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

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Make the projectile fly forwards

Make the projectile into a prefab

Test for spacebar press

Launch projectile on spacebar press

Make animals into prefabs

Destroy projectiles offscreen

Destroy animals offscreen

Lesson Recap

CWC_U2.L2.S1_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L2.S2_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L2.S3_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L2.S4_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L2.S5_U6.mp4

U2_L2.S6_U6.mp4

CWC_U2.L2.S7_U6.mp4

In this lesson, you will allow the player to launch the projectile through the scene. First you will write a new script to send the projectile forwards. Next you will store the projectile along with all of its scripts and properties using an important new concept in Unity called Prefabs. The player will be able to launch the projectile prefab with a tap of the spacebar. Finally, you will add boundaries to the scene, removing any objects that leave the screen. 

The player will be able to press the Spacebar and launch a projectile prefab into the scene, which destroys itself when it leaves the game’s boundaries. The animals will also be removed from the scene when they leave the game boundaries.

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

Transform a game object into a prefab that can be used as a template

Instantiate Prefabs to spawn them into the scene

Override Prefabs to update and save their characteristics

Get user input with GetKey and KeyCode to test for specific keyboard presses

Apply components to multiple objects at once to work as efficiently as possible

Unit 2 - Basic Gameplay

Create with Code - Unit 2 - Basic Gameplay

Unit 2 - Basic Gameplay (Unity EdLab Edition)

The first thing we must do is give the projectile some forward movement so it can zip across the scene when it’s launched by the player.

Create a new “MoveForward” script, attach it to the food object, then open it

Declare a new public float speed variable;

In Update(), add transform.Translate(Vector3.forward * Time.deltaTime * speed);, then save

In the Inspector, set the projectile’s speed variable, then test

Now that our projectile has the behavior we want, we need to make it into a prefab it so it can be reused anywhere and anytime, with all its behaviors included.

Create a new “Prefabs” folder, drag your food into it, and choose Original Prefab

In PlayerController.cs, declare a new public GameObject projectilePrefab; variable

Select the Player in the hierarchy, then drag the object from your Prefabs folder onto the new Projectile Prefab box in the inspector

Try dragging the projectile into the scene at runtime to make sure they fly

Now that we have a projectile prefab assigned to PlayerController.cs, the player needs a way to launch it with the space bar.

In PlayerController.cs, in Update(), add an if-statement checking for a spacebar press:
if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space)) {

Inside the if-statement, add a comment saying that you should // Launch a projectile from the player

We’ve created the code that tests if the player presses spacebar, but now we actually need spawn a projectile when that happens

Inside the if-statement, use the  Instantiate method to spawn a projectile at the player’s location with the prefab’s rotation

The projectile is now a prefab, but what about the animals? They need to be prefabs too, so they can be instantiated during the game.

Rotate all animals on the Y axis by 180 degrees to face down

Select all three animals in the hierarchy and Add Component > Move Forward 

Edit their speed values and test to see how it looks

Drag all three animals into the Prefabs folder, choosing “Original Prefab”

Test by dragging prefabs into scene view during gameplay

Whenever we spawn a projectile, it drifts past the play area into eternity. In order to improve game performance, we need to destroy them when they go out of bounds.

Create “DestroyOutOfBounds” script and apply it to the projectile

Add a new private float topBound variable and initialize it = 30;

Write code to destroy if out of top bounds if (transform.position.z > topBound) {
Destroy(gameObject); }

In the Inspector Overrides drop-down, click Apply all to apply it to prefab

If we destroy projectiles that go out of bounds, we should probably do the same for animals. We don’t want critters getting lost in the endless abyss of Unity Editor...

Create else-if statement to check if objects are beneath lowerBound:
else if (transform.position.z < lowerBound)

Apply the script to all of the animals, then Override the prefabs

The player can press the Spacebar to launch a projectile prefab,

Projectile and Animals are removed from the scene if they leave the screen

Instead of dropping all these animal prefabs onto the scene, we’ll create a herd of animals roaming the plain!

Lesson 2.2 - Food Flight

Overview Video

1. Make the projectile fly forwards

2. Make the projectile into a prefab

3. Test for spacebar press

4. Launch projectile on spacebar press

5. Make animals into prefabs

6. Destroy projectiles offscreen

7. Destroy animals offscreen

8. Lesson Recap

Complete this tutorial