[opensource-dev] Unity 3D as possible base / 2.x Codebase plugin capable?

[Glen Canaday]

On Mon, 2010-10-04 at 13:15 -0700, Daniel Smith wrote:
> 
> Am happy to see some input on the idea of Unity.  It makes me smile.
> 
> My intent, of course, was to jolt a bit out of idea of a monolithic
> 2.x codebase.  A lot of folks want the viewer to do quite a bit (mesh
> editor, anyone?).  Fulfilling the wishlist without going to a plugin
> strategy will result in a bloated client that will run on fewer and
> fewer machines.
> 
> So if Unity is relegated to a cool TPV project somewhere, that's
> fine ;)
> Proposing something radical like that will hopefully get people to
> think more about what it would take to do a very plugin oriented
> client (can the 2.x codebase do it?  or does it call for a reset of
> sorts?)  Where do people want to see an SL client, 2 years from now?
> 
Hey, when it gets all-around support, it can come right back out of TPV
and be an option..
> 
That's where I was going with my own project. Sounds like there are
quite a few people thinking in the same direction - I like that. My
first run through, should I ever be able to get it off the ground, was
to just split up the current code base so that it would be simpler to
implement things just like this. If Unity worked better on a given
machine, then by all means use it, and the same with Ogre or Irrlicht or
the Linden engine or OSG or etc.

> I dont think much of possible approaches that dont handle the
> physics / animation / terrain / sound angles.   It's just asking to
> reinvent too many wheels.  Oh, and as for the objection to Unity
> outputting to game consoles: snap out of it.  The mere existence of
> code on a console doesn't make it a game.  The overall idea is to make
> SL / OS ubiquitous (Linux client doesnt go away, other approaches open
> up the Web, phones, and consoles.. all good moves).
> 
Oh, don't misunderstand, I've got nothing against putting it on a
console. The more platforms, the merrier. I don't know how useful the
XBox controller would be in a heavy chat environment, but to each his
own, I suppose!

--GC