Unity 4 Details

People who paid $1500 for Unity 3.x got to use that product. If they want to upgrade to 4.0 they pay an upgrade price of $850. I'm not sure why you're not understanding this.

 

The thread was closed because Gamasutra unfortunately jumped the gun on the announcement.

While we will of-course continue to fix bugs where-ever they are found, we will not let their existence halt our progress in getting new and improved features to our customers. That is a promise.

 

It's a lame model. It screws the investors.

 

thats not the case. you can upgrade the pro side. but the new license key oyu get will no longer have knowledge of your previously owned iOS basic so you will start from 0 on that front and have indeed to buy it all over again without upgrade

 

Go see your 3.5 buglist... perhaps then you understand...

 

It's been like this with every software, see Adobe Photoshop, 3DMax, Maya, Visual Studio etc.

Though the issue is not, that you have to pay for upgrades, but that they are pushing 4.0 out w/o bringing the features they hyped for years (i.e. new GUI) or bringing a half baked NavMesh system in 3.5, where the other half of it ("Navigation: dynamic obstacles and avoidance priority") is part of Unity 4.0 which makes no sense to have a half-assed NavMesh feature into 3.5 and have to upgrade to get the other half and maybe the price of the upgrade is a bit... well high.

I'd see an upgrade price of 40% of the full price as reasonable. But Basic licenses $250 upgrade, $400 for full/previous version doesn't seem appropriate, same for Pro ($850 vs $1500 new).

$150 for upgrade basic and $500-$600 for the pro would be a more reasonable pricing. Though the most annoying thing is that you have to purchase Unity Pro if you want to have Android Pro or iOS Pro, even though you may never compile anything to Web/PC which uses Pro.

 

Oh, cool. I haven't had time to develop anything for mobile yet (new job gets in the way). So the loss of the mobile licenses I got from the giveaway doesn't really hurt.

 

Sadly there are still outstanding bugs on mobile with performance and geometry, and there's still outstanding bugs here and there in the main unity desktop element. These will need fixing. I do not think 3.5 will be worked on much longer.

So does this mean we're still stuck with the 1980s garbage collector?

 

No
that would be the case if there was no presale window and no pre luanch beta and hence anyone who bought a day early would ahve bought the wrong thing.
The way UT does it gives you basically a 4 - 6 month upfront notice on the next version so you can plan for it instead of being screwed.

There are people who invested a high 4 to low 5 figure into unity and have less problems with it. I don't like the fact either that I'm gonna pay $2550 for the upgrade instead of the projected $1500 but its my work tool so I've to swallow it even though its now even more expensive than adobes high price toys at an even shorter lifecycle ...

 

This thread closely resembles a teeming, hungry, pack of piranhas . . . I'm afraid to even open my mailbox to see all the topic reply notifications . . .

 

Umm...no it's not. They got to USE 3.5 previously. You're comparing the prices, and saying that new users get it cheaper, but the new users don't get to use 3.5.

A man who has played a certain MMO for 5 months at $20.00 per month(example numbers). That means he's spent $100.00 on the MMO. Now a new person who has never played this MMO comes, and gets his first month for $20.00. You're saying that's unfair to the first guy because the first guy has spent more money and recieved the same product, while being a long-time customer. However, it is completely fair, because he has gotten to spend more TIME playing the MMO than the newer customer.

Yes, I know, bad analogy, but this is basically what you're saying...

 

Well that's disappointing, but it at least makes my decision to upgrade now or later easier. Discount on next purchase is basically useless for an independent developer like myself since I have no employees to purchase for, so I'll just wait and upgrade my Pro licenses later when I really have to.

edit: I assume that $200 is non-transferable. I do work with a team, but we each have our own licenses. It'd be helpful if we could transfer those credits for some savings, but as it stands now the discount on future purchase is nothing. =/

 

Scenario A:
- Bobby has 3.5 free.
- Bobby goes to pre-order 4.0 pro for $1500.
- Bobby now gets to use 3.5 pro.
* Unity 4.0 ships *
- Bobby can now use both 4.0 pro and 3.5 pro.

Scenario B:
- Donny has 3.5 pro.
- Donny goes to pre-order the 3.5 pro to 4.0 pro upgrade for $850.
- Donny still gets to use 3.5 pro.
* Unity 4.0 ships *
- Donny can now use both 4.0 pro and 3.5 pro.

