The Unity game engine is a versatile tool that developers, from beginners to those well-versed, utilize to fully realize their video game concepts. This year alone it provided a slew of games like Firewatch, Oxenfree, I Am Setsuna, Pokemon Go, ReCore, and the upcoming Cuphead. The engine’s latest update, 5.5, includes a collection of new enhancements and also now comes Microsoft Hololens ready.
The above tweet signaled the arrival of the 5.5 update and this time around the focus was on new platforms to develop for, better tools for artists, and the usual performance enhancements. For the developers and artists, there are updated particle effects with a noise module being most prevalent. With that tool, different types of behavior can be easily added to the different particles. There are also animation workflow and line rendering enhancements, easier ways to add logos and watermarks, and a new lighting tool called Look Dev that lets you double check your lighting work across various conditions.
With the new integration with Hololens, creators can now prototype, debug, and design for Windows Holographic without having to output to a Hololens compatible device. Such a move eases the process for developers, increasing efficiency by allowing them to do a larger amount of their augmented and mixed reality work within the Unity Editor. This will hopefully lead to shorter mixed/augmented development times or more intricate use of the technology.
Unity confirmed to UploadVR that its Editor VR solution is still on track for release this year. Unity is also opening up beta registration for their Unity Collaborate service, a utility that simplifies the team experience. The engine’s compatibility with in-app purchases has also been expanded to include Cloud Mulah and Xiaomi in addition to platforms like Google Play, iOS, and Samsung. You can find the Unity 5.5 assets and release notes here.
