Mastering Unity 2017 Game Development with C#: Create professional games with solid gameplay features and professional-grade workflow

563 Pages·2017·82.97 MB·english

by  Thorn

Mastering Unity 2017 Game
Development with C#
Second Edition
Create professional games with solid gameplay features and
professional-grade workflow
Alan Thorn
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Mastering Unity 2017 Game Development
with C#
Second Edition
Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing
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First published: January 2017
Second edition: October 2017
Production reference: 1271017
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
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ISBN 978-1-78847-983-7
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Credits
Author Copy Editor
Alan Thorn Shaila Kusanale
Reviewers Project Coordinator
Michael Miles Devanshi Doshi
Alessandro Mochi
Commissioning Editor Proofreader
Amarabha Banerjee Safis Editing
Acquisition Editor Indexer
Larissa Pinto Pratik Shirodkar
Content Development Editor Graphics
Onkar Wani Jason Monteiro
Technical Editor Production Coordinator
Harshal Kadam Arvindkumar Gupta
About the Author
Alan Thorn is a multidisciplinary game developer, author, and educator with 17 years of
industry experience. He makes games for PC desktop, mobile, and VR. He founded Wax
Lyrical Games and created the award-winning game Baron Wittard: Nemesis of Ragnarok,
working as designer, programmer, and artist. He has written 23 technical books on game
development and presented 19 video training courses. These cover gameplay
programming, Unity development, and 3D modeling and animation. He has worked in
game education as a senior lecturer for Teesside University, a lead teacher for Uppingham
School, and a visiting lecturer for London South Bank University. Currently, he's the Head
of Department for Games Design and Development at the National Film and Television
School.
This book would not have been possible if it hadn't been for the valuable help of many
people. I would like to thank all my friends and family, and also the team at Packt
Publishing. This includes Onkar Wani and Larissa Pinto.
About the Reviewers
Michael Miles is a manufacturing engineer working in the aerospace industry by day, and
a Unity Game designer and C#, JavaScript, and Python developer the rest of the time. While
he purchased his first computer in the early '80s, it was years later when he first got into
programming, writing modifications for Doom during breaks at work. With gaming in
general frowned upon, while working Michael put these skills to work, programming
simulations for the various processes he used on the job. A few years later, he discovered
Unity3D and Blender; using these applications, Michael creates interactive training and
production-ready instruction tools for the assembly of parts for the aircraft his company
builds.
When not in front of a computer screen, he likes to play card games, board games with
family and friends, and immerse himself in books from fantasy to theoretical physics.
Thanks to my parents for always being there, supporting every decision I made, however
unwise you thought it was at the time.
Alessandro Mochi has been playing video games since the Amstrad and NES era, tackling
all possible fields: PC, console, and mobile. They are his love, and designing them is his
passion, used as a medium to transmit and evoke emotions. He gives a lot of importance to
details while doing any work, and is well versed in project and team management,
communication, and problem-solving skills.
He is experienced in mechanical design, but is also quite good at programming (Unity, C#)
and 3D modeling. With over 15 years of experience in IT and project management, he's
currently pouring all of his heart and mind into the company he founded--Dapper Penguin
Studios. Here, he tries to resurrect a lost genre in PC gaming--the industrial tycoon--with
the flagship title Rise of Industry. Many studios have tried in recent years, and their failures
serve as inspiration and fuel for his work, trying to give back to the gaming industry a fun,
polished, and immortal experience.
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Table of Contents
Preface
1
Chapter 1: Preparation and Asset Configuring
6
Getting clear on design 8
Target platforms 9
Intended audience 10
Genre 11
Game mode 12
Game objective 12
Asset preparation 13
Meshes - Work only with good topology 13
Meshes - Minimize polygon count 15
Meshes - Simulating bump details without geometry 18
Meshes - Minimize UV seams 22
Meshes - Export as FBX 24
Meshes - Use meters scale (metric) 25
Textures - Never use lossy compression 26
Textures - Power of 2 sizes 27
Textures - Alpha textures 29
Asset importing for Dead Keys 30
Importing textures 31
Importing meshes 38
Importing animations 52
Importing audio 57
Configuring materials 59
Summary 61
Chapter 2: Level Design and Structure
62
Setting the scene with a skybox 64
Level building - Modular construction sets 71
Level building - Organization and structure 78
Level design - Tips and tricks 81
Objective and feedback 82
Narrative 82
Believability and convenience 83
Atmosphere and aesthetic 83
Simplicity and reuse 84
Level lighting - Preparation 84
Baked lighting 85
Dynamic lighting 86
Precomputed global illumination 87
Getting started with lightmapping 88
Baking lightmaps - Resolution and size 92
Baking lightmaps - Details 101
Light Probes 105
Lighting FAQ 112
Navigation mesh 122
Occlusion Culling 130
Creating a player camera 136
Particle systems 141
Music and audio 145
Summary 152
Chapter 3: Player Controls - Movement
153
Player movement 154
Zombie combat 155
Creating player waypoints 156
Animating the camera 158
Configuring an animator graph 171
Working with animation - creating the navigator 183
Customizing and changing MonoDevelop 184
Singletons 190
Comments 191
Connecting to the navigator component 192
Comments 193
Navigator GUI 194
Input axes 198
The canvas 201
The button 204
Coding button behavior 212
Comments 214
Creating player death 218
Comments 221
Summary 222
Chapter 4: Player Controls - Typing and Health
223
[ ii ]