7 Optimization and Speed Tricks and Tools

Here are 7 optimization and speed tricks and tools that I’ve used over the years that have helped me to increase my FPS (Frames Per Second) and decrease draw calls as well as final file sizes.

At times, creating games and apps can be frustrating, none so frustrating as when you are trying to launch onto a mobile device or limited device only to have everything slow to a crawl. I’ve heard things like, “It worked fine in the editor…what gives!?” or things like, “My FPS count is freaking 7-10…” and the list goes on. You literally feel like someone came and restricted you from releasing your beautiful creation to the world…you’re now constrained to the hellish nightmare of HARDWARE restrictions where your final output platforms do not have the power to handle the capabilities that normal Laptops/Desktops have.

1. FILE SIZE – Build Report Tools

2. FPS Trick – Near/Far Draw Planes

7 Keys to Developer Health

Rarely do we discuss the mental and physical challenges that come with development…lets open up this conversation now with 7 ways you can have a more balanced Development Life!

2. Go To The Gym / Workout

 

7 Steps To Master Mouse Interaction with 3D Objects (Beginners)

In this article I will walk through how to interact with your 3D Game objects using your mouse.

1. Mouse Location on Screen

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class GSMouseInteraction : MonoBehaviour {

    // Game Scorpion Inc.
    // Mouse Interaction Script
    // Usage: 
    // Put this script on the MAIN Camera or on ANY objects you want to have mouse interaction

    // Private Variables
    private bool b_MouseActionsOnGameObject = false;
    private bool b_MouseDown = false;
    private float f_LastMouseXMovementAmount = 0.0f;
    private float f_LastMouseYMovementAmount = 0.0f;

    // Use this when script becomes active
    private void OnEnable()
    {
        // Make sure the object is NOT the main game camera where the script is placed
        if (gameObject.tag != "MainCamera")
        {
            // Enable all Mouse Detection for OnClick, OnEnter, OnExit functionality
            b_MouseActionsOnGameObject = true;
        }
    }

    // Check Mouse Enter
    private void OnMouseEnter()
    {
        if (b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        {
            //Debug.Log("Mouse Entered");
        }
    }

    // Check Mouse Exit
    private void OnMouseExit()
    {
        if (b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        {
            //Debug.Log("Mouse Exited");
        }
    }

    private void OnMouseOver()
    {
        if (b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        {
            //Debug.Log("Mouse Over Me");
        }
    }

    private void OnMouseUp()
    {
        if (b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        {
            b_MouseDown = false;
            //Debug.Log("Mouse Up");
        }
    }

    private void OnMouseDown()
    {
        if (b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        {
            // Get LAST X Position of mouse and subtract from current position
            //if (f_LastMouseXMovementAmount <= 0.0f)
            //{
            //    f_LastMouseXMovementAmount = Input.mousePosition.x;
            //}

            // Get LAST Y Position of mouse and subtract from current position
            //if (f_LastMouseYMovementAmount <= 0.0f)
            //{
            //    f_LastMouseYMovementAmount = Input.mousePosition.y;
            //}

            b_MouseDown = true;
            //Debug.Log("Mouse Down");
        }
    }

    private void OnMouseDrag()
    {
        if (b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        {
            //Debug.Log("Dragging");
        }
    }


    // Use this for initialization
    void Start ()
    {

	}
	
	// Update is called once per frame
	void Update () {
        // Mouse Location
        //Debug.Log("X: " + Input.mousePosition.x + " Y: " + Input.mousePosition.y);

        // Detect an object (WITH A COLLIDER) under the mouse via hovering
        //RaycastHit hit;
        //Ray ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition);
        //if (Physics.Raycast(ray, out hit))
        //{
        //    Debug.Log(hit.collider.name);
        //}

        // Scrolling
        //Debug.Log("Mouse Scroll: " + Input.mouseScrollDelta.y);

        //// Scroll and Zoom Camera
        //// As long as we are THE CAMERA object, do the following
        //if (!b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        //{
        //    // How fast we want to move the camera zoom
        //    float f_CameraZoomFactor = 1.0f;

