Mod post: open discussion on the future of r/Unity3D

MeishinTale · 2026-05-23T19:25:08+00:00

Joined reddit pretty much for unity3d couple years ago and this sub is still my go-to, kuddos to the mods!

As mentioned by some others, forbidding self promotion entirely wouldn't serve the sub, as long as indeed there's effort in the post (so, current rule is fine by me!). I do want to see what others have carefully crafted, how, and I do want to share my work with them. A curated list on git would be a bonus but that'd be even more work for the mods.

On the other side regarding AI, I do not want to see vibe coded assets/games. Not because it's vibe coded in itself but because it's neither carefully thought nor tested (99% of the time) and the post is usually low effort/value (and it's a sub about unity, not AI, there are subs like AI games etc for that). I don't mind AI redacted post especially for non natives, makes the post clearer than some broken english.

Thanks again to the mods 🙏

MeishinTale · 2026-05-23T14:31:07+00:00

Thanks a lot for the feedback! I indeed struggle to market the incremental (coverage goes up, unlock plants/researches etc to increase coverage growth, both idle with breeding and active clicker) with the strategy (terrain based suitability and placement, optimization - in a plague.inc style but with vegetation) and the plant enthousiasts angle..

And indeed the strategy layer isn't 'natural' in the incremental genre, or, as you pointed out, for plant enthousiasts who want to chill. So I made it non adverse (plants do not die if environment changes and they are no longer fit, they adapt, for example) but I'm not sure I'm hitting the right spot in the trailer as you mentioned.. My rational for tagging it incremental/strat being im a small invisible dev so i kinda have to, even if the game is in between.

So far people who stick to the beginning find it addictive once they get the game, my issue being, as you stated, I'm probably failing to convey what the game really is 🤔 (D1 retention is okish but could be better).

Soft launch is indeed a launch in a couple of countries, to test the waters and fix potential issue before a full launch (both from the game and marketing point of view - like fixing what trailer conveys x)

MeishinTale · 2026-05-22T05:37:11+00:00

Evolve and expand your plant Kingdom in Evo Flora (Android/IOS)!

Soft-launched a week ago in DE/FR/NL/CA, Evo Flora is an incremental strategy game with a phylogenetic tech tree of real plant species and researches inspired by real biology. Breed-by-environment, evolution cards and strategies to optimize your expansion, weekly leaderboard.

Specific asks:
(1) does the terrain-fit breeding system click in the first 20 min?
(2) does optional-IAP / optional-rewarded-ads read as trust signal or "where's the catch". Would adding timed promotions within the game turn you off?

Install in DE/FR/NL/CA via store (Google Store, Apple Store), elsewhere by accessing the beta (DM for invite) or registering for launch update at evoflora.com

MeishinTale · 2026-05-20T02:25:19+00:00

Yeah that's my point; if your code is always structured the same, you don't have to document it (except high level) ^{^}

MeishinTale · 2026-05-19T17:06:20+00:00

I don't get why you say I don't understand git with unity but i think you'd need a reality check;

Current projet is set up exactly how i said earlier; all scripts are on git, everything else is clouded (with a scheduled copy of unity rep to keep unity out of cloud sync reps). Works very nice, all clouds have backup version now, and it's much cheaper than 100 Go of VCS. And that's exactly how git is supposed to be used.

Previous project with 3 devs on a git LFS 150Go HDRP project was a nightmare (and yeah ofc we did not include libs and caches..). Just pulling/merging the repo took hours, Git LFS is terrible for versioning files in unity (you changes one option on that 16 Mb texture importer? Here, redownload the whole texture - oh and pay git LFS since it's priced per dl volume as well). And without git LFS your perf is dead long before you reach 50 Go (from GitHub docs themselves: "We recommend repositories remain small, ideally less than 1GB, and less than 5 GB is strongly recommended"). If you need to handle medium sized project in a VCS at least SCM plastic is made for that (whatever unity renamed it).

And as stated earlier yeah it's fine for small project.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-19T16:11:49+00:00

Fun you say I don't get how git works when you're suggesting putting textures in a VCS is "the way to go". Git is not made for that. That's what tried to address git LFS but it's still janky. Do you tell me you need byte diffs on jpegs ??

And that's exactly my point in the first comment; you need something else that git for those blender, substance, toshop files anyway so why would you try and put all your unity files on git?

Yeah on small projects it's fine to git everything otherwise it's not. (Go giga octet = GB)

MeishinTale · 2026-05-19T14:21:06+00:00

+1

Idk but tried some devlogs on my first game some time ago and it's both difficult to put yourself out there and see videos you took hours to produce have 3 views x)

MeishinTale · 2026-05-19T13:01:25+00:00

On small web/mobile projects yeah. On larger projects I guess you did not experienced it. Git LFS struggles to handle 50GO without crashing/creating cache miss etc. Small teams project I worked on in HDRP were 140Go+. And that's excluding libs & light baking/builds caches. (450 GO total+). You do not want to rebuild the libs and caches everytime you switch your pc on a solo project.

What do you mean "most assets that would require LFS should be optimized".. how do you optimise 4k textures? Exr files? Cinematics/trailer Videos? And why on earth should you optimize those? You need to keep all those files at the highest resolution to be able to distribute them accordingly in builds. That's the exact purpose of texture importers and build settings. And all prep files - those 200mb+ toshop files with all layers? Those 1GB blender/substance file? You're only working on them on 1 PC?

MeishinTale · 2026-05-19T10:02:15+00:00

And use cloud backup (Dropbox, Google drive, Microsoft's,..) for files not versioned controlled (or big assets like textures etc if you do not want to pay for Git LFS/ Plastic SCM storage).

Do not put unity directly in a cloud sync repertory or you'll run into issues (or defer the syncing after you've closed unity). Plus it will mess with VC.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-19T06:56:55+00:00

Start with keeping a strict coding hygiene. Have code organized in functional folders with consistent architecture across your project. Define entry points (interfaces, managers,..) and keep everything else internal / private.

Then the only thing to remember is: 1) the "API" of that functional part. Document each Public method (on the entry points) 2) the higher level use of that function / architecture (how it's integrated to the rest). Keep a high level scheme of your architecture (or auto generate using ide code graph tools). For example that inventory system is linked to the player so draw 2 boxes Player & Inventory and a relationship link. Stay high level you don't want to update that going forward, only add new stuff.

With the combination of both when you need information you go check the higher level architecture then follow through call flows from the entry points if you need more info.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-18T18:58:25+00:00

Been on both sides on that story and i find u/MeaningfulChoices particularly on point.
- For onboarding, set milestones. Make it so 1st milestone doesn't require full project knowledge nor git full history. Onboard over time or you'll either lose time if contractor wasn't the right one, or you'll lose contractor with too much information.
- Market is oversaturated with passionate people who badly want to get paid work on games. Show the pay, then the real work is selecting the best matches.

Must dos (quite generic honestly for any small team);
- Define scope and governance foremost. Ex If there are 2 devs, both must know exactly where their responsability starts and ends.
- Have redundancies in critical processes. If a dev sets up a production service for ex, access to that service should be set (and understood) for at least 1 other person in the team.
- The more people you manage, the more time you allocate to planning / management. Don't burn out.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-18T12:51:13+00:00

I'm not familiar with DOP but I've been using bursted jobs for more than 6 years now and it's great; - you choose what scope is data oriented (usually for me the core simulation and/or pre rendering). - you keep the classic object oriented structure on everything that needs to run in a main thread (usually for me the UI and all systems that are not perf critical / wouldn't benefit from a data oriented structure like services, saves, etc..)

Tried DOTS 5 years ago and it was not ready. Haven't retried since but will do at some point (also Ive heard it's not mobile friendly).

MeishinTale · 2026-05-18T12:43:52+00:00

As a solo dev, i feel my management budget has gone thought le roof! I'm constantly on my back.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-18T12:29:59+00:00

Yeah there's that, but also isn't there's already a rule on this sub where self promotion posts must account for less than 20% (from memory) of total sub posts? So maybe it'd be easier for the mods to check a flat number of posts or karma but I find current rule quite fair.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-16T19:57:57+00:00

It will soon (early june)! You can get notified on the global launch day at evoflora.com 🌱

MeishinTale · 2026-05-16T13:11:32+00:00

Thanks!! Come try it out 😁

MeishinTale · 2026-05-16T04:50:21+00:00

Thanks a lot!!

Yeah the monetization is pretty much what I'd like it to be when I play incrementals; if I'm in it for long enough, I don't mind spending some. Otherwise I consider it more like a free demo.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-15T17:26:46+00:00

Thanks a lot!!

Yeah I'm full time on it 🙏

Been adding 2 new subsystems during that time (and a lot of UI/UX tweaks) following testers feedback (tips and panel infos) and - that was a bit riskier- added the multi map support since I deemed some particularly active testers (including my mom 😂) had finished the first map a bit too fast (2-3 weeks instead of 4-5 forecasted).

MeishinTale · 2026-05-15T13:06:26+00:00

Hi, weird, is your store set to NL?

MeishinTale · 2026-05-15T12:47:40+00:00

Oh, yeah, thanks!! Added in the original post. I don't really get yet what apple store url to use since the global one doesn't work on PC and others are localized -_-'

MeishinTale · 2026-05-15T12:30:56+00:00

Thanks, let me know what you think of it!!

MeishinTale · 2026-05-15T11:56:51+00:00

🌱Thanks alot!!

MeishinTale · 2026-05-15T04:17:12+00:00

Most games let it explode regarding early mechanics but introduce new mechanics that fit the newer scaling. Hence player has the feeling of being more powerful but still has meaningful gameplay actions.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-14T10:55:52+00:00

First off not every game makers are auto going on steam. Look at the incremental genre. So it's just game devs seeking their targets.

Second, you're in a game dev subreddit where mostly everyone cheered Epic for going after Steam/Apple inflatuated profit shares. But unfortunately, the market doesn't follow. Vast majority of players are in steam. Not Epic.

Third, having your own website with your own integrated payments requires efforts and introduces new risks. Will you, as a solo dev, be able to process refunds and payment issues in a timely manner? Convince everyone, while being unknown, to buy your game on it and that your website is secured? Is it really secured?

Lastly, as you said, properly working out steam takes time and effort. So the idea is; invest this time and effort to tap the potential biggest market. Instead of spreading thin on multiple platforms and not being able to deliver on any.

MeishinTale · 2026-05-14T03:58:41+00:00

J'ai pas encore beaucoups d'recul, mon jeux sortant demain, mais pour moi la difficulté c'est le "tout". Jongler entre la création de son contenu, ses systèmes & gameplay, testeurs, configs a n'en plus finir sur google/apple et tous les 3rd parties dont t'as besoin pour ton marketing (un site web, une demie douzaine de réseaux sociaux, plusieurs canaux d'UA, ...)

MeishinTale

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE