Realm Database for Unity Games (DevBlog #31)

Network Traders, the game I am currently working on, stores parts of the game data in a central, cloud-hosted database. But some of the user-specific data is private in nature and therefore only stored on the player’s mobile device. Until now, I have just serialized this data to persistent storage. But as I needed to add new user-specific properties, I wondered why I should not use a database on the client as well. After all, they may provide benefits such as atomicity or migrations when the database schema changes. After some searching I found Realm, which integrated nicely into my Unity project, although with some intricacies I would have liked to know beforehand.

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Wheelwright Building Released (DevBlog #30)

As promised in my previous post, I have kept the next release of Network Traders really small. Version 0.5.1 allows you to build a new building, the wheelwright. This building increases the transport capacity of your merchants, and allows them to trade more goods with your fellow traders.

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Bluetooth Permissions on Android 12 with Unity (DevBlog #27)

For quite some time now I had problems with the Nearby Devices permission necessary for Bluetooth LE from Android 12 upwards. I finally fixed this in Network Traders 0.4.6.1, but not without some trial and error. Here is what I tried and how I finally fixed my permissions issues using the Unity API.

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DevBlog: Why I ditched Unity Analytics

I just finished compiling the privacy policy statement for Network Traders. With the alpha release coming up next Friday, September 23rd, that was about time. On my game server, I try to store as little data as necessary, and none of it should be personal. Unity, on the other hand, is rather nosy. That is ok, as they need most of the data to run their services. With Unity Analytics however, there is additional data collection involved, and one specific risk I did not want to bear.

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DevBlog: Back to the Execution Order Pit

My article on script execution order in Unity’s UNet networking layer is my most successful article. It is 6 years old now and still being clicked regularly, more often than most others. No small wonder, as I had to find out yet again. Fixing a bug in Network Traders, I fell into almost the same trap, again! Always be aware of event execution order! And continue reading if you want to know why!

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DevBlog: Our App Icon is here!

We put quite some thought and effort into creating an app icon for Network Traders. Finally, we have a version which is ready to be deployed. What do you think of our “flying merchant”? Read more about the design process and leave a comment about your first impression!

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DevBlog: Responsive Design with Unity

Designing a user interface with Unity is done quickly, and the results may even look very appealing. But things become ugly as soon as you change the aspect ratio of your screen, testing your design on different smartphones or tablets. Fortunately, Unity includes a few tools to help you implementing a so-called Responsive Design. Here are three tips from my experiences with my current project, Network Traders.

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DevBlog: Avoiding Unity Netcode

When I started Network Traders a year ago, I was intrigued by Unity’s new networking layer, which was then still the MLAPI. After some testing, I realised that it was just not the right tool for my application. So when does it make sense to use Netcode and what might be an alternative for your project if it doesn’t?

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DevBlog: Trying out Unity Localization

Almost exactly a year ago I published a quick survey about free localization tools, comparing those available in the asset store. In the meantime, the guys at Unity have developed and finally published version 1.0 of their own Localization package in September this year. I have decided to give it a try for Network Traders. So here comes an update to my last year’s survey.

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DevBlog: A Bluetooth Novice’s Tale

Once upon a time not so long ago there was a not-so-young programmer. He thought, “let’s make a game where people connect their smartphones via Bluetooth to trade with each other”. And so he went on a perilous adventure with many loops and turns where in the end, the simplest solution won out.

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