        //    // Get the current X, Y and Z position of the camera
        //    float f_CamX = gameObject.transform.position.x;
        //    float f_CamY = gameObject.transform.position.y;
        //    float f_CamZ = gameObject.transform.position.z;

        //    // Add the scroll value / 100 to the Y value of the main camera
        //    gameObject.transform.position = new Vector3(f_CamX, f_CamY + (Input.mouseScrollDelta.y / f_CameraZoomFactor), f_CamZ);
        //}

        // If the mouse is down and the object is NOT the camera
        //if (b_MouseDown && b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        //{
        //    // Movement Factor
        //    float f_MovementFactor = 100.0f;

        //    // Calculate X Movement Range
        //    float f_MovementRangeX = (Input.mousePosition.x - f_LastMouseXMovementAmount) / f_MovementFactor;

        //    // Calculate Z Movement Range
        //    float f_MovementRangeZ = (Input.mousePosition.y - f_LastMouseYMovementAmount) / f_MovementFactor;

        //    // Move object via a drag by following mouse x, y location and translating to object x, z
        //    gameObject.transform.position = new Vector3(f_MovementRangeX, gameObject.transform.position.y, f_MovementRangeZ);
        //}

        // Move Camera based on mouse cursor hover location in the X and Z coordinates
        // Detect if we are on the camera
        if (!b_MouseActionsOnGameObject)
        {
            // Get the MOUSE X,Y location
            float f_MouseX = Input.mousePosition.x;
            float f_MouseY = Input.mousePosition.y;

            // Get the screen size
            float f_ScreenWidth = Screen.width;
            float f_ScreenHeight = Screen.height;

            // This is the movement speed
            float f_MovementSpeed = 1.0f;

            // Check if mouse is outside of X value on either side of screen
            if (f_MouseX <= 0.0f) { // Move Camera LEFT in X (-f_MovementSpeed) gameObject.transform.position = new Vector3(gameObject.transform.position.x - f_MovementSpeed, gameObject.transform.position.y, gameObject.transform.position.z); } else if (f_MouseX >= f_ScreenWidth)
            {
                // Move Camera RIGHT in X (+f_MovementSpeed)
                gameObject.transform.position = new Vector3(gameObject.transform.position.x + f_MovementSpeed, gameObject.transform.position.y, gameObject.transform.position.z);
            }

            // Check if mouse is outside of Y value on either side of screen
            if (f_MouseY <= 0.0f) { // Move Camera DOWN in Z (-f_MovementSpeed) gameObject.transform.position = new Vector3(gameObject.transform.position.x, gameObject.transform.position.y, gameObject.transform.position.z - f_MovementSpeed); } else if (f_MouseY >= f_ScreenHeight)
            {
                // Move Camera UP in Z (+f_MovementSpeed)
                gameObject.transform.position = new Vector3(gameObject.transform.position.x, gameObject.transform.position.y, gameObject.transform.position.z + f_MovementSpeed);
            }
        }


    }
}

List of Mobile App Markets – Grow Your Game!

In this short article we are going to go over all the various mobile markets you can put your game or app into. There are many and most of them are Android based. Each market has a different strategy which we will go over in this article.

LIST OF GAME MARKETPLACES

Tips and Advice

CONCLUSION

Software Stability and Environments

Building software can be an ongoing challenge, but how do you setup your software environment in order to make sure that clients get the best experience? This article takes a sneak peak into the world of Software Stability!

Thanks to one of my good friends and colleagues (Srdjan L. – A FREAKING GENIUS and a true gem! Hi Srdjan!) who taught me a LOT about stable software, there are approximately FOUR environments (Though each corporation may have a slightly different setup) I recommend you setup to help you in creating more stable games and software (This works well for Multiplayer/Multi-User games or any app where there are usernames, passwords and logins, which most of the latest top AAA games and apps SaaS Software’s generally have – specifically you need some form of SERVER architecture going on).

1. Staging Environment

 

2. QA Environment

CONCLUSION

Git Command Line Setup With Unity Step By Step for Beginners

I am going to walk you through how to setup git command line on a new unity project 🙂

1. WHY USE GIT

2. How To Setup Git In Unity

 

[Ll]ibrary/
[Tt]emp/
[Oo]bj/
[Bb]uild/
[Bb]uilds/
Assets/AssetStoreTools*
# Visual Studio cache directory
.vs/
# Autogenerated VS/MD/Consulo solution and project files
ExportedObj/
.consulo/
*.csproj
*.unityproj
*.sln
*.suo
*.tmp
*.user
*.userprefs
*.pidb
*.booproj
*.svd
*.pdb
*.opendb
*.VC.db
# Unity3D generated meta files
*.pidb.meta
*.pdb.meta
# Unity3D Generated File On Crash Reports
sysinfo.txt
# Builds
*.apk
*.unitypackage

1. 1. Find the folder name in your Asset folder

1. 1. In your git ignore file add the following line (WITH THE STAR AT THE END): Assets/NameOfFolder*

1. Save the file and now that specific folder and files wont be added.

3. Next Steps

Reference Sites List

6 Outsourcing Tips for Hiring Help For Your Games!

In this article I go over the things I’ve learned after years of getting help with service providers worldwide! From Art to assets to full out developers, here are 6 tips that I learnt along the way!

As you grow and expand your business you may find that you need help. Lets face it we’re not all artists or musicians or even 3D modellers! While trying to wear many hats you end up creating DEV games that show a serious lack of skill in several of those areas. So what do you do at those times? YOU OUTSOURCE! But where do you start and what do you need to watch out for? Lets walk into that in more detail now!

1. You Get What You Pay For Holds True…But There Are Definitely Some Gems!

 

2. The Further East the Lower The Quality (In General)…The Further West The Higher The Quality (In General)…

3. The Further East, The Lower The Cost…The Further West, The Higher The Cost

So this one should be no surprise as you hear all the time that India and China are generally the cheapest location for service providers. There are a few caveats however that I do recommend and you should definitely checkout if you’re going down the road of outsourcing!

a. India/China => Lowest Cost in general.

b. Philippines => I have found that their teams are a happy medium price wise along with quality and so for saving money I’d go here for art and customer service (As per my notes above)

c. Europe => I like getting artwork from here as it tends to be higher quality. Prices are also relatively higher however not as high as north america. If you’re looking for high quality NPC’s, GUI work or stuff that you need high quality at a price that is pretty great (Not bargin bin but definitely not North American pricing) then Europe is great for this. The software side is definitely on the higher side and so you’ll want to watch and see the pricing. They may actually charge western rates, but you are getting devs there that are literally THE BEST in the world in my opinion. I’ve personally been developing since I was 10 and have years of dev experience and even a degree in computer science and those devs can do circles around me! If I’m going to invest money in top talent for dev work, even at market rates (And yes even times less than market but still up there) I’d be taking on European devs hands down in my opinion (Once again from my experience, your experiences may vary).

d. Middle East => There is a LOT of startups now coming out of the middle east that can do a lot. I personally have not investigated much and so I can’t speak on behalf of it but a lot of new service providers who are outsourcing their services to North American markets are popping up continuously.

e. North America => Most Expensive, These are market rates and you’d be looking at around $50-$300+/hour depending on what you’re looking to have done. Each service provider is different but like I said, if you’re looking for mission critical help, North America is where I’d put my money on if I had to choose my important items (Such as managing my apks, uploading them to markets, building my ipa files and managing my app business).

Now all of this brings me to my next point…Should you outsource?

4. Pros and Cons of Outsourcing

The pros of outsourcing are as follows: a. You save time b. You can have an app or game out before your competitors c. You can have more professional quality results if you do not have the skills that the other providers have (Ex. if you’re not an artist, hiring an artist may bring your game to the next levels) d. You can save considerable amounts of money The cons of outsourcing: a. Money cost (Depending on your budgets and who you choose as your service providers) b. Copyright and NDA issues (This depends on where in the world you choose your providers and each situation) c. It takes time to find a good mix of providers you can trust

There are more pros and cons for sure but these are just a few from each end that I can share from my experiences.

