Unity 3.5 is out!
In this overview video of Unity 3.5 I go over and demonstrate some of the new features introduced in Unity3.5. Though we are covering only some of the major new features, there are numerous other features that have been added to this version of Unity.
Where to download Unity 3.5?
This new version of Unity has been released earlier this week and can be downloaded from www.unity3d.com.
Aside from some small changes the features I will be covering are:
The new Shuriken particle system which now has a built in curve editor for easier editing, module based, group-able and you can edit, view and playback control in Edit Mode.
Light Probes, which allows for baked lighting on characters and other dynamic objects.
Level of Detail (LOD) system (Pro only) By setting up LOD groups you can refine the efficiency the loading of your game assets. Very useful for larger city, free roam type levels.
NavMesh (Pro only)
Thanks for the vid! I enjoyed seeing the new particle system especially and how streamlined its menu tree is.
I am also pretty jazzed for light probes. With Eat sheep we were debating on how to properly light the main characters in an entire baked scene and keep our draw calls below 20. This may be the answer, though we were going to “try” not to upgrade to the new version with this project.
Really cool, unfortunately the NavMesh feature is for pro only, could really help me a lot.
There’s a little problem with the website. Though the tutorial on the NPC talking script is on vimeo it is not on unity cookie. Just a little heads up. Your tutorials are great, keep em comin’.
Hi, thanks for the heads-up! I’ll forward this to Wes in the morning. =)
-Patrick
Thanks for the heads up – This one is scheduled next week and sometimes we are able to pre-load them over to Vimeo first. Though it wasn’t suposed to be public, yet.. consider a sneak peek.
Good to see some of the new features in action. It is too bad they didn’t get the new UI into this version but I guess it leaves something for us to look forward to in 3.6
Yeah, I’m very curious as to where they’re going with that as well! Still, 3.5 is a pretty solid release, even without the new GUI system. =)
-Patrick
Very interesting look at new features. Seems that Light Probes are for pro only too, pity but understandable.
Hey Xenon,
Are you sure about that? I couldn’t find that anywhere and the manual doesn’t list it as such either (http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/Manual/Advanced.html).
-Patrick
Thanks Patrick. I can’t wait to try this. I’m in the process of moving and had to take my systems down.
Soon as I get back up again I’ll have to look at that new particle system. It looked great for making snow.
The NavMesh is neat too but could be expanded to have faces selected or not selected depending on the type of material. Like weight painting. I was thinking you would not want your bots walking thru a building just to get to the player.
True, though to get around it you also just mark your walls as NavMesh Static and place them on a non-walkable layer. Or you could leave a gap in your navmesh where the wall would be. =)
Good luck with the move!
-Patrick
Do you guys have like a UDK cookie? I’ve thinking about switching to UDK because of physics and graphics. Also Ive been recomended UDK by a lot of people.
If you guys don’t have a UDK cookie than can you tell me the advantages and disadvantages of both?