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Help me define which features have been abandoned.

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Matt-Roper, Apr 14, 2016.

  1. Matt-Roper

    Matt-Roper

    <Of The Graphics> Unity Technologies

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    Hello everyone,

    As the title suggests, I need help defining which features in unity could use some attention, or get none at all.

    Please drop a message below with a feature, here's a few of the ones I have so far:

    • Wheel collider
    • Cloth
    • Fog
    • Terrain
     
  2. N1warhead

    N1warhead

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    Terrain, terrain, terrain, terrain, terrain * 5.465456e+23 lol.

    But honestly - all of them, but terrain would be nice.
    But besides from that,(LIGHTS) - volumetric lighting would be nice :D

    There's a guy on here somewhere that is making Volume lights,
    and they actually perform FASTER than Unity lights!
    Might wanna get with that guy and see if you can outsource it or something for a nice paycheck lol.
     
    Not_Sure likes this.
  3. Matt-Roper

    Matt-Roper

    <Of The Graphics> Unity Technologies

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    Although volumetric lighting is more of a feature request as we don't have it, I am fortunately making a feature document too, so I'll append it there :)
     
    Martin_H likes this.
  4. the_motionblur

    the_motionblur

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    Oh yes - terrain, probably. I don't use it that often myself but it really seems that it's been too long with too few updates over the last few years.
     
  5. N1warhead

    N1warhead

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    Yeah I kinda figured it was LOL. But when I remembered they were faster than the standard Unity lights (Point, Spot and Directional I beleive they were).
    Like not a little faster, I mean faster lol. That made me come to the conclusion - they could be optimized way more + volume :) lol.

    But that would be so cool to have volume lighting.

    Thanks man!
     
  6. Ostwind

    Ostwind

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    Yeah terrain definitely seems like abandoned feature. There was a huge official feedback thread for it like 2 years ago but seems like nothing has really changed past 2-3 years in terms of features or usability?

    http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/official-new-terrain-system.255232/

    The current system feels like it's years behind compared to many other things in Unity.
     
  7. Sharlatan

    Sharlatan

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    Input manager
     
  8. Matt-Roper

    Matt-Roper

    <Of The Graphics> Unity Technologies

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    Cheers for the feedback guys, but we're aware of the terrain issues and I am pushing to try and get something from it. So any new ideas would be appreciated! (that aren't already listed.)
     
  9. Matt-Roper

    Matt-Roper

    <Of The Graphics> Unity Technologies

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    We actually have people working on a new Input system; you can see it on the roadmap here: https://unity3d.com/unity/roadmap
     
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  10. Matt-Roper

    Matt-Roper

    <Of The Graphics> Unity Technologies

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    Thanks for the link; it'll be great to bring up in my next meeting :)
     
  11. N1warhead

    N1warhead

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    @Matt Roper - there is something else.

    I feel abandoned. I need a job! I can change the world of Unity LOL.
    (Sorry I had too). lol.

    But on a serious note, Water4! It's like unusable for years!
    Now matter how much I have ever tried to scale Water4 I just can't do it.
    So perhaps Water4 should be worked on a bit as it's just been bleh for like years lol.

    Unless it was never made to be used and only as a learning example, which if that's the case, ultimate fail because I can easily read C#, but not that crap lol.

    I have noticed with everything y'all release like for learning and stuff, is generally much more sophisticated than things need to be.

    Like the Character controller(I'll never in my life use it), it's like what thousands of lines of code and I can remake a Rigibody controls in like no more than a couple hundred lines to do the same exact thing lol.

    So that goes to a second thing I suppose - fixing Learning material for beginners (I can generally make anything I want) but when it comes to reading y'alls scripts - almost impossible lol - Only because I can't determine in which order the classes were made as it's generally all just bunched together with code filling the entire screen where you can hardly read it lol.

    Which I understand isn't Abandoned, I mean I really don't need them, but things could be much much more clearer and written in a way that's readable and understood by a beginner.

    Sorry I'll shut up now lol.
     
    Teila likes this.
  12. landon912

    landon912

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    SkinnedMeshRenderer really needs better error messages and better documentation for those trying to do more abstract things with it. There's a lot of "gotchas" when working with it at runtime.

