Silverlight or Unity?

[Formedras]

Assuming that I stick to the C# programming language, for the game I'm trying to make (and sticking to it, despite being in way over my head), should I be really be using Silverlight, like I've been saying I will, or should I be using Unity?

Both are C#-based browser plugins, both have out-of-browser modes, as far as I know, and both are free, although Unity has add-ons that cost money.

If I go Silverlight, I'll definitely run into problems. I can only use TCP, for which there are no libraries to make things easier. I can't serialize to binary, forcing XML serialization (though that's not much of a problem). Mostly, I think, it's the lack of libraries for network communication for Silverlight.

Unity, on the other hand, has its problems currently as unknowns. Am I going to be able to transfer a 2D environment to a 3D-native engine? Am I going to run into some sort of problem where the only solution costs over $500? But at least I can use Lidgren.

Plus, Silverlight adoption seems to be higher than Unity. Then again, not every Silverlight user plays games on SL (probably very few, actually), while virtually every Unity user is playing games, since that's exactly what Unity was built for.

What other problems are there? What do you think I should use, for both my sake and yours (if you decide to play my game once it's ready)?

(Boy, I do talk a big game about my game, when I'm nowhere near ready for even the test version.)

[Snacko]

Unity currently works on Windows and MacOS (flash output planned), while Silverlight (Moonlight) will work on Windows, Linux and MacOS.
Currently Unity is heavily marketed and I suppose soon you will have a pretty high user penetration or you can use flash output but I heard it has performance penalty.
The only problem with Unity is that every add-in component cost; most of the time it's 50$+.

If you only need a thin client maybe a HTML5 frontend could be an option ?

[Formedras]

I was thinking about an HTML5 version eventually; for now, I'm trying to stick to what I know and learn as little as possible. But I think I'll probably need to learn it anyway for stuff like the online deck builder, so the idea of the HTML-based version isn't exactly outlandish. I've pretty much given up on Silverlight, so now I still have two options available.

Geez... I really am in way over my head, aren't I? Too many choices, too many things to learn no matter what direction I go in.

[MageKing17]

Geez... I really am in way over my head, aren't I? Too many choices, too many things to learn no matter what direction I go in.

Welcome to independent game design.

[RichardGhval]

Just fount out my Game Development module is based on Unity3D. Was interested in seeing what you made there, but looks like youve taken it down now lol

[GamerT2]

I'm using Unity, i just bought massive book and learning at home. Its awesome. I'm web developer, but I never seen HTML as a option for game development. I just wonder how hard will be to create game ( I'm talking about professional game)