Unity is an amazing platform, and it has been really interesting to work with it after coming back to coding 6 years ago. However I've hit this wall where I really need a big terrain, want low level details, but don't want to destroy performance in VR. If I ignore VR, and was working on a normal desktop game, this would not be an issue. There are ways to stream terrain using products such as Gaia, overcome the limitations of Unity's scene size, and make awesome stuff. For mobile platforms in particular, you can make great stuff with it with relative ease.
However it's apparent that the level of work required to convert and decorate three 14km x 14km terrains for streaming, and the re-code required to support streaming, versus the drop in performance just isn't worth fighting with. I shouldn't have to be reinventing the wheel to make up for something that I believe Unity should include, which is large terrain support.
There are a couple of things I can, and will, do to the terrains. However it'll never be what I want it to be... in Unity.
However there are things I feel Aquila does well:
- I never thought multiplayer would work as well as it does, and the controller mapped wing positions just opens more doors again. Who needs emotes when you can just express yourself with head and wing posture? ːsteamhappyː
- Flying at night in a thunderstorm is scary stuff, and even worse on a moonless night!
- The flying makes me smile. When flying/soaring at height with motion controllers, it feels just right. I've had complaints about the controls for sure, and with motion controllers it is not easy. Pre-covid when Aquila was at shows, I had numerous pilots try Aquila and say it feels like flying. There's a learning curve, and I can do my best to help, but this is a flight simulation. It takes practice.
- The framework for catching/holding/dropping stuff is there.
Where is this heading?
My intent is to bring Aquila over to Unreal Engine, which supports large terrains and streaming natively. I can bring so much of what I've learned over to Unreal, but I have more to learn before I can start work on an Unreal Aquila.
What this means for you?
Of course if you've purchased Aquila, the new version will be right here. I'll make sure there's a means to use the Unity version if you prefer it.
In the meantime?
I'll still be playing on the server - I enjoy buzzing about too much, and it's great workout! I'll be on Discord always (it's on my phone and pc). Always up for a multiplayer flap-about - remember server state is always on Discord. There will still be some changes to the current Aquila, that will let me add some ground decals. If you try and join the server and it's off, the game tells me and I can fire it up - Discord is awesome.
I was just conscious that it can be quiet here. The project is most certainly not abandoned. It just gives me many headaches! Please feel free to get in touch, particularly on Discord. I'd love to hear from other flying/bird nuts. :)
Thanks for reading. :)
Graeme