What is happening with 64-bit Unity?

[Frostiken]

I can't really find information. I know we're waiting for 64-bit Windows KSP because Unity doesn't have 64-bit binaries that are stable yet. Is this something the Unity devs are working on? Are they making any progress at all?

[vexx32]

You'll have to check the Unity forums and websites. I don't know if they keep devlogs or anything of the sort... :/

[toric5]

don't forget mac!

[Eric S]

From what I gather, progress is being made, but it's not a focus of the devs, so the progress is slow. One of the Squad devs implied that the version of Unity in 0.23 was much closer to being stable in a win-64 environment, but still not close enough. Given that one of the bugs fixed between the version of Unity used in 0.22 and 0.23 was "random crashes while raycasting (win-64 only)" and KSP does a lot of raycasting, it may be just that one bug fix that makes it seem much more stable.

[Highlad]

I would love to hear more about this.

On a slightly related topic, how much improvement would we see if KSP went to 64bit? Where would we see it?

I have 12GB RAM on my pc, where would I see improved in-game performance? Loading screens? No more lag due to high part counts? More mods without crashing the game?

[Surefoot]

More mods without crashing the game?

This.

It's not about performance, but about loading more stuff in memory. Bigger textures (more detailed), more mods, more parts, more planets...

At the moment with 32 bit we have to use texutre reducers to be able to use big mods alone like B9 or KW, not mentioning using them together...

[Frostiken]

I would love to hear more about this.

On a slightly related topic, how much improvement would we see if KSP went to 64bit? Where would we see it?

I have 12GB RAM on my pc, where would I see improved in-game performance? Loading screens? No more lag due to high part counts? More mods without crashing the game?

Most 64 bit games can see load time improvements. 32 bit programs will use pagefile swapping to allow them to avoid memory limits, typically evidenced by hangs while moving to new areas and extended loading lengths. If the 64 bit program is optimized for it, it should be able to remove most of these slowdowns.

KSP stock would see probably zero improvement, because KSP loads all textures to RAM when you start the game, which is why it sucks to have lots of extra parts. However, 64 bit would put that RAM limit out so far we probably wouldn't have to worry about it for a couple decades.

[stupid_chris]

Unity already supports 64bit on all platforms. The problem lies that the 64bit versions of Unity are unreliable and unstable, and that the KSP builds on Windows and OSX have game breaking bugs on them that prevent anything from being released. So yes, some more support from Unity is what we're all waiting for. At least the stable Linux builds gives a little hope that Unity will work themselves out in a near future.

[Virtualgenius]

Is there someway to lobby Unity to pull there finger out of there A$%E Microsoft is dropping support for XP, Window 8.1 is steaming ahead and Windows 7 64 has a decent representation out in the world wouldnt you think that Unity should have been a head of the game knowing that 32 bit OS is on the way out and have something stable and useable in place I love this gane but the 3.5gb limit is becoming a bit of a problem with the fantastic mods that are out now

Edited January 26, 2014 by Virtualgenius

[Levelord]

Unity already supports 64bit on all platforms. The problem lies that the 64bit versions of Unity are unreliable and unstable, and that the KSP builds on Windows and OSX have game breaking bugs on them that prevent anything from being released. So yes, some more support from Unity is what we're all waiting for. At least the stable Linux builds gives a little hope that Unity will work themselves out in a near future.

I was wondering, let's say if the guys at Unity released a working stable version of their engine for 64bit systems, will the KSP devs move to converting the game to fit into the new engine?

[Bean]

That is an interesting point, because you can't run a 64bit program on a 32bit OS, which I'd say quite a lot of the KSP community is running, so it would come down to how much effort is required to have 2 versions of KSP developed concurrently, 32 and 64bit.

I think as far as performance is concerned, getting the physics to use more than one core would be the biggest single thing that could be done. 64bit is really just a boon for heavy mod users.

[vexx32]

That is an interesting point, because you can't run a 64bit program on a 32bit OS, which I'd say quite a lot of the KSP community is running, so it would come down to how much effort is required to have 2 versions of KSP developed concurrently, 32 and 64bit.

I think as far as performance is concerned, getting the physics to use more than one core would be the biggest single thing that could be done. 64bit is really just a boon for heavy mod users.

They already develop multiple versions simultaneously. They have Mac/Windows/Linux, as well as separate versions with minor changes for Steam versions of each OS. Unity handles some of that, but I think they use SVN or Git or something like that to manage different versions.

Edited January 26, 2014 by vexx32

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

I dont believe that we will see a 64-bit Version of KSP until it is fully released.