So where should you go if you want to get started in finding service providers?

5. A short list of service provider sites

6. GET IT IN WRITING! Keep an Email Trail!

In our digital world, email is the new paper. You need to keep an email trail to protect yourself because there will be times (Countless) where you told a service provider to provide you with X and they deliver Y and say you never said X. This is where you simply take out the email and paste in your exact requirements and what they agreed to.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you ever simply state over a video call or voice call your requirements and then not follow up with an email with the exact same requirements. Infact what I do is I send an email, state the requirements, then in a call I repeat the exact same requirements and then get them to email me back a confirmation that they understood those requirements.

This one set of steps has saved me time and again so that outsourced houses dont try and overcharge you extra fees for a so called “Add-on” to the project that was clearly in the original request. KEEP THIS ONE TIP IN MIND, IT COULD SAVE YOU MANY MANY DOLLARS AND HEADACHES!

7 Must Have Gadgets and Gizmos to Speed Up Your Unity Development!

7 Must Have Gadgets and Gizmos to Speed Up Your Unity Development!

Gadgets and tools that will save you time or make your development life easier and even increase your productivity!

5 Visual Studio Coding Tricks to Speed up your coding

5 Visual Studio Coding Tricks to Speed up your coding

5 Visual Studio Coding Tricks to Speed up your coding

How would you like to INSTANTLY save more time and energy coding your games? Over the years I’ve learned many fun tips and tricks that have helped me to speed through things in Visual Studio. I share with you some of those tricks that have helped me plow through MASSIVE code…I’m talking 100k+ lines of code with massive amounts of scripts. These are just some of the many useful tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years but figured I’d write some of them down here in this post. May these tips and tricks serve you well in your own coding endeavors as you build the next hit game in Unity!

1. TODO

b. Now inside of Visual Studio simply click on (View => Next Task) and you’ll be able to see all your To Do items and even cycle through them!

How to Survive The Holidays as A Developer! 5 Tips to Make It Awesome!

How to Survive The Holidays as A Developer! 5 Tips to Make It Awesome!

So you’re going to go into the holidays as a developer…Like it or not you’re going to have to interact with people OUTSIDE of your day-to-day world! These 5 tips will help you break the ice!

Holiday season can be a blast, here are some tips that can help you out as you mingle with loved ones and friends, some of whom may have no idea what Unity 3D is let alone some who (Yes they exist) don’t play GAMES…and even the odd one or two who DON’T USE APPS!

1. It’s about having fun, not JUST hibernating away from people!

2. Be Considerate Around Non-Dev Folk

When was the last time you stood around two car mechanics talking? How about two doctors? two lawyers? etc. The point is in those situations you most likely feel uncomfortable because you have NO idea what they’re talking about! “Last week I did a triple biopsy with a cardiac blah blah blah…” Yeah the rest of my family is doctors GO FIGURE!

Point is just as you would feel uncomfortable in those situations, there are others who are NOT technical like you so if you’re talking code and you see a few people who do not speak the “Lingo” seriously take a step back and say hello and CHANGE THE TOPIC to something you both understand! You’ll end up making more friends and will also lighten the mood and make things more comfortable for your guests (ESPECIALLY IF IT’S YOUR PARTY!!).

There are other topics to speak about…I generally stay clear of Religion and Politics though (This is a time to be thankful not a time for fighting and arguments, but that’s just my own personal thing lol). Talk about movies, talk about the 8th season of Game of Thrones coming up (That you plan to watch AFTER the holiday season ahem ahem!), talk about things that most people can relate to => “Darn is it ever getting cold outside, eh?” (<== YEAH I’M CANADIAN)

3. DRINK RESPONSIBLY!

4. Don’t Over Eat!

5. Babies, Kids and MORE babies…

CONCLUSION