Don't want to see articles from a certain category? When logged in, go to your User Settings and adjust your feed in the Content Preferences section where you can block tags!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Unity3D working on SDL, Wayland and Mir support

By - | Views: 33,802

The folks Unity3D are currently doing a "HackWeek" when they work on special projects. It looks like the Linux team are working on using SDL instead of X11 directly which will bring Mir & Wayland support amongst other things.

For those that don't know: X11, Mir and Wayland are what allow you to see windows, drag them around and generally do everything on your Linux computer. X11 is really old and Wayland/Mir will eventually replace it.

I follow Unity developer Na'Tosha Bard on twitter, and it has been fun to see the progress on it, here's what they have done so far!

#unity3d #HackWeek End of Day 1 Status: X11 is out. SDL is partially in. pic.twitter.com/YrWSY6unWk

— Na'Tosha Bard (@natosha_bard) May 9, 2016

#unity3d #HackWeek Day 2: Switch to SDL mostly complete. Partial input handling working. No more assertion failures. pic.twitter.com/4XWYwavziL

— Na'Tosha Bard (@natosha_bard) May 10, 2016

OK, Bonus #unity3d #HackWeek Status: #unity3d running on Wayland! pic.twitter.com/agsZT4kLpE

— Na'Tosha Bard (@natosha_bard) May 10, 2016


I love that Unity developers do things like this. SDL support should make things like multiple monitor handling much better. That is something I am especially keen for, as multiple monitor handling in a lot of Unity games is often really poor. SDL could also help them improve things like gamepad/controller support too.

Worth noting that these changes may not end up in the official Unity builds, but we can hope it all works out.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, Unity
0 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
31 comments
Page: 1/4»
  Go to:

Liam Dawe May 11, 2016
Quoting: z3ntuYou should also include: https://twitter.com/natosha_bard/status/730147691372646401
Yeah, that was supposed to be in, I accidentally duplicated one. Fixed.
legluondunet May 11, 2016
Nice news! More comfortable and efficiency are the developping tools on Linux, more developpers will develop on this platform.


Last edited by legluondunet on 11 May 2016 at 11:51 am UTC
devland May 11, 2016
They should also stop collecting user data without their explicit consent.
Hopefully you guys haven't forgotten. :)
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/unity3d-games-phone-home-with-details-of-your-hardware-software.4452


Last edited by devland on 11 May 2016 at 12:06 pm UTC
TemplateR May 11, 2016
What is the difference between SDL and X11?
MacabreHeart May 11, 2016
Quoting: TemplateRWhat is the difference between SDL and X11?

One is a complete windowing system that is based around a 20-something year old design (x11), one is a toolkit that can generate windows and handle input for multiple windowing systems and is substantial more modern in it's design (sdl)
Linas May 11, 2016
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: TemplateRWhat is the difference between SDL and X11?
SDL in an abstraction layer with multiple backends. It provides access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, and graphics hardware. X11 is a windowing system that functions as a backend for SDL, but also can be used directly. They are moving away from using X11 directly to SDL abstraction, which allows it to work on other backends such as Wayland.
borartr May 11, 2016
I especially hope that SDL itself will profit from it (bugfixes/performance wise). It it in my opinion still not very good. For example even Trine 1 is unplayable even on lowest settings (extremly ugly) on my intel laptop (<10 fps), which should not be the case for such a simple sidescroller imho.
Not sure if it is good for a game engine to put a additional layer between it and the system in general, but for unity I personally dont care much as long as it works better than before.
burnall May 11, 2016
But if I'm not mistaken none of the current distributions is using any of the new display servers as a default yet. I hoped at least that Fedora 24 will use Wayland as a default, but unfortunatly it's still too unstable. Everything goes soooo slow.
TemplateR May 11, 2016
Quoting: MacabreHeart
Quoting: TemplateRWhat is the difference between SDL and X11?

One is a complete windowing system that is based around a 20-something year old design (x11), one is a toolkit that can generate windows and handle input for multiple windowing systems and is substantial more modern in it's design (sdl)

That means, that SDL is much better then X11?
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.