But I do hope that Squad will raise enough Money with KSP to develope its own 64-bit engine for KSP 2

[Col_Jessep]

because you can't run a 64bit program on a 32bit OS, which I'd say quite a lot of the KSP community is running...

You might be surprised. For the alpha of Planetary Annihilation we did a survey amongst the Kickstarter backers and it turned out that only one percent of them were still running 32-bit Windows. Now if you look at the Steam Hardware Survey you will see higher values but as it turns out many of those 32-bit systems were actually not the gaming PCs but some older PCs used for internet browsing and stuff.

32-bit windows is dying out faster than most endangered animals. Thank Ceiling Cat!

[Aghanim]

Agreed. My PC rig that my mom gave to me because she doesn't use it again have 64 bit cpu and 6 GB ram but with 32 bit Windows 7 ultimate? So I do some illegal things and install a illegal operating system so I could utilize the full 6 GB ram, until I finally brave enough to make that transition to Linux

Probably the 32 bit Windows users doesn't know that their system is actually capable of 64 bit

[bsalis]

Like vexx32 said - best ask on the Unity 3D forums about the engine itself.

As for KSP, i see that the devs keep migrating up to the latest Unity version. Last dev notes, Chad mentioned he was finishing testing on Unity 4.3.3. So once the 64 bit build is stable, I expect KSP on 64 soon after, assuming they don't have to turn the game inside out to do so.

I'm looking forward to 64 bit KSP. However, it will work much like the 32 bit game. Only thing certain is more memory for mods.

[Virtualgenius]

I would like to see more information or progress reports on this, as having to cull mods or sift through parts is becoming a labor of love for the game just to get under the memory cap, and thats with using rbrays memory reduction mod. I hope a stable unity base comes soon

[sjwt]

I would like to see more information or progress reports on this, as having to cull mods or sift through parts is becoming a labor of love for the game just to get under the memory cap, and thats with using rbrays memory reduction mod. I hope a stable unity base comes soon

Well, until KSP releases a stable 64bit version, you are unlikely to see posts keeping you updated on unity's progress here, I would suggest you hit the forums over at http://forum.unity3d.com/forum.php for more progress updates.

[Virtualgenius]

Surely you guys are in contact with Unity over a stable 64bit base rather than some noname Joe Average poking around a forum trying to gleen some insight into what Unity is doing, surely they have a vested interest in seeing KSP achieve success and would be providing updates to you or is it the opposite.

[sal_vager]

Not us, we're just moderators, you'd need to ask a developer.

[combat squirrel]

It would be good, but it seems its a LONG way off by the sounds of it, if the game engine developers can't get it stable, never mind the game that runs on that - long lead time.

My i7 3770k @ 4.6ghz and 32gb DDR3 1866mhz with Nvidia GTX 670 will remain untapped for now..............(yet still struggles over 400 parts right now! lol)

[EvilotionCR2]

Sorry for Necro but I wanted to say this. Unity 5 will have a better support for 64-bit windows version. Meaning that KSP can utilize more memory than just 3,5gb. This means that you can have practically unlimited amount of mods without crashing. But beware loading times.

[KvickFlygarn87]

That is an interesting point, because you can't run a 64bit program on a 32bit OS, which I'd say quite a lot of the KSP community is running

I think not. 64 bit is in the lead by orders of magnitude generally, and I for one would be surprised if that's not the case here.

EDIT:

EvilotionCR2: No, the EDITOR will have 64 bit support, and only devs use that.

Edited May 3, 2014 by KvickFlygarn87

[Vonar]

I did my first major station build, a replica of the ISS in KSP and I've gotta admit a 64 bit unity engine with better part support would be a very very nice feature to have as I want to go beyond the stock ISS, and add the components that are in the planning stage / cancelled irl but I'm worried the further I go down this road the 32 bit unity engine won't be able to handle the part load and will just fry itself under the stress..

[EatVacuum]

No, the EDITOR will have 64 bit support, and only devs use that.

Not from what I read - "Unity Technologies, makers of the suite, said Unity 5 will overhaul the game's audio toolset and deliver upgraded lighting and and a physically based shader system. It now is a 64-bit engine with this release, Unity Technologies added." Quoted from http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/18/5521846/unity-5-announced-massive-update-game-development

64 bit and quad core support and maybe we can have 6 more planets, 20 more moons, clouds on all of them, 1000 part space stations that don't animate like flip charts and both B9 and KW installed.

Or maybe thirty minutes after firing that up I'll be explaining to the fire department just how a red hot GPU resulted in a 4 alarm fire