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

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 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

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

fe1b225e-ec55-4129-8a91-bc86072463c8:cff8144173b1

Overview

Experience design and the real-time production cycle

The design process: ideation and research

The design process: clarified brief and initial prototypes

The design process: iterative design and development

Common real-time experience design and development approaches

Next steps

Use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions. 

Level 1 Design process

Ellen Flaherty

Senior Learning Architect - Unity

Vid 2I.16_V2.mp4

In this tutorial, you’ll explore the basics of real-time 3D experience design. You’ll:

Review the core design process for creating a digital experience

Consider common approaches to real-time 3D experience creation

Designed for post-secondary and K-12 educators at accredited academic institutions teaching Unity in the classroom, the Unity Educator plan provides you with free access to the same real-time 3D development tools used by professionals to support your students.

Included in this plan are Unity Pro, cloud-based collaboration, cloud build, free Unity assets, and much more!

Junior Programmer Pathway Facilitator Kit.zip

Junior Programmer Pathway Facilitator Kit (Google Drive)

Unity Educator Hub

The Unity Junior Programmer Pathway Facilitator Kit includes everything you need to successfully bring this Pathway into your learning context including a syllabus, complete lesson plans, standards alignment, teacher preparation guide, and more. 

Explain the use of the design process in the real-time production cycle

Explain the role of a design document in the design process

Explain the purpose of competitive research in the design process

Explain the purpose of user personas in the design process

Describe ways to create preliminary designs of a real-time project

Explain the use of prototypes in real-time development

Recall the five steps of the iterative design process

Distinguish between the waterfall, agile, and hybrid approaches to design

Make a high-level plan for a custom design process

Implement an iterative design process

Explain the importance of defining and understanding your audience

Investigate opportunities to deliver more value to users

Devise user personas

Apply the iterative design process

Practice putting the user first

Veronica Brown

Create with Code is one of our largest and longest running live series and we are so happy to finally bring you “Create with Code 2”; a true sequel to Create with Code. This 4 week learning series will guide you on the second half of the Jr. Programmer pathway setting you up to take certification exams and build your portfolio for the job market. Join us Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from November 15 until December 10, 2021 and take your Unity Programming skills to the next level. 

Games

Create with Code 2: Become a Jr. Programmer Week 1, S1

Scripting

thomas-winkley

Junior Programmer: Manage scene flow and data

Junior Programmer: Apply object-oriented principles

VR Curricular Framework Resources

AR Curricular Framework Resources 

Game Design Curricular Framework Resources  

Architecture, Engineering and Construction Curricular Framework Resources

Unity for Artists Curricular Framework Resources

Real-time 3D engines such as Unity are tools used to create digital experiences, from first-person shooter games to XR experiences at the cutting edge of augmented reality. These experiences don’t emerge fully formed: they’re the result of comprehensive design and development processes. This tutorial will introduce you to those processes, so that you can use them in your own projects. 

Before you explore the design process, let’s take a moment to consider the role of design in the real-time production cycle. 

Design primarily sits in the blended first three phases of the real-time production cycle:  pre-production, production and post-production. However, design has significant impact throughout the whole cycle. For example, findings during the operations cycle phase may result in ongoing design work for continuous improvement.

Many professional projects involve large teams that include product managers, designers, developers, and testing specialists from different disciplines. Even if “Designer” is not part of your official role, it’s still valuable for you to have  a clear understanding of the design process. In fact, understanding design will even be helpful in the projects you’ll be guided through in your Learning Pathways! 

Watch the following video to hear more about how design affects the entire real-time production cycle.

Diagram of the four phases of production showing the blurring of production phases through overlapping colored circles. There is a green circle over the Pre-production and Production phases, a purple circle over the Production and Post-production phases, and an orange section where those two circles overlap. 

The core process of designing a digital experience is similar to designing all sorts of other things. Let’s review that process with a focus on real-time 3D experience creation, starting with ideation and research: 

Stage 1: Identify a problem or define an idea

Design for real-time 3D normally starts with a high-level problem statement or idea. This idea might be goal-focused; for example, “I want to make it easier for my architect client to visualize their design in 3D, which is not well-addressed by the solutions they’re currently trying.” Or, it might be a very high-level idea; for example, “We want to create a multiplayer tactical RPG.” 


Whatever the case, this initial statement should be the basis of the Game Design Document for the project. This can take many different forms, and acts as the single source of truth to guide design and development. 

The next stage is to take some time to research the target users and what’s currently available to meet their needs. All design activities start with consideration of the target users’ needs; the design and development process is a realization of one particular way to meet those needs. 