 

I might not develop for a few months or even years depending on where my life takes me. This model assumes I am constantly using the engine and I get milked at every upgrade for the crime of investing in and supporting unity early on.

 

A paid 1500, B paid 2350

 

When I woke up and saw all these threads I felt like a giddy school boy. Very exciting stuff. But what about the terrain editor?!

 

Just got done talking with a sales executive at unity they also confirmed this!

While i do not have Unity 3.5 PRO. I am looking forward to getting it.

 

I am hoping for a overhaul to the terrain editor as well

 

If you're not developing right now, why did you even buy 3.5 in the first place? Besides that...you can still use your 3.5 license. If you're on a shaky development cycle, why don't you just keep using 3.5? It's not like you'll be really needing all the new features or anything...

 

B has been using their Unity license for longer than you so they paid more. Just drop it.

 

There are many things we have not upgraded and many features we have not added. For the features we *did* choose to add this time around, please see http://unity3d.com/?unity4

Note that we're not done hiring people or expanding our product, so if you know anyone fitting the openings on http://unity3d.com/jobs/ , please forward them to us so we can add more features and upgrades faster.

 

*facepalm*

Scenario B got to use 3.5 Pro and get more work done over a longer period of time than A....

Seriously?

 

No, not really. It's only lame if the upgrade intervals are very short, i.e. a new version every 6 months. Upgrades every 2 years seems ok. Unity is somewhere in between.

But 55% of the full price (or 45% discount) for upgrading is still a bit hefty, considering that some people have to upgrade all of their licenses at once or lose some)

 

I find Linux support surprisingly awesome. Back when I researched game engines in early 2007, I decided to get a Mac just to run Unity because I wanted an engine that could publish to Mac and Windows. Back then, I didn't even consider the possibility that publishing to Linux might be an option. So, that's really really awesome - and I think it's totally in tune with the philosophy I love UT for. And what I find even more awesome is that Linux builds are included in the "general license" (Unity / Unity Pro) ... especially because of the "not-so-awesome" part in this announcement:

Upgrade pricing :-(

I have Unity Pro + Unity iOS Pro + Unity Android Pro + Asset Server. That makes EUR 1.950,00. Whoa ... that hurts. I mean, it's great that this time, we at least don't have to pay for the Asset Server upgrade (which, aside from the awesome Cache Server support didn't seem to get much love during 3.x). So, that's appreciated. But EUR 1.950,00 ... I'll not say the 3-letter-word (all-capitals) - that must be as painful to UT or more so than it is to us. But really, that is The One Feature I've been waiting for since Unity iPhone was released.

At least I don't care at all about Flash ... that would completely blow my budget, and given these upgrade prices, I'd very cautiously consider adding any further pay-for-platforms. I'm afraid this time, as people might already buy at these prices, there's not much room for change - but next time (5.0), please consider a discount for people that have many platforms (like Pro + iOS Pro + Android Pro, and just to be fair also for those poor folks that need to build to Flash for some reason until the Unity Web Player finally takes over the world ;-) ).

So, just to be sure: The voucher is the "reduced price", right? So it won't get even more expensive after July 9th? (Emil answered this while I was typing: no, it won't get more expensive). I wonder what the coupon should be useful for anyways. Once I have upgraded Unity, there's nothing I need from the online store.

Does the voucher also work for the asset store? ATM, I think I have pretty much all I need from the asset store ... but within 12 months, there might be some cool new stuff I could use the $200 for. If not, that voucher might actually add insult to injury.

Of course, Mecanim also looks awesome. It's just something I don't really need for my current projects. But I will need that later, so yeah, it's awesome ... it just doesn't make the EUR 1.950,00 any more reasonable for me ATM.

 

Sorry but this is how it works in this business. You do expect to get paid when you create a game don't you? You also expect to perhaps get paid for "more content" you create for your game at a later stage eventually? Same thing applies here. People are working, people need to get paid.

Upgrading 3D Sofware (Maya, Max, Cinema 4D) costs you several thousand bucks every year. It's no different here. Would you rather have Unity Tech. take a percentage of your sales instead? I surely don't.

 

Whatever do you mean? This place feels very warm and welcoming

 

Paying money to upgrade for major versions is fine of course, but I have to say, the upgrade price here is kind of steep.

That's the real problem.

