As video game enthusiast, I think I’ve seen the Unity logo more than any other during a game’s startup sequence. When I was in high school, I really wanted to create my own games. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the first thing about coding or game engines back then. I still don’t know much about game engines but I’ve been figuring out how to code since I joined the Flatiron bootcamp.
Unfortunately for me, the bootcamp’s coursework focuses mainly on full stack web development using Javascript, React, and Ruby on Rails whereas most games are written in C#. I was ecstatic to find out that the Javascript that I had learned can be used in Unity via Unityscript. The dream of using Javascript in Unity quickly hit a roadblock as I found out that Unityscript was phased out a few years back and it is no longer supported in newer versions of Unity. Since there’s nothing I can do about Unity no longer supporting Unityscript, the only option I have left is to learn C#.
Having to learn C# is something that I will most likely have to do if I wanted to pursue a career in the video game development field anyway so might as well try to learn it sooner rather than later.
From what I’ve gathered, Unity seems to be easy to use which explains its popularity. Pair that together with an incredibly large asset store (with many being free) and almost all developers would want to create games with it. The asset store is important and allows many developers without the ability to make their own assets to still make games that look good. With so many people using Unity, it naturally has a large community with many tutorials and support readily available all over the internet.
The flexibility of the game engine is another important topic. Just about any type of game can be created within the engine. It is capable of producing both 2D and 3D games. While the graphical output of the Unreal Engine, another game engine is certainly capable of producing truly magical environments and scenes, The graphical fidelity of games made in Unity is also very impressive if need be. For most indie developers, it is not feasible to focus all resources into graphics alone, and thus simpler and stylized graphics can make a game look very nice.
The most important part of the Unity engine is that it is free to use unless your revenue from the previous fiscal year exceeds $100,000. Knowing all of this, I will definitely be trying out the Unity engine and try to make my own game as soon as I’m able to find the time to.
