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Create a World to Explore

Now you’re ready to build your own RPG game! The first step is to create the world that players will explore. This kit includes lots of pre-made elements which you can use to design a fun and engaging environment without using any code.

Explore the template that you’ll use to create your world

 Let’s start by exploring the template that you’ll use to create the world. 

First, make a copy of the template Scene:

In the Project window, right-click on the new Scene (

  Double-click on your new Scene to open it for editing. 

Create a new Scene

Before you begin creating your game world, let's explore the Scene template.

The Hierarchy contains all the GameObjects in your Scene. GameObjects with 

 in their titles are containers which will be used to organise different elements that you can use to create your Tilemap. When you create them, their GameObjects will be stored here.

Beneath the Collection GameObjects are three GameObjects with blue icons:

These GameObjects have been configured for you in advance to make your game work properly. They are Prefab GameObjects, which work like templates that you can duplicate to use in different Scenes.

The UI GameObject includes Prefab GameObjects with user interface settings. These control what the player sees on screen — for example, messages relating to the character’s inventory.

The World GameObject contains a child Prefab called 

. Inside Tilemaps are four GameObjects you will be using to design your game:

Explore the Template Scene

To create a world for your RPG, you’re going to use the 

. This is a window with image tiles that you can use to paint in a background. Before you get started, let’s explore this window:

. This will open the Tile Palette window:

You will use this window to paint in a background for your RPG.

  Click the Tile Palette window name and drag it to the Inspector window. This will dock it in a new tab there.

This Tilemap Palette includes four different types of Tiles:

Background terrain — grass, desert, and water

Land features — a small rock cliff and tall grass

Other items — fences, dirt circles, and footpaths

You can use these tiles to paint on different Tilemaps and create a world to explore. Think of these different Tilemaps like layers sitting on top of each other, providing different levels of detail:

Explore the Tilemap Palette

There are two useful tools you can use to paint with the Tilemap Palette: the Tile Palette toolbar and other shortcuts.

There are a number of useful tools within this toolbar. 

The most helpful ones for this Creator Kit are:

You can use this tool to select Tiles to paint. You can select one or multiple Tiles. Alternatively, click to select a Tile and drag to select multiple Tiles.

You can use the Move Tool to select and drag Tiles to another position on the Tilemap.

This tool paints the selected Tiles into the Scene view.

You can use this tool to select a Tile in the Tilemap Palette, or hold and drag over multiple Tiles.

 over the Tilemap to draw a rectangular shape, which is filled with the selected Tile(s).

You can use this tool to select one or more Tiles. When you have selected them, this tool switches to the Paintbrush tool so you can immediately paint on the Tilemap.

This tool will erase Tiles that you have painted in the Scene view.

This tool can be used to paint larger areas of your world with one or more selected Tiles.

There are also a few useful shortcuts which will help you to paint your Tilemap:

Rotate the wheel button — zoom in or out

Now that you’ve explored the Tilemap Palette, you’re ready to start painting your own Tilemaps!

Introduction to Tilemap Painting

Let’s start with the Background layer of your Tilemap. This includes everything that the player character will always be standing on top of, for example grass and the floor of houses.

In the Tile Palette window, make sure that the 

. If it isn’t, change this using the drop-down menu.

 dialogue window appears, choose to edit the 

You’re now ready to paint in the background! Select tiles in the 

 and then click tiles in the Scene view to paint them. Remember, you can:

Select individual tiles to paint, for example one square of grass.

Select multiple tiles to paint, in the blocks designed for this Creator Kit.

Paint your Background Tilemap

You can also add houses to your world, to give its inhabitants places to live. This starts in the Background Tilemap. 

In the Tile Palette window, check that the 

. 

(If you need to change this drop-down menu and an 

Take a look at the Tiles that are available to make your house.


Here’s a quick reference guide to the main Tile types:

There are also Tiles with doors and windows — these Tiles are aesthetic-only (your character won’t be able to walk through them). You’ll be able to add a door to empty archways or empty Tiles later in this tutorial.

for your house into the Background Tilemap. 

