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Author Topic: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit  (Read 70066 times)

Kurius

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Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« on: November 12, 2013, 07:46:41 pm »
@unikronsoftware with much respect, I innocently ask.....

What are the pros/cons of Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit ?
In other words, what is the advantage of using 2Dtoolkit in Unity 4.3 ?
Thank you

DemiGoth

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2013, 09:04:19 pm »
With the same respect, I was wondering the same when I saw the release notes of 4.3. It even has a build-in multi-sprite animator!

unikronsoftware

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2013, 11:12:15 pm »
You can use 2D Toolkit (2.3) with Unity 4.3, use as little or as much of each system as you like. Unity provides some really nice tools, but 2D Toolkit builds on that and does a lot more. Some examples - I'll update this later with more stuff, maybe set up a "comparison" website - I say that loosely, as I think you should probably use the strengths of both systems.

1. Atlasing in Unity Free.
2. Pixel perfect camera and camera adjustment for different resolutions.
3. Platform collections (atlas swapping for different resolutions)
4. Bitmap fonts, including bitmap fonts in atlases.
5. Tilemap with optimal collider / render mesh generation.
6. Sliced, tiled and clipped sprite using the same shader.
7. Sprite dicing. http://www.2dtoolkit.com/docs/latest/advanced/sprite_dicing.html
8. Super fast animation set-up workflow.
9. UI components.
10. PNG atlases - you can choose to trade of a little load speeds for significantly smaller builds.
11. Static sprite batcher.
12. Awesome community driven features - 2D Toolkit owners get an opportunity to shape the product.

2D Toolkit 2.3 uses a fair few Unity 4.3 features and interacts really well with Unity sprites.
1. Render layers and sorting order works together with Unity sprites.
2. 2D physics - you can swap between 2D and 3D physics pretty quickly. http://www.2dtoolkit.com/docs/latest/unity_43_integration.html

Unity 4.3 can do some things that tk2d can't do due to Unity scripting limitations.
1. Animating colors in the Unity animator
2. Automatic atlasing in Unity Pro
3. Animating scaling hierarchies of sprites using the Unity animator.
4. Possibly better batching performance for lots of single sprites. 2D Toolkit isn't exactly slow to start with.
5. Automatic collider & sprite shape detection. (This is not a scripting limitation, but we've not had enough requests for this)

You can mix and match both - use the strengths of each as you see fit :)
« Last Edit: November 12, 2013, 11:20:53 pm by unikronsoftware »

DemiGoth

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2013, 06:54:22 am »
You can use 2D Toolkit (2.3) with Unity 4.3, use as little or as much of each system as you like. Unity provides some really nice tools, but 2D Toolkit builds on that and does a lot more. Some examples - I'll update this later with more stuff, maybe set up a "comparison" website - I say that loosely, as I think you should probably use the strengths of both systems.
Thanks for the quick list!

I think a comparison list/site would be best. With us two already owning 2D toolkit, others who're new to Unity might wonder the same thing and NOT get 2D toolkit at all. Honestly, I think without the list/site you'd loose sales and (new) Unity users will miss out on a great tool for 2D gaming.

Vidd

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2013, 01:22:44 pm »
I've just picked up Unity and the Toolkit recently and was wondering the opposite of what Toolkit 2D brings to 4.3 - what do the new Unity features bring to the Toolkit 2D? It seems like it already matches its features and adds more.

Is it just the 2D physics and 2D view in the editor? Are there any new features that Toolkit 2D can (and should) integrate?

Rirath

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #5 on: November 17, 2013, 05:51:24 pm »
Quote
Automatic collider & sprite shape detection. (This is not a scripting limitation, but we've not had enough requests for this)

I might as well lend my voice in saying that would be nifty some day. ;)

unikronsoftware

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2013, 06:05:44 pm »
I've just picked up Unity and the Toolkit recently and was wondering the opposite of what Toolkit 2D brings to 4.3 - what do the new Unity features bring to the Toolkit 2D? It seems like it already matches its features and adds more.

Is it just the 2D physics and 2D view in the editor? Are there any new features that Toolkit 2D can (and should) integrate?

2D Toolkit has integrated all the features it can integrate so far. 2D physics, sorting order and layers. The sprite renderer is pretty much a one trick pony right now and can only draw unity sprites, which in turn can only be created and updated by Unity c core, so as far as I can tell, nothing is exposed to allow us to actually use that stuff. Once that is available for consumption we'll support that too :)

Vidd

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2013, 04:24:54 pm »
That's pretty much what I expected. Thanks for integrating what is available.  :)

WingedS

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2013, 09:41:55 pm »
#1 reason to buy 2dtoolkit? The support. Seriously, the support guy/team behind unikron is awesome. He answers the most off-topic questions ever and even tells you how to improve or offers a better way to do things.

DannyB

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2013, 09:54:58 pm »
#1 reason to buy 2dtoolkit? The support. Seriously, the support guy/team behind unikron is awesome. He answers the most off-topic questions ever and even tells you how to improve or offers a better way to do things.

I totally agree. Its hard to argue with 641 reviews and an average of 5 star rating...

But it will still take time until Unity's 2D support will be as solid and feature-complete as 2D Toolkit, and even then, I know Unikron will adjust the kit and provide us with even more cool stuff.

I imagine for example, when the Unity atlas will be advanced enough, then 2D Toolkit will use it instead + provide us with a "migrate" button to switch from tk2d atlas to Unity atlas.

Asatru Artist

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2014, 09:42:38 pm »
I was on the fence about buying 2D Toolkit because of the Unity 4.3 update, but after seeing the list of what 2D Toolkit does compared to Unity 4.3, I went ahead and purchased the plugin.

I do think a comparison page or site would be a great idea for others on the fence.  For me the comparisons confirmed that 2D Toolkit would be a great addition to help me make the 2D game I've always wanted to make (I'm an artist, not a programmer).

Thanks!

Finnegan

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2014, 04:30:31 pm »
Native 2d in Unity3d is doing a nice job for simple platform or action games.

But 2D Toolkit can use most of the native 2d functionality AND it has many great features like powerful UI, platform-dependent atlases, tile maps and pixel-perfect resolution-independent camera. There's no way you can create a complex cross-platform 2d game with only native 2d tools.

And of course the support is amazing.

Sir Lulzalot

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2014, 04:05:42 pm »
Replying to this topic since this is the topic that http://www.unikronsoftware.com/2dtoolkit/unity2d.html page connects to and I think this would help answer some buyers' questions (since I'm on the fence on purchasing this due to said question).

Are we able to use standard Unity objects such as GUITexture and the like, or does TK's enhanced version completely override these?

unikronsoftware

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2014, 04:24:16 pm »
You can mix and match as you see fit. tk2d doesn't override any built in functionality.

Sir Lulzalot

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Re: Unity 4.3 vs 2Dtoolkit
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2014, 11:38:54 pm »
You can mix and match as you see fit. tk2d doesn't override any built in functionality.

Wow, glad to see a head dev a major part of their community. You've earned a purchase later today, thanks!