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

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

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

c1f9d714-fcc7-401c-8d99-f5f618984835:d4dd2360f336

Add Score text and position it on screen

Edit the Score Text’s properties

Initialize score text and variable

Create a new UpdateScore method

Add score when targets are destroyed

Assign a point value to each target

Add a Particle explosion

Lesson Recap

CWC_U5.L2.S2_U6.mp4

CWC_U5.L2.S1_U6.mp4

CWC_U5.L2.S3_U6.mp4

CWC_U5.L2.S4_U6.mp4

CWC_U5.L2.S6_U6.mp4

CWC_U5.L2.S5_U6.mp4

CWC_U5.L2.S7_U6.mp4

Objects fly into the scene and the player can click to destroy them, but nothing happens. In this lesson, we will display a score in the user interface that tracks and displays the player’s points. We will give each target object a different point value, adding or subtracting points on click. Lastly, we will add cool explosions when each target is destroyed. 

A “Score: “ section will display in the UI, starting at zero. When the player clicks a target, the score will update and particles will explode as the target is destroyed. Each “Good” target adds a different point value to the score, while the “Bad” target subtracts from the score.

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

Lock elements and objects into place with Anchors

Use variables and script communication to update elements in the UI

Unit 5 - User Interface

Create with Code - Unit 5: User Interfaces (UI)

Unit 5 - User Interface (Unity EdLab Edition)

In order to display the score on-screen, we need to add our very first UI element.

In the Hierarchy window,  right click or select + > UI > Text - TextMeshPro, then, if prompted, select the button to Import TMP Essentials.

Rename the new object “Score Text”, then zoom out to see the canvas in Scene view.

Change the Anchor Point so that it is anchored from the upper-left corner.

In the Inspector window, change its Pos X and Pos Y so that it is in the upper-left corner. 

Now that the basic text is in the scene and positioned properly, we should edit its properties so that it looks nice and has the correct text.

Choose a Font Asset, Style, Size, and Vertex color to look good with your background

We have a great place to display score in the UI, but nothing is displaying there! We need the UI to display a score variable, so the player can keep track of their points.

At the top of GameManager.cs, add “using TMPro;”

Declare a new public TextMeshProUGUI scoreText, then assign that variable in the inspector 

Create a new private int score variable and initialize it in Start() as score = 0;

Also in Start(), set scoreText.text = "Score: " + score;

Note:  If your score text is split up onto two lines, change the Text Wrapping setting from Normal to No Wrap. 

The score text displays the score variable perfectly, but it never gets updated. We need to write a new function that racks up points to display in the UI.

Create a new private void UpdateScore method that requires one int scoreToAdd parameter

Cut and paste scoreText.text = "Score: " + score; into the new method, then call UpdateScore(0) in Start()

In UpdateScore(), increment the score by adding
score += scoreToAdd; 

Call UpdateScore(5) in the spawnTarget() function

Note: If your score text is split up onto two lines, change the Text Wrapping setting from Normal to No Wrap.

Now that we have a method to update the score, we should call it in the target script whenever a target is destroyed.

In GameManager.cs, make the UpdateScore method public

In Target.cs, create a reference to private GameManager gameManager; 

Initialize GameManager in Start()  using the Find() method

When a target is destroyed, call UpdateScore(5);, then delete the method call from SpawnTarget()

Important: Make sure that the name of the Game Manager object in the Hierarchy matches the text in .Find("Game Manager") exactly.

The score gets updated when targets are clicked, but we want to give each of the targets a different value. The good objects should vary in point value, and the bad object should subtract points.

In Target.cs, create a new public int pointValue variable

In each of the Target prefab’s inspectors, set the Point Value to whatever they’re worth, including the bad target’s negative value

Add the new variable to UpdateScore(pointValue); 

The score is totally functional, but clicking targets is sort of… unsatisfying. To spice things up, let’s add some explosive particles whenever a target gets clicked!

In Target.cs, add a new public ParticleSystem explosionParticle variable 

For each of your target prefabs, assign a particle prefab from Course Library > Particles to the Explosion Particle variable

In the OnMouseDown() function, instantiate a new explosion prefab

There is a UI element for score on the screen

The player’s score is tracked and displayed by the score text when hit a target

There are particle explosions when the player gets an object

We’ll use some UI elements again - this time to tell the player the game is over and reset our game!

Lesson 5.2 - Keeping Score

Overview Video

1. Add Score text and position it on screen

2. Edit the Score Text’s properties

3. Initialize score text and variable

4. Create a new UpdateScore method

5. Add score when targets are destroyed

6. Assign a point value to each target

7. Add a Particle explosion

8. Lesson Recap

Complete this tutorial