Setting up the Game

Moving the Player

Moving the Camera

Setting up the Play Area

Creating Collectibles

Detecting Collisions with Collectibles

Displaying Score and Text

Adding AI Navigation

Building the Game

Welcome to 3D Beginner: Roll-a-Ball Game! In this learning project, you’ll:  

Use Unity Editor and its built-in capabilities to set up a simple game environment

Write your own custom scripts to create the game functionality

Create a basic user interface to improve the game experience

Build your game, so other people can play it!

3D Beginner: Roll-a-Ball Game

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Overview

Before you begin

Create a new Unity project

Create a new Scene

Create a primitive plane

Scale the Ground Plane

Create a Player GameObject

Adjust the default lighting

Add colors with Materials

Unity_RollABall_1-6.mp4

Unity_RollABall_1-5.mp4

Unity_RollABall_1-3.mp4

Unity_RollABall_1-7.mp4

Unity_RollABall_1-4_2022_LTS_Update.mp4

Unity_RollABall_1-2_2022_LTS_Update.mp4

Unity_RollABall_1-1_Update_U6+2022_V3.mp4

Welcome to Roll-a-ball! In this learning project, you’ll:

Create_a_new_Scene-Transcript.txt

Create_a_primitive_plane-Transcript.txt

Scale_the_Ground_Plane-Transcript.txt

Create_a_Player_GameObject-Transcript.txt

Adjust_the_default_lighting-Transcript.txt

Add_colors_with_Materials-Transcript.txt

Create-a-new-Unity-Project-Transcript.txt

Unit 2 - Program a basic game

In this first Roll-a-ball tutorial, you’ll:

Create and position some basic objects for your game

Configure the lighting and game background


By the end of this tutorial, your game will look something like this:

Alt text: A blue sphere at the center of a gray plane.


Before you get started, you do need to install the latest version of Unity. This is currently Unity 6.


This learning experience assumes that you are already familiar with how to navigate the Scene view in the Unity Editor. If you’re completely new to Unity, this tutorial on getting started with the Unity Editor has been designed to help you get comfortable and ready to create in the Unity Editor.

Follow the video or text instructions below to select a project template and create a new project:

Open Unity Hub and log in using your Unity account.

Select the Universal 3D template and then select Download template if it is not already downloaded.


In the Project Settings, enter “Rollaball” in the Project Name box, select the Location box, and select a local folder of your choice.

Select Create Project and wait for the Unity Editor to open.

Follow the video or text instructions below to set up your workspace, create a new scene from a template, and save your scene:

Make sure the Default Layout is selected from the Layout dropdown for tutorial consistency. 


To create a new scene, select File > New Scene.

Select the Basic URP template, then select Create.


Save the scene in the folder named “Scenes”.



The Scenes folder shown in the Project window with a scene named “Minigame” highlighted. 

Follow the video or text instructions below to create and a Plane GameObject, reset its position, and then frame the plane in the Scene view:

From the main menu, select GameObject > 3D Object > Plane. 

Alternatively, in the Hierarchy window, select the Add menu (+) > 3D Object > Plane.

At the top of the Inspector window, rename the newly created Plane GameObject "Ground".
 

With the Ground GameObject selected, in the upper-right corner of the Transform component, select the vertical More (⋮) menu .

Select Reset for the Transform component of the Ground GameObject. This action places the GameObject at the origin point (0, 0, 0) in the scene.
 

Ensure the Ground GameObject is selected and position the cursor in the Scene view.

Press the F key to frame the entire GameObject nicely within the Scene view. 

Alternatively, select Edit > Frame Selected from the main menu.

The ground plane selected in the Scene view. The name “Ground” is highlighted in the Inspector window and the context menu is open in the Transform component with the Reset option highlighted.

Follow the video or text instructions below to increase the scale of the Ground Plane and set precise scale values:

1.  Increase the scale of the Ground Plane.

With the Ground GameObject selected, activate the Scale tool by pressing the R hotkey.

Drag the X (red) and Z (blue) handles to increase the size of the Plane.


In the Transform component, set the X and Z Scale values to 2.0.

The Ground plane selected in the Scene view with the Scale tool selected. The Scale properties are highlighted in the Transform component.

Follow the video or text instructions below to create a sphere for the player and then position it at the center of the Ground Plane:

In the Hierarchy window, right-click > 3D Object > Sphere.

Rename the newly created Sphere GameObject "Player".
 

2.  Position the Player Sphere at the origin.

In the Inspector window, reset the Transform component of the Player GameObject to position it at the origin point (0, 0, 0) of the scene.

Press the F key in the Scene view to frame the Player GameObject in the Scene view.
 

3. Move the Player GameObject up to sit on the Plane.

In the Transform component for the Player GameObject, set the Y Position value to 0.5.

The Player GameObject shown in the Scene view with the Position properties highlighted in the Inspector window.


Follow the video or text instructions below to assess the Directional Light, then change its color to white:

Navigate from the Scene view to the Game view to observe the lighting and shadows on the Player GameObject.

In the Hierarchy window, select the Directional Light.
 

In the Light component, use the foldout (triangle) to expand the Emission module, and use the color picker to modify the light's tint from yellow to pure white for better scene balance.

In the Color dialog, you can also manually set the RGB values to 255, 255, and 255.

Note:  To edit the RGB values from the Color window, use the dropdown to change the color mode from HSV to RGB 0–255. 

The Directional Light is shown in the Scene view. The Color property is highlighted in the Light component.

Follow the video or text instructions below to create a new Materials folder, a new Background material, a new Player material, and then finally adjust the Directional Light’s rotation:

In the Project window, navigate to the highest level Assets folder. 

Inside the Assets folder, right-click > Create > Folder to make a new folder.

In the newly created Materials folder, right-click > Create > Material to make a new material, then name it "Background".

In the Inspector window, use the foldout (triangle) to expand the Surface Inputs module, and select the Base Map color picker.

Change the color to a pale gray with RGB values of 130, 130, and 130.

Make sure the Metallic Map is set to 0 and the Smoothness is set to around 0.25 for a matte finish.

Apply the Background material to the Ground GameObject by dragging it from the Project window onto the Ground GameObject in the Scene view.
 

In the Materials folder, create a new material and name it "Player".

In the Inspector window, adjust the Base Map color for the Player material — set the RGB values to 0, 220, and 255 for a light blue.

Set the Metallic Map to 0 and change the Smoothness to 0.75 for a shiny finish.

Apply the Player material to the Player GameObject by dragging it onto the sphere in the Scene view.
 

4.  Change the Directional Light’s rotation.

In the Hierarchy window, select the Directional Light.

In the Transform component, change the Rotation values to X=50, Y=50, and Z=0 for a more dramatic silhouette.

In the Materials folder, the Background and Player materials are highlighted. In the Scene view there is a blue sphere at the center of a gray plane.


Setting up the Game

1. Overview

2. Before you begin

3. Create a new Unity project

4. Create a new Scene

5. Create a primitive plane

6. Scale the Ground Plane

7. Create a Player GameObject

8. Adjust the default lighting

9. Add colors with Materials

Complete this tutorial