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Why I'm leaving Unity

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Muzzn, Sep 10, 2012.

  1. Muzzn

    Muzzn

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2011
    Posts:
    406
    Unity is very close to being a wonderful piece of software. However, my experience with it has been very painful.

    Over the past month, I have been writing a voxel terrain system. Unity made this extremely easy to pull off, and I could get good results very fast. However, soon my problems began to set in. Over the course of about 2 weeks, around 15 different bugs occurred in the Unity engine, building up to a major show-stopping bug which caused Unity to crash repeatedly.

    So basically, there are way too many big bugs for Unity to be of any real use. It's very very close to being great, and I'm sure if you don't have any problems,then it is fantastic. But unfortunately, I was not that fortunate.
     
  2. ZeroByteDNA

    ZeroByteDNA

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    Jun 18, 2012
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    I get black screens. I get the loss of the cursor. I get being able to click on things but not being able to type. I get various quirky little things that require me to close and reopen (sometimes, it even lets me save - sometimes, meh). I've had things where out of the blue I'm left with no RAM. All sorts of various little annoying things - but nothing that I'm able to recreate by doing X, Y, Z. I could see the frustration of facing something that when you need to do X...boom.
     
  3. OmniverseProduct

    OmniverseProduct

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2012
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    Are you sure it's all Unity's fault? It could be a result of your programming? What were the bugs? Did you file a bug report? Did they respond? Wjhat was the response? All these questions and many more matter in determining if it truly is all unity's fault.
     
  4. Swearsoft

    Swearsoft

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    Mar 19, 2009
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    This. Also which platform?
     
  5. NoBullIntentions_P

    NoBullIntentions_P

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    I'm not a big fan of attention-seeking "I'm leaving" threads. If you're leaving, leave. Why do we need to hear about it? If you'd actually gone into technical detail on the bugs, at least it would have been a useful leaving present, but as it is, it's just screaming "look at me".
     
  6. Farfarer

    Farfarer

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2010
    Posts:
    2,249
    Bye, then.
     
  7. Aiursrage2k

    Aiursrage2k

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    Nov 1, 2009
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    4,835
    I think it might make sense if you say had a product in the asset store then people might want to know your leaving
     
  8. Khyrid

    Khyrid

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    Oct 8, 2010
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    1,790
    He's frustrated and upset with his experience, naturally he wants to vent. We're all human, cut him some slack.

    @Muzzn No doubt you posted many threads in the help forums, you should link those to you post to make your struggle more clear. Otherwise, it looks like you're just getting upset over your own mistakes and it's possible you are. Road blocks and errors will be present in any other piece of software, I assure you. When searching for an engine to develop on I researched the forums on various SDKs, Unreal, Crisis, Shiva, Steam, they all have issues.

    Stand and fight.
     
  9. NoBullIntentions_P

    NoBullIntentions_P

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    Before I started "not cutting him any slack", I followed this thread trail back as far as January 2011, and I haven't found anything remotely resembling a message about his voxel engine and any problems he was having with it. I found one where he said he had written one and how great it was (from an enjoyment point of view, not from a boastful stance.). Since then, nada.
     
  10. CharlieSamways

    CharlieSamways

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    Sounds like a heat of the moment thing. In the good words of our lovely helper on The Jeremy Kyle Show.

    'Some times we need to take a step back, As we say things we do not mean in the heat of the moment.'

    Chill your beef broseph, stab at it another day, or quit for good.
     
  11. AmazingRuss

    AmazingRuss

    Joined:
    May 25, 2008
    Posts:
    933
    If you report your bugs in a way they can reproduce, the people that make Unity will fix them. I've seen it happen many times.
     
  12. nipoco

    nipoco

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    2,008
    But to be fair. There are well known bugs in Unity which persist since ages.
     
  13. Myhijim

    Myhijim

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    Jun 15, 2012
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    Farewell, Send me a postcard :D
     
  14. Photon-Blasting-Service

    Photon-Blasting-Service

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    Dude...voxels? Seriously...dude...
     
  15. dogzerx2

    dogzerx2

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    3,964
    Dude, didn't you get the memo? Voxels are coming for unity 4... Just kidding!

    He'll be back...
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2012
  16. UnknownProfile

    UnknownProfile

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  17. renanss

    renanss

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    Sep 10, 2012
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    First I'm a gamer
    Second I'm a 3d artist
    Third I'm a developer
    Fourth, UNITY Opened a door where I can bring all this together and Finally I'm able to develop my own game with such a great engine!
    I'm sorry for your frustration but unlike me, I'm loving it!!
     
  18. JamesLeeNZ

    JamesLeeNZ

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    Nov 15, 2011
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    5,616
    You should totally use UDK. It'll be SO MUCH EASIER! ;P

    From my experience...

