Hands-On Unity 2021 Game Development

Achieve mesmerizing game experiences using the latest Unity 2021 features by following a practical approach to building professional games

Key Features

• Unleash the capabilities of C# scripting to create UIs, graphics, game AI agents and more
• Explore Unity's latest tools, including Universal Render Pipeline, Shader Graph, UI Toolkit, Visual Scripting, and VFX graph, to enhance graphics and animation
• Build an AR experience using Unity’s AR Foundation

Book Description

Learning how to use Unity is the quickest way to creating a full game, but that’s not all you can do with this simple, yet comprehensive suite of video game development tools – Unity is just as useful for creating AR/VR experiences, complex simulations, real-time realistic rendering, films, and practical games for training and education.

Hands-On Unity 2021 Game Development outlines a practical journey to creating your first full game from the ground up, building it step-by-step and applying your knowledge as you progress.

Complete with hands-on tutorials and projects, this easy-to-follow guide will teach you how to develop the game using several Unity tools. As you advance, you will learn how to use the Unity engine, create simple scripts using C#, integrate graphics, sound, and animations, and manipulate physics to create interesting mechanics for your game. You’ll be able to apply all the knowledge that you gain to a real-world game.

Later chapters will show you how to code a simple AI agent to challenge the user and use profiling tools to ensure that the code runs efficiently. Finally, you'll work with Unity's AR tools to create AR experiences for 3D apps and games.

By the end of this Unity book, you will have created a complete game and built a solid foundation in using a wide variety of Unity tools.

What you will learn

• Explore both C# and Visual Scripting tools to customize various aspects of a game, such as physics, gameplay, and the UI
• Program rich shaders and effects using Unity s new Shader Graph and Universal Render Pipeline
• Implement postprocessing to improve graphics quality with full-screen effects
• Create rich particle systems for your Unity games from scratch using VFX Graph and Shuriken
• Add animations to your game using the Animator, Cinemachine, and Timeline
• Use the brand new UI Toolkit package to create user interfaces
• Implement game AI to control character behavior

Who this book is for

This book is best suited for game developers looking to upgrade their knowledge and those who want to migrate their existing skills to the Unity game engine. Those with prior Unity knowledge will also benefit from the chapters exploring the latest features. While you’ll still able to follow along if you don’t have any programming experience, knowing the fundamentals of C# programming will help you get the most out of this book.

Table of Contents

1. Designing a Game from Scratch
2. Setting Up Unity
3. Working with Scenes and Game Objects
4. Grayboxing with Terrain and ProBuilder
5. Importing and Integrating Assets
6. Materials and Effects with URP and Shader Graph
7. Visual Effects with Particle Systems and Visual Effect Graph
8. Lighting Using the Universal Render Pipeline
9. Fullscreen Effects with Postprocessing
10. Sound and Music Integration
11. User Interface Design
12. Creating a UI with the UI Toolkit
13. Creating Animations with Animator, Cinemachine, and Timeline
14. Introduction to C# and Visual Scripting
15. Implementing Movement and Spawning
16. Physics Collisions and Health System

(N.B. Please use the Read Sample option to see further chapters)

Nicolas is a Game Developer currently working as a Senior Software Development Consultant for Unity in London. He is a Unity Certified Instructor teaching Unity clients all around the globe. He started using Unity in 2008 and teaching it in 2012 in several Universities and Education Institutes.