Yes, Unity. Again. — Peligro Express

Unity test scene showing Bonita's visual forms. Only the models and animations are being checked here.

I can hear you laughing. I've gone back to Unity.

I came from Unreal, spent time in Unity, then got a proper Peligro Express prototype running in Godot. Rusty walks, climbs and gets squashed by machinery there. Bonita has a face and the beginnings of a transformation system. None of that work was pretend, and I'm keeping what it taught me.

But I also have a ridiculous pile of Unity art and tools I've already paid for. The island packs, vehicle controllers and terrain tools are sitting there while I rebuild their useful bits somewhere else. As a solo developer, I want more time making the game and less time rebuilding the workshop.

So I'm testing Unity again. It's lighter for me than the full Unreal setup, and more of the island's existing material is ready to use. Bonita went first because if I can't make her work there, the rest of the argument falls apart quickly.

Bonita went first

Her eight rough visual forms are in a Unity test scene. I can deploy each one and return to the tuk-tuk, pause halfway through or queue another change. A few reverse animations were going the wrong way; I fixed those versions without changing the Blender originals.

Unity Play Mode capture of Bonita's off-roader visual form — Off-roader visual state in Unity.

Unity Play Mode capture of Bonita's pontoon visual form — Pontoon visual state in Unity. It doesn't float yet.

These are model and animation studies. The moped doesn't drive, the pontoons don't float and a spinning propeller isn't a flight system. Rusty still needs to board, and the mechanical parts need another pass.

The Godot prototypes remain part of the game's history, and the Godot plugins are still their own projects. I've changed the engine I'm trying for the game, not Rusty, Bonita or the type of trouble they get into. If I end up back in Unreal, I expect to hear about it.

Bleak