Unity acquires Bolt

[markmandarin]

Unity Technologies acquires Bolt from Ludiq.
https://gamedaily.biz/article/1729/unity-technologies-acquires-bolt-from-ludiq



I have no idea what they planning to do with their new Visual Scripting though.
Anyway, PlayMaker is the far best programming solution I have ever tried, nothing compares.

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 Yes, Let's see how/what Unity will do with this, but indeed, if you can use Bolt you can code just as good, because it's a one to one relationship with the coding strategy ( they do have some modules like an FSM, so that's good of course), they just can't afford to provide the same system as Playmaker because by nature, it doesn't scale because for every new api you have to provide a hand written custom Action, yet that's the best approach for the end developer because you can then provide more features around that api then simply exposing it, which is why PlayMaker will always have a tremendous advantages in terms of production speed and design workflow.

Also, Bolt as is it not ready for production because of the performance impact at runtime ( because it soley relies on reflections which is costly in terms of perfs), let's see how Bolt 2 performs, hopefully they can improve on that.

Bye,

 Jean

[markmandarin]

As an artist, I could say they will lose again. Artists want a logic creation tool like PM, not a classic programming environment with visual appearance.
Interesting to see what will they do whit their "Dark Interface" visual scripting based on DOTS.

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

I think it's in an effort to align themselves with Unreal blueprint system, that's all.

Bye,

 Jean

[Broken Stylus]

they do have some modules like an FSM, so that's good of course)

As I said, that's what they'll also concentrate on. Bolt will clearly be two-layered.
However, will Unity foster a community that will freely provide these modules, sharing them in a special corner of the asset store or forum?
So much user-generated content, for free. It might get close to what one would identify as undeclared work.

they just can't afford to provide the same system as Playmaker because by nature, it doesn't scale because for every new api you have to provide a hand written custom Action

Unity will have the workpower to provide a lot of that. In fact I'm sure Unity will just bother exposing bits and users will come around to cobble the actions by themselves and share them.

yet that's the best approach for the end developer because you can then provide more features around that api then simply exposing it, which is why PlayMaker will always have a tremendous advantages in terms of production speed and design workflow.

I think it might encourage many third party asset publishers to include a support for Bolt.
It really depends on the success of the "modules" collection.

Also, Bolt as is it not ready for production because of the performance impact at runtime ( because it soley relies on reflections which is costly in terms of perfs), let's see how Bolt 2 performs, hopefully they can improve on that.

I think it's fairly obvious where they're going with that, Unity wouldn't acquire and officially support a system that is a hog on cores.

I think it's in an effort to align themselves with Unreal blueprint system, that's all.

There is a lot of that I agree.
Speaking of which, have the core devs of Playmaker ever considered commoditizing this engine to push it to other middlewares' engines? Just curious.

[Broken Stylus]

Keep an eye on this here: https://forum.unity.com/threads/unity-acquires-bolt.880273/

[tcmeric]

If Unity does with Bolt what they have done with ProBuilder... I am not worried, lol. Since they acquired TMP, ProBuilder, etc, they have virtually done nothing. Again, looking at XR kit they have released, its still not close to VRTK 3, which was done a long time ago. Things don't seem to move very fast at unity when it comes to these 'extensions'.

[Thore]

If Unity does with Bolt what they have done with ProBuilder... I am not worried, lol. Since they acquired TMP, ProBuilder, etc, they have virtually done nothing. Again, looking at XR kit they have released, its still not close to VRTK 3, which was done a long time ago. Things don't seem to move very fast at unity when it comes to these 'extensions'.

... or how they bought up Anima2D which they practically shelved and then developed a different 2D solution. Maybe they find out that they cannot expand on the asset, so they have to leave it as it is to maintain compatibility, and acquire the talent or code bits and then do their own thing. Or they buy to patch up a momentary hole in the toolkit.

[Broken Stylus]

They behave like silicon valley giants, buying rising and promising tools to kill them by negligence or suffocation. They could have at least waited for Bolt 2 to be trialed for a year or more. They're weird. Despite being a popular engine, they feel like a need to compensate against Unreal engine so they can say "this function, we have it too!!"

[heavygunner]

Now, Bolt is free for all
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/bolt-163802?_ga=2.154069176.1224065744.1595444720-1328473386.1592247127

Unity Blog : https://blogs.unity3d.com/2020/07/22/bolt-visual-scripting-is-now-included-in-all-unity-plans/

[BlizStudio]

In regards to Bolt vs. Playmaker, is there a plan for a Playmaker 2.0? 

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 PlayMaker 2.0 is planned, but it's still will remain true to the genuine processes of playmaker FSM.

Bye,

 Jean

[BlizStudio]

Thanks Jean!  Looking forward to it.  Do you have an idea of release?  Beta? 

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 nop it's pretty secret at the moment, I haven't seen any alpha still.

Bye,

 Jean