I've been working with Unity now for over a month. I'm blown away at the capabilities of this engine and what it brings to projects trapped in 2d. It's made me completely start over development of my Android application with a new approach using the engine. Though Unity currently isn't available for android, the plugin is due out any moment. Unity is already showing a large amount of success with the iPhone already. There are several languages that can be used for scripting in Unity, the most friendly and most popular is Javascript. So yes, with Unity, it's easy to port apps to both mobile platforms with ease.
Don't forget the desktop or console gaming platforms either. Unity also exports to Mac/PC and even the Playstation3! I assume XBOX compatibility is forthcoming. I'm working with version 2.6 now. Amazing how the engine mixes many of the elements found inside Adobe After Effects, Flash, and various 3D applications i've learned over the years. Once you learn the boundaries for media optimization needed for game engines, the production environment offers a fully 3d and realtime editing experience.
The only area of trouble for me, as always. is the programming and scripting languages. It would be great to work with a knowledgable Javascript programmer that has an interest in 3D. Thankfully, their are detailed demos on Youtube and even better, the community has "prefabs" available that can have you adding functionality already scripted. It literally becomes drag and drop for many things. The TornadoTwins (actually twins), have been teaching me the interface and engine pretty quickly. They make learning fun and easy to get up to speed. Plus Unity gives you everything you need to get started for free, including sample projects. I'll be purchasing a pro license along with an android license when my app is ready. It's looking like December. Just around the time for Google TV. I'll know more after I arrive in China.
Cinema 4D is working well with exporting 3d assets for importation into Unity. I am creating a workflow for vegetation to be imported into Unity. Starting in Vue xStream and exporting baked lowpoly models for adjustment in Cinema 4d then exporting as FBX into Unity, is proving to be a difficult process. Currently I am having issues with Normals as my textures are only visible from one side of each poly. And for leaves, that's not working out very well. Though I am already running and jumping around my own environment and have a handle on the tasks ahead. Most of all, I'm having fun working with Unity.
Rigging trees for prefab animations for wind and collision detection for particle generators is on the list too. Thankfully this is a longterm project. I'll have some help soon after I get my trip underway! I'll soon be posting some shots of my previs work and environment after I am set up in Beijing.
Also coming with Unity3d V. 3, is the Umbra Middleware Occlusion Booster. Which as you can see in the video above, allows Game Engines to take advantage of having polygon rich environments. The visual space only includes what polygons are required at the exact moment and is updated in realtime. Amazing stuff. More on how Umbra will offer other optimization capabilities to Unity3d in the video below.
