I will post a review of "Mastering Unity Scripting" on March 30th!

Packtpub has done it again with a new book on Unity Scripting titled "Mastering Unity Scripting" This book is by Alan Thorn who has authored several other titles on Unity. I will post my review on March 30th.

Review of "Unity AI Programming Essentials"

                There are many assets available for Unity that implement Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Simple AIs can also be created by coding a state machine. Unity also provides Navigation Meshes which help with developing pathfinding AIs.  “Unity AI Programming Essentials” by Curtis Bennett and Dan Violet Sagmiller covers 6 different AI’s that are available in Unity’s asset store.  Each of the following AI solutions are presented in the form of a project that you can download from Packt Publishing’s website.

Quick Path AI by Alkehine Games is available for $10 at Unity’s asset store. Its main focus is on pathfinding. The manual and a demo are available on Alkehine Games’ website at http://alekhinegames.com/. This solution is covered in Chapter one in the book and is great for beginners.

React AI is by Different Methods and is available for $45 at the asset store.  This asset provides a way of building behavior trees that make use of Mecanim animation and allow you to code items such as chain-of-command AIs and NPC behavior.  The book discusses how to use React in chapters one, four and seven.  If you enjoy coding and want to use an AI for behavior trees than this is a great choice. For more information on React visit their website at http://www.differentmethods.com/.

Smart Car AI is by Bonecracker Games and is available for $10 on the asset store.  All of chapter 9 is dedicated to using this AI and creating a car game demo.  Smart Car allows you to set all different sorts of properties for cars. The book provides a lot of information on modifying and using this AI. You can find more information on Smart Car AI at Bonecracker Games’ website at http://bugra381.wix.com/bonecrackergames.

In chapter 5 crowd control APIs are discussed. Crowd Simulation API by TechBizAccelerator is available for $45 on the asset store. Their website is http://www.tbx.com.sg/crowdsapi/.  ANT-Op by Gray Lake Studios is available for $75 in the asset store.  Their website is http://graylakestudios.com/. Both solutions provide ways of controlling groups and defining behavior in your games.  These are very specific behavior AI and the chapter provides a good overview of them. 

The bulk of the book covers the RAIN AI by Rival Theory which is available for free on the asset store.  Their website is http://rivaltheory.com/rain/ and provides excellent documentation and examples.  “Unity AI Programming Essentials” provides great information on RAIN and shows you how to set-up several different AI situations that you will come across in the creation of your games.  Behavior trees, attacking situations and advanced navigation meshes are all discussed and explanations are provided on how to set-up RAIN in these situations.

“Unity AI Programming Essentials” is a wonderful book on implementing artificial intelligence in games created with Unity.  Very little explanation is provided on AI’s in general; but for the specific situation of programming in Unity this book is great. Here is the link to the book at Packt Publishing.

Some links on Artificial Intelligence in Unity

Here are some links to provide some information on Unity AI.  I am using these as I reading the book "Unity AI Programming Essentials" which I will be reviewing on March 4th.

• Unity's Learn Page on their website provides us will an intermediate tutorial about AI and Unity: Unity Enemy AI
• Here is a nice article on NavMesh Navigation for Unity: Unity 3D AI Navmesh
• This links is about Goal Oriented Action Planning(GOAP) AI for Unity: GOAP for Unity

So that it for now.  Have a wonderful Sunday!

My review of another great Packt Publishing book! This time on Unity AI!

On Wednesday March 4, 2015 I will review the book "Unity AI Game Programming Essentials."  The book is written by Curtis Bennett and Dan Violet Sagmiller.  The book goes into details about 3 Unity AI solutions that are available in the Asset Store.  The first is Quick Path which is available for $10., then there's React AI which costs $45., and then there is RAIN which is free.  Most of the book uses the free RAIN plug-in.  I am looking forward to reading more about these plug-ins. For more information see the book listing at Packt Publishing.

Free books from Packtpub!

Everyday between now and March 5th Packt Publishing is hosting their Free Learning event!  Each day they will provide one of their wonderful ebooks free for download.
This is a fantastic opportunity to study new software, improve a programming language or perhaps learn how to use Raspberry Pi!  I've picked up the past 3 days worth so check it out at http://bit.ly/1vy718F !

Three links to some interesting Unity information

Well its been over a month since my last post.  I hope all of you enjoyed your holidays. I have big plans for this blog so stay tuned and see what's happening. 

First I will give you the links I promised:
Daggerfall Tools for Unity - This is a fantastic free tool for bringing the old Elder Scrolls game Daggerfall into Unity and using the assets and code as a starting point for your own game.  Please follow all applicable Copyright laws.  I can't wait to play around with this one.

Fix Uniy error Timestamps and asset maps out of sync - Apparently Unity can have an error where all the assets, including scripts, models, etc, don't appear in your project.  Very frustrating if you have been working on a project for awhile.  This post by Wajahat Karim at his blog explains how he worked around this issue and how to prevent it from happening again.

Embedding Unity 3D into Wordpress -This post from Wajahat Karim's blog explains how you can embed Unity's web player into Wordpress.

That's it for now.  Have a wonderful day!

Packtpub is at it again with $5 ebooks and videos until January 6, 2015!

Following the success of last year’s festive offer, Packt Publishing will be celebrating the holiday season with an even bigger $5 offer.  

From Thursday 18^th December, every eBook and video will be available on the publisher’s website for just $5. Customers are invited to purchase as many as they like before the offer ends on Tuesday January 6^th, making it the perfect opportunity to try something new or to take your skills to the next level as 2015 begins. 

With all $5 products available in a range of formats and DRM-free, customers will find great value content delivered exactly how they want it across Packt’s website this Christmas and New Year. Find out more at Packtpub