    Another thing, is the whole shader situation. There is a really weird divide between ShaderLab and CG/HLSL vert/frag shaders. I wish we could just go with the industry standard CG/HLSL. Again, there is a significant lack of help from Unity with getting off the ground with shaders due to poor documentation.
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2016
    McMayhem likes this.
  13. tedthebug

    tedthebug

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    Shaders e.g. Integrated shaderforge or something. All I keep hearing is how UE4 looks better out of the box & how unity can look that good but it takes extra assets or your own shader scripting
     
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  14. pixpusher2

    pixpusher2

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    Inline image in text. The Quad tag for text has been broken for a very long time (see link) and there hasn't been an official fix as far as I know? I ended up using TextMesh Pro but a fix (or just officially integrate one of the user solutions) will be good for others.
     
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  15. Tiny-Tree

    Tiny-Tree

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    terrain on the top of my list which is one slot list on top of everything!
    under that:
    -text UI quality
    -json support for list array dictionnaries
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2016
    Teila likes this.
  16. AwesomeX

    AwesomeX

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    Terrain, and a shader editor.
     
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  17. Aiursrage2k

    Aiursrage2k

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    Navigation mesh

    Either generate them at runtime or somehow allow us to combine multiple so we can build rogue likes that work out the box.


    Enter the guenon is the number one game on steam right now and it used unity, roguelike
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2016
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  18. LaneFox

    LaneFox

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    I think terrain is probably the most behind feature right now. Terrain can get some basic results and does a decent job as is but it could be way better. Tons of plugins on the store try to improve on the terrain system and they're all big sellers.

    If you're going to revisit terrain (there was an official topic on suggestions from users for this a while back) I would suggest Horizontal Displacement mapping. The reasons are pretty obvious and its definitely something I'd like to see happen more commonly in modern tech. There's lots of other miscellaneous things that could be done to the terrain system as well and I think a lot were mentioned in that older official topic about terrain so I won't get into them.
     
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  19. goat

    goat

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    Well you have to have a proper terrain before an updated wheel collider makes sense to spend time on so the wheel collider and various other colliders should be handed over to the terrain group or maybe there is a higher levels physics group?

    Of the others fog is in need of the lights being finished and up to speed and really should be handed over to that group.

    So that leaves cloth that should be assigned to this higher levels physics group or if there is no such group on it's own although you could make a case for the Mecanim group handling cloth. I'd like to see cloth given a lot of attention.
     
  20. Yukichu

    Yukichu

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    Those 2D tools that got delays, like tilemapping / smart sprites. Got so excited only to see them get delayed.

    Another vote for Terrain and shader editor. I would really love a nice shader editor actually.
     
  21. darkhog

    darkhog

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    I have nothing against cloth simulation. It's pretty good IMO and the only thing needed would be (really minor) optimizations to it. Things I'd do to the others:

    - Fog - I'd change it into a volumetric one, similar to one used in the Adam demo
    - Wheel collider - no idea as I never had a need to use it
    - Terrain - I'd change it into voxel-based one so things like overhangs and so on are easy to do. Nowadays there's really no excuse for not using voxels for terrain as there are very good algorithms for smooth voxels, far better than marching cubes (just look at Landmark and Blockscape's "realistic" world generator) that look just as good as heightmap-based terrain or textured custom terrain mesh, not to mention voxel terrain is just easier to iterate on than terrain mesh and way more powerful than heightmap terrain.
     
  22. Lightning-Zordon

    Lightning-Zordon

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    Inspector usability. I have so many scripts i dump into each project to improve it but unity could do so much more.
    default reorderable list in inspector for lists and arrays.
    dictionary serialization (in fact serialization in general)
    more customization in the editor in general, such as buttons on the wasted space at the top
    better handles and gizmo drawing
    basically the state of editor usability and customization hasn't been improved in years and years.
     
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  23. landon912

    landon912

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    Didn't want to edit this one in, because it hit me later and is of large importance.

    Serialization. 2016, and you barely handle the most basic types? No generics(Dictionary<> and List<>) and no polymorphism support is a big let down. The callbacks have some major issues and limitations to boot.

    Edit: Whoops, somehow missed the above post. Sorry.

    I also echo the level editor. EU4's mesh prototyping tools are flipping amazing. Basically, add ProBuilder. :p
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2016
  24. Player7

    Player7

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    -sure ... dx12 abandon it :D, having to use *shudder* win10 for that $priceless, vulkan support still in research :/.

    And this place here... https://feedback.unity3d.com ...its clearly not used anyway :D.

    ..Isn't it like all of them honestly?....

