This is a major technical update and is all about upgrading the engine version used to render and execute Reentry. It upgrades the engine from Unity 2022.3 to Unity 6.1 (latest Unity version). This means that Reentry now runs on the latest and most modern version of Unity.

The benefits is mainly related to getting access to the latest work the Unity team has been doing with the rendering technologies (Standard Rendering Pipeline) between Unity 2022 and Unity 6, and the upgrades to the development tools. Unity 6 also comes with new features that will allow me to improve the experience, continue to iterate on rendering performance going forward, and start doing research on transitioning from DirectX 11 to DirectX 12 in the future.

This is a significant update and I have spent most of the available development time over the summer to perform this much needed engine upgrade. This has been a very complex task and I hope I have been able to correctly migrate the logic and the assets. However, Reentry is a huge project so please report any issues related to logic that used to work before this engine upgrade (Engine Update issues).

I have made "Reentry Version 0.99.79" available as a rollback option if this new upgrade causes issues for you (you can change this using the Steam Betas tab on the games properties in Steam). I will prioritize working on engine update related issues as they are reported, but please be patient as I work to stabilize this work over the next few patches. The bits has been in testing with the Test Pilots, and on the Alpha Floor branch (Steam Betas tab) so far, before rolling it out as part of this update to all of you.

You can read more about Unity 6 here:
https://unity.com/releases/unity-6
https://unity.com/blog/unity-6-features-announcement

You can read more about Unity 6.1 here:
https://unity.com/blog/unity-6-1-is-now-available

Note: The Unity artwork used in this post is from the Unity 6.1 splash screen, made by Keijiro Takahashi.

FPS display

In addition to this I have also modernized the FPS renderer. It now has multiple FPS modes that you can use while testing performance and the various graphics options to tune rendering related to your hardware. You can use CTRL+F to toggle between the various modes. You can toggle it on and off using the "Show FPS" toggle under graphics settings.

Patch Notes:

• Major engine update: Unity 2022.3 to Unity 6.1 (latest version).

• New FPS renderer: I have changed the FPS renderer to a more sophisticated one. You can use CTRL+F to toggle the modes of it. It will follow the "Show FPS" toggle under graphics settings.

• Fixes to the sun positioning logic when loading from a State