Within this article I will try to cover all the pros and cons of developing using Unity3D.

I figured the best way to accomplish this would be to get the advice of an expert in the field, so I enlisted the help of two expert mobile game developers who also have extensive knowledge of the video game market. On the one hand we have, Iván García Suber, coordinator of Trinit, Association of Computer and Video Game Developers of Zaragoza; on the other, game developer Aitor Román Ibanez Androtiyas. Between them they have made several collaborations that have appeared as apps in the Android Market, the most famous being Dragon Pet. I interviewed both of them about their Unity 3D user experience and they shared their knowledge with me.

As industry experts and knowledgeable about the tool, they explained that one of the biggest beneficiaries of using Unity 3D is Android. Being in the market with more users and more devices in circulation has many advantages. This is especially reflected when analyzed from a social point of view.

Aitor Román explains: “We can say that Unity3D has dedicated more time to preparing and developing apps on the Android platform and this is evident in its benefits”. These benefits are also used by Google when developing games with Unity3D

Unity3D limitations

Like any tool, it has strengths but also some limitations. The expert Iván García helps us discover more about the latter.

  • The most obvious is that it does not allow us to start from a base, or from a template, but in another way, and you have to implement details. If you don’t you will have to start from scratch with each game. “As a general purpose engine, it doesn’t give you anything to work with. Some people develop games and expect everything to be drag and drop, but it’s not. In fact, I always thought it would take a bad engine to make it work right “, explains Iván García.

  • From a graphical point of view, it is also lagging behind other engines like UDK. While on the contrary, Unity 3D allows you to program ‘shaders’, yes, from scratch. However, Iván García admitted to us that the moment of truth for the world’s small developers is graphic design for smartphones.

  • A level physics engine, despite using NVidia PhysX, it doesn’t offer as many features as other tools like UDK or CryEngine. Unity 5 is expected to update PhysX 3.3, especially performance issues, and is expected to add other functionality.

  • The fact that there are more expensive licenses can be a limitation for freelance developers and small development groups. The most expensive licenses mainly provide graphical and performance improvements, but they are only worth it if you have a medium or large team and an ambitious project. Also “the developer himself, depends on whether the developer is going to exploit these resources”, adds Román Aitor.

  • When it comes to developing games with Unity specifically for smartphones, there are some hurdles. However, you do not have to pay expensive licenses. For example, Unity for free allows you to publish on Android, iPhone and Windows Phone, the most popular platforms in recent years.

In conclusionI can say that Unity 3D is a solid tool for beginners and also for users who don’t have many resources at their disposal to hire people for game development. It is also this group of independent developers and small businesses that benefit the most from using Unity.