Introduction to Unit 9

Explore the production cycle

Reimagine your game on multiple platforms

Iterate on the player controller

Source new assets

Unity pro tips

Unit 9 - Iterate on your game

In this unit, you’ll reflect on the process so far, iterate on the player controller, swap out the assets in your game, and then you’ll learn some Unity tips and tricks to take your skills to the next level.

Unit 9 - Iterate on your Game

Welcome to the course

Install the Unity Hub and Editor

Get started with the Unity Editor

Create a balanced primitive structure

Introduction to Unit 2

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

Fill out a Game Design Document

Introduction to Unit 3

Get started with audio

Create 3D sound effects

Add special effects to existing audio

Challenge: Your own soundscape

Add audio to your game

Introduction to Unit 4

Get started with VFX

Play around with a Particle System

Create an environmental Particle System

Create a burst particle

Challenge: Add some magic to your scene

Add VFX to your game

Introduction to Unit 5

Get started with user interfaces

Add a title to your scene

Manage screen size and anchors

Create a menu background with images

Add basic button functionality

Add toggles and sliders

Challenge: Make a worldspace UI

Add UI to your game

Introduction to Unit 6

Get started with animation

Create your first 3D animations

Refine your animation

Control animation with an Animator

Import animation

Challenge: Bring the scene to life

Add animation to your game

Introduction to Unit 7

Get started with shaders and materials

Explore meshes and rendering

Explore shaders

Simulate solid surfaces

Map materials with textures

Create translucent and transparent effects

Add physical texture with bump mapping 

Challenge: Create your still life composition

Add materials to your game

Introduction to Unit 8

Get started with lighting

Get started with lighting in Unity

Configure the Directional Light and skybox

Add light sources to your scene

Configure shadows in your scene

Bake a lightmap for your scene

Improve your lighting with Light Probes

Examine and complete the indoor scene

Refine and troubleshoot the indoor scene

Showcase your work with lighting

Add lighting to your game

Prepare for the UCA Game Dev exam

Finalize your project

Unit 1 - Unity fundamentals

Unit 2 - Program a basic game

Unit 3 - Audio

Unit 4 - VFX

Unit 5 - UI

Unit 6 - Animation

Unit 7 - Materials

Unit 8 - Lighting

In this unit, you will create your first Unity project, get comfortable using the Unity Editor, and then design your first scene. 

Unit 1 - Get started in Unity

In this unit, you will create a simple game called Roll-a-Ball that will be the foundation for your personal game project, which you will work on for the entire course.  

In this unit, you’ll learn how to implement audio effects in Unity. Then you’ll apply those new skills and add audio to your own game. 

In this unit, you’ll learn how to implement visual effects (VFX)  in Unity. Then you’ll apply those new skills and add VFX to your own game. 

Unit 4 - Visual Effects

In this unit, you’ll learn how to create user interfaces (UI) in a Unity project. Then you’ll apply those new skills and add UI to your own game. 

Unit 5 - User Interfaces

In this unit, you’ll learn how to create and control animations in a Unity project. Then you’ll apply those new skills and add animations to your own game. 

Add physical texture with bump mapping

In this unit, you’ll learn how to add custom materials, including a repeating pattern and a normal map to simulate height and surface texture. Then you’ll apply those new skills and add animations to your own game.

In this unit, you’ll learn how to add lighting to your scene to make things more polished and visually pleasing. Then you’ll apply those new skills and add lighting to your own game.

In this unit, you’ll make sure you’re ready to take the certification exam and make any final adjustments to your game to make sure it meets the goals outlined in your Game Design Document.  

Unit 10 - Prepare for certification and publishing

This course is designed to help you prepare for the 

Unity Certified Associate: Game Developer

In this course, you will master the fundamental skills needed for game development with Unity, including programming in C#, designing immersive audio and stunning visual effects, crafting intuitive user interfaces, and applying unique animations, materials and lighting.

You'll start by creating a design document for your own game, then gradually build a working prototype. Throughout the course, you'll enhance your game using the skills you acquire, taking it from a simple idea to a finished product.

Towards the end of the course, there is dedicated time for a comprehensive review of everything you’ve learned to ensure you’re fully prepared to ace the exam

When you're done with the course, you will not only have the skills to pass the Unity Certified Associate exam and continue creating your own games, but you'll also have a fully realized game that you've designed and created from scratch.

2022.3

UCA: Game Developer - Certification Prep Course

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Overview

Understanding the differences between platforms

Configuring multi-platform Input

What are Unity Gaming Services?

Next steps

Make it Multiplatform

Unity 2019.3 feature: Input System

Intro to Analytics | Unity Gaming Services

Unity Cloud Build

What is Game Server Hosting (Multiplay)? | Unity Gaming Services

In this tutorial, you will learn about Unity's cross-platform capabilities, which allow a game to be built once and then deployed across various platforms with slight modifications. The tutorial covers the nuances of porting games across different platforms, focusing on considerations like controls, screen size, and processing power. The tutorial also delves into Unity's input systems and its array of Gaming Services, which offer tools and insights for analytics, monetization, build automation, and multiplayer hosting, easing the game deployment and enhancement processes.

As game developers, one thing you often need to consider is the platform or platforms you’re targeting. Up until now, you've probably only configured controls for a computer or desktop experience. But what if you want to expand your game to mobile devices, consoles, or even dive into the realms of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)?

