Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity [electronic resource] : All-in-one, multi-platform game development /
Blackman, Sue.author.
Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity is perfect for those who would like to come to grips with programming Unity. You may be an artist who has learned 3D tools such as 3ds Max, Maya, or Cinema 4D, or you may come from 2D tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator. On the other hand, you may just want to familiarize yourself with programming games and the latest ideas in game production. This book introduces key game production concepts in an artist-friendly way, and rapidly teaches the basic scripting skills you'll need with Unity. It goes on to show how you, as an independent game artist, can create casual interactive adventure games in the style of Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island, while also giving you a firm foundation in game logic and design. The first part of the book explains the logic involved in game interaction, and soon has you creating game assets through simple examples that you can build upon and gradually expand. In the second part, you'll build the foundations of a point-and-click style first-person adventure game-including reusable state management scripts, load/save functionality, a robust inventory system, and a bonus feature: a dynamically configured maze and mini-map. With the help of the provided 2D and 3D content, you'll learn to evaluate and deal with challenges in bite-sized pieces as the project progresses, gaining valuable problem-solving skills in interactive design. By the end of the book, you will be able to actively use the Unity 3D game engine, having learned the necessary workflows to utilize your own assets. You will also have an assortment of reusable scripts and art assets with which to build future games.
"For students or artists familiar with tools such as 3ds Max or Maya who want to create games on mobile platforms, computers, or consoles, but with little or no experience in scripting or logic behind games development"--Publisher's web site.
Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents at a Glance; Table of Contents; About the Author; About the Technical Reviewer; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Why Write This Book; Author's Note; Classic Adventure Game; About the Unity Game Engine; Will I have to learn to script?; Scripting is More About Logic Than Syntax; What About Math?; Assumptions and Prerequisites; What This Book Doesn't Cover; Conventions Used in This Book; Platform; Chapter 1 Exploring the Genre; Historical Reference; Graphical Adventure; LucasArts Titles; Fast Forward to Real Time; What draws people to this genre?
Intriguing Locations and Entertaining SolutionsDefining a Style; Compartmentalizing Environments; Parallax; Animation; Challenges, Tasks, and Puzzles; What went wrong with the genre?; Modern Successes of the Genre; What basic human characteristics make for fun?; Why make your own?; Multiple Roles; Two Logical Variations for Indies; First Person; Character; Common to Both; Design Considerations for First Person; Developing the Story and Challenges; New to Real Time vs. Pre-Render; Chapter Summary; Chapter 2 Unity UI Basics-Getting Started; Installing Unity and Starting Up
Loading or Creating a New Project or SceneThe Layout; Scene Window; Game Window; Hierarchy View; Project View; Inspector; Toolbar; Menus; File; Edit; Assets; GameObject; Component Menu; Terrain Menu; Window Menu; Help Menu; Creating Simple Objects; Selecting and Focus; Transforming objects; Snaps; Vertex Snaps; Scene Gizmo; Non-Snap Alignment; Lights; 3D Objects; Meshes; Sub-Objects of a Mesh; Mapping; Materials; Summary; Chapter 3 Scripting: Getting Your Feet Wet; What is a Script?; Components of a Script; Functions; Anatomy of a Function; Variables; Picking an Object in the Game
Counting Mouse PicksConditionals and State; Deconstructing the Conditional; Order of Evaluation; Chapter Summary; Chapter 4 Terrain Generation: Creating a Test Environment; Flythrough Scene Navigation; Topography; Paint Texture; Trees; Sky; Back to the Trees; Packages; Paint Details; Creating Your Own Terrain Assets; Export vs. Use Native Format; Terrain Settings; Shadows; Fog; Chapter Summary; Chapter 5 Navigation and Functionality; Navigation; Arrow Navigation and Input; Adding the Mouse Look Back; Fun with Platforms; Plan Ahead; Collision Walls; Object Names; Your First Build
Defining BoundariesSummary; Chapter 6 Cursor Control; Cursor Visibility; Custom Cursors; GUI Layer; Texture Importer; Color Cues; Cursor Position; Managing a GUITexture Cursor; Object-to-Object Communication; Mouse Over Cursor Changes; Distance Check; Quick Publish; Object Reaction to Mouse Over; Making the New Functionality Optional; Preventing Mouse Over Functionality While Navigating; Chapter Summary; Chapter 7 Action Objects; Importing Assets; Importing; FBX Importer; More Control over Individual Objects; Individual Transforms; Complex Hierarchies; Parenting; Setting up Materials
The Keys
Title from cover.
Includes index.
Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity is perfect for those who would like to come to grips with programming Unity. You may be an artist who has learned 3D tools such as 3ds Max, Maya, or Cinema 4D, or you may come from 2D tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator. On the other hand, you may just want to familiarize yourself with programming games and the latest ideas in game production. This book introduces key game production concepts in an artist-friendly way, and rapidly teaches the basic scripting skills you'll need with Unity. It goes on to show how you, as an independent game artist, can create casual interactive adventure games in the style of Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island, while also giving you a firm foundation in game logic and design. The first part of the book explains the logic involved in game interaction, and soon has you creating game assets through simple examples that you can build upon and gradually expand. In the second part, you'll build the foundations of a point-and-click style first-person adventure game-including reusable state management scripts, load/save functionality, a robust inventory system, and a bonus feature: a dynamically configured maze and mini-map. With the help of the provided 2D and 3D content, you'll learn to evaluate and deal with challenges in bite-sized pieces as the project progresses, gaining valuable problem-solving skills in interactive design. By the end of the book, you will be able to actively use the Unity 3D game engine, having learned the necessary workflows to utilize your own assets. You will also have an assortment of reusable scripts and art assets with which to build future games.
"For students or artists familiar with tools such as 3ds Max or Maya who want to create games on mobile platforms, computers, or consoles, but with little or no experience in scripting or logic behind games development"--Publisher's web site.
Unity (Electronic resource)
Computer games-Programming.
Multimedia systems .
Multimedia information systems.
Game Development.
Media Design.
Multimedia Information Systems.