Game Dev Digest — Issue #101 - Upgrade Your UI
Tags: gamedev, unity3d, csharp, news
Published: 2021-07-02 12:33:47

---
title:  Game Dev Digest — Issue #101 - Upgrade Your UI
published: true
date: 2021-07-02 12:33:47 UTC
tags: gamedev,unity,csharp,news
canonical_url: https://gamedevdigest.com/digests/issue-101-upgrade-your-ui.html
series: Game Dev Digest - The Newsletter About Unity Game Dev
---

### Issue #101 - Upgrade Your UI

*This article was originally published on [GameDevDigest.com](https://gamedevdigest.com/digests/issue-101-upgrade-your-ui.html)*

![Issue #101 - Upgrade Your UI](https://gamedevdigest.com/assets/social-posts/issue-101.png)

Let's give some love to UI this week, whether it's in-game or in the editor. Enjoy!

---

[**What’s new in UI Toolkit?**](https://blog.unity.com/technology/whats-new-in-ui-toolkit)  - Create UI for games and applications with UI Toolkit, now equipped with runtime support in 2021.2
[_Unity_](https://blog.unity.com/technology/whats-new-in-ui-toolkit)

[**Volumetric Heat Diffusion for Automatic Mesh Skinning**](https://bronsonzgeb.com/index.php/2021/06/26/volumetric-heat-diffusion-for-automatic-mesh-skinning/)  - I wanted to use the GPU-based mesh voxelizer we previously wrote to implement an automatic skinning algorithm. We’ll use a heat diffusion algorithm to radiate heat through the voxels to tie bones to vertices. This article focuses on the implementation of the volumetric heat diffusion algorithm. By the way, I’ll post a link to the code on Github at the end.
[_Bronson Zgeb_](https://bronsonzgeb.com/index.php/2021/06/26/volumetric-heat-diffusion-for-automatic-mesh-skinning/)

[**Data-Oriented Design (Or Why You Might Be Shooting Yourself in The Foot With OOP)**](https://gamesfromwithin.com/data-oriented-design)  - Picture this: Toward the end of the development cycle, your game crawls, but you don’t see any obvious hotspots in the profiler. The culprit? Random memory access patterns and constant cache misses. _[more data-oriented design [discussion on Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27658706)]_
[_gamesfromwithin.com_](https://gamesfromwithin.com/data-oriented-design)

[**How to run jobs using BufferFromEntity in parallel: Children entities in a hash map**](https://coffeebraingames.wordpress.com/2021/06/26/how-to-run-jobs-using-bufferfromentity-in-parallel-children-entities-in-a-hash-map/)  - In my previous post, I talked about how to run jobs with ComponentDataFromEntity (CDFE) that writes to a list or a set of values in parallel. This is useful for parent-child relationships where the child entities are maintained in a list on the parent. In this post, I want to share with you a different variant of that design. What if the children are maintained in a hash map? How do we run jobs for that in parallel? Read on to find out.
[_Coffee Brain Games_](https://coffeebraingames.wordpress.com/2021/06/26/how-to-run-jobs-using-bufferfromentity-in-parallel-children-entities-in-a-hash-map/)

[**State of Unity Distribution Portal: June 2021**](https://blog.unity.com/technology/state-of-unity-distribution-portal-june-2021)  - Find out below how Unity’s mobile game distribution solution is further assisting developers in mobile game store registrations and submissions; meet one of our new, uniquely rewarding partner stores; and see what else is new with UDP.
[_Unity_](https://blog.unity.com/technology/state-of-unity-distribution-portal-june-2021)

## Videos

[![How I Made My Game Feel Awesome! - GMTK Game Jam - Unity Devlog](https://gamedevdigest.com/assets/images/6d7dc609f8dd3119413a79f18d4af5d2.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0l32jLzpQI)
[**How I Made My Game Feel Awesome! - GMTK Game Jam - Unity Devlog**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0l32jLzpQI)  - In this video I will be showcasing my GMTK 2021 gamejam entry called 'My Turret Friend' in which I focused on game feel. I wanted this game to feel incredibly fun to play, in which game feel takes a major role.
[_GoldenEvolution_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0l32jLzpQI)

[**Making a Snake with Snake Like Movement in Unity (Part 1/2)**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlcecIh3ik)  - In this tutorial, we use the game SNKRX as inspiration to push ourselves to make a feature found in a commercial game, namely the creation of a snake with different prefabs as bodyparts and the movement of that snake. This game is very thorough and good for people of all skill levels. I hope it helps!
[_Random Art Attack_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlcecIh3ik)

[**FPS Shooter FADING HEALTH System in Unity**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nWRrkaFpic)  - FPS Games like Battlefield and Call of Duty feature a fading health UI system, where incoming damage is received as a visual cue in the form of blood splatter effects and red indicators. I'll show you how to create the health UI, take damage from an explosive mine, use sound effects and regenerate your health over time by fading out this damaged effect.
[_SpeedTutor_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nWRrkaFpic)

[**New filmmaking tools for Unity - Mini Tutorial**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R7_xJGdY8k)  - A number of folks have asked me to break down how I achieved my latest short "What if Pacific Rim Was Cute?"
[_Little Mountain Animation_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R7_xJGdY8k)

[**Unity Shader Graph - Glowing Crystals Tutorial**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GPvI-5bOSk)  - Let's see how to create some Glowing Crystals with Unity Shader Graph and Blender! Here's the whole process from scratch. A simple technique with a pretty cool outcome.
[_Gabriel Aguiar Prod._](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GPvI-5bOSk)

[**Drawing Boxes and Rectangles in URP Shader Graph with 2D SDFs! | Unity Game Dev Tutorial**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuNdmjca7eM)  - Squares, boxes, and rounded rectangles are all common shapes you might want to draw in a shader. In this video, I show you how to do that using 2D signed distance fields, or SDFs. We'll derive the formula, recreate it in the shader graph, and then make some cool shaders to see it in action: including a mouse-controlled rectangle drawer, rainbow SDF visualizer, and procedural brick wall.
[_Ned Makes Games_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuNdmjca7eM)

[**Fluffy Foliage, Wind and Subsurface Scattering: [Unity Shader Graph and Amplify]**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flbnFFZWcsc)  - Easy foliage shader tutorial for Unity, made with Shadergraph and Amplify (tutorial uses Amplify, check Patreon for downloads of both) could also be used for some basic fur. Includes wind system and subsurface scattering. Bazinga.
[_PolyToots_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flbnFFZWcsc)

[**Critiquing Game Visuals: Common Problems and How to Solve Them**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm24XyRPMwg&amp;t=1560s)  - In this 2019 GDC talk, Spry Fox's Ally Overton gives you tools to help you analyze your own game's visuals and give feedback on how to improve them.
[_GDC_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm24XyRPMwg&amp;t=1560s)

[**Levelling Up Animations in Unity with IK**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD6URb8aCco)  - In this episode we take a look at how we can use tools like Final IK and the Animation Rigging Package to take our animations to the next level!
[_Game Dev Guide_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD6URb8aCco)

[**Animated Character from BLENDER 2.93 To UNITY 2021 with Correct Rotation**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl2xBW-L7uU)  - This is a quick video to show how to export an animated character from Blender 2.93 to Unity 2021 with the correct rotation so that the character is facing in Unity's Z forward direction without any internal rotations of the armature or mesh.
[_Imphenzia_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl2xBW-L7uU)

## Assets

[![Smash Hit Summer - Asset Store Sale](https://gamedevdigest.com/assets/images/54f69f6f-cc8f-ff03-ff86-b341d90e4947.jpeg)](https://assetstore.unity.com/summer-sale?aid=1011l8NVc)
[**Smash Hit Summer - Asset Store Sale**](https://assetstore.unity.com/summer-sale?aid=1011l8NVc)  - Over the next seven weeks, Unity is launching a series of weekly sales, each with a unique game development theme. Each week, approximately 150 assets will be on sale for 50% off and the assets included will all be great selections to use when making a game highlighted in the weekly theme.

The top assets from one week will carry over into the next week and new assets will be added. The final two weeks of the sale will feature the top assets from the first five weeks, plus an additional set of our most popular assets.

* Week 1: Low-Poly Game - June 22 - June 28
* [Week 2: 2D Game - June 29 - July 5](https://assetstore.unity.com/summer-sale?aid=1011l8NVc)
* Week 3: 3D Game - July 6 - July 12
* Week 4: Fantasy Game - July 13 - July 19
* Week 5: Sci-Fi Game- July 20 - July 26
* Week 6: Dream Project - July 27 - August 9
[_Unity_](https://assetstore.unity.com/summer-sale?aid=1011l8NVc) **Affiliate**

[**NodeGraphProcessor**](https://github.com/alelievr/NodeGraphProcessor)  - Node graph editor framework focused on data processing using Unity UIElements, GraphView and C# 4.7. 
This node based solution provides a great C# API allowing you to implement conditional graphs, dependencies graphs, processing graphs and more.
[_alelievr_](https://github.com/alelievr/NodeGraphProcessor) *Open Source*

[**PixelGraphics**](https://github.com/aarthificial/pixelgraphics)  - PixelGraphics is a collection of interactive foliage shaders for Unity Tested on Unity 2020.2 - PC & WebGL
_[[view it in action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecYWvfMoRIM) on Youtube]_
[_aarthificial_](https://github.com/aarthificial/pixelgraphics) *Open Source*

[**VerticalDissolve**](https://github.com/AdultLink/VerticalDissolve)  - This shader allows you to dissolve objects in a vertical fashion, and provides several parameters to create unique transitions.
It can be edited through Amplify Shader Editor and contributions to the project are always welcome!
[_AdultLink_](https://github.com/AdultLink/VerticalDissolve) *Open Source*

[**Unmask For UGUI**](https://github.com/mob-sakai/UnmaskForUGUI)  - Reverse mask for uGUI element in Unity.
[_mob-sakai_](https://github.com/mob-sakai/UnmaskForUGUI) *Open Source*

[**LittleHelper**](https://github.com/pjc0247/LittleHelperForUnity)  - _[Improves editor UX with additions of a distance ruler, object size display, quick select, automatic sizing of text, and more]_
[_pjc0247_](https://github.com/pjc0247/LittleHelperForUnity) *Open Source*

[**AddressablesServices**](https://github.com/dre0dru/AddressablesServices)  - A set of classes to convert Unity Addressables callbacks/coroutine workflow to async/await with UniTask. Unity 2020.1+
[_dre0dru_](https://github.com/dre0dru/AddressablesServices) *Open Source*

[**UniScript**](https://github.com/pjc0247/UniScript)  - Other C# scripts use mcs or roslyn. They're all compiler based not an interpreter however UniScript uses a SlowSharp as a backend which enables.... Sandboxing : Can prevent malicious call with Whitelist, Blacklist or your own rules.
[_Park June Chul_](https://github.com/pjc0247/UniScript) *Open Source*

[**Scene View Picker**](https://github.com/RoyTheunissen/Scene-View-Picker)  - Sometimes scene hierarchies get complex and you get in a frustrating situation where you need to assign a field and you know exactly where it is in the scene, but it's hard to point out in the hierarchy. I figured: why not make something to allow you to assign fields by pointing where the object is in the scene? That's exactly what this is.
[_Roy Theunissen_](https://github.com/RoyTheunissen/Scene-View-Picker) *Open Source*

[**Compilation Visualizer for Unity**](https://github.com/needle-tools/compilation-visualizer)  - This tool visualizes the assembly compilation process in Unity3D. It hooks into the Editor-provided events and nicely draws them on a timeline. That's especially helpful when trying to optimize compile times and dependencies between assemblies. Besides showing a graphical view of compilation, selecting an assembly shows both dependencies and dependents of that assembly.
[_needle-tools_](https://github.com/needle-tools/compilation-visualizer) *Open Source*

[**San Andreas Unity**](https://github.com/GTA-ASM/SanAndreasUnity)  - San Andreas Unity is an open source reimplementation of GTA San Andreas game engine in Unity.
[_GTA-ASM_](https://github.com/GTA-ASM/SanAndreasUnity) *Open Source*

[**Welcome to Expresso Bits Console**](https://github.com/ExpressoBits/EBConsole)  - Commands with easy access, persistent logs in the form of toasts, command history, and more.
[_ExpressoBits_](https://github.com/ExpressoBits/EBConsole) *Open Source*

[**Sand Shader - in Unity URP for Mobile Phones**](https://github.com/TheodorKnab/Sand-Shader-Unity-URP-for-Mobile)  - Mobile friendly Unity sand/snow shader using the Universal Render Pipeline - Uses Unity Version 2020.1.2f1
[_TheodorKnab_](https://github.com/TheodorKnab/Sand-Shader-Unity-URP-for-Mobile) *Open Source*

## Spotlight

[![Rift World](https://gamedevdigest.com/assets/images/3f50806bfbd685c109579556471aeb27.png)](https://riftworld.net/)
[**Rift World**](https://riftworld.net/)  - RIFT WORLD Is a hardcore FPS game full of action-fueled magical encounters set in a surreal parallel world. You play as a young mage with a wanderlust for adventure, learning how to control raw sorcerous power and find a way through chaotic realms and hordes of fearsome enemies present within Rift World.

_[You can [back the game](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1741593270/rift-world/description) on Kickstarter, or [try the demo](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1492430/Rift_World/) now on Steam]_
[_Cerulean Interactive_](https://riftworld.net/)



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