    Ppl who are new users love Unity.
    Ppl have used it for a while, like Unity.
    Ppl who try to go above their skill level dislike Unity

    Every now and then I get sick of it, and go through a burnout phase where I cant even load up my game. Im in that phase atm. The reason im here is due to the navMeshAgent. Ran into a problem that shouldnt be happening.

    Its a problem that I could probably fix by fixing the other problem, but it still annoys me.
     
  19. taumel

    taumel

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    It started as a rather unfinished buggy product and sadly Unity is very strong when it comes to tradition in this respect but i'm curious about how Unity will feel once the first bug fix releases for V4 arrive. So far some aspects improved whilst others stayed the same way. On a road of constant increments, i'm not sure when or if at all Unity will be able to introduce a rock steady product. It needs awareness, the capability and the will to change. It might be hard and not this convincing going this direction if you're having huge success with a more buggy product already. It's a character thing too.

    Oh and farewell.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2012
  20. Moraleidahgo

    Moraleidahgo

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    Posts:
    107
    Sorry to hear that man.

    Unity is great tool that provides amazing workflow and a ton of resources. I am sure that if you look for it you will find an answer to your problem.
    If you're too lazy to do that, well, farewll than.
     
  21. kingcharizard

    kingcharizard

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2011
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    1,137
    that reasons that bugs persist is because they add a new feature and only fix the bugs of the older features and stuff if they happen t know about them... The more new stuff they add means the more older bugs wont get looked at as much.. I am wording this whole message wrong its early but I hope some know what I mean.. Just file bug reports... Everyone who runs into a bug should file a Bug Report to help make unity as stable as possible..
     
  22. Khyrid

    Khyrid

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    ^This
     
  23. tatoforever

    tatoforever

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    Unity doesn't have such a flaw. Can you post some parts of your code (where you believe Unity is glitching)?
    As Russ said, if you are really sure it's a bug, fire a bug with your repro project and point out where the problem is, it will be fixed right away.
    If your bug is unfixed, it's because you've failed to fire a proper repro project.
    On the other side, if you think you can contribute to make Unity better, apply for beta testing and report all your bugs there. :rolleyes:
     
  24. imaginaryhuman

    imaginaryhuman

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    Usually the folks that leave a platform like this are usually ones who have been trying to do something which, in the bigger picture, is quite specific and usually outside the box, pushing the boundaries, and then finding that things don't work quite so well. So then it's the entire engine's fault and it's good for nothing. But a large part of the issue is trying to do something specific outside the realm of what Unity is designed for. That said I'd be annoyed too if I WAS trying to do something like this and ran into Unity having built-in bugs that I can't fix.
     
  25. mada

    mada

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    Jul 2, 2012
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    53
  26. taumel

    taumel

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  27. keithsoulasa

    keithsoulasa

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    It sounds like your runing some Unity API calls that Unity really doesn't like .

    I'd check the asset store to see if anyones already done what your trying to do .

    Theirs no guarantee that what ever your doing will be easier in any other engine . A better way to look at this would be to actually ask for help and see if anyones found a solution to this .
     
  28. CharlieSamways

    CharlieSamways

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  29. PrimeDerektive

    PrimeDerektive

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    Can I have your stuff?
     
  30. ColossalDuck

    ColossalDuck

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    Whell bye then. Have fun. The door is always open if you change your mind.
     
  31. kablammyman

    kablammyman

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    Nov 22, 2010
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    i agree with this...well, maybe not so much the 3rd point, but i agree in general
     
  32. JamesLeeNZ

    JamesLeeNZ

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    3rd point was probably a little vague...

    ppl who try to go above their skill level (and fail) dislike unity ;)

    which leads me to...

    you have a choice, get better, beat that sucker, or give up (like the guy started this thread).

    Ive had a few small rage-quits. Usually related to the fact Unity (probably *not always unitys fault) hasnt done something properly, which means I have to do a bunch of extra work, and or remove a bunch of cool features.

    Perhaps the problem was more my trying to get too much from Unity.
     
  33. dogzerx2

    dogzerx2

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    hahaha!!

    Give us your voxel code! We can fix it!
     
  34. SevenBits

    SevenBits

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    Congratulations, you have been voted off of the island.

    If you're lucky (cough), maybe you can reach UDK-land before the sharks devour you. If.
     
  35. stimarco

    stimarco

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    Oct 17, 2007
    Posts:
    721
    Unity's developers cannot fix bugs they don't know about, or—and this is very, very important—cannot reproduce reliably. Intermittent bugs are absolute scum, because they can be extremely hard to find. So they get pushed way down the list. There is only one exception to this: if you're one of their corporate customers with bulk licenses and a lot of money in play, and a showstopper bug the UT folks absolutely have to fix before release, or they'll lose your repeat custom.

    If you find a bug, remember the First Rule of Bug Reporting: If you can make the bug appear reliably, and predictably, so they don't have to waste hours, or days, just tinkering with your project to duplicate the problem, it'll be assigned a high priority.

    But it's no good writing a vague report about an intermittent problem you find very difficult—perhaps impossible—to reproduce. A crash that happened just once is useless. Developers need to know how to find the bug and see it in action before than can fix it. "It crashes on MY computer" does not mean "It crashes on EVERY computer".

    If you cannot repeat the problem reliably and easily in your big, sprawling project, duplicate it, rename it "Bug Test Project 1" (or similar) and then use a process of elimination to nail down the source of the bug. That means deleting scripts and other components, until either the bug disappears completely (in which case, whatever you just deleted was likely the primary cause), or you narrow down exactly where the bug is happening. Once you've got the bug happening repeatedly and reliably, that's the bug you need to send up to UT using the Bug Reporter.

    If you cannot provide the details to recreate your bug in a repeatable, reliable, predictable way, it'll likely be assigned a low priority.

    The easier you make the bugs to find, the more likely UT are to find them. And this holds true for every other application with a bug reporting feature.
     
  36. Vincent Pride

    Vincent Pride

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    Oct 6, 2010
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    "That tongue thing was amazing"
     
  37. taumel

    taumel

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    Jun 9, 2005
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    @stimarco
    No time right now, i have to build a nice level in Grimrock and a Lua jam to do. *happy camper* :O)
     
  38. jedy

    jedy

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    Aug 1, 2010
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    579
    @Philâ„¢ ( ctrl+c, ctrl+v ) - Good point.
    PS: The first one.
     
  39. Meltdown

    Meltdown

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    Show us your 'bug' reports you submitted to Unity or it never happened..
     
  40. dogzerx2

    dogzerx2

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    Bug report or it didn't happen!
     
  41. mada

    mada

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    Jul 2, 2012
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    We won't see a bug report, because it is more than likely bugs in her own code that caused her to leave.
     
  42. JamesArndt

    JamesArndt

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    2,932
    Is it a good idea to jump ship before the new version of Unity will be coming out. I'm sure there are going to be bug fixes to the software itself. All of that aside...frustration, endless bugs and QA are just a HUGE part of game development in general. When I worked on Need for Speed Undercover, I had a quota of about 100-150 bugs to resolve each and every day. End of project I had resolved over 700 bugs. Now these were bugs in the code and art, so not our engine...but nonetheless that's a huge, frustrating amount of glitches and bugs to worry about. As game developers this is part of our life...crunching in alpha or beta to resolve a S*** ton of bugs. Unity is amazing software...it's not 100% perfect, but what in this world is?
     
  43. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2010
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    Circles and Squares are perfect :p. But in all seriousness, this what we gotta deal with...
     
  44. Meltdown

    Meltdown

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    Send us your stuffz and your source code so we can see the bugz or it didn't happen
     
  45. Beennn

    Beennn

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    Sep 11, 2010
    Posts:
    373
    No chance of them coming back now -.^. Goodbye! I'm logging off now by the way ;)
     
  46. arkon

    arkon

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    Jun 27, 2011
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    Hi, there has never been a bug I cant fix, not bragging but very true. So if you would like maybe we can work together to fix the problems? This is a genuine offer so pm me if you are interested in me helping.
     
  47. gregzo

    gregzo

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    Dec 17, 2011
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    Humm, I see a lot of optimists here! Unity is great, I love it, but from my experience(mainly audio), bugs do exist and some don't get solved that quickly. I'm not a quitter, I just hack around them, but let's not pretend everything is perfect.


    My list of audio bugs, all submitted and reproduced
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2012
  48. arkon

    arkon

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    Unity will fix all the bugs if you give them a chance. Do you really think they want a bug ridden product? Just create a dummy project that reproduces one bug at a time and submit it to them.
     
  49. gregzo

    gregzo

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    a) As it should. The question is how long should we wait before complaining becomes legitimate? All the bugs mentioned in my thread have been there since 3.5 beta, more thean 9 months ago.
    b) Indeed not, but if the user base keeps growing and asking for shiny new features, there might be more incentive adding these than fixing bugs in rarely used classes.
    c) I wrote and submitted scripts reproducing every issue I've had. Time is money, and maybe that's how Unity can keep it's price reasonable : dedicated users spending hours trying to help out for free...

    Again, I love Unity but let's give the OP some credit : not all is perfect, and it takes a special kind of patience to spend hundreds of dollars on a product with issues that are still not solved months after being reported and acknowledged. I'm the zen type, and I've only bought iOS basic. I would not be so kind if I had spent the 3000$ required to run iOS pro... And don't plan to before these bugs are fixed.
     
  50. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    Oct 28, 2011
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    +