Which Version of Unity Do You Need?

2. Getting Set Up for iOS Development 31

2.1 Which Version of Unity Do You Need?

As mentioned in the introduction of this book, you will need a Unity iOS-specific li- cense to start producing for iOS. You cannot build iOS games with Unity alone, and to produce games for iOS, you will need to own Unity (free) or Unity Pro and a copy of either Unity iOS or Unity iOS Pro. To help you understand the various licenses and decide which one you need, here are some brief descriptions of each one and why you may or may not need them.

2.1.1 Unity (Free)

The cheapest option is to download Unity for free and purchase the most basic license (Unity iOS) at around $400 at the time of writing. The free version of Unity is just that—

a free version of their desktop engine that is fully functional for games development, but lacking some of the more advanced features such as soft shadows or the culling engine.

You will be surprised as to how much Unity you get in the free version; they have been extremely generous with it and there really is enough functionality in the free version to make commercial-quality games.

2.1.2 Unity Pro

Unity Pro is the paid alternative, offering extra functionality such as audio filters, build size stripping, no splash screen, batched object rendering, and a profiler (to help opti- mize performance). Unity Pro is available for a free 30-day trial from the Unity web- site,1 which means that you can try it out in full before you buy. If you are unsure as to whether or not you need Pro, download Unity free and try it first. Later on, if you find that your projects require the extra features, you can easily upgrade to Unity Pro.

2.1.3 Unity iOS

Unity iOS is the most basic version of Unity that you’ll need to be able to make iOS ap- plications or games. It offers a full suite of tools for game development and everything you need to get cracking on that great idea you have. The main limitations of Unity iOS

2.1. Which Version of Unity Do You Need? 33

are that your build size will be larger than a Unity iOS Pro build, your game will have a Unity splash screen before it loads, and you won’t be able to optimize your game as much as you could with a Pro license. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you need Pro from the start, though. This version is still just as powerful as any of the other commer- cial game engines out there for iOS.

2.1.4 Unity iOS Pro

Unity iOS Pro is the choice for larger projects or larger studios. If your company (or incorporated entity) has a turnover in excess of $100,000 in its last fiscal year, you will need to make the Pro purchase. Some of the Pro advantages include render-to-texture effects, occlusion culling, lightmapping with global illumination (although lightmap- ping without global illumination is available in the lower-cost Unity license), the ability to generate smaller-sized builds, and multiplayer capability. Take a look at the feature comparison tables below for more information.2

Having the luxury of occlusion culling and build size stripping is a big deal. You can bring down your memory footprint significantly and take a load off of the processor, which leaves a whole lot more room for effects or extra game play elements that you may not have been able to squeeze in with the budget alternative.

General Unity Pro Unity iOS Pro iOS Android Pro Android

Physics      

Audio (3D positional and classic

stereo)      

Audio filters   

Video playback and streaming  3,4 4

Multiplayer networking with

RakNet      

Full-fledged streaming with as-

set bundles   

May be licensed and used by companies or incorporated entities that had a turnover in excess of $100,000 in their last fiscal year

  

Deployment Unity Pro Unity iOS Pro iOS Android Pro Android

One-click deployment      

Web browser integration   

Custom splash screen    

Build size stripping    

2 Source: http://unity3d.com/unity/licenses

3 Streaming from the net is not supported on iOS devices.

4 Video playback can only occur fullscreen on iOS and Android devices, playback as a texture on a surface is not supported.

Graphics Unity Pro Unity iOS Pro iOS Android Pro Android

Optimized graphics      

Shaders (built-in and custom)      

Lightmapping      

Lightmapping with global il-

lumination   

Dynamic batching      

Static batching      

Terrains (vast, densely foliaged

landscape)   

Render-to-texture effects   

Fullscreen postprocessing effects   

Low-level rendering access   

Occlusion culling   

Real-time shadows 

Deferred rendering 

Code Unity Pro Unity iOS Pro iOS Android Pro Android .NET-based scripting with C#,

JavaScript, and Boo      

Access to web data through

WWW functions      

Open a URL in the user’s browser      

.NET socket support    

Native code plug-ins support     

Editor Unity Pro Unity iOS Pro iOS Android Pro Android

Integrated editor     

Instananeous, automatic asset

importing     

Integrated animation editor     

Integrated tee creator    

Profiler    

External version control support   

Script access to asset pipeline   

Dark skin   

2.3. Choosing the Right Developer Program Subscription 35