Unit 2 - Introduction

Lesson 2.1 - Player Positioning

Lesson 2.2 - Food Flight

Lesson 2.3 - Random Animal Stampede

Lesson 2.4 - Collision Decisions

Challenge 2 - Play Fetch

Lab 2 - New Project with Primitives 

Quiz 2

Mod the Cube

Quiz: Create with Code 1

Lab 2 - New Project with Primitives

Gain familiarity with some of the most important programming and Unity concepts, including if-then statements, random value generation, arrays, collision detection, prefabs, and instantiation.

In this Mission, you will program a top-down game with the objective of throwing food to hungry animals - who are stampeding towards you - before they can run past you. In order to do this, you will become much more familiar with some of the most important programming and Unity concepts, including if-then statements, random value generation, arrays, collision detection, prefabs, and instantiation. In completing this Unit, you will learn how to program a basic game with the ability to launch projectiles and maneuver the player to keep the game alive.

Basic Gameplay

Unity Junior Programmer

Kickstart your programming career with Unity's Junior Programmer Pathway. Learn coding fundamentals, C#, and game development to create your first interactive projects. Start learning for free!

Junior Programmer Pathway - Learn Coding & Game Development | Unity Learn

We recommend that you have basic knowledge of Unity or complete 

Ready to code? This guided learning Pathway will take you from zero to job-ready!

Welcome to Junior Programmer! Designed for anyone interested in learning to code or obtaining an entry-level Unity role, this pathway assumes a basic knowledge of Unity and has no math prerequisites. Junior Programmer prepares you to get Unity Certified so that you can demonstrate your job-readiness to employers.

Junior Programmer

Course Introduction

Install Unity Software

Unit 1 - Introduction

Lesson 1.1 - Start your 3D Engines

Lesson 1.2 - Pedal to the Metal

Lesson 1.3 - High Speed Chase

Lesson 1.4 - Step into the Driver's Seat

Challenge 1 - Plane Programming

Lab 1 - Project Design Document

Introduction to project management and teamwork

Quiz 1

Learn how to create new C# scripts, call basic functions, and use variables to modify the results of those functions.

In this first mission in the Junior Programmer pathway, you will program a car moving side-to-side on a floating road, trying to avoid (or hit) obstacles in the way. In addition to becoming familiar with the Unity editor and workflow, you will learn how to create new C# scripts and do some simple programming. By the end of the Unit, you will be able to call basic functions, then declare and tweak new variables to modify the results of those functions.

Player Control

Unit 3 - Introduction

Lesson 3.1 - Jump Force

Lesson 3.2 - Make the World Whiz By

Lesson 3.3 - Don't Just Stand There

Lesson 3.4 - Particles and Sound Effects

Challenge 3 - Balloons, Bombs, & Booleans

Lab 3 - Player Control

Quiz 3

Learn how to add music, sound effects, and visual particle effects to transform the experience of your project.

In this Mission, you will program a fast-paced endless side-scrolling runner game where the player needs to time jumps over oncoming obstacles to avoid crashing. In creating this prototype, you will learn how to add music and sound effects, completely transforming the experience of your projects. You will also learn how to create dynamic endless repeating backgrounds, which are critical for any side-scrolling games. Finally, you will learn to incorporate particle effects like splatters and explosions, which make your games so much more satisfying to play.

Sound and Effects

Unit 4 - Introduction

Lesson 4.1 - Watch Where You’re Going

Lesson 4.2 - Follow the Player

Lesson 4.3 - PowerUp and CountDown

Lesson 4.4 - For-Loops For Waves

Challenge 4 - Soccer Scripting

Lab 4 - Basic Gameplay

Quiz 4

Learn how to implement new gameplay mechanics including powerups and increasing difficulty.

In this Mission, you will program an arcade-style Sumo battle with the objective of knocking increasingly difficult waves of enemies off of a floating island, using power ups to help defeat them. In creating this prototype, you will learn how to implement new gameplay mechanics into your projects, which are new rules or systems that make the game more interesting to play. On one hand, you will learn to program a powerup, which give the player a temporary advantage. On the other hand, you will learn to program increasingly difficult enemy waves, which make survival more challenging for the player. A good balance of powerups and increasing difficulty make for a much more interesting gameplay experience.

Gameplay Mechanics

Unit 5 - Introduction

Lesson 5.1 - Clicky Mouse

Lesson 5.2 - Keeping Score

Lesson 5.3 - Game Over

Lesson 5.4 - What’s the Difficulty?

Challenge 5 - Whack-a-Food

Lab 5 - Swap out your Assets

Quiz 5

Introduction to user feedback and testing

Learn how to implement a User Interface - or UI - into your projects, such as a title screen and score display.

In this Mission, you will program a game to test the player’s reflexes, where the goal is to click and destroy objects randomly tossed in the air before they can fall off the screen. In creating this prototype, you will learn how to implement a User Interface - or UI - into your projects. You will add a title screen with a difficulty select menu that will control how challenging the gameplay is, you will add a score display that will track how many points the player has earned, and you will add a Game Over screen, which will allow the player to restart and try again. In learning these skills, you will be able to create a fully “playable” experience that the user can enjoy from start to finish without having to restart the application to try it again.

User Interface

Next Steps - Introduction

Lesson 6.1 - Project Optimization

Lesson 6.2 - Research and Troubleshooting

Lesson 6.3 - Sharing your Projects

ECS Survival Guide

Career research and preparation

Introduction to portfolios

Debug the App

Counting Prototype

Quiz: Create with Code 2

Prepare to continue developing your Unity and C# skills independently, including learning how to complete your personal project.