    -terrain its good enough I mean you can't make or fill holes or large worlds but its ok with 150$+ worth of addons maybe.
    -better camera effects than unreal or cryengine 150$
    -material shader editor 100$
    -inspector improvements 50$ but now its slower to the scroll ui for it because its c#
    -nested prefabs 50$
    -fully featured json /serialization 20-50$
    -actual level design tools 50-150$
    -more ui +polished components and text improvements 100$
    -multiplatform vid/texture support +better codecs/bitrates 100$+
    etc etc
     
  25. theANMATOR2b

    theANMATOR2b

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    Joint angle deformer / morph support.
    And whatever maya calls it.

    Its built into the skin modifier since Max version 4 or 5.

    This would really improve the quality of skinned mesh characters, allowing for localized morphs based on the angle of two bones or muscles without having to do a complete character mesh morph to create a buldging bicep, or a corrective morph to fix a troubled skinning area when in extreme poses (shoulder hip/pelvis).
     
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  26. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

    Moderator

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    Documentation, Animator/animation (timeline), documentation, particle system (mostly stability), documentation, and documentation.
     
  27. ZJP

    ZJP

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    +100000000000000
     
  28. neginfinity

    neginfinity

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    MIXED MODE LIGHTING This is a complete disaster.

    Faster lightmap baker and an api for integrating 3rd party one.

    There's no way to properly get data from reflection probe in a shader. Completely undocumented feature with no examples.

    Standard shader lighting system macros (AutoLight and such) needs refactoring because it is very non-modular. It is very hard to insert anything unusual there, the system expects to operate on input structure that includes specifically named field. It is a disaster/mess, pretty much.

    When using replacement shaders, it is impossible to specify what gets rendered with which shader. One delegate could fix it.

    When using Camera.Render it is not possible to prevent unity from recalculating Shadowmaps.

    Nav mesh system is bad, it needs to be able to store different navmeshes for different actor sizes, also instead of trying to drive the actor, it should have an option of returning path from A to B. I also saw people ability to load different navmesh at runtime.

    Impossible to specify multiple output colors from surface shader. That one hits very hard when you try to do something unusual via MRT. (because it won't work on OpenGL)

    Cloth does not interact with the world physics.

    Would be nice to have equivalent to Unreal's Montages

    The engine is missing ssr reflections which are present in Unreal engine.

    Animation State machine desperately needs "OR" condition for transitions. Or Custom transition formulas.

    Nested Prefabs intagrated into editor by default.

    IK targets and prop bones into mecanim.

    -----

    That's just few things that come to mind.
     
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  29. MrEsquire

    MrEsquire

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    -> Make sure most new Unity features can be handled by mobile
    -> Maybe look into Mobile Performance and improve on it
    -> Something like this for mobile:
    xARM: Aspect and Resolution Master
    https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/10563
     
  30. Zomby138

    Zomby138

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  31. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    - Trees
    The unity tree editor has been officially discontinued but it was a really really helpful tool.

    - Water
    The water assets can give really good results but are really tricky to use and quite limited. It would be awesome to have a tool to design lakes/oceans etc with ability do to underwater effects too.

    I think that Unity lacks nature simulation tools : terrains, rocks, trees, water, sky, etc.
     
  32. Wrymnn

    Wrymnn

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    Upgrade to newest version of .NET C#. I know its not on list, but man this is needed so much.
     
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  33. darkhog

    darkhog

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    Yeah, tree creator was a helpful tool, but quality of those trees was lacking. I can make better looking trees in blender than what did that tool was making. As for sky, still haven't figured how they did that procedural skybox in the Blacksmith demo. Water is important thing as well. I'd very much like water volume, just like one available in Unreal that also takes care of water physics such as buoyancy.

    Regarding rocks tho, you're really nitpicking here. Most games would be perfectly fine with 2 to 3 rock models as rocks aren't something players looks on most of the time. And you can include more variety by intersecting rock models with each other (+ with terrain) and scaling/rotating them.
     
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  34. landon912

    landon912

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    A dedicated SSS skin shader.
     
  35. Ostwind

    Ostwind

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    It's been said in several threads and recent blog posts that it's already being worked on.
     
  36. frosted

    frosted

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    NavMesh +1
    - That you can't define different areas on terrain straight up is annoying.
    - Runtime generation or at least the ability to merge meshes (additive scene loading)
    - More control over CalculatePath - maybe some way to generate wider/longer turn segments in the path returned or better support for different actor sizes.

    The navmesh stuff is just inadequate and restrictive. Just please keep it fast!

