This week was all about laying the foundations for future progress. Unity has a bunch of optional packages, so I spent time looking through them and deciding which ones I would use.
First off, and most importantly, is the multiplayer functionality. Unfortunately, as this blog post from the Unity devs indicates, the current overhaul of Unity's built-in multiplayer system leaves me at a difficult crossroads. Do I go with the soon-to-be-deprecated UNet, or try and learn a preview version of DOTS? In the end, I went with option C - using a third-party platform. I'll be using Bolt for my multiplayer needs.
I've also learned, over the summer, of the importance of keeping version history and backups. For this, I'll be using Unity Collaborate. Yes, it's more intended (as the name implies) for multiple developers to work together on a project, but it does allow you to upload your build to the cloud and it considers each upload a separate "version" that you can add a comment to. For me, it's simple way to implement version control, all within Unity.
Another built-in Unity tool I'm planning on using is the Shader Graph. I've found that it's pretty similar to Nuke, which I've been using in my VFX classes, so I'm excited for the opportunity to apply what I've learned from VFX back into my games. Hand in hand with the Shader Graph is the VFX graph, which I also want to use to make my game as good as it can be.
If I want to use the Shader and VFX Graphs, I'll need to use Unity's new render pipeline system (specifically LWRP). It's not something that I'm particularly familiar with, but given that there's a system to automatically convert materials from the old system to the new, it can't be that dissimilar, and shouldn't be that hard to learn. It also lets me use a plethora of interesting effects, e.g. x-ray, post-processing, in an intuitive and simple way.
As a side note, during some additional research (aka rewatching Tron: Legacy), I rediscovered the aerial portion of the movie. If I can get the basics of my game up and running, I don't think it would be too difficult to create an additional mode with three degrees of freedom - it's be a completely different experience for not much development investment.
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