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

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 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

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

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 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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Add an enemy and a physics material

Create enemy script to follow player

Create a lookDirection variable

Create a Spawn Manager for the enemy

Randomly generate spawn position

Make a method return a spawn point

Lesson Recap

Control the execution of code with common logic structures 

Level 1 Application Scripting

Joy Horvath

Instructional Designer

CWC_U4.L2.S1_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S6_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S5_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S3_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S4_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S2_U6.mp4

The player can roll around to its heart’s content… but it has no purpose. In this lesson, we fill that purpose by creating an enemy to challenge the player! First we will give the enemy a texture of your choice, then give it the ability to bounce the player away... potentially knocking them off the cliff. Lastly, we will let the enemy chase the player around the island and spawn in random positions.

A textured and spherical enemy will spawn on the island at start, in a random location determined by a custom function. It will chase the player around the island, bouncing them off the edge if they get too close. 

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

Apply Physics Materials to make game objects bouncy

Normalize vectors to point the enemy in the direction of the player

Randomly spawn with Random.Range on two axes

Write more advanced custom functions and variables to make your code clean and professional

Select the appropriate common Unity methods to use, e.g., Awake, Start, Update, FixedUpdate, Collision, and Trigger Events, given a desired feature to code

Achieve a desired result by using Unity API methods, given Unity’s script documentation

Achieve a desired result with different parameters by using various method overloads

Distinguish a correct use of any given Unity API method from an incorrect use

Control or trigger the state of components, such as an Animator Controller, Light, AudioSource, or User Interface element by using appropriate methods

Construct an input listener, given a scenario where a specific type of input is required

Print a message consisting of concatenated strings and variable values to the console by using Unity's Debug.Log method

Compose scripts that utilize various APIs

Deduce the purpose and expected result of a given block of code

Accomplish a specific task by constructing a viable method declaration, given a list of keywords and syntax elements

Structure methods by using void and return

Demonstrate ability to implement a given feature in code by recommending data types and logic flow for a new method

Write code that integrates into an existing system

Reduce redundancy and improve code's readability by correctly naming variables and methods

Describe common naming conventions including PascalCase and camelCase

Cultivate a code style that is efficient and easy to read

Unit 4 - Gameplay Mechanics

Create with Code - Unit 4: Gameplay Mechanics

Unit 4 - Gameplay Mechanics (Unity EdLab Edition)

Our camera rotation and player movement are working like a charm. Next we’re going to set up an enemy and give them some special new physics to bounce the player away! 

Create a new Sphere, rename it “Enemy” reposition it, and drag a texture onto it

Add a new RigidBody component and adjust its XYZ scale, then test

In a new “Physics Materials” folder, Create > Physics Material, then name it “Bouncy”

Increase the Bounciness to “1”, change Bounce Combine to “Multiply”,  apply it to your player and enemy, then test

The enemy has the power to bounce the player away, but only if the player approaches it. We must tell the enemy to follow the player’s position, chasing them around the island.

Make a new “Enemy” script and attach it to the Enemy

Declare 3 new variables for  Rigidbody enemyRb;, GameObject player;, and public float speed;

Initialize enemyRb = GetComponent<Rigidbody>();  and  player = GameObject.Find("Player");

In Update(), AddForce towards in the direction between the Player and the Enemy

The enemy is now rolling towards the player, but our code is a bit messy. Let’s clean up by adding a variable for the new vector.

In Update(), declare a new Vector3 lookDirection variable

Set Vector3 lookDirection = (player.transform.position - transform.position).normalized;

Implement the lookDirection variable in the AddForce call

Now that the enemy is acting exactly how we want, we’re going to turn it into a prefab so it can be instantiated by a Spawn Manager. 

Drag Enemy into the Prefabs folder to create a new Prefab, then delete Enemy from scene

Create a new “Spawn Manager” object, attach a new “SpawnManager” script, and open it

Declare a new public GameObject enemyPrefab variable then assign the prefab in the inspector

In Start(), instantiate a new enemyPrefab at a predetermined location

The enemy spawns at start,  but it always appears in the same spot. Using the familiar Random class, we can spawn the enemy in a random position.

In SpawnManager.cs, in Start(), create new randomly generated X and Z

Create a new Vector3 spawnPos variable with those random X and Z positions

Incorporate the new spawnPos variable into the Instantiate call

Replace the hard-coded values with a spawnRange variable

Start and Restart your project to make sure it’s working

The code we use to generate a random spawn position is perfect, and we’re going to be using it a lot. If we want to clean the script and use this code later down the road, we should store it in a custom function.

Create a new function Vector3 GenerateSpawnPosition() { }

Copy and Paste the spawnPosX and spawnPosZ variables into the new method

Add the line to return randomPos; in your new method

Replace the code in your Instantiate call with your new function name: GenerateSpawnPosition() 

Enemy spawns at random location on the island

In our next lesson, we’ll create ways to fight back against these enemies using Powerups!

Lesson 4.2 - Follow the Player

Overview Video

1. Add an enemy and a physics material

2. Create enemy script to follow player

3. Create a lookDirection variable

4. Create a Spawn Manager for the enemy

5. Randomly generate spawn position

6. Make a method return a spawn point

7. Lesson Recap

Complete this tutorial