One of the easiest ways to create a game server is to use server-in-a-box / off-the-shelf technologies like AWS’s GameSparks or Microsoft’s PlayFab.

It’s often assumed that plugging these tools into Unity is difficult; i’m going to show you that it isn’t!

“Off-The-Shelf” Game Servers Overview 

Both Playfab and Gamesparks are excellent and equally as easy to integrate into Unity.  But there are a few key differences in there implementations and ability that gives producers & developers pause to think about which one they should implement.

Because the two services are similar in what they do, the main differences between the two are the features, and how simple they are to set up and use.

The limitations of each platform can vary, and Playfab makes it very easy to see just what you can do with each payment tier (including free), and what capability you get for your money.

Why use Unity for Prototyping?

Unity is a great tool for rapid prototyping, it allows you to make changes quickly and build to a variety of different platforms without having to alter the code, which is handy too say the least.

We often build mobile games to HTML5/canvas which allows clients to play the game while development or changes are in progress without having to install APKs or Testflight.  This allows a tighter team interaction and allows producers to see changes and work with them quickly.

We find even where the finished game will use a different engine or be coded natively to a platform (for example Unreal Engine or iOS or Android native builds) then Unity allows us to move much much faster with a prototype and that iteration allows a better final product once we move from prototyping and design into the productionisation/realisation phase of the game.

Unity is great for proof of concept work as you can quickly make a scene, shove in a few objects and get them doing what you want pretty quickly. It might not look great, but getting the mechanics down is fairly quick and easy.

We understand how something small could have a massive impact and how essential it is to you to have everything running perfectly.  We want you to say good bye to the frustrations of the wait, of the remote uncontactable helpdesk.  We want you to think and feel relief, “Code Wizards have got us.”  

We’re not just here for the problems and maintenance - feature enhancements and changes are welcomed and managed.  When you’re ready and you can see that a little more or less would make your customer’s experience better, let us know.  We will work with you to make sure you have everything you need, when you need it.

Unity is great for quickly scaffolding up the build for a VR or AR application. With inbuilt integration with vuforia for AR, and Oculus or OpenVR for the VR side. This means that without having to go through the rigmarole of searching through various websites for there SDK's, and you can get down to the fun part of actually building your application. You can, however, go to other VR development providers such as HTC and Google for there SDK’s and install them to build for their platforms. 

TheGivingMachine is a registered charity that enables online shoppers to support a wide array of causes within the UK (e.g. schools, charities and a whole host of community groups). Shoppers can raise free donations for their chosen causes while they shop online – donations are generated via affiliate marketing raising commissions which are then donated to registered shopper’s chosen causes.

TheGivingMachine Team are a genuinely lovely bunch. Their passion for restoring a sense of giving and community is so refreshing in the divided times we live in as of late. Basically, you’d want them to be your neighbours as I imagine they’re the type of people that are always going to have the correct bins out and they’d never take your parking space without asking first. A thoroughly awesome group!  

Getting Ready For Gamescon 2019

The biggest bugbear with one of the many roles I perform is the misconception that technical project management is just a fancier name for project management. It really isn’t. 

Technical Project Management and Project Managers more generally have some shared elements.

• Reporting on task progress
• Raising issues and risks
• Tracking actions
• Tracking burn/spend

More and more we are beginning to see designers learning code and coders learning design. Creating a beautiful hybrid of designer / developer. However, discovering an individual with a passion and understanding of both design and code is rare. So, until the days arise where the hybrid take over, designers and developers need to learn to work together...

Summary Games present some unique challenges and one of these is efficient scaling for multiplayer games (or indeed any games with a server based element). Let's take a look at why game scaling is hard, and what makes it different to scaling business apps. Multiplayer Games To allow multiple gamers to play a game and have a consistent version of the universe requires a sing ...

We were promised personalised medicines, jet packs and flying cars by now..  why is integration still difficult?

What's "Integration"?

In short, it's connecting two systems or data sets together.  This could be as mundane as ensuring that an app has access to your employee lists all the way to merging companies and ensuring that information is shared effectively across all of their systems.

For app/websites/platforms we're typically connecting data to the platform via APIs or data access and/or connecting multiple systems so the approach is seamless.

For data / BI / Big Data projects are largely about ensuring that the right data, at the right granularity and the right time period are viewable and usable.