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Coherent UI - HTML5-based User Interface middleware

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by stoyannk, Oct 30, 2012.

  1. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    I'm very happy to announce that we have brought Coherent UI to Unity!


    Available on the Asset Store - Basic Version


    Available on the Asset Store - Standard Version


    Available on the Asset Store - Mobile only version



    Trial version available on our website


    Note: All versions include Coherent UI Mobile too!

    Check out our forum too for a lot of additional content! Show us what you have created with Coherent UI or directly ask us anything.

    Coherent UI has arrived to mobile devices!
    Coherent UI Mobile is currently in beta. It is (and always will be) available in all our current Coherent Labs products for Unity at no additional cost. There also is a standalone version for developer who work only on mobile applications.
    Read more here!


    Coherent UI is a graphical User Interface system specially designed for games. Game developers and UI artists can use standard modern HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to create game interface and interaction. Companies can save time and money, leveraging existing skills to implement the UI, as there is no special knowledge needed to use the system.



    We have already made available Coherent UI as a library on every desktop platform: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and of course .NET (fully compatible with Mono, SlimDX, SharpDX and XNA). We are also the only HTML5-based solution to support x64 binaries. We are now turning our attention towards mobile and consoles.

    The features we like the most include:
    • HTML5
    • CSS3
    • WebGL
    • GPU accelerated rendering
    • High-performance JavaScript virtual machine (based on V8 )
    • Powerful data binding
    • SSL
    • Social integration
    • Debugger and performance monitor
    • Download support

    With Coherent UI you can not only build your whole interface using HTML5, CSS3 JavaScript but also have fully-featured in-game browsers and social integration with Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc..

    Games that use Coherent UI for their interface include the great RTS Planetary Annihilation in development from Uber Entertainment:


    This is a video of our experimental CryEngine 3 integration (make sure to watch it in HD):


    Mobile Unity3D integration!



    How could you make Coherent UI part of your workflow?
    Anyone with even basic web-development knowledge can create beautiful user interfaces with Coherent UI.
    The interface is built in any web-development environment using modern HTML5. Any JavaScript library(JQuery, KendoUI etc.) can be used out of the box to facilitate the design process. One of our goals was to allow you to leverage existing technologies and concentrate on more important things like making your game even more fun.
    The created pages can be viewed and edited in any modern browser. After that they'll work without modification in the game.
    The solution is fully compatible with WebInspector so you can edit JavaScript and the page appearance live while the game is running. You don't even have to re-run the game so iteration times are cut substantially.
    The powerful binding interfaces allow for Unity scripts to call or be called from the JavaScript in your interface when more complex logic is required.

    We built Coherent UI to allow for full in-game browsing. It supports cookies, local store, SSL, WebAudio and even Flash so all pages in the world are just a few clicks away. You could even have games-in-the game!
    You need secure micro-transactions in your game? No problem - just point Coherent UI to the relevant part of your website and reuse the interface you already have. You won't have to worry about billing your clients through the game script because Coherent UI will be the one connecting as a normal browser through SSL.

    We have embedded full social integration in Coherent UI that allows you to connect painlessly your players through Facebook, Twitter and any site supporting the OAuth protocol. This allows you to add achievements, bragging and even chat through social networks. We think that players shouldn't search again for their friend in the game when they are already connected through some other service.

    Coherent UI in Unity 4 with DirectX 11 rendering and x64 build


    Quick Tutorial #1
    Our first short tutorial performs the following steps:
    • Import the Coherent UI package
    • Create an in-game object with a web page on it
    • Interact with a web page in the game
    • Add a HUD powered by Coherent UI
    • Build the game


    Tutorial Explained
    1. We load an empty scene and add a floor, a light and a cube on which we'll project what in Coherent UI terms we call a 'View'. A view is something that Coherent UI renders - that could be a HUD element, a projected web page, an animation - anything wrapped in an HTML page.


    2. We add a character controller so that we can move around

    3. We import the Coherent UI package. The component we are interested in this tutorial is 'CoherentUIView'. We drag it on one of the faces of the cube. All the various properties of the View are editable in the Inspector. By default it will load google.com. Let's hit 'Play'.

    4. We can see the web page on the game object in Unity!

    5. We change the web page and the resolution.

    6. Now we have a nicer page in a better resolution.



    7. The next thing is to make the page interactable. To do this we add a Mesh Collider component to the mesh. Then a UserScipt component that just handles the raycast and mouse button translation to the Coherent UI View. We also add some code to the camera to stop it from receiving when we hit 'L', otherwise it's very hard to click on anything with the mouse-look on. That's it - the View is now fully interactable.

    8. Now for the HUD - we just drag the 'CoherentUIView' component on our Main Camera. We have made the HUD resources and copy them in our project and set the View's Page property to coui://TestPages/demo/demo.html.
    'coui' is a special protocol we use to signal that the resource is local and subject to loading through the file handlers supplied by the application. In this way you can use a custom resource manager as well as for instance encrypt your UI data. The HUD looks pixelated because the resolution we set does not coincide with the one of the Editor pane. It will however be OK in the game when we build it. In your games the resolution will always be tied to the actual resolution of the Camera (the back-buffer).



    9. The Coherent UI integration handles all cases and detects if the component is attached to and object in the world or a camera. It is compatible with post effects. We can add an effect on the camera. By default that effect will be applied to the View also. However this might not be desirable so by clicking 'Apply After Post-Effects' you can disable them on the View.



    10. We now just have to build the game. Coherent UI resources will automatically be copied and made available at runtime.



    All Coherent UI rendering happens in the native C++ plugin so it's impact on the performance of your game should be minimal.

    Check out our site and the samples to get a taste. You could also check our blog where we often write about the development of the library.

    The Unity3D plugin of our product is finally here!

    Final release is here!
    Changes include:
    - Easier integration
    - Undo/Redo support
    - More samples
    - Official Mac OS X support
    - DirectX 11 on Unity support


    Available on the Asset Store - Basic Version


    Available on the Asset Store - Standard Version


    Available on the Asset Store - Mobile only version


    Trial version available on our website
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2013
    John3D likes this.
  2. nuverian

    nuverian

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    Dunno why no reply yet, but I was thinking about such a UI system some time now and I think this is prety awesome. If we are able to use the output or somehow put in the workflow tools like Adobe Edge or Sencha Animator, well...I think thats even more awesome.
     
  3. kenlem

    kenlem

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    I'm not getting too excited until I see the price for Indie Unity iOS support.
     
  4. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    There is no problem to use these tools to create content and use it in Coherent UI. Anything that produces HTML, CSS and JS can be used without limitations. Part of the interface in our demos is indeed made with Adobe Edge.
     
  5. nuverian

    nuverian

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    Superb then! Whats left is how we actually implement this in the game :). Will be waiting for more info on the Unity implementation part.
    Thanks
     
  6. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    We now officially support all .NET environments. Check out for more info our blog entry:
    http://coherent-labs.com/announcing-coherent-ui-for-net/

    If anyone wants to try the product before our official Unity integration is complete, it can now be done in all Unity-supported languages.
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2013
  7. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    We are on fire! Due to our Unity3D integration we had to accelerate the implementation of our support for client applications with multi-threaded rendering architectures (as is Unity). Check out the details here.
     
  8. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    We have achieved alpha status of our Unity3D integration (be sure to watch it in HD):


    As you can see the rendering and part of the input work perfectly. We are now focusing on user-friendliness and editor functionality. Any feedback will be much appreciated ;)
     
  9. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Very interesting! I will keep an eye on this.
    Will the Acrobat Reader browser-plugin work with this?
     
  10. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    All JavaScript based .pdf readers work fine. We support plugins so the Adobe one should work too, although I haven't personally tested it in particular.
     
  11. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Thanks for that info. I'm really looking forward to test this in unity.
     
  12. nuverian

    nuverian

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    do you have any beta stage where unity users can participate and give feedback?
     
  13. liverolA

    liverolA

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    you should put some live demo on website!
     
