BlackBerry PlayBook port or Unity Union

[xvart]

I know this is really early and people will say why PlayBook instead of iOS or Android... but here is why it might work:

 

http://unity3d.com/union/

 

Since it is done in Unity3D it is quite possible for Eternity to exist in BlackBerry AppWorld. Unity people can convert Unity games so that the game work on other platforms (PlayBook, Roku etc...). The catch is that (as far as I remember) they get to keep the 20% and they want the game to be great (which Eternity will surpass)

 

So here are the games of Unity that exist in PlayBook:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/vendor/16944/?lang=EN

 

Also here is InXile's The Bard's Tale (the most important CRPG in the PlayBook) again in AppWorld:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/119547/?lang=en

 

I also think Obsidan can talk with the people at InXile about the money they make from the AppWorld and see if it makes sense or not...

 

And here is the specs to the tablet itself:

http://us.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/tablet-specs.html

 

I know this is really a short post with not much information but I wanted to see if people (both Obsidian and non-Obsidian) are interested.

 

ps. this is my first post so don't be harsh.

2nd ps. I was hoping that they were going to use Unity when they first put up the Kickstarter, I have been working with Unity for 2 years on various project and it is great program to work with.

[Ieo]

Obsidian has been quite clear that Project Eternity is full PC only; Windows, Mac, Linux. This means no tablet support---it's not just the OS, which is what you're talking about, but the entire hardware model.

 

And Blackberry Playbook has less than 4% of the entire tablet market. (Really? )

 

Additional interview links about console/tablet ports etc. in my sig.

[xvart]

I know I heard/read that all. But Union is a little bit different than making a port. That was my real point...

 

Anyways, still thanks for the quick reply.

[Althernai]

They have said that they are not making tablet versions. It is certainly possible that by 2014, there will be tablets powerful enough to run the game and somebody can make a BGEE-like port, but they're not going to focus on that now.

[xvart]

I guess it was a mistake to put the BlackBerry PlayBook as the first part of the topic. But the idea with the Union is that Unity makes the port not Obisidian and I am not saying this is good or bad. But it is different. The porting ideally does not use Obsidian's resources. I got happier when Avellone said that he does not want to compromise the game to make console version as computer gamer who has played all those isometric rpgs. Union is something that Unity offers and since the game will be done in Unity why not think about it and it is not going to cost any extra.

[Ieo]

I know I heard/read that all. But Union is a little bit different than making a port. That was my real point...

 

Anyways, still thanks for the quick reply.

 

"Ports" are never as easy as people think and then the people with some programming language typically lack any higher-order business experience in the global sense.

 

PE's GUI is being designed for PC HID use, so there's more resources required to consider multitouch and the lack of right-click and all that. It's not just processing power, nor is it just Unity software capability. Debugging would have to cover a much broader range of hardware combinations, which takes both time and money.

 

You entirely missed my point about market share: The return on investment for such a miniscule market is absolutely not worth the time, effort, and costs with the current funding--the only way porting to any other platform could make sense is by a separate Kickstarter. Given the existing market share for this Blackberry Playbook, it won't happen. Sorry~

[xvart]

 

"Ports" are never as easy as people think and then the people with some programming language typically lack any higher-order business experience in the global sense.

 

 

I see that you already know me...

 

And it seems that the word 'ideally' might be too subtle for you. But I really forgive your rudeness assuming that you had to give similar answer about ports to all the people. As I said my main intent was about Union and the PlayBook was just an example. But then again the Obsidian people/you have probably already seen Union while you were investigating Unity.

 

And you can lock the thread if you want, I have no problem with that as we are done with the post.

 

ps. As a PlayBook use I know and feel how small is the tablet's market.

[Ieo]

Falling under the giant tablet umbrella, the giants iOS and Android won't be getting PE ports either. Basically, while Unity can support lots of other output, developers should be designing with specific platform output in mind. (Like stripping content for console controllers, but you're aware of that.) At this point the only possibility for "tablet" support is a tablet with a full OS (I have a full Windows tablet) and attached keyboard+mouse, but Obsidian wouldn't officially support that.

 

Lots of things can be done "ideally" with infinite money--but considering what Obsidian has said about the costs to other platforms like consoles, or even co-op/multiplayer, it's best to concentrate on that PC platform (they'll have enough fun debugging across Windows/Mac/Linux and the thousands of PC hardware configs). Even with over $10m or something, I suspect Obsidian would rather try MP support than adding more platforms using different HID.

[jarpie]

First console ports and now mobile/tablet ports? What next...port for Commodore 64 or Amiga?

[Ieo]

First console ports and now mobile/tablet ports? What next...port for Commodore 64 or Amiga?

 

Nah, people have asked for tablet ports (usually iPad) alongside consoles, but it seems less common. It always comes down to the same arguments for not doing any of them, though. Hardware, OS, UI design with HID, downscaled content, debugging, market share, cost, time.... There's something to be said for AAA funding, but looking at the actual content type and quality of AAA titles that do make the effort to go cross-platform--yeah.

[Althernai]

Nah, people have asked for tablet ports (usually iPad) alongside consoles, but it seems less common. It always comes down to the same arguments for not doing any of them, though. Hardware, OS, UI design with HID, downscaled content, debugging, market share, cost, time.... There's something to be said for AAA funding, but looking at the actual content type and quality of AAA titles that do make the effort to go cross-platform--yeah.

It's not quite the same arguments. The problem with consoles is the control interface -- you'll never get a game with the complexity of BG2 to work properly with a controller and the people who use a console with a mouse and keyboard are not worth the conversion costs. Tablets are different: the control interface is more or less acceptable. It won't be as good as a PC because you lose the keyboard, but it's nowhere near as bad as a console since you keep the fast and precise pointer functionality with touch instead of a mouse. The problem with tablets is that the hardware just isn't good enough right now. Sure, they can do Baldur's Gate... but based on that screenshot and what they said about pathfinding, Project Eternity will not be designed for 10 year old PCs. It will probably run on every non-netbook PC sold in the past 3 years (5 years by the time it's released), but those PCs typically have more RAM, more disk space and a faster CPU than any tablet out there right now. Thus, it is not impossible that they might eventually get somebody to port it to a tablet, but there's no reason to worry about it right now since the hardware isn't there yet.

[xvart]

Ieo, I hear what you are saying and I was just saying there is Union part of Unity...

 

I still remember the PC version Resident Evil 4... It did not have mouse support! was telling me to press triangle, square etc...