Programming language: C#, UnityScript, Boo

Official site: http://unity3d.com/

Having looked at Unity I was initially under the impression that it was far more complex than I’d ever need and was not really suited to the 2D games I want to make. It was also quite expensive. However, a change in pricing (a free basic version that amongst other things allows builds to Android and iOS) and me doing some wider reading of tutorials and articles from people creating 2D games in Unity I changed my opinion. I’m also fairly convinced that Unity will introduce more support for 2D as I suspect they are keen to consolidate their position in the mobile games market since its a massive growth area. Having released a free version I suspect they’re aiming to get a dominant position in the market and mobile is such an important part of that that there will be more functionality to follow.

There may be a few extra things I’d need to buy to do what I want or to make things easier. For example, a plug-in to help with ads and IAPs or to do the GUI (Unity’s GUI system is a bit basic). Otherwise though it looks like Unity is a very strong contender with only a few downsides.

Summary

It’s hard not to like Unity, it’s powerful but easy to work with. The free version offers plenty for the new developer and the support, from many places and not just Unity direct, looks fantastic.

Update…

Since I wrote this article Unity has announced many new features (better 2D support, Unity Cloud,improved GUI) that makes it even better suited to my needs than it was before.

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