  14. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    We already have a fully functional version (also a Free one) for .NET and C++ clients, so if you are very eager to try it, you can download them. We plan a beta for the Unity version to land in approximately two weeks, so stay tuned.
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2012
  15. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    We have posted our first quick tutorial on how to use Coherent UI in the Unity3D editor!
     
  16. fanjules

    fanjules

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    I'm a little bit confused about this product. I've been looking for a webkit-style html renderer for ages now, mainly because my product would operate much better if that were the primary UI (think long scrollable pages, tables, forms and input handled by forms, etc.). Is that what coherent UI can do or is it limited to just HTML5?

    Also as well as the other build targets will it also support Linux, Android, etc. ? What is the expected pricing for the mobile versions?
     
  17. Pia

    Pia

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    This will not work in Webplayer because it is a C++ plugin, right?
     
  18. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    Yes, Coherent UI can do all that. It could be used as an in-game browser so it supports rendering and interaction with all web pages you can think of as well as input forms, SSL, cookies etc. It was always designed as a UI solution so it is very fast and tries to address all the usual problems that I think bother people when working on UI - built-in click-through support, great font rendering even on transparent surface (clear type could be a real pain), super easy data binding, easy localization etc. The core HTML layout engine is WebKit. I think it would be a perfect fit for your needs.

    It already supports Linux. Android is planned in the near future but I can't give an exact date for when it'll be ready.

    I'm not personally aware what the price will be as I am in the development team but as far as I know it'll be very reasonable for the Unity versions and they will have all the features of the more expensive C++ libraries.

    We are releasing our Unity Beta version in the next few days so you will be able to try it yourself and hopefully I'll know more about the pricing and be more helpful about that :)
     
  19. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    No, in order to provide the needed performance the library is written entirely in C++ with a very thin C# wrapper, so the Unity webplayer restrictions apply.
     
  20. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    We are officially starting our open beta campaign.
    Sign up for beta now! I am eager to receive any feedback on the product, feel free to contact me directly or write to [info at coherent-labs dot com]
     
  21. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Signed up. Thank you!
     
  22. Acenth

    Acenth

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    Been using this for a couple days, and it is pretty awesome. I haven't noticed any performance issues, and it took my about an hour to move my custom UI from Scaleform to HTML5.

    The animations are fairly smooth too, and most things "just worked"
     
  23. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Are you using any html5 specific software for animations?
     
  24. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    We natively support DirectX 11 rendering so with the new Unity 4 you can use that renderer. The performance improvement is between 30% and 50% compared to the DirectX 9 - based pipeline in Unity 3.5. The video also shows running on Windows 8 and the x64 build.

     
  25. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    It runs pretty good so far.
    The Adobe Reader Plugin isn't working though.
     
  26. Goldrake

    Goldrake

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    I'm developing for mobile on Unity. Is it compatible?
     
  27. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    Currently mobile support is in alpha. We hope to release it in the following months. We are very focused on delivering the same high performance we do on Desktop machines on mobile platforms too, so we take our time :)
     
  28. UnityCoder

    UnityCoder

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    What about Android,

    If suppose i want to load some external html pages with embed .swf within those pages, can i get it work within android devices ? can i able to get all interaction of flash within Unity?

    Can it also work for web player also on all major platforms (mac, windows, linux)?
     
  29. WillBellJr

    WillBellJr

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    Very interested in this for my UIs - congrats if you can get this to be performant across the board with Unity.

    Frankly, this seems magical to me from the descriptions (haven't watched any video yet).

    Definitely keeping an eye out on this one!


    -Will
     
  30. UnityCoder

    UnityCoder

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    I requested for beta version of your API and i already got it and i tested it Unity 3.5 and 4.0 pro vesion, but i am constantly getting error. There error message saying "DllNotFoundException". I imported a unity package in a new project and follow your instruction step by step. I already have Plugin and streaming Assets folders in my Assets. I also checked there is "CoherentUI_WrapperNet.dll" also present in my plugin folder.

    So what i m doing wrong. Here is the screen shot of my scene...

