- Aug 23, 2018
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No. But I also wouldn't expect most people to expect Android ports of Unity games. Unity games absolutely are a thing on Android, you can't avoid them in the app stores, but when it comes to AVNs nobody expects Android ports for whatever reason, and you rarely see them. Choosing your engine can sometimes be about setting expectations. I'm talking purely about heavy RenPy games and the expectations players have of RenPy games. What you can expect from players in regards to AVNs built in Unity is that they'd cry out for a RenPy version before they start crying for Android ports. We've already seen someone in this very thread recently express their preference for AVNs to be in RenPy over Unity largely down to their expectations.
I'm not saying that makes all the sense but it appears to be a largely shared sentiment.
On the topic of TheArchitect's games, where this conversation has its roots, his games aren't typically straight VNs. Goons Raider Her is a sidescroller with point-and-click puzzles if I remember correctly and Lust is Stranger is a 3D game. As they are, they're better suited for Unity simply because more of the foundations are there for the style of gameplay those games offer. If they were to be adapted into VNs they'd likely work fine in RenPy with pre-rendered images and animations but they probably wouldn't have a lot of the same gameplay mechanics.
None of TheArchitect's games have Android ports that I'm aware of either.
The choice of an engine can set expectations, making complaints about some things more common in one engine than complaints about the same thing in another engine. It could be seen as painting yourself as a dev into a corner by cutting off a portion of your possible player base straight out of the gate if you choose to go with Unity and don't cater to the mobile market, but if you're aware of common complaints and are looking to avoid having to deal with them it might be worth the trade-off.
It's worth noting too that most people developing in Unity (and Unreal) shouldn't be using prerendered images and animations as often as VNs in RenPy would. It's much less heavy to have 3D models and in-game animations than a shit load of prerendered stuff. Especially if things are planned out well with procedural materials or good reuse of assets etc.
Anyone developing in Unity or Unreal who is just making a flat pre-rendered VN really isn't doing anyone any favours as far as being optimal goes. Especially when you consider that devs often flex that their newest update release has X amount of new renders that usually exceeds a hundred.