In this Mission, you'll prepare to continue developing your Unity and C# skills independently, including learning how to complete your personal project and how to prepare for the Unity Certified User: Programming exam, which you can take through your school program, if available.

Publishing Your Project

Introduction to real-time 3D experience design

Set up version control

Explore the sample project

Principles of object-oriented programming

Create a scene flow

Implement data persistence between scenes

Implement data persistence between sessions

Quiz: Manage scene flow and data

Submission: Data persistence in a new repo

Learn about data persistence and an introduction to the core pillars of object-oriented programming.

In this mission, you’ll learn about data persistence, or how to manage the loading and unloading of data between both scenes and sessions. Along the way, you will be introduced to the core pillars of object-oriented programming, which will help you structure your code throughout the mission. There will only be one practical example throughout the mission, which will build on the new functionality you create with each tutorial. At the end of this mission, you’ll take everything you learned and apply it to a new project by building a persistent score system for a small game.

Manage Scene Flow and Data

Abstraction in object-oriented programming

Inheritance and polymorphism in object-oriented programming

Encapsulation in object-oriented programming

Profile code to identify issues

Job preparation: Junior Programmer

Quiz: Apply object-oriented principles

Submission: Programming theory in action

Deep-dive into the pillars of object-oriented programming and their application, then learn how to profile and optimize code.

In this mission, you’ll refactor the inventory project you completed in the previous mission using the pillars of object-oriented programming as a guide. You’ll deep dive into the inner workings of each pillar individually, so you can better understand its value in developing applications. Next, you’ll learn how to profile your code to identify any optimization bottlenecks that would slow down the final build of your application. To close out this mission, you’ll develop a small application for your portfolio that uses fully optimized code built on OOP principles. 

When you complete this mission you will complete the Junior Programmer pathway - CONGRATULATIONS!

Apply Object-Oriented Principles

f1f2031f-fd9d-4698-a35d-8d0e3c102ef6:86a7de8aeae2

Make a new method to spawn animals

Spawn the animals at timed intervals

Add collider and trigger components

Destroy objects on collision

Trigger a “Game Over” message

Lesson Recap

CWC_U2.L4.S1_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L4.S4_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L4.S2_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L4.S5_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L4.S3_U6.mp4

Our game is coming along nicely, but there are are some critical things we must add before it’s finished. First off, instead of pressing S to spawn the animals, we will spawn them on a timer so that they appear every few seconds. Next we will add colliders to all of our prefabs and make it so launching a projectile into an animal will destroy it. Finally, we will display a “Game Over” message if any animals make it past the player.

The animals will spawn on a timed interval and walk down the screen, triggering a “Game Over” message if they make it past the player. If the player hits them with a projectile to feed them, they will be destroyed.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Repeat functions on a timer with InvokeRepeating

Write custom functions to make your code more readable

Edit Box Colliders to fit your objects properly

Detect collisions and destroy objects that collide with each other

Display messages in the console with Debug Log

Unit 2 - Basic Gameplay

Unit 2 - Basic Gameplay (Unity EdLab Edition)

Unity for Artists Curricular Framework Resources

Our Spawn Manager is looking good, but we’re still pressing S to make it work! If we want the game to spawn animals automatically, we need to start by writing our very first custom function.

In SpawnManager.cs, create a new void SpawnRandomAnimal() {} function beneath Update()

Cut and paste the code from the if-then statement to the new function

Call SpawnRandomAnimal(); if S is pressed

We’ve stored the spawn code in a custom function, but we’re still pressing S! We need to spawn the animals on a timer, so they randomly appear every few seconds.

In Start(), use InvokeRepeating to spawn the animals based on an interval, then test.

Remove the if-then statement that tests for S being pressed

Declare new private startDelay and spawnInterval variables then playtest and tweak variable values

Animals spawn perfectly and the player can fire projectiles at them, but nothing happens when the two collide! If we want the projectiles and animals to be destroyed on collision, we need to give them some familiar components - “colliders.”

Double-click on one of the animal prefabs, then Add Component > Box Collider.

Make sure “Auto Save” is enabled in the upper right corner of the Scene view.

Click Edit Collider, then drag the collider handles to encompass the object.

Use the Overrides dropdown to apply this Trigger to all of the prefabs for this animal. 

Repeat this process for each of the animals and the projectile.

Add a RigidBody component to the projectile and uncheck “use gravity”.  

Now that the animals and the projectile have Box Colliders with triggers, we need to code a new script in order to destroy them on impact.

Create a new DetectCollisions.cs script, add it to each animal prefab, then open it

Before the final } add OnTriggerEnter function using autocomplete

In OnTriggerEnter, put Destroy(gameObject);, then test

In OnTriggerEnter, put Destroy(other.gameObject);

The player can defend their field against animals for as long as they wish,  but we should let them know when they’ve lost with a “Game Over” message if any animals get past the player.

In DestroyOutOfBounds.cs, in the else-if condition that checks if the animals reach the bottom of the screen, add a Game Over messsage:
Debug.Log(“Game Over!”) 

If using Visual Studio, Click Edit > Advanced > Format document to fix any indentation issues 
(On a Mac, click Edit > Format > Format Document)

Animals spawn on a timed interval and walk down the screen 

When animals get past the player, it triggers a “Game Over” message

If a projectile collides with an animal, both objects are removed

Lesson 2.4 - Collision Decisions

Overview Video

1. Make a new method to spawn animals

2. Spawn the animals at timed intervals

3. Add collider and trigger components

4. Destroy objects on collision

5. Trigger a “Game Over” message

6. Lesson Recap

Complete this tutorial