Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity is perfect for those who would like to come to grips with programming Unity. You may be an artist who has learned 3D tools such as 3ds Max, Maya, or Cinema 4D, or you may come from 2D tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator. On the other hand, you may just want to familiarize yourself with programming games and the latest ideas in game production.

This book introduces key game production concepