“Unity Game Development Blueprints” by John P. Doran is a
book about creating three different games in Unity 4.6. Packtpub’s listing for the book at http://bit.ly/unitybl includes a fairly hefty
download of the assets for the games you will create. This is an “advanced beginner”-to-intermediate
level programmer book and the author has provided videos of the completed games
at https://www.youtube.com/user/netravelr/videos.
Over
the course of the first two chapters you create a 2D game called Twin-Stick Shooter. The author compares
this design to the game Geometry Wars.
In the first chapter the whole game is created with all the usual
trappings. The second chapter goes into
detail on creating the interface for the game using the Unity legacy GUI
system. One of the things I liked about
this book is that at the end of each chapter the author provides challenges for
you to personalize the game and make it your own.
In
chapter 3 you get to create a side-scrolling platformer which combines 2D and
3D gaming. I found this chapter very
interesting in that you create your own tile-based level. This is something that I have always wanted
to do and the chapter is a nice introduction into how this could be accomplished. It also prepares you for later chapters in
which you set-up a 3D environment using prefabs that you create.
The
rest of the book, with the exception of chapter 9, is dedicated to creating a
3D FPS. Chapter 4 is all about creating
a terrain for the game which includes making your own skybox and using the
Basic water component that comes with the free version of Unity. Chapter 5 covers the creation of an indoor
level using prefabs that you place and snap together. Chapter 6 is all about the gameplay and
creating the AI for the game.
In
chapter 7 you learn about creating saves for all three games you have
made. I really enjoyed this chapter as I
have always wondered how this was done.
Mr. Doran provides a way of storing information for your game that is
installed on a player’s machine. He
also provides a link for using XML serialization. Chapter 8 is all about putting
finishing touches on the game including setting up a free installer for the
games. I think this definitely helps to
make your game look more professional.
The
book ends with a whole chapter covering the new User Interface system in Unity
4.6. The interface for Twin-Stick Shooter is recreated using
the new UI.
I
really enjoyed this book on Unity. I like
the fact that it is new, current with the latest Unity release and that the
games you program are fun to play. I
also like that Mr. Doran doesn’t hold your hand throughout developing each of
the three games. If you have already completed
some introductory tutorials on Unity then this is the book for you!
The contest continues for another week. Please post your comment for a chance to win a free copy of this great book.