 

Exactly, "why did you even buy 3.5 in the first place?" Here is the result, I was contemplating investing in my game by paying for a pro licence for the game I am developing now. I don't have a solid time frame of when my game will be finished, development may stop for a period of time depending on circumstances. The result? I was going to buy a license now I am not. How does this support Unity? When I buy something, I want to own it, not pay rent for it.

 

Having the voucher work on the asset store would be nice. Not as good as an actual preorder discount, but it'd be something.

 

Not true. The $200 credit cannot be used in the Unity Asset Store, only the Unity online store (ie Unity's own products).

 

If you don't want to pay for Unity 4.0, you don't have to. Keep using 3.5. What do you want UT to do, make the prices super low so that they go backrupt? Unless you bought 3.5 pro yesterday...I don't really see the big deal here.

 

Understood!

(Also, I feel a little bit of schadenfreude-type relief that it's not there in 4.0 Pro because I can't afford Pro, and I just bought NGUI. Whew.)

 

which is exactly what you did.
your unity 3 license will remain valid for all eternity. it will not magically void itself with 4.0 at all

 

OMG when CS5 came out Adobe wanted MOAAAARRRRR MONEY, even though I had CS4!!!!!!!!!!! (I still use cs4 cause it works for my needs)

$500/upgrade would have been smoother though, and not losing other licenses...........that's pretty bad.

But seriously I'm not even using 3.5 basic or pro yet so waaaaaaahhhh. 3.4.2f...

 

You will still own the version you bought. You can choose not to upgrade and continue working...

It's like buying a car, and you demand the car company gives you all the upgraded models for free...

 

ahh, I thought the $200 voucher/credit was for the asset store so its not then.

does that mean I can pay $850 to upgrade 3.5 pro to 4 pro and use the $200 voucher when I then upgrade iospro to ios4 pro (for $650 then)?

 

I wouldn't actually mind an upgrade fee if it was more reasonable, but this steep (850 smackers) it calls into question if buying it is a worthwhile investment. I understand the logic that people who paid in the past are more likely to be a viable source of income. It just removes incentive for me to buy the pro version.

 

Nope, you'll have to upgrade both at the same time... Voucher is only good for your next purchase...

 

when you upgrade pro then you no longer have a iOS license unless you upgraded it along it. The licenses are linked. if you don't upgrade it in a single go all not upgraded ones will not exist on the 4.x license.

 

Ah yea now I get what you're saying. That is true.

Note that the existence of 4.0 does not negate that of 3.x. Donny can choose to not upgrade is 3.x to 4.0 and still have the product he paid for and used up until now.

That is the nature of software licensing and updates. If you think about it, its quite a lot nicer than what happens in other industries. When have you last seen a car dealer offering to upgrade your slightly older model to the newest sparkling model at zero cost?

 

So long as the upgrade price doesn't increase I feel happy. Having an expiring upgrade price would make steam pour out of my ears.

 

ouch I was hoping to spread the payments (get iOS later when iOS6 comes out for example). appreciate it must be a nightmare to manage all the upgrades etc

 

I understand, but from an investment stand point this model makes it more profitable to buy at the last possible moment. That means develop your game until it's almost finished then buy the latest version of unity. Especially for developers like me that have one or two people slowly making the game in our spare time. The business model should not make the user not want to buy the product. Now for users who develop fast and can pump out a game in a few years like the AAA devs, sure this model is fine and fair.

 

Okay, yeah, then I agree. The new upgrade price is high. The old one was much more reasonable.

 

To be honest, this is the first day im disappointed of unity... You havn't made a mistake since i joined (which was 2 ~ 3 years ago) and i have bought unity3 when it came out as a preorder discounted product.. I consider myself as one of your loyal costumers that use the engine everyday.
So despite the fact that the new GUI system will not arrive this release and the new terrain system as well, the price to upgrade is too high.. especially when unity is mainly for indie developers.
Why can't you use the same offer you have made on the last major release? (AKA: preorder discount)
There is a reason why most of the users are frustrated and disapointed...

 

You know, UT can't please everyone. They try their best, but they can't cater to exactly everyone's needs... Sometimes you just need to take what you can get

Yeah, the upgrade price is a bit steep...but oh well. At least there's a free version

 

What is everyone talking about when they say "New Terrain System"?

The current one works great for me

 

Hi!

Refering the linux, is for only deployment?

And the development, will not possible?

I am still waiting for develop on Linux, i dont want buy a new machine, like mac and Windows is poor

Thanks.

 

Yes, deployment only. Editor is still Windows/Mac only. Which disappoints me as well lol