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Asset Store Action News - August 2011 Edition!

August 17, 2011 in Games | 4 min. read
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Greetings Unity developers & Asset Store users!

The recent release of 3.4 brought many awesome new features to Unity.. with it came a ton of new assets and optimizations to the Unity Asset Store! Here's a quick look at recent and notable additions to the store.  If you haven't been to the Unity Asset Store before, you'll find it inside Unity-- just launch Unity and select Window > Asset Store.  It's an incredibly convenient way to find quality, ready-to-use, royalty-free models, scripts, sound effects, music and editor extensions right in your workspace.  It couldn't be easier!

Addicted to Substances


Airstream Substance demo project

A mind-blowingly useful new feature in Unity 3.4 is the integration of the dynamic texture generation system, the Allegorithmic Substance engine, directly inside Unity.  If you're not yet familiar with Substances, you should check them out, as they're the most efficient way to pack tons of complex textures (with diffuse, specular, normal maps and more) into a very, very small footprint!  You can actually adjust an Allegorithmic Substance's parameters in run-time with code or even animation keyframes, to create living, dynamic textures which can change over time in your game.   To get started, you'll need to pick up a pre-existing, incredibly-customizable substance from the Asset Store, which contains the basic procedural patterns for your textures.  Use them like any material on your mesh objects and adjust the parameters as you like!

You will find over 500 pre-made Allegorithmic Substance on the Asset Store, ranging from commonly used textures including metals, woods, sci-fi and fabric, to vivid, organic and alien textures.   Allegorithmic's system is so addictive, if you're not careful you might become a substance abuser!  Allegorithmic's substances can be found in the Materials & Textures section of the Asset Store.  It's a great way to beef up your project.

We have a free 18-substance pack on the Asset Store as well as a two great example projects to get you going.

Rain{one}


Rain{one} AI behavior tree by Rival{theory}

Popular on the Asset Store this month is the very brainy AI system, Rain{one} from the Los Alamos thinktank, Rival{theory}.  It's the easiest way to give in-game characters core AI capabilities such as the ability to sense the world, navigate, and create complex behaviors through goal or task based logic. Features include...

  1. Pathfinding, Pathfollowing and Path Graph Generation
  2. Behavior Trees and Goal Oriented Behaviors
  3. Movement & Locomotion
  4. Environment Sensors
  5. One-Click AI Configuration

It's a great way to give your zombies some braaaains.

Nature!


Nature Pack

Imagine.. the serenity of soaring trees, blooming wildflowers, the graceful curves of a fern, clouds, the majesty of a stony cliff. A verdant, rolling landscape.  There are many places to find such natural beauty... like Yosemite, the Swiss Alps, and the Unity Asset Store.  Quite popular this month is the comprehensive and well-crafted Nature Pack, which has over 30 trees and bushes, stones, natural textures and more, all prepared for use with Unity's Terrain System.  You'll also find mushrooms, wildflowers and trees of many species.

Free tunes from the folks at AudioDraft

The good people at the music crowd-sourcing company, AudioDraft, have recently added three packages of high-production, cost-free and royalty free music for the Asset Store.  Check out their Arcade, Orchestral, and Space themed music packs!

Improved Performance and UI

You might have noticed that the Asset Store has a new look, with a category tree hierarchy system, making it a cinch to find what you're looking for, or just to browse casually.  There's also speed optimization and purchase data caching for an easier shopping experience.

Content creators making a bundle!

Last month marked the most recent payout to content creators on the Asset Store, with a couple of our sellers having each earned tens of thousands of dollars.  Distributing and selling content on the Asset Store is a great way to put your skills to work, get your vision out to the Unity community, and making money! We're always looking for great new content to put on the Asset Store.  We're on the lookout for great models, complete game projects, editor extensions and tools, script libraries, audio and more.  If you've made something awesome, please send it our way!

August 17, 2011 in Games | 4 min. read

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