Tales from the trenches:Developing “The Harvest” and “Gunpowder” with UnityEthan Abeles – Senior Producer, Microsoft StudiosRichard Sun – Co-Founder and Lead Programmer, Rogue Rocket Games3-044

IntroductionsWhy make games for Windows 8?Demo: See what we’ve done!Why Unity?How Unity?Tips and tricksThinking about the future

Agenda

Part of the Connected Experience Team, focused on bringing cool, new content to Microsoft’s latest platforms

Working to build out the content on the platform and push the platform to be the best it can be for gaming partners

Wanted to move to where games are evolving more quickly

Needed a quick and cheap way to produce prototypes and demos

Looking to work with developers comfortable in the mobile space

Released 2 Unity for Windows 8 games

“I’m not only a producer, I’m also a client!”

Ethan Abeles – Senior Producer

Richard Sun – Co-Founder, Rogue Rocket Games

11-year game-development veteran

• Planet Moon Studios – Lead programmer

• LucasArts Entertainment – Programmer

Shipped many titles on many platforms, both big and small

Developed games in teams of various sizes and product scopes

Specializes in rapid prototyping and development

Great hair

Released 2 Unity for Windows 8 games

And in this corner, representing the fantastically creative, super agile, indie game studio…

We are real-world clients and users of Unity. We cut our teeth during the Alpha days of the Windows 8 branch and we’ve come to here to tell you tales, tips, and tricks from the frontlines.

New Store = less competitionDeveloper-friendly environmentUser base growing every dayUsers hungry for contentIndustry leading revenue splits!

Why make games for Windows 8?

But there are a few hurdles…

New Store = initially small user baseWindows Store discovery and layout

Thankfully, as you’ve seen this week, Microsoft is working hard to fix those issues and make the platform a great place to sell games.

All of the great Unity tools you’re used to are ready to go out of the box

Unity’s multiplatform approach is great for modern game development and release

Quickly port existing projects to Windows 8

Why build with Unity?

Windows 8 and Unity

Unity provides a Visual Studio 2012 Project

• Similar to how Unity handles iOS projects/xCode

• This is actually awesome and we’ll talk about it shortly

Unity runs on the .NET Framework – Not Mono

• We’ll talk about what that means in just a bit.

Unity games for the Windows Store can consume only Windows Runtime Components (no unmanaged DLLs)

• This can come into play when you try to use Unity plug-ins

Unity on Windows 8 is a bit different.

Okay, so how does Unity for Windows 8 work?

Those caveats aside, it’s still the same awesome Unity being used to make new and innovative Windows 8 games.

Gunpowder – Windows 8

And we aren’t the only ones using Unity. As of mid-May there are a bunch of awesome games in the Windows Store

>30 Games

So what should I know about my workflow?

Use the Unity editor as you always do

Have Unity generate a Windows 8 Visual Studio project

Extend your application to take advantage of the fun Windows 8 features you’re hearing about in the other //BUILD talks

Debug directly from within Visual Studio or build an app package for sideload testing

Unity workflow on Windows 8 should be familiar for anyone who has built iOS applications using Unity

Yes we did!

• The Windows and Visual Studio teams created and massively improved the tools developers have for authoring, debugging, and previewing DirectX code. This makes everyone happy!

Wait, did you say I get to use Visual Studio?

David, on using MonoDevelop

David, on getting to edit and debug in

Visual Studio

Make loading times interesting

Script builds with MSBUILD

Windows 8 delegates

Component caching

Object pooling

Avoid CPU-intensive components

Tips for porting

Tips and tricks for making your life easy!

Players don’t like looking at static screens

Two ways to do this: • XAML – Use <Storyboard> and Animations

• WMV – Use <MediaElement> with a WMV file

Both options make use of a XAML page built in Visual Studio

Use Unity to call out to your XAML class to show/hide/collapse these XAML views

Use a XAML layer to do cool things during loading time

Tip #1 – Making loading times interesting

Visual Studio won’t “queue” up multiple configurations when building app packages

PowerShell is your friend

MSBUILD: Awesome, complicated, and slightly under-documented

Build from the command line with following code

If you’re working with a publisher or partner, script your build process to save clicks/time!