    Volumetric Lighting +1
     
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  37. LaneFox

    LaneFox

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    I agree here, literally every update since 5.0b11 I've been retrying mixed mode lighting hoping it'll be fixed and it never is.

    Just yesterday I tried to get it working again and it didn't work or didn't work consistently. It also seems like the way it is intended to work isn't actually the way it should work.
     
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  38. the_motionblur

    the_motionblur

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    You might have missed it but I think you wanted to mention documentation, didn't you?
    No problem though. Documentation can easily be forgotten. ;)
     
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  39. ZJP

    ZJP

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  40. Murgilod

    Murgilod

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    Since it came up in another thread: Movie textures are a complete and utter nightmare to deal with from a workflow perspective.
     
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  41. hippocoder

    hippocoder

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    Uh, don't know where to begin. I've been using Unity a long time for production and also personal projects. I'll mention things that are also WIP that Unity plan to fix, because its good to give the full impression.

    1. Terrain is out of date. It's not very good.
    2. There is no material editor and people have to buy shaderforge.
    3. There is no node based blueprint editor.
    4. Particles leave a lot to be desired. No GPU based performance increases?
    5. No director/sequencer
    6. Physics have known bugs with logged cases that aren't fixed.
    7. Other things have known, reproducible bugs. Why do known bugs exist in Unity when there is no source access? This means users are at your mercy, unlike engines which do have source access.
    8. Navmesh neglected with just about everything. Yes I know its being worked on.
    9. Networking is a confusing state TBH
    10. Streaming textures / anything / is clunky in Unity, and kind of weird.
    11. No proper built in support for character physics and IK.
    12. I can keep typing, but there is no point.

    But above all, performance and bugs are the most neglected aspects in Unity. I do understand you guys pretty much know my entire list. I don't understand why you needed a thread to tell you what you know. Even a regular weekly visit to the forum would scream it out at you.
     
  42. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

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    Whoops, you are correct, I forgot to mention documentation. Documentation.
     
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  43. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

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    Breaking Navmesh away from being tied to level geometry would be nice. I'd like to be able to say build a custom navmesh that represents a 2D scene, or even totally arbitrary data.
     
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  44. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

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    Pfft... those are a pointless and sooo... last year. They are too busy working on ground-breaking, world-changing tools like this:
    Screen Shot 2016-04-15 at 5.44.52 PM.png
     
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  45. Martin_H

    Martin_H

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    I think drag and drop reordering of script components on objects (e.g. post fx stack on a camera) still has the worst possible workflow with right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, right click, move, ... where one drag and drop action should suffice.
     
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  46. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    Just to add, Unity still doesn't have a lot of the basic stuff CE, Unreal and Stingray have..

    Like no deferred decal actors (originally requested back in 2009), no integrated AI solution.. If not a material editor that both Stingray and UE have at least a decent shader pipeline with full access.

    You say stuff like cloth, but again Stingray and UE both have Apex cloth which works very well. As Hippo said, they both have a proper physics based / ragdoll / IK animation system with integrations for destruction etc... CE goes it's own way but can do the same.

    There are literally too many to list, all I know is by this point Unity is quite a fair bit out of date. Thank goodness for the asset store, I think I'll use Stingray for prototyping from now on..
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 16, 2016
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  47. frosted

    frosted

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    I would +1 this many extra times. It's beyond stupid. I'd really really love an automated sort so I could guarantee consistent ordering even when things are initially set up ad hoc and sloppy.

    I really think Unity should look at doing a NGUI->UGUI with Final IK / Puppetmaster.


    Is the terrain system that bad? Maybe I just haven't worked with other terrain systems, but at least you can get in and just work with the data directly.
     
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  48. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    Oh aye, you should check out UE's version.. Not only do the HM's look like they did in WM, it has a mass of scultping tools, automatic batch instancing for foliage.. The world editor automatically supports point of origin, it has vector based tile segmentation zones for streaming (with AI / Navmesh support) and the mat editor makes custom shaders for it a breeze..

    It's all auto-lod'd too..

    I could go on and on, but yeah it's a large amount better..
     
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  49. RockoDyne

    RockoDyne

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    Frankly just about everything to the editor needs some workflow improvements. More attributes to cut down on most of the needs for a custom inspector/property drawer would be a good start.

    Another thing is that UnityEvents could be used in so many other places. Just go down the list of monobehaviour messages for any of them that should clearly be one component calling another, and rip it out to stick an event on it.
     
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  50. Aiursrage2k

    Aiursrage2k

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    Even warcraft3 has a better terrain editor.
     
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