We've been working in 3D games for some time now. Time to reflect on that. One of the immediate things I've noticed is that 3D is the default, which means a lot of things are easy to manage because I don't have to go looking for the 2D version, or making special accommodations to let the 2D physics work. It seems pretty clear to be that Unity is really meant for 3D. Of course, I do have to take another axis in to account, but it's not nearly as big of a deal as I had expected. Another thing I noticed immediately was the difference in how the game environment is set up. Three dimensions make it easier to lose objects (though you'd be surprised how easily I've done that with only two), and there are things like skyboxes and different camera angles to worry about. One perk of 2D is that it's generally easy to keep everything on/off screen as needed and not accidentally show the viewer the vast and terrifying expanse of the rest of the scene. That was a point of particular irritation for me when working on the Survival Shooter tutorial, as getting too close to the edge of the screen would reveal a bright blue and white horizon, which did not at all fit in with the aesthetic of the game, nor did it make any kind of sense, and in my opinion distracted from the experience. Unfortunately I never got the chance to see if I could turn it to something more fitting, like a dark purple void. Something I noticed further along was that when you take away sprites and start dealing with 3D objects, things get a lot of complicated. I didn't know what a nav mesh agent was last year. I knew what a 3D material was but never realized Unity used them. Lighting and sound are more affected by the environment. It unlocks a lot more potential (unless I'm underestimating the power of 2D), but it's a lot more to keep track of. With great power comes great complexity...and great length of component lists. So, to summarize:
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AuthorI'm moving on to my 4th (and final) year as a Game Art & Design student at Durham School of the Arts. I'd like to call myself an artist, but I'm a programmer at heart. Archives
February 2020
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