Tip #2 – Script builds with MSBUILD

Scripts for building app packages

start msbuild /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform="ARM"

choice /t 5 /c yn /d y

start msbuild /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform="x86"

You’ll want to have Unity talk to the OS to do this, so you’ll do two things:• Define the delegates in Unity • Implement them on the Windows 8 C#

side

You can now use plug-ins but that wasn’t ready for us so we used delegate registration

Tip #3 – Talking between Unity and the Windows Runtime

Tip #3 – Talking between Unity and the Windows RuntimeUnity3D side C#public delegate void Win8ShowPopupFunc(string title, string desc, System.Action onDismiss);

public delegate void Win8ShowYesNoPopupFunc(string title, string desc, System.Action onDismiss);

public static Win8ShowPopupFunc _ShowPopup = null;

public static Win8ShowYesNoPopupFunc _ShowPopup = null;

Windows 8 side C#RRGMetroBridge._ShowPopup = ShowGenericPopup;

RRGMetroBridge._ShowYesNoPopup = ShowYesNoPopup;

~95% of Unity’s engine code is in C++ but we, as users, interface with the engine in C#

Interop between managed and native code is expensive, so…

Code wisely and minimize the Unity APIs you call each frame, including component references

Use component caching to minimize interop overhead

Tip #4 – Component caching

Tip #4 – Component caching

BAD

public class example: MonoBehavior {void Update() {

transform.Translate(0, 0, 5);}

}

Tip #4 – Component Caching

TERRIBLE

public class example: MonoBehavior {void Update(){

for (int i = 0; I < 1000; ++i) {myTransform.Translate(0, 0, transform.position.z

+ 0.005f);}

}}

Tip #4 – Component Caching

GOOD

public class example: MonoBehavior (Transform transform) {private Transform myTransform;

void Awake(){myTransform = transform;

}void Update(){

myTransform.Translate(0, 0, 5);}

}

Rather than creating and destroying objects at will, create a basic pooling system that:• Keeps track of free/inactive objects• Has methods for reusing/resetting objects quickly

For extra brownie points, implement a more granular pooling system that pools objects of the same or similar type, so reconfiguration/reuse cost is minimized

Instantiating and destroying GameObject objects is expensive

Tip #5 – GameObject pooling

Tip #5 – GameObject pooling

Instead of destroying GameObjects:gameObject.SetActive(false);MyPoolManager.AddToFreePool(gameObject);

Instead of instantiating:GameObject = MyPoolManager.GetFreeObject();SetupObjectDefaults(gameObject);gameObject.SetActive(true);

Use with caution:• Intense desktop shaders• Unity terrains• Real-time shadows• Dense particles• Non-tessellated sprites*This list might change as hardware evolves

Remember that Windows 8 is supported by a huge range of hardware, both super fast and low power consumption

Tip #6 – Budget CPU-intensive components

Think about mouse + touch• Input.Touch vs. Input.Mouse• Input.simulateMouseWithTouches

Native code plug-ins will need to use Windows Runtime APIs• Convert HashTable and ArrayList to Dictionary• Keep native-code version of API (which stubs

Windows Store functionality) for use in the Editor’s Play Mode• Check the API lists located on the resource slide• How can you tell if a plug-in uses an unapproved API?

Use the Windows App Certification Kit

If you’re bringing a released app to Windows 8…

Tip #7 – Notes for porting

Windows App Certification Kit• Gives you a quick Windows Store compliance test

CurrentApp vs. CurrentAppSimulator• The real licensing API vs. the testable license API• Make sure you #IFDEF all calls

SoC processing power considerations• Load times, Fullscreen FX, too many draw calls, complex

shaders

We can show you scars!

What other knowledge can you share?

If you want to submit a game to the Windows Store, you must provide metadata that defines the ratings for your game as part of the game package.• Some territories require ratings for

games• Some territories use self-ratings

systems

These files allow parents to use the Family Safety features of Windows. Happy parents mean happy consumers!

Ratings + GDF files

What other knowledge can you share?

Make use of Live Tiles to drive retention and increase conversions• Sales / Limited-time discounts• F2P discounts• Limited-time in-game events• Multiplayer invites• Multiplayer turn notifications• Other calls to action

Live tiles are awesome, unique and powerful

What other knowledge can you share?

Windows 8.1 – Making the marketplace even better

New hardware – Greater performance from new hardware

Unity optimizations – Continued work on optimizing Unity for Windows 8 shows great promise

Things are going to get even better?

Thinking about the future – Up, Up and Away!

Resources – Unity documentation

Mobile Optimization Tipshttp://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/MobileOptimisation.html

Optimizing Graphics Performancehttp://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/OptimizingGraphicsPerformance.html

Practical Guide to Optimization for Mobileshttp://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/iphone-PracticalGuide.html

Resources – Windows 8 & Windows RuntimeDisallowed .NET APIshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/xaml/br230302.aspx

Allowed win32 APIshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/br205757.aspx

Replacing disallowed win32 APIshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh464945.aspx

Windows 8 & Windows RT hardware compatibility FAQhttp://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/win8/compatcenter/faq

Resources – Other videos/presentationsChannel 9 – Windows 8 / Windows Phone and Unity presentationshttp://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Windows-Camp/Building-Windows-Games-with-Unity

Covers what we’ve covered in a lot more detail!

Featuring :Platform introductionEnd-to-end develop, debug, and deployTips & tricksWindows 8 platform usage… And an awesome talk by our very own Richard Sun!

© 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

© 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.