Virtual Reality in Unity Development

Virtual Reality development and Unity? You have to be joking! Who uses such a relic of a game development platform when you have AI-boosted modern VR and game engines?

Sure, the gaming industry is moving at a light speed, but virtual reality is still done in a good-ol’ fashioned way — with Unity. You don’t need to believe me but look around at the countless communities, amazing user-friendly features, and magical cross-platform compatibility.

Still not convinced? Read on.

Why Unity is a go-to tool when creating Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that’s revolutionizing the way we play games. With the help of Unity, creating games has never been easier, more immersive, and more engaging. It doesn’t matter if you’re a complete beginner or a giga-Chad in the game development industry. With Unity’s user-friendly interface and intuitive workflow, everyone can create breathtaking VR environments and games.

It’s like having a mighty wizard that creates magic portals to a new dimension of reality, yours for the taking.

Ask yourself: When in the human era was it possible to explore a jungle, swim with dolphins, or even visit an amusement park, all from the comfort of your own home, using a single game development software?

The use of VR in Unity Development isn’t just for games. Automotive, medical, retail, real estate, industrial, and education industries are harnessing the power of Unity for their immersive VR experiences. Under Unity’s hood lies a powerful physics engine that makes virtual environments respond to the user’s actions and are easily shareable with the world.

You might point out that developing your VR for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR, or any other platform is a game developer’s worst nightmare. But don’t worry! Unity has your back with effortless optimization across different platforms with little to no code.

That’s why Virtual Reality and Unity development go hand in hand throughout dozens of industries.

What about the Unreal Engine?

Unity is like Neo in the Matrix saga. If you’re a true Matrix fan, you know that every Neo needs his Agent Smith. In VR development, that Agent Smith is called Unreal Engine.

What about Virtual Reality in Unreal Engine? Is it better than Unity? Can it overthrow this all-mighty prophet of the “real” world?

Here’s what sets Unity from Unreal Engine apart when it comes to Virtual Reality:

Different target audience — Unreal Engine is geared more towards experienced game developers and professionals. Unity, on the contrary, is more accessible and welcomes developers of all skill levels with a user-friendly interface and easy-going workflow. Plus, Unity has an enormous development community compared to Unreal Engine. That’s something you want when developing something as complex as VR games.
Visual quality — Unreal’s goal is to create high-end graphics and visual effects, a common characteristic of AAA-quality games. Sure, Unity is capable of achieving the same quality, but that’s not the case with VR. In the Virtual Reality industry, you want a balance between visual quality and performance. A perfect fit for mobile devices and VR headsets with less powerful hardware.
Cost — Unreal Engine is the Goliath of the VR and game development world! But we all know how the story goes. Charging a 5% royalty on gross revenue after a certain mark, compared to something that’s FREE and still capable of delivering great VR experiences makes the choice easy. I think you know who’s the winner here.

Advantages of Virtual Reality development in Unity

Here are the top juicy advantages of VR development in Unity, we at CodePower saw first hand:

Different visual scripting methods – Scripting options such as C#, Boo, and other visual scripting languages make Unity the go-to tool for VR development among developers. From VR Indie games to mobile experiences, Unity’s scripting got you covered.
Powerful integration with different tools – Unity is in the perfect center of 3D modeling, animation, and audio software Venn diagram, making a one-stop-shop for VR development.
Cross-platform compatibility – One of the biggest challenges game developers face is adapting their VR games to different platforms. That restricts access to a broader audience, a lifeline of the gaming industry. With Unity’s cross-platform compatibility, it’s a walk in the park overcoming that challenge. Unity supports multiple platforms, including Oculus provided you should know how to get developer mode on a oculus Quest 2, which allows developers to create VR applications that can run on different Oculus devices, such as the Oculus Quest 2.
Enormous community and resources – Its community is something that even Unreal Engine doesn’t have on such a grand scale as Unity. Virtual Reality is relatively new tech, and VR game development turns into an endurance marathon without a plateau of online resources, tutorials, and discussion forums. Huh, take that Unreal Engine!
Accessibility and interactivity – Learning VR development in Unity is open to anyone. No skill or background required. No BS. If you have a great game design with powerful storytelling behind it, the virtual sky’s the limit! Unity’s physics engine won’t leave you cooking eggs on your CPU, but rather create a powerful and engaging virtual experience. It’ll make you feel like you’re literally inside the game with a low toll on the system requirements.

Virtual Reality in Unity Development – TL;DR

Most of today’s VR games are done with one piece of software – Unity.

What makes development in this software so appealing is its no-brain-scratching scripting, a user-friendly work environment and workflow, pristine cross-platform support, an enormous community of faithful VR followers, and integration with different software.

See why it is such a popular choice for VR developers and why VR is still done the good-ol’ fashioned way?