Opinions: Playmaker vs Universe vs uScript?

Which is better for programmers? For non-programmers?

I'm only familiar with Playmaker, having used it a bit, but they all look pretty good.

Thoughts?

 

I have all three. Universe is more for programmers as it's kind of the lowest level and everything in Unity can be accessed by it. It's also the oldest of these visual tools on the asset store and does seem pretty good. There is a demo where Neodrop builds a full mastermind game with it pretty quick. It's not so easy to learn for non-programmers. Then uScript is also very good but is a bit more accessible but not been around so long, I've had a go with it and it is good but I've never tried to build a full game with it. Playmaker now seems very mature and a lot of non-programmers have made games with it, and with the new additions that came out recently it does allow one to build one's own game kits in the sense that if you wished to reuse all the playmaker actions for a clone of the same game it is possible. Playmaker, once one gets used to it does allow for very rapid development and it seems to be constantly updated. On the negative side plugins to use it for blackberry and other devices have to be bought seperately. Playmaker is the most accessible for non-programmers because it can be shown when the actions fire so it is easier to locate a logic failure when setting things up. I bought all of these when they first came out so have followed the development but have never used any to a great extent because I never have any time to learn them. Of the three Playmaker has been used to make more games there is also a packtpub book out currently on sale until 6.1.2014 for $5 called Game design with Unity and Playmaker. The three together I would judge Antares Universe as being better for programmers, uScript between Antares and Playmaker in terms of ability needed to use it, andPlaymaker the best for non-programmers.

 

I would second sicga123 of what he said.
I have all three as well and PlayMaker is easiest to learn and use while Antares Universe is the hardest to learn and use (more like visual scripting - literally, but you have the least restriction) while uScript is sitting in the middle.

Basically, uScript is based on Unreal Kismet, while Antares Universe (VIZIO ) is based on Virtools, and I am not sure what PlayMaker is based on.

In term of documentation - PlayMaker is the best documented one partly because it is the most popular extension on Asset Store and the team behind it is able to dedicate more time and resources for it. While uScript is kinda lacking in documentation right now but it should improve as it is coming out of beta right now and it is backed by a 3-man team, while Antares being an one-man Russian production has the least ENGLISH documentations.


Maddox wrote an excellent blog about this :
http://themaddoxcorner.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/visual-scripting-and-coding-for-games.html


I have also previous answer this here (with more links of other people's opinions):

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/196279-Which-best-Visual-Scripting-in-asset-store
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/14...Playmaker-Vs-Brain-Buider-Vs-Antares-Universe
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/127868-uScript-or-Playmaker
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/108532-uScript-vs-Playmaker
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/85882-Antares-Universe-or-Playmaker-or-else
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/105875-PlayMaker-vs-uScript
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/115691-Visual-Scripter-Which-One-Do-I-Choose
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/85882-Antares-Universe-or-Playmaker-or-else
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/83863-Playmaker-vs.-Vizio-vs.?p=538602#post538602

 

As a C# programmer with some experience with LabView I find that a curious conclusion. If one is proficient with text-based languages, why bother with low-level visual scripting? That only seems to slow me down. Whereas I could really use a visual overview of the architecture, something like UML diagrams updated in real-time. In fact, architecture and modeling tools are some of the defining features of Visual Studio Ultimate.

Being able to control and debug states from a high level perspective is the reason as a programmer I would rather use PlayMaker than Universe.

 

Thanks for the replies. I may just stick with Playmaker.