Okay, so this is REALLY late in the process, but have you considered a "Lite" or "Browser" version of this? Probably answered somewhere but just interested in an updated answer, if any. Not Mobile, I mean, like, something to put on any computer anywhere, through a flash drive or a browser. I really like the potential of a full client like the Alpha you guys put out, but it would be so interesting to have an HTML/Java/?? version of this that you could open up at any public location, like libraries or cafes or whatever. A generic layout, inconspicuous. Heck, you could even plan missions around its existence. And to push the full client but keep the agent mobile, it could just have limited capabilities, but enough to keep someone going on a mission. It could just have chat, access to mission components, maybe a static map with statuses at the time the map was loaded... Few basics. Just a thought.
First of all, I think it already exists. Unless I'm mistaken, the current version doesn't require any installation, and, with the possible exception of cookies for the browser, doesn't appear to write anything outside of its own directory. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to run it live off a flash drive stuck into a public machine. Being Unity-based, it's likely that the current client could be made to run in a browser with minimal changes, too... but at this point in testing, that would just add unnecessary complications & confusion. Also, the future of the Unity plugin (and plugins in general - Java included) is uncertain (doomed) on Chrome-based browsers, making for even more of a mess. Second, Java is an abomination that should be left to die. Preferably alone, in a cold, muddy ditch somewhere. With hungry rats. And fire. Cold, muddy, fire rats. I can see the merit in a mobile version - either of the full client or a stripped-down subset... but I'm not at all sure where the client you're describing would fit in, or what it would offer that the current model (or the current with a mobile version) wouldn't. -Bats
Just a thought. Higher accessibility from non-home computers, mostly - friends' laptops, libraries, cafes. Plus maybe better for those of us that are highly critical of how eh Unity can be sometimes. A mobile app would probably be just as good, yeah.
What is it about the current client that makes it unsuitable for any of those use cases (err, aside from the fact that it's not yet suitable for much beyond poking at with sticks in a search for bugs)? Converting it to run through Unity Webplayer to use it through a browser would require installing a plugin (something I hadn't considered before), but unless I'm mistaken, the current desktop version should already be entirely portable - drop the .EXE and data directory on a old 256MB flash drive, and you're good to go. You did count how many people are on A&S's dev team before asked them to develop and maintain a parallel client based on a entirely different engines, right? Personally I'd love to see an API robust enough that I could develop my own client around it... but I'm not sure the workload involved in offering/supporting something like that would be any more realistic. -Bats
Basically Unity is kind of a "mileage may vary" engine for me. My experience with Unity games (as a player but hearing about it from devs) is that a bug will pop up and the devs sit there scratching their heads for a while because it's a little difficult at times. I'm a bit worried but will stay optimistic about that working in the context of the actual missions. But yeah, I do get how Unity could work for A&S. I also rolled out of bed and remembered some of the more involved missions they had demonstrated a while back, and it makes a lot more sense now all things considered. So maybe my idea isn't 100% great? (uups.)