     
  31. Games-Foundry

    Games-Foundry

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    Grabbed the beta. Very promising. I've been testing it in conjunction with NGUI and can't get a transparent CoherentUIViewer working ( using the standard transparent/diffuse shader ). Everything works perfectly with the google.com cube demo ( both transparent and opaque when accessing my custom local web page ), but I can't get transparency working on a plane when it's dropped into an NGUI camera hierarchy. It only seems to work when I swap to the diffuse shader. Must be something I'm missing. Has anyone else had success at achieving this?

    Update: Looks like this is an issue with the built-in transparent/diffuse shader specific to our project, probably render queue order. Everything works as expected if dumped into an empty scene. The email support looks very promising and fills me with confidence.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2012
  32. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    The problem was solved: Coherent UI requires the June 2010 DirectX redistributable. I'm very sorry we didn't state that clearly in the documentation - it's mentioned only on the website. Will update the docs.
     
  33. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Will the testers be notified when the beta gets updated?
     
  34. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    Yes of course - it is almost ready and contains exciting features tailored especially for the Unity3D version :)
     
  35. stoyannk

    stoyannk

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    I am proud to announce that as of today we are distributing a new version of our Unity3D integration Beta. Changes include:

    - Creation/destruction of Views in Code
    - Extended Documentation
    - Attributes for automatic binding of .NET methods to View events and callbacks
    - Stability fixes
    - Performance improvements

    All previous beta testers will receive e-mails with links to the new version.

    If you haven't already tried Coherent UI - sign in here and start creating great UI in no time!
     
  36. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Hm, unfortunately I have not received an email yet.
     
  37. UnityCoder

    UnityCoder

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    Even i also didnt get any notification..
     
  38. jessica1986

    jessica1986

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    Does it support web player ? Unity n flash output ? U have not replied on this anywhere
     
  39. jessica1986

    jessica1986

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    Nobody replying in this forum. I did not get any link aswell. Are you people joking around ??

    Does it support web player ? Unity n flash output ?
     
  40. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    It is a plugin, so I don't think it supports web player and flash output. I have not tested it though.
     
  41. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Bump!
     
  42. MartinZhel

    MartinZhel

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    No, it does not support web player because Unity does not allow native plug-ins on them. Currently flash export is not supported as well.
     
  43. MartinZhel

    MartinZhel

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    We haven't released the new version yet because we wanted to include the support for Mac as well to make it a major update. This is going to happen very soon. We will keep you updated when it's ready.
     
  44. zyzyx

    zyzyx

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    Thank you very much for the update!
     
  45. GamePowerNetwork

    GamePowerNetwork

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    I was about to purchase but first let me get a clear understanding....

    If I purchase this plugin today.. I can't build my game from my Mac? I'd have to build on a windows PC?
     
  46. MartinZhel

    MartinZhel

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    If you buy it today, you will need to start building your game on PC. However, you will get all updates for free + the Mac version which is going to be ready very soon.
     
  47. GamePowerNetwork

    GamePowerNetwork

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    That's great news! I was a little worried before.

    PS. Great job on the system!
     
  48. PhobicGunner

    PhobicGunner

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    Holy mother of god, this is exactly what I've been looking for!
    I first found Scaleform for Unity, but I cringed at the price ($300 per seat per platform, not even including the cost of Adobe Flash)
    This seems like an incredible alternative to Scaleform. Plus we can just develop in standard HTML (which is designed for complex user interfaces, perhaps more so than Flash!).

    EDIT: So far seems like it's pretty damn seamless.
    Doesn't look like it supports Android yet, but as long as it's being worked on I'd be happy to use this for my game's UI :D
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2013
    billy_co likes this.
  49. MartinZhel

    MartinZhel

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    Android is currently in development. We will let you know when we have some updates.

     
  50. Krileon

    Krileon

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    The Unity license says "Yearly, per Seat"; what does this mean exactly? It'll be $159 per year per seat? That seams a bit much as there is plenty of acceptable UI alternatives available. Does this mean it won't be on the asset store as on asset store there are no subscription based assets.