It is important to do some competitive research, to find out if there are already other offerings available to address your problem or something similar. This may help you to:

Identify relevant constraints that might inform the scope of the project, technological or otherwise.

Develop a better understanding of the unique value proposition of your proposed project, compared to the other ones available.

At this stage, it is also important to consider inclusive design, which is a design methodology for considering the needs of those who are under-represented or marginalized in a particular space. This includes people with disabilities and those who come from historically excluded or under-represented cultures and backgrounds.

Stage 3: Create user personas and define use cases

User research is codified into specific user personas. Personas are fictional profiles of archetypical target users, drawing on the insights identified in your user research. These personas clearly define user needs, and are used throughout the design process to keep the team focused on the users. Part of this work may also involve identifying different use cases, where the needs of the target personas will be different. 

Next, let’s review how that research is used to refine the designs and create a strong foundation for development. 

Stage 4: Refine the brief and clarify goals

This stage is the last preparatory stage before full design work begins. It’s an opportunity to refine the brief based on the identified user needs, and to clarify your goals with these in mind. This process will help you keep a tight focus for your design work.

Next, preliminary designs are created to address the brief. This is an exploratory and iterative design phase, in which the team:

Evaluates them with the wider team against the defined user needs and the game design document

Refines the designs or moves in a new direction, and then repeats the cycle

Depending on the experience and the team involved, design work might be split into multiple workstreams. For example, if a team was designing a new phone rather than a real-time experience, they might split into separate teams for the hardware and the operating experience that could work concurrently.

This design stage could include:

Creating visual representations of the experience, from simple sketches to complex schematics

Mapping out the user experience flow or branching logic using a physical or digital whiteboard

Producing concept art and other visual design sketches

Next, the designs are used to create one or more basic prototypes of the experience. Depending on the project and the design methodology used by the creator or team, this stage may overlap with the creation of the preliminary designs. 

As with the preliminary designs, the prototype(s) are evaluated against the defined user needs and game design requirements; this continues throughout the design and development process. At this stage, external user feedback may be sought from target users, or the feedback may remain internal.

Finally, the chosen prototypes are used as a proof of concept for full design and development.

Stage 7: Iterative design and development

When the prototype(s) are signed-off by the project decision-makers, an iterative cycle begins:

This stage can be organized in a variety of different ways, depending on the project scope and chosen design methodology. Evaluation is ongoing throughout this stage, with regular testing to ensure that the experience addresses the defined user needs. 

In addition, the experience will usually undergo extensive internal and external testing and user feedback cycles before being ready for launch.

The high-level process outlined in the previous steps will differ slightly in practice, depending on the requirements of the project and the team. These differences are described as a design and development approach. For example, a solo hobbyist developer is likely to approach the design and development process in a different way from a large AAA game development team. While these approaches differ, the underlying principles of the design and development process remain the same.

Let’s review some common approaches used in real-time experience design.

The waterfall approach is commonly used in traditional software development; it’s less common for creating games, but is sometimes used in non-game real-time experience creation. In this approach, after pre-production is complete, design and development is completed in defined and discrete linear stages. When one stage is complete and signed-off, the next is begun, like a waterfall flowing downward. 

This approach to design and development makes it difficult to change things once they are created, due to the dependencies between the different stages. Because of this limitation, the agile and hybrid approaches described below are usually preferred. 

Agile design and development, on the other hand, is an iterative approach. It involves working in cross-functional teams on particular features to incrementally plan, build, and refine the experience.  

This is a much more flexible methodology, providing design and development teams with greater flexibility and enabling them to adapt to new discoveries and changing requirements. This approach is often considered to favor agility (as the name suggests) over precision, though this is not the full story: it all depends on how the team implements the approach and what their defined priorities are. 

A hybrid approach, using elements of both agile and waterfall, might involve having relatively linear preparation during project pre-production, but then iteratively building and testing in cycles focused on particular features. 

 For more information on the project management aspect of these methodologies, and tools you can use to help you implement them, review Introduction to project management and teamwork.

In this tutorial, you’ve taken time to review the high level design process used to create real-time experiences and identified a custom approach based on a specific situation.

The next time you start a new project, whether it’s a Learning Pathway submission or a personal project that has sparked your attention, go back to the process you identified. Consider how well it fits the constraints of the new situation, and adjust it if necessary. Then use your personal approach to guide and give structure to your design and development as you work on the project.

Introduction to real-time 3D experience design

1. Overview

2. Experience design and the real-time production cycle

3. The design process: ideation and research

4. The design process: clarified brief and initial prototypes

5. The design process: iterative design and development

6. Common real-time experience design and development approaches

7. Next steps

Complete this tutorial