Now you can paint in the walls. These include Colliders to stop the player character walking through them, so are added to the 

 Select tiles and paint in the walls of the house. Remember to leave space for a door or an open entrance. 

 (macOS) to save your changes to the Scene.  

Your house is unique, but it should look something like this:

It's almost there, but not quite complete — it’s missing a roof and a door, which you need to add in a slightly different way.

Add a House to your World

In this Creator Kit, roofs and doors are a little more complex than walls. Because of this, you need to add them in a slightly different way.

 This creates a new child GameObject called “GameObject”.

 from the context menu. Call your new GameObject “

 GameObject selected, place your cursor over Scene view and press 

. This will focus the Scene view on the roof. 

If you need to move the roof, you can do this using the 

In the Scene view, click and drag the roof until it is aligned with one of the corners of the house that you have drawn.

Next, you need to resize the roof so that it fits the house properly. In the toolbar, select the

With your cursor, click and drag a corner of the roof to resize it for your house.

 To delete a roof GameObject you have added (or any other GameObject), select the GameObject in the Hierarchy. Then you can either:

Add a Roof to your House

Now your house has a roof and looks great — but it does make it much more difficult to see inside as you explore. To fix that, let’s give the roof a fade effect when the player character enters the building:

In the Hierarchy, select the HouseRoof GameObject.

In the Inspector, find the HouseRoof GameObject’s 

This means that when the player character enters the house, the roof will be on top of them rather than beneath them.

Next, let’s make the roof fade so the player can see into houses when their character enters. First, you need to make sure that the fade effect is only triggered when the player enters the space covered by the roof. 

Click the 

In the Inspector, enable the Box Collider 2D Component’s 

Colliders define the space of an object for physical collisions or other interactions. In this case, when the player enters the space covered by the roof, a specific effect will be triggered.

 script component to HouseRoof. This script will provide the effect you need: it fades a Sprite when the Collider is triggered.

 (macOS) to save your changes to the Scene.

 to test out your house and its roof effect! Remember to press 

 again to exit Play Mode when you’re done.

Give the Roof a Fade Effect

If you created a small house, the roof fade effect should work well. However, if you made a big house and had to make the roof much larger than the default size, you might find that the character has to move quite far into the house before the roof fades.

This is because the fade effect is controlled by the size of the 

. 

To make the effect start as soon as the character moves inside the house, you need to resize the Collider:

In the Scene view, you’ll see that the green Collider box on (or around) the roof has turned white. Click and drag the small square on each side of the box to resize the Collider. 

You may want to fade the roof as soon as the character steps through the door or have the effect start when they're slightly inside — either is fine!

  When you’re happy with the size of the Collider, click 

  Save your changes, and then test them in Play Mode. Remember to leave Play Mode again when you’re done. 

Adjust the Fade Effect for Your Roof

Doors are created in a similar way to roofs. Because they’re a little more complicated, we’ve created a 

 that you can drag and drop into your world. Prefabs are templates that you can use instead of creating a GameObject from scratch. 

. This will focus the Scene view on the door. 

If you need to move the door, you can do this using the 

In the Scene view, click and drag the door until it is aligned with the entrance space that you have left.

Next, you may need to resize the door so that it fits the house properly. In the toolbar, select the

With your cursor, click and drag a corner of the door to resize it for your house.

Add a Door to your House

You can also add a chimney Prefab to your house, to give it a lived-in atmosphere: 

. This will focus the Scene view on the chimney. 

In the Scene view, click and drag the chimney until it is located where you would like it to be located on the roof.

Next you need to resize the chimney so that it looks good on your house. In the toolbar, select the

With your cursor, click and drag a corner of the chimney to resize it for your house.

Follow the same process you used for the roof to add a fade effect to the Chimney GameObject.

Save your changes to the Scene again, then enter Play Mode and test out the changes.

Unity Version 2021.3