Unity from Zero to Proficiency (Proficient): Unity from Zero to Proficiency, #5

Patrick Felicia

​Unity from Zero to Proficiency (Proficient)

Copyright © 2019 Patrick Felicia

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher (Patrick Felicia), except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either expressed or implied. Neither the author and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

First published: September 2019.

Published by Patrick Felicia

​Credits

Author: Patrick Felicia

​About the Author

Patrick Felicia is a lecturer and researcher at Waterford Institute of Technology, where he teaches and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate students. He obtained his MSc in Multimedia Technology in 2003 and Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2009 from University College Cork, Ireland. He has published several books and articles on the use of video games for educational purposes, including the Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation through Educational Games: Multidisciplinary Approaches (published by IGI), and Digital Games in Schools: A Handbook for Teachers, published by European Schoolnet. Patrick is also the Editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), and the Conference Director of the Irish Symposium on Game-Based Learning, a popular conference on games and learning organized throughout Ireland.

​Support and Resources for this Book

To complete the activities presented in this book you need to download the startup pack on the companion website; it consists of free resources that you will need to complete your projects, including bonus material that will help you along the way (e.g., cheat sheets, introductory videos, code samples, and much more).

These resources also include the final completed project so that you can see how your project should look like in the end.

Amongst other things, the resources for this book include:

Cheat sheets for Unity (e.g., keyboards).

Cheat sheets to summarize common processes (creating terrains, texturing, etc.).

Free video tutorials to get you started with the first chapters.

To download these resources, please do the following:

Open the following link: http://learntocreategames.com/books/.

Select this book ("Unity from Zero to Proficiency (Proficient)").

On the new page, click on the link labeled "Book Files", or scroll down to the bottom of the page.

In the section called "Download your Free Resource Pack, enter your email address and your first name, and click on the button labeled Yes, I want to receive my bonus pack".

After a few seconds, you should receive a confirmation email to activate your account.

If you are using Gmail and you don't see the email, please check your Spam and Promotions folders.

Once you have clicked to confirm your account then a link to your free start-up pack should arrive shortly after.

When you receive the link, you can download all the resources to your computer.

When you receive the email, and if you are using Gmail, please do the following to be able to receive subsequent updates:

Add my address to your contact list.

Drag the message to your Primary Tab.

Frequently check the Promotions tab.

This book is dedicated to Mathis & Helena

Table of Contents

1 Introduction to the RPG Genre, Key Features and Design Concepts

RPG games

RPG features in the game that you will create

The design philosophy behind this book

2 Creating and Animating the Main Character

Creating your character

Controlling the character from a script

Adding a camera

Modifying the environment

Creating a mini-map

Level roundup

3 Creating a Dialogue System

Introduction

Importing the xml file for the dialogues

Reading the dialogue file

Processing the user's answers

Building a user interface

Linking the code and the xml file to the user interface

Triggering the dialogue when we are near the npc

Making it possible to re-activate a conversation

Adding a 3D character for the NPC

Animating the NPC

Level roundup

4 Creating an Inventory System

Introduction

Creating classes to store information on the items to be collected

Creating a user interface for the inventory system

Displaying and updating the inventory from the code

Creating objects to be collected for the inventory

Allowing the player to choose the objects to collect

Using an item from the current inventory to increase the players' health

Creating a health bar

Level roundup

5 Creating a Shop and a Buying System

Creating a shop

Creating the interface

Creating the user interface for each item available in the shop

Creating scripts to add or remove items

Creating a prefab for each item to be sold

Adding items to the shop

Updating the total and the amount of money left

Linking the shop to the players' number of gold coins

Saving the items bought to the player's inventory

Level roundup

6 Adding Weapons and Protagonists

Adding a weapon

Drawing and sheathing the weapon

Performing an attack against a stationary target

Adding a flash when the target is hit

Creating intelligent NPCs

Getting the NPC to inflict damage to the player

Level roundup

7 Adding a Quest System

Creating a quest system

Saving quest information in an XML file

Creating the game manager

Creating a quest manager

Displaying quest information to the user

Checking the actions performed by the player

Adding a notification system to check achievements

Displaying the XPs on screen

Checking that the player has completed all the tasks and saving data to the game manager

Level roundup

8 Creating an XP Attribution System

Introduction

Creating the interface for the XP attribution system

Level roundup

9 Creating A Maze Procedurally

The plan

Creating the structure of the walls

Creating the maze from the code

Adding the player and other objects to the maze

Inspecting the maze with a bespoke controller

Adding NPCs

Integrating the scene into the game

Adding a close-range camera

Displaying the maze in the mini-map

Using skills to improve gameplay

Level roundup

10 Creating The Final Level

Setting-up the level

Fixing navigation issues

Adding the ability for NPCs to change behaviour at run-time

Adding the ability for NPCs to fight back after an attack

Adding the ability for each NPC under attack to alert the other NPCs

Finishing up

Level roundup

11 Your Next Steps

12 Thank you

​Preface

After teaching Unity for over 6 years, I always thought it could be great to find a book that could get my students started on Unity in a few hours and that showed them how to master the core functionalities offered by this fantastic software.

Many of the books that I found were too short and did not provide enough details on the why behind the actions recommended and taken. Other books were highly theoretical, and I found that they lacked practicality and that they would not get my students’ full attention. In addition, I often found that game development may be preferred by those with a programming background but that those with an Arts background, even if they wanted to get to know how to create games, often had to face the issue of learning to code for the first time.

As a result, I started to consider a format that would cover both: be approachable (even to the students with no programming background), keep students highly motivated and involved using an interesting project, cover the core functionalities available in Unity to get started on game programming, provide answers to common questions, and also provide, if need be, a considerable amount of details for some topics.

This book series entitled Unity From Zero to Proficiency does just this. In this book series, you have the opportunity to play around with Unity’s core features, and essentially those that will make it possible to create an interesting 3D game rapidly. After reading this book series, you should find it easier to use Unity and its core functionalities.

This book series assumes no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, and it will get you started on Unity so that you quickly master all the wonderful features that this software provides by going through an easy learning curve. By completing each chapter, and by following step-by-step instructions, you will progressively improve your skills, become more proficient in Unity, and create a survival game using Unity’s core features in terms of programming (i.e., C#), game design, and drag and drop features.

In addition to understanding and being able to master Unity’s core features, you will also create a game that includes many of the common techniques found in video games, including: level design, object creation, textures, collision detection, lights, weapon creation, character animations, particles, artificial intelligence, and menus.

Throughout this book series, you will create a game that includes both indoor and outdoor environments where the player needs to finds its way out of the former through tunnels, escalators, traps, and other challenges, avoid or eliminate enemies using weapons (i.e., gun or grenades), and drive a car or pilot an aircraft.

You will learn how to create customized menus and simple user interfaces using Unity’s UI system, and animate and give (artificial) intelligence to Non-Player Characters (NPCs) that will be able to follow your character using Mecanim and NavMesh navigation.

Finally, you will also get to export your game for the web at the different stages of the books, so that you can share it with friends and obtain some feedback on your game too.

​Content Covered by this Book

Chapter 1, Introduction to the RPG Genre, Key Features and Design Concepts, provides general information about RPGs and the key features that can be found in this type of games. It also explains the features that you will be creating in this book, along with the philosophy behind the code covered.

Chapter 2, Creating and Animating the Main Character, explains how you can create and animate your main 3D character, add a camera that will follow this character as well as a mini-map. You will also learn to use ProBuilder to create the 3D environment for your quest.

Chapter 3, Creating a Dialogue System, explain how to create a dialogue system from an XML file, and how to integrate it seamlessly into your game.

Chapter 4, Creating an Inventory System, explains how you can create a simple inventory system and use it to collect, store, and use items that you will find in your quest. You will also learn to create a health bar.

Chapter 5, Creating a Shop and a Buying System, shows you how to create a shop where the player can buy items that will then be added to the inventory.

Chapter 6, Adding Weapons and Protagonists, explains how you can create different types of animated and intelligent NPCs that will challenge the player.

Chapter 7, Adding a Quest System, explains how you can create a quest system based on an XML file to manage the objectives for each of your levels.

Chapter 8, Creating an XP Attribution System, explains how you can create user interface through which the player can use their XPs to increase their skills.

Chapter 9, Creating A Maze Procedurally, explains how you can generate a maze procedurally from code and add objects and NPCs to it.

Chapter 10, Creating The Final Level, explains some interesting features that you can use to increase your game play.

Chapter 11 provides tips on how to extend your RPGs.

Chapter 12 summarizes the topics covered in this book and also provides useful information if you would like to progress further with this book series.

What you Need to Use this Book

To complete the project presented in this book, you only need Unity 2018 (or a more recent version) and to also ensure that your computer and its operating system comply with Unity’s requirements. Unity can be downloaded from the official website (http://www.unity3d.com/download), and before downloading, you can check that your computer fulfills the requirements for Unity on the following page: http://www.unity3d.com/unity/system-requirements. At the time of writing this book, the following operating systems are supported by Unity for development: Windows XP (i.e., SP2+, 7 SP1+), Windows 8, and Mac OS X 10.6+. In terms of graphics card, most cards produced after 2004 should be suitable.

In terms of computer skills, all knowledge introduced in this book will assume no prior programming experience from the reader. This book does not include any programming, as this will be introduced in the second book in the series. So for now, you only need to be able to perform common computer tasks such as downloading files, opening and saving files, be comfortable with dragging and dropping items and typing.

Who this Book is for

If you can answer yes to all these questions, then this book is for you:

Are you a total beginner in RPG?

Would you like to become proficient in the core functionalities offered by Unity?

Would you like to teach students or help your child to understand how to create games?

Would you like to start creating great RPG games?

Although you may have had some prior exposure to Unity, would you like to delve more into Unity and understand its core functionalities in more detail?

Who this Book is not for

If you can answer yes to all these questions, then this book is not for you:

Can you already easily create a 3D RPG with Unity?

Are you looking for a reference book on Unity programming?

Are you an experienced (or at least advanced) RPG developer?

If you can answer yes to all three questions, you may instead look for the next books in the series. To see the content and topics covered by these books, you can check the official website (www.learntocreategames.com/books/).

How you will Learn from this Book

Because all students learn differently and have different expectations of a course, this book is designed to ensure that all readers find a learning mode that suits them. Therefore, it includes the following:

A list of the learning objectives at the start of each chapter so that readers have a snapshot of the skills that will be covered.

Each section includes an overview of the activities covered.

Many of the activities are step-by-step, and learners are also given the opportunity to