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“I made an operating system UI within Unity”

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Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#121
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for that, I was trying to figure out what "Unity" was in this context, given that Ubuntu had something with the same name as it's main UI for about 7 years...

Yeah, same here. Like, what's the point of an "operating system UI" in a Linux desktop environment? But then, I also don't get the point of doing that in some game engine called Unity. I mean, is that a viable way to do a desktop?

As stated in the link (although it mightn't be clear if you're not a game dev), it's so you can make games with operating system UI, such as Emily Is Away[1].

The linked one is particularly polished; it would have taken ages to implement all those little details.

[1] https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/Emily_is_Away/

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#123

In the 1970s and 1980s, GUIs devoted a large portion of the machine's power (and other resources such as memory and disk space) to improving usability. This reduced raw application performance and power efficiency but it was considered a worthwhile tradeoff. For years we've been optimizing battery life, but now that mobile devices can run for 8-10 hours or more on a single charge, perhaps we should reconsider spendin…

Maybe it's because it uses (at least at launch, dunno if they every changed it for something else) Web tech for it's interface?

It's garbage. The PSN store in particular feels like a very unresponsive web page.

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#124
post #36

I tried making the original Macintosh OS in Godot and my takeaway was it was really enjoyable to make UIs in a game engine. It would be interesting to see some “avant-garde” movement of making not only games but native apps using game engines.

This isn't quite that, but I can never not link to https://arcan-fe.com/ in cases like this. He even updated today!

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#125

From the comments: This is a remake of Project Glass, which is a simulated operating system UI, this time implemented in Unity. It's not a full OS, but every simulated app and widget inside is fully functional. There is currently only a Windows demo [1] available, and he's undecided whether he'll release on Github or not. [1] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p3AACMd6KuRnHctsq42uJfMq3Bw...

What is Project Glass in this context? Forgive my ignorance, but search is confusing here.

The same project. This version is a remake of the original version that the user had made two years ago. The full comment is clearer:

> About Project Glass:

> Glass is a simulated operating system user interface (UI) project and it is being made with Unity 2018.4. It is not a real OS, although everything in the package is functional and can be changed easily. This is basically a remake of the original project which was released 2 years ago. If you're wondering why I'm working on this project, you can search for Simulacra, Welcome to the Game or Emily is Away and you'll get the idea (plus it's fun). You can even count GTA for its phones and browser. This project is much much bigger than the examples though.

> If you want, you can try it yourself by downloading this Windows demo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p3AACMd6KuRnHctsq42uJfMq3Bw...

> 60fps showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_2e0LebNY

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#126

Looks like a generic Linux distro. Am I the only one getting "visual fatigue" over seeing flat design? I just feel like we need a trend change. Its been way too long. I find myself looking at the old Windows Vista, Windows XP, early Mac OS X, or even Windows 3.1 designs and longing for that simplicity.

I feel like you missed the point of the post. It’s less about the aesthetics and more about the fact that someone used Unity, a game development tool, to simulate and OS UI.

I thought the point of posting it to HN was about the comments, about the deep hostility to open source and sharing work/code that is prevalent in the game dev community.

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#127

This is like Windows Vista Aero UI on crack. There is a reason that UIs don't look like this. The transparency alone is a major issue for usability, accessibility, and productivity. It's an interesting project. I wish this person would have pushed themselves to think of new paradigms, rather than trying to use more effects to very staid looking interaction design concepts.

Most games of the sort the creator is targeting here (games with a built-in fake OS) have their UI look fairly familiar, since it's more about creating a believable world than doing something exciting and new with the OS itself.

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#128
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, same here. Like, what's the point of an "operating system UI" in a Linux desktop environment? But then, I also don't get the point of doing that in some game engine called Unity. I mean, is that a viable way to do a desktop?

You're literally on Hacker news. Not everything needs to be viable. Fun is enough.

I guess.

Maybe it's just satire about flashy but useless eye candy.

When you're running lots of VMs, you end up using as little RAM as possible. It used to bug the hell out of me that Whonix came with KDE. Now finally they switched to XFCE. My Debian VMs get 1-2GB, and some script-laden sites can freeze them.

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#129
post #16

reddit's modern userbase is really interesting. There are some incredibly interesting people who use it, but you also find a bunch of accounts that are under a year old with lines like this: Please don't. I would like to see you get rewarded for your hard work. Screw the parasites. Their new UI seems to be doing its job, but I wonder if the decline in thread quality was worth it.

I made another comment about this: this opinion is actually commonly held, and especially vocal, in the «hobby» game dev community. I have encountered similar hostility towards open source and sharing many times, e.g. on Unreal Engine forums, it is not a reddit thing.

Re: “I made an operating system UI within Unity”

#130
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, same here. Like, what's the point of an "operating system UI" in a Linux desktop environment? But then, I also don't get the point of doing that in some game engine called Unity. I mean, is that a viable way to do a desktop?

As stated in the link (although it mightn't be clear if you're not a game dev), it's so you can make games with operating system UI, such as Emily Is Away[1]. The linked one is particularly polished; it would have taken ages to implement all those little details. [1] https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/Emily_is_Away/

Ah. I missed that. Thanks.
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