[opensource-dev] Unity 3D as possible base for future (maybe even official) SL Viewers

[Glen Canaday]

On Sun, 2010-10-03 at 15:09 -0700, Daniel Smith wrote:
> 
> 
> On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 2:56 PM, Glen Canaday <gcanaday at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>         No Linux support is a total deal-breaker for me.
>         
> I never said anything about the Linux viewer going away.
> I note that we have Pocket Metaverse now, and have had AjaxLife in the
> past.
> If it helps at all, I started with BSD Unix in 1981, Linux in 1994 ;)
> 
> As is the case with web browsers, a VR client to the same server could
> take many forms.
> 
> Ultimately, it's about what the community wants, and if a critical
> mass of developers decides to give them that.  It doesn't have to be
> an official Linden effort at all.
> 
> All I am saying is, in 2 years time, I cant see the current codebases
> even getting to the point where Unity 3.0 is today, in terms of
> graphics, physics, animation, terrain, and sound.
> But, I could see a pretty decent SL app done in Unity within that
> amount of time.
> 
> And, of course, I am just an interested observer.  I dont speak for
> LL, Vivaty, AOL, Autodesk, or anywhere else I have worked :)
> 
> Daniel 

It's hard to see exactly where the rendering engine will go, really, in
2 years. For a plugin-based client, as some (including myself) are
rather nudging towards, the renderer is just a part of the whole and
could in theory be hot-swapped if desired to A/B different engines. Even
if those renderers swapped between opengl and directx, it could still
fly. But to suggest that the main client perhaps go to something that
does not work across the board doesn't really include the whole of the
population - something which LL would be keen to retain.

That's why I suggested Ogre instead. I personally think it would be a
better fit and more productive to look at. Others may have different
opinions.

--GC

> -- 
> Daniel Smith - Sonoma County, California
> http://daniel.org/resume
>