Unity Android game development by example beginner's guide : learn how to create exciting games using Unity 3D for Android with the help of hands-on examples

Absolute beginners to designing games for Android will find this book is their passport to quick results. Lots of handholding and practical exercises using Unity 3D makes learning a breeze. **Overview** * Enter the increasingly popular mobile market and create games using Unity 3D and Android * Learn optimization techniques for efficient mobile games * Clear, step-by-step instructions for creating a complete mobile game experience **In Detail** Powerful and continuing to grow, the mobile market has never been bigger and more demanding of great games. Android continues to prove itself as a strong contender in this challenging market. With Unity 3D, great games can be made for Android quickly and easily. With its great deployment system, the Android platform is now only one click away. Unity Android Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide dives straight into making real, fully-functional games, with hands-on examples and step-by-step instructions to give you a firm grounding in Unity 3D and Android. Everything necessary for creating a complete gaming experience is covered and detailed throughout the course of this book. Using clear and practical examples that progressively build upon each other, this book guides you through the process of creating games in Unity for Android. Start by learning about all the great features that Unity and Android have to offer. Next, create a Tic-Tac-Toe game while learning all about interfaces. After that, learn about meshes, materials, and animations with the creation of a tank battle game. You will then learn how to expand your game's environment with the addition of shadows and a skybox. Adding on this, you will also learn how to expand the tank battle by creating enemies and using path finding to chase the player. Next, explore touch and tilt controls with the creation of a space fighter game. Then, learn about physics while recreating the most popular mobile game on the market. You will then expand the space fighter game with the addition of all the special effects that make a game great. Finally, complete your experience by learning the optimization techniques required to keep your games running smoothly. While Unity is available for both Mac and Windows, the book is presented working from a Windows environment. Programming in Unity is possible in C#, JavaScript, and Boo. This book will be working in C# and the final projects will be provided in C# and JavaScript. From nothing to a fully-featured mobile game, Unity Android Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide takes you through everything it takes to create your next game for the Android platform. **What you will learn from this book** * Set up a development environment to work with both Unity and Android * Import and work with the basic building blocks of a game: meshes, materials, and animations * Utilize particles and sound effects to provide feedback to the player * Adjust camera effects and game logic to create 2D games * Interface with touch and tilt inputs to create custom control systems * Set up path finding to create intelligently moving characters * Successfully create custom graphical interfaces * Set up and utilize physics to create a mobile game classic * Create dynamically lit scenes using lightmaps * Understand the best choices for optimizing a game for the mobile platform

In Detail

Powerful and continuing to grow, the mobile market has never been bigger and more demanding of great games. Android continues to prove itself as a strong contender in this challenging market. With Unity 3D, great games can be made for Android quickly and easily. With its great deployment system, the Android platform is now only one click away.

Unity Android Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide dives straight into making real, fully-functional games, with hands-on examples and step-by-step instructions to give you a firm grounding in Unity 3D and Android. Everything necessary for creating a complete gaming experience is covered and detailed throughout the course of this book.

Using clear and practical examples that progressively build upon each other, this book guides you through the process of creating games in Unity for Android.

Start by learning about all the great features that Unity and Android have to offer. Next, create a Tic-Tac-Toe game while learning all about interfaces. After that, learn about meshes, materials, and animations with the creation of a tank battle game. You will then learn how to expand your game's environment with the addition of shadows and a skybox. Adding on this, you will also learn how to expand the tank battle by creating enemies and using path finding to chase the player. Next, explore touch and tilt controls with the creation of a space fighter game. Then, learn about physics while recreating the most popular mobile game on the market. You will then expand the space fighter game with the addition of all the special effects that make a game great. Finally, complete your experience by learning the optimization techniques required to keep your games running smoothly.

While Unity is available for both Mac and Windows, the book is presented working from a Windows environment. Programming in Unity is possible in C#, JavaScript, and Boo. This book will be working in C# and the final projects will be provided in C# and JavaScript.

From nothing to a fully-featured mobile game, Unity Android Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide takes you through everything it takes to create your next game for the Android platform.

Approach

Unity Android Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide consists of different game application examples. No prior experience with programming, Android, or Unity is required. You will learn everything from scratch and will have an organized flow of information specifically designed for complete beginners to Unity.

Who this book is for

Great for developers new to Unity, Android, or both, this book will walk you through everything you need to know about game development for the Android mobile platform. No experience with programming, Android, or Unity is required. Most of the assets used in each chapter project are provided with the book, but it is assumed that you have some access to basic image and model creation software. You will also need access to an Android powered device.

Cover; Copyright; Credits; About the Author; About the Reviewers; www.PacktPub.com; Table of Contents; Preface; Chapter 1: Saying Hello to Unity and Android; Understanding what makes Unity great; Understanding what makes Android great; Understanding how Unity and Android work together; Differences between Pro and Basic; License comparison overview; Setting up the development environment; Time for action installing the JDK; Time for action installing the Android SDK; Time for action installing Unity 3D; Optional code editor; Connecting to a device Time for action simple device connectionTime for action connecting trickier devices; Unity Remote; Building a simple application; Time for action Hello World; Summary; Chapter 2: Looking Good Graphical Interface; Creating a Tic-tac-toe game; Time for action creating Tic-tac-toe; Finishing the game; Time for action finish creating the game; GUI Skins and GUI Styles; A prettier form of Tic-tac-toe; Time for action styling the game; Dynamic positioning; Time for action the dynamic GUI; A better way to build to device; Time for action build and run; Summary Chapter 3: The Backbone of Any Game Meshes, Materials, and AnimationsSetting up; Time for action the setup; Importing the meshes; Time for action importing the tank; Tank import settings; Setting up the tank; Time for action creating the tank; Time for action keeping score; Time for action controlling the chassis; Time for action controlling the turret; Time for action putting the pieces together; Creating the materials; Time for action creating the city; Time for action moving treads; Animations; The target's animations; Time for action setting up target animations State machinesTime for action creating the target state machine; Time for action scripting the target; Creating the prefab; Time for action creating the target; Ray tracing to shoot; Time for action simple shooting; Summary; Chapter 4: Setting the Stage Camera Effects and Lighting; The camera effects; Skyboxes and distance fog; Time for action adding a skybox and distance fog; Target indicator; Time for action creating the pointer; Time for action controlling the indicator; Time for action working with a second camera; Turbo boost; Time for action using the boost effect LightsTime for action adding more lights; Lightmaps; Time for action creating a lightmap; Cookies; Time for action applying headlights; Blob shadow; Time for action a tank with a shadow; Summary; Chapter 5: Getting Around Pathfinding and AI; Understanding AI and pathfinding; The NavMesh; Time for action creating the NavMesh; The NavMeshAgent component; Time for action creating the enemy; The chase; Time for action the player is over here; Time for action chasing the player; Being attacked; Time for action getting ready to fire; Attacking the enemy Time for action giving it a weakness