Game Programming with Unity and C#: A Complete Beginner's Guide, 2nd Edition

Learn the essentials of the Unity game engine, the C# programming language, and the art of object-oriented programming. This book is aimed at beginners with no knowledge or experience in game development or programming. Packed with examples, this Second Edition is up-to-date with the latest Unity standards and features as of 2023, and includes many adjustments to improve your experience. Starting with an introduction to Unity, you will learn the essentials of the engine: navigating the various windows, managing the objects that make up your game, and understanding the concepts that are fundamental to the engine. After that, you will gain a solid foundation in the concepts of object-oriented programming and the syntax of the C# language. Then the fun really begins, as you get hands-on experience building three playable example projects that drill you on the concepts you’ve learned until they stick. Guided at each step by author Casey Hardman, you will outline and implement bare-bones, simple games designed to exercise your development skills: a top-down obstacle course, a tower defense game, and a 3D playground that demonstrates Unity's physics features. As you progress through the book, you'll put to use more and more of the features of C# and Unity, adding tools to your belt and strengthening you as a game developer. By the time you’ve completed the book, you will be empowered to strike out on your own and build the game mechanics of your choice. What You Will Learn Understand the fundamentals of object-oriented computer programming and the C# programming language Leverage the features of Unity to implement game mechanics with reusable, clean, and elegant code Design and implement your own mechanics and independently solve problems as they arise Who Is This Book For Beginners who have no prior experience with programming or game development, who would like to learn to create games with a solid foundation that prepares them to further develop their skills. Table of Contents About the Author About the Technical Reviewer Introduction Part I: Unity Fundamentals Chapter 1: Installation and Setup Unity Hub Installing Our Code Editor Installing Unity Creating a Project Summary Chapter 2: Unity Basics Windows Project Window Scene Window Hierarchy Window Inspector Window Components Adding GameObjects Summary Chapter 3: Manipulating the Scene Transform Tools Positions and Axes Making a Floor Scale and Unit Measurements Summary Chapter 4: Parents and Their Children Child GameObjects World vs. Local Coordinates A Simple Building Pivot Points Summary Chapter 5: Prefabs Making and Placing Prefabs Editing Prefabs Overriding Values Nested Prefabs Prefab Variants Summary Part II: Programming Fundamentals Chapter 6: Programming Primer Programming Languages and Syntax What Code Does Strong vs. Weak Typing File-Type Extensions Scripts Summary Chapter 7: Code Blocks and Methods Statements and Semicolons Code Blocks Comments Methods Calling Methods Basic Data Types Returning Values with Methods Declaring Methods Operators Summary Chapter 8: Conditions The “if” Block Overloads Enums The “else” Block The “else if” Block Operators for Conditions Equality Operators Greater Than and Less Than Or And Summary Chapter 9: Working with Objects Classes Variables Accessing Class Members Instance Methods Declaring Constructors Using the Constructor Static Members Summary Chapter 10: Working with Scripts Usings and Namespaces Script Class Rotating a Transform Frames and Seconds Attributes Summary Chapter 11: Inheritance Inheritance in Action: RPG Items Declaring Our Classes Constructor Chaining Subtypes and Casting Type Checking Virtual Methods Number Value Types Summary Chapter 12: Debugging Setting Up the Debugger Breakpoints Using Unity’s Documentation Summary Part III: Obstacle Course Chapter 13: Obstacle Course Design and Outline Gameplay Overview Technical Overview Player Controls Death and Respawn Levels Level Selection Obstacles Project Setup Summary Chapter 14: Player Movement Player Setup Materials and Colors Applying Materials Declaring Our Variables Properties Tracking the Velocity Applying the Movement Summary Chapter 15: Death and Respawning Enabling and Disabling Death Method Respawn Method Summary Chapter 16: Basic Hazards Collision Detection Hazard Script Projectile Script Shooting Script Summary Chapter 17: Walls and Goals Walls Goals Build Settings for Scenes Summary Chapter 18: Patrolling Hazards Resembling a Patrol Point Arrays Setting Up Patrol Points Detecting Patrol Points The “for” Loop Sorting Patrol Points Moving the Patroller Summary Chapter 19: Wandering Hazards Wander Regions Wanderer Setup Wanderer Script Handling the State Reacting to the State Summary Chapter 20: Dashing Dashing Variables Dashing Method Final Touches Summary Chapter 21: Designing Levels Mixing Components Four-Way Shooters Spinning Blades Blade Carousels Prefabs and Variants Making Levels Adding Walls Level View Camera Summary Chapter 22: Menus and UI UI Solutions Immediate Mode GUI (IMGUI) Unity UI (uGUI) UI Toolkit Scene Flow Level Selection Script Summary Chapter 23: In-Game Pause Menu Freezing Time Summary Chapter 24: Spike Traps Designing the Trap Raising and Lowering Writing the Script Adding Collisions Summary Chapter 25: Obstacle Course Conclusion Building the Project Player Settings Recap Additional Features Summary Part IV: Tower Defense Chapter 26: Tower Defense Design and Outline Gameplay Overview Technical Overview Project Setup Summary Chapter 27: Camera Movement Setting Up Arrow Key Movement Applying Movement Mouse Dragging Zooming Summary Chapter 28: Enemies and Projectiles Layers and Physics Basic Enemies Projectiles Summary Chapter 29: Towers and Targeting Targeters Tower Inheritance Tower TargetingTower FiringTower Upper Classes Arrow Towers Summary Chapter 30: Build Mode UI UI Basics The RectTransform Building Our UI Summary Chapter 31: Building and Selling Events Setting Up Build Mode Logic The Dictionary OnClick Event Methods Summary Chapter 32: Play Mode Logic Spawn and Leak Points Locking the Play Button Pathfinding Setup Finding a Path Summary Chapter 33: Enemy Logic Play Mode Setup Spawning Enemies Enemy Movement Summary Chapter 34: More Tower Types Arcing Projectiles Cannon Tower Hot Plates Barricades Summary Chapter 35: Tower Defense Conclusion Inheritance UI Raycasting Pathfinding Additional Features Health Bars Types for Armor and Damage More Complex Pathing Range Indicators Upgrading Towers Summary Part V: Physics Playground Chapter 36: Physics Playground Design and Outline Feature Outline Camera Player Movement Pushing and Pulling Moving Platforms Joints and Swings Force Fields and Jump Pads Project Setup Summary Chapter 37: Mouse-Aimed Camera Player Setup How It Works Script Setup Hotkeys Mouse Input First-Person Mode Third-Person Mode Testing Summary Chapter 38: Advanced 3D Movement How It Works Player Script Movement Velocity Applying Movement Losing Velocity Gravity and Jumping Summary Chapter 39: Wall Jumping Variables Detecting Walls Performing the Jump Summary Chapter 40: Pulling and Pushing Script Setup FixedUpdate Target Detection Pulling and Pushing Cursor Drawing Summary Chapter 41: Moving Platforms Platform Movement Platform Detection Summary Chapter 42: Joints and Swings Swing Setup Connecting the Joints Summary Chapter 43: Force Fields and Jump Pads Script Setup Force Field Setup Adding Velocity to the Player Applying Forces Summary Chapter 44: Conclusion Physics Playground Recap Further Learning for Unity The Asset Store Coroutines Script Execution Order Further Learning for C# Delegates Documentation Comments Exceptions Advanced C# Operator Overloading Conversions Generic Types Structs Summary Index