's a thread I took part in. http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=21929&highlight=mmo Now this might change with the release of 2.6 but using Unity for an MMO is the same as using Gamebryo or Torque. All three are just the client front end, one of the many headends connecting to a server that is custom built. It would be just as odd to see John Carmack sitting on the panel. His company makes 3D engines and doesn't have expertise in virtual worlds. They can speak about casual games but Unity doesn't come from a position of expertise on virtual worlds. Now, if Unity is announcing things by being on this panel then great. I actually think it could become a good platform for MMOs. The engine seems well constructed and the tools are there for lots of things I'd like to see in a MMO.(Web based streaming of assets and such) Right now server side, there's next to nothing and the engine's just the tip of the iceberg for a MMO implementation. The first is in their support of a headless server on Windows. It’s specifically not meant to be a MMO backend.
http://feedback.unity3d.com/pages/15792-unity/suggestions/164004-networking-headless-server-support

Then this post talks about how Unity + a back end can do it.
http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=27942&highlight=mmo

Here’s a thread I took part in.
http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=21929&highlight=mmo

Now this might change with the release of 2.6 but using Unity for an MMO is the same as using Gamebryo or Torque. All three are just the client front end, one of the many headends connecting to a server that is custom built. It would be just as odd to see John Carmack sitting on the panel. His company makes 3D engines and doesn’t have expertise in virtual worlds. They can speak about casual games but Unity doesn’t come from a position of expertise on virtual worlds.

Now, if Unity is announcing things by being on this panel then great. I actually think it could become a good platform for MMOs. The engine seems well constructed and the tools are there for lots of things I’d like to see in a MMO.(Web based streaming of assets and such) Right now server side, there’s next to nothing and the engine’s just the tip of the iceberg for a MMO implementation.

]]> By: Dave Nicholshttp://www.raphkoster.com/2009/07/21/casual-connect/comment-page-1/#comment-149361 Dave Nichols Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:52:00 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=3050#comment-149361 I'm curious, where can i find Unity's posts about this? I'm surprised to hear this, and am concerned as a Unity Pro licensee. I’m curious, where can i find Unity’s posts about this? I’m surprised to hear this, and am concerned as a Unity Pro licensee.

]]> By: Derek Licciardihttp://www.raphkoster.com/2009/07/21/casual-connect/comment-page-1/#comment-149358 Derek Licciardi Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:17:20 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=3050#comment-149358 I find the inclusion of Unity3D on that list interesting. They've adamantly stated that they were opposed to helping Unity3D become a MMO kit even though there's a long line of forum posts on their website asking for just this. Recently, they announce that off in the future, a server version of their engine would be available but they specifically stated that it is not meant to be a MMO engine at all. So their inclusion in this panel is to say the least interesting. I'm looking forward to the notes from this session. I find the inclusion of Unity3D on that list interesting. They’ve adamantly stated that they were opposed to helping Unity3D become a MMO kit even though there’s a long line of forum posts on their website asking for just this. Recently, they announce that off in the future, a server version of their engine would be available but they specifically stated that it is not meant to be a MMO engine at all. So their inclusion in this panel is to say the least interesting. I’m looking forward to the notes from this session.

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