Unity's motto, "Build once, deploy anywhere" encapsulates one of the engine’s most powerful features: you can develop your game on one platform and then deploy it on multiple other platforms with a little bit of tweaking. This cross-platform capability is vital in game development because it broadens your game's reach and audience.

In this tutorial, we'll guide you through the process of preparing your game for different platforms and understanding the important factors to consider for each.

Porting is the process of adapting your application from one platform to suit another.

This can be relatively straightforward when moving between similar platforms (like from macOS to Windows). However, things get a bit more complicated when the platforms are quite different, like moving from a PC to a Nintendo Switch or to a mobile device. As you dive into this process, keep in mind the following critical considerations:

Each platform has its own unique controls. For instance, desktop games typically use a keyboard and mouse, mobile games use a touchscreen, console games use a controller, and VR games use a headset and hand controllers. When porting your game, consider how these differences will affect gameplay. For example, a fast-paced shooter game designed for a keyboard and mouse might struggle with a touchscreen's lack of precision.

If you’re interested, check out the following video where a Unity engineer explains how Unity’s input system tries to handle a variety of different controls.

Different devices come with different screen sizes and aspect ratios. The aspect ratio describes the relationship between the width and the height of a screen.

For example, consoles are often played on TVs, while mobile devices have small screens that can be either portrait or landscape, and VR and AR offer a wholly different screen experience. When porting your game, you may need to adjust UI elements and camera views to accommodate these differences. A UI that looks perfect on a 24 inch desktop screen might be illegible on a 5 inch smartphone.

Processing power varies widely across platforms. Desktops can range from old laptops to high-end gaming towers; consoles have specialized hardware for processing high-end graphics, while mobile, web, or VR platforms could have limited power. A game with simple graphics may be easy to port to any platform, but a highly detailed 3D game designed for a powerful gaming PC may struggle on a mobile device.

Consider the example of the popular game Among Us. Initially created for PC and mobile, it was later ported to VR as Among Us VR in 2022. Every asset and interaction had to be entirely redesigned to succeed in this porting process.

Reflect on these points. Do you envision your game on multiple platforms? If so, which of these considerations seem the most challenging?

Left image from Among Us press kit. Right image from Among Us VR press kit

Unity offers two input systems: the older Input Manager and the newer Input System. You might see both used in Unity projects, so it's useful to understand them.

The Input Manager is Unity's older system for handling inputs. To familiarize yourself with the Input Manager, follow these instructions:

Navigate to Edit > Project Settings and select Input Manager.

Expand Axes, and then expand the Horizontal and Vertical axes.

The Horizontal input uses the left and right arrow keys on a computer, or alternatively the A and D keys.

You can also configure the axes to work with mouse or joystick input, which could be useful for console or mobile platforms.

The new Input Actions system offers more flexibility. If you recall, when you configured your player input, you installed the Input System package, added the Player Input component, created an Input Action Asset, and used the OnMove method for keyboard input.

This system lets you easily map different devices to a specific action by creating bindings.

A binding in Unity's Input System is a connection between an input control and an action that allows the user to control your application using a device, touch, or gestures.

To familiarize yourself with the Input Actions system, follow these instructions:

In the Player Input component, double-click the Input Action Asset assigned to the Asset property. This will open the Input Actions window.

In the Input Actions window, expand the Move action, then expand the WASD binding.

Notice that there are different bindings to that action, allowing you to easily configure input from multiple devices mapped to a specific action.

Although configuring input for mobile, console, or XR is beyond the scope of this tutorial, it's important to know it's possible.

Building a game for different platforms and actually getting them onto those devices are two distinct processes. You'll often need developer accounts, sometimes paid, and to get your game onto app stores like the Quest store or the iOS app store, you'll have to pass an approval process.

Unity Gaming Services can simplify the process of deploying your game onto various platforms, monetizing them, and tracking their performance. Here's a breakdown of some key services:

Unity Analytics is a powerful data platform that provides developers with insights into player behavior, engagement, and retention. By leveraging these insights, developers can make data-driven decisions to optimize their games, enhance player experiences, and ultimately increase revenue. You can learn more about the actual implementation of Unity Analytics through the Analytics documentation.

Unity Ads is a comprehensive monetization solution that enables developers to generate revenue from their games by displaying targeted advertisements to players. This platform helps developers maximize their earnings while maintaining a positive user experience. You can learn more about the actual implementation of Unity Ads through the Ads documentation.

Unity Cloud Build, also known as Unity Build Automation, is a continuous integration service that automates the process of building, testing, and deploying your Unity projects. This service saves time and resources by streamlining development workflows, which allows teams to focus on creating high-quality games and applications. You can learn more about the actual implementation through the Build Automation documentation.

The Unity Multiplay service provides a suite of tools and features for creating, hosting, and scaling online multiplayer games. By leveraging this service, developers can streamline the development process, ensure low-latency connections, and deliver engaging and seamless experiences to players worldwide. You can learn more about the actual implementation through the Unity Multiplay documentation.

Remember, these are just a few of the available services. Check out Unity Gaming Services for more.

Image from the Unity Ads page

In this tutorial, you've explored how to prepare your game for different platforms and learned about some of Unity's useful services. This knowledge is essential as it broadens the potential reach of your games. In the next tutorial, you'll get hands-on with a new control system and delve deeper into your programming skills.

Reimagine your game on multiple platforms

1. Overview

2. Understanding the differences between platforms

3. Configuring multi-platform Input

4. What are Unity Gaming Services?

5. Next steps

Complete this tutorial