Hands-On Unity 2021 Game Development: Create, customize, and optimize your own professional games from scratch with Unity 2021

710 Pages·2011·39.767 MB·English

by  Nicolas Alejandro Borromeo

Hands-On Unity 2021
Game Development
Second Edition
Create, customize, and optimize your own
professional games from scratch with Unity 2021
Nicolas Alejandro Borromeo
BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI
Hands-On Unity 2021 Game Development
Second Edition
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First published: July 2020
Second edition: August 2021
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To Dad, who spoiled me with computers to keep learning. I miss you.
Also, to my wife, for reminding me of what I am capable of.
– Nicolas Alejandro Borromeo
Contributors
About the author
Nicolas Alejandro Borromeo works as a senior Unity developer at Product Madness,
London. He was a game development career coordinator at Universidad Argentina
de la Empresa (UADE) and has taught game development at many other Argentine
universities, such as UTN, UAI, and USAL, and institutions such as Image Campus and
DaVinci, since 2012. Nicolas has been a Unity Certified Instructor since 2019, teaching
high-profile Unity clients all around the globe. He was an MMO client-side developer at
Band of Coders in Argentina and has been a Unity freelance developer since 2012.
About the reviewers
Levent Alpsal is a senior software and game developer. In 2008, he started working on
web-based projects, developing for the backend using PHP and SQL.
He started his focus on Unity and C# in 2015, working on many exciting simulation
projects using Unity, VR, motion platforms, and other technologies at Sanlab Simulation.
He has also developed many indie games and attended global game jams.
In 2020, he started his own company in the UK, Reenim Software LTD, providing software
and Unity development services globally.
Levent likes to develop creative DIY solutions to daily real-life problems using 3D
printing, thermoplastics, and K'Nex. He is the proud designer of a remote-controlled
model tank. Currently, he lives in London with his lovely wife and wonderful son.
Sungkuk Park is a Berlin-based game developer. He majored in art studies at Hongik
University in Seoul, Korea, but later became a software engineer in the gaming industry.
He is interested in almost everything about gaming. He is now on his way to becoming
a technical artist!
Here is a list of his publications:
• Authored Seamless Society, 21 July 2020, in collaboration with an online exhibition
platform DDDD
• Authored Wallpeckers: Breaking down the barriers between media, an article for the
Korean art magazine Misulsegye, in March 2019
• Authored The Possibility of the Impossibility of the "Art Games", an article for the
Korean art magazine Misulsegye, in February 2017
• Translated and edited Game Level Generation Using Neural Networks, a featured
post of Gamasutra

Table of Contents
Preface
Section 1 – Our First Level
1
Designing a Game from Scratch
Game concept    4 HUD   12
Game idea   5
The difficulty balance   13
Input controls   5
Difficulty balance questions   14
Winning and losing   7
Implementation plan   15
Game characters   8
Documentation   16
Hero    8
Game Design Document (GDD)   16
Enemies   8
GDD formats   17
Gameplay   9 GDD creation tools   17
Game-world layout   9 Elevator pitch   19
Starting condition   10 High concept   20
Ending condition   11 Tips for creating GDDs   21
Point system   12
Summary   24
2
Setting Up Unity
Why use a game engine such as Installing Unity   28
Unity?   26
Unity Technical Requirements   29
Past and present industry insight   26 Unity installs   29
Game engines   27 Installing Unity with Unity Hub   30
Benefits of using Unity   27
viii Table of Contents
Creating projects   36 Project structure   38
Creating a project   36
Summary   40
3
Working with Scenes and Game Objects
Manipulating scenes   42 Possible uses   60
The purpose of a scene   42
Prefabs   61
The Scene View    43
Creating Prefabs   62
Creating our first GameObject   44
Prefab-instance relationship   63
Navigating the Scene View   46
Prefab variants   66
Manipulating GameObjects   47
Saving scenes and projects   67
GameObjects and components   51
Saving our changes   68
Understanding components   52
Project structure   69
Manipulating components   53
Summary   71
Object hierarchies   58
Parenting objects   59
4
Grayboxing with Terrain and ProBuilder
Creating a Landscape with Installing ProBuilder   85
Terrain   74 Creating a Shape   87
Discussing Height Maps   74 Manipulating the mesh   88
Creating and configuring Height Maps   76 Adding details   94
Authoring Height Maps   79
Summary   97
Adding Height Map details   82
Creating Shapes with ProBuilder   85
5
Importing and Integrating Assets
Importing assets   99 Integrating assets   109
Importing assets from the internet   100 Integrating terrain textures   109
Importing assets from the Asset Store   102 Integrating meshes   112
Table of Contents ix
Integrating textures   114 Configuring textures   119
Assembling the scene   120
Configuring assets   116
Configuring meshes   117 Summary   124
Section 2 – Improving Graphics and Sound
6
Materials and Effects with URP and Shader Graph
Introducing shaders   128 Creating our first Shader Graph   139
Shader pipeline   128 Using textures   144
The Render Pipeline and URP   132 Combining Textures   153
URP's Built-in Shaders   134 Applying transparency   157
Creating Vertex Effects   160
Creating Shaders with Shader
Graph   138 Summary   162
7
Visual Effects with Particle Systems and Visual Effect Graph
Introduction to particle Creating complex simulations
systems   164 with Visual Effect Graph   177
Creating a basic particle system   165 Installing Visual Effect Graph   178
Using advanced modules   170 Creating and analyzing a Visual Effect
Graph   180
Creating fluid simulations   172
Creating a rain effect   184
Creating a waterfall effect   172
Summary   189
Creating a bonfire effect   174
8
Lighting Using the Universal Render Pipeline
Applying lighting   192 Applying shadows   207
Discussing lighting methods   192 Understanding shadow calculations   207
Configuring ambient lighting with Configuring performant shadows   213
skyboxes   198
Optimizing lighting   216
Configuring lighting in URP    203