Get started with Creator Kit: Beginner Code

Get started with code in Unity

Introduction to variables

Write your own instruction

Introduction to functions

Write your own spawn function 

Introduction to classes

 Write your own spawner class

Introduction to the public keyword and inheritance

Customize the health potions

Customize your game

Homework Submissions

WebGL Submissions - Create your first Action-RPG with C#

Live Session - Create your first Action-RPG Game with C#

Creator Kit: Beginner Code

In this activity, students customize their own 3D role-play video games using Unity technology and C# computer coding. All activity assets and step-by-step tutorials are included, helping learners to get started quickly. By the end of the project, students will have customized their own playable 3D games and have gained a better understanding of scripting, variables, functions, and classes. 

Participating in the global Hour of Code? Visit our Hour of Code Edition of this Creator Kit.

No coding experience? No problem! In this beginner project, you’ll explore the basics of C# code for Unity in the context of an action RPG. 

To get the most out of this project, you’ll have completed one of the three introductory Creator Kits (Puzzle, FPS, RPG), so you can apply your knowledge of the Unity Editor and focus on customizing the game with scripts.

Important: This learning content requires at least Unity 2019.2, and will not work correctly on older versions.

dc81c10f-14a3-57fc-8523-cb99596e9ff5:KNyBhALw6RpujrBA0XpmxH

Working with the Creator Kit: Beginner Code scripts 

Find an instruction in the script

Identify the type and name of the variable

 Identify the value assigned to the variable

Identify where the variable is assigned a new value

Review the two instructions 

Tutorial summary

Unity HOC 1.2 Variables.mp4

Learn what a variable is and why it is useful

Identify the value assigned to a variable

Practice reading instructions in a script

When you’ve finished, you’ll be ready to create your own variable.

Games

Hour of Code - Creator Kit: Beginner Coding

In this tutorial, you’ll identify specific instructions in the SpawnerSample script.

You won’t be able to understand everything in the script straight away.

It may take you a little time to find information in the file.


This is completely normal. In this Creator Kit, you’ll learn how to approach an unfamiliar script and identify key elements, rather than how to understand everything in game-specific scripts.

In your code editor, find the 10th line of the script:


This is the base building block of programming: an instruction. An instruction is a single task you give to the computer.

The instruction ends with a semicolon (;). This tells the compiler that the instruction is finished and the computer should now complete it. Compilers don’t care about the ends of lines — a semicolon is what signifies the end of an instruction for them. However, humans also need to be able to read C# code too; to improve readability, it’s good practice to put each instruction on a separate line.


Before you progress to the next step, consider: 

What could this instruction be telling the computer to do?

The instruction  int angle = 15;  declares and assigns a variable.

A variable is a container that stores a value. You can think of it like a trunk with a name written on it, where you can store information you want to retrieve later. As its name suggests, the information stored in the variable can change (or vary).

Before you can use a variable, you need to declare it by stating its name and type. You can also assign it an initial value. 

In the image below, a variable (trunk) called gems has been assigned the value 2.

There are two things you need to identify when declaring (or creating) a variable:

1.  The type of information that will be stored, which tells the computer how much space to save in its memory to store the information. All variables need a type.

This is an int variable. These variables store integers (whole numbers).


2.  The name of the variable, which you will use every time you want the computer to retrieve the variable’s value.

The name of this variable is angle.

You can assign a value to a variable using the equals sign (=). This means that you copy the value to the right of the equals sign into the variable on its left.

int angle = 15; tells the computer to store the integer value 15 inside the variable called angle.

Every time you use the variable angle in your code, the computer will substitute the integer value.

In the SpawnerSample script, find the next two lines where the int variable angle is assigned a different value.

In each line, what is different from the first time the variable was assigned a value?

The angle variable is assigned different values on lines 17 and 22 of the SpawnerSample script.

Unlike the first time a value was assigned to angle, its type is not included. This is because the computer already knows that the variable exists and how much memory space it needs. 

Since instructions in a script are sequential (completed one at a time), the changed value for the variable will only be used in instructions after it has been assigned.

In the image below, the example variable gems has now been assigned the value 4.

That scripts are made up of instructions


That variables are containers for values in code


That one variable can have different assigned values within the same script, because the computer executes instructions sequentially


In the next tutorial, you’ll apply your learning and write an instruction to declare and assign a new variable.

Introduction to variables

1. Working with the Creator Kit: Beginner Code scripts

2. Find an instruction in the script

3. Introduction to variables

4. Identify the type and name of the variable

5. Identify the value assigned to the variable

6. Identify where the variable is assigned a new value

7. Review the two instructions

8. Tutorial summary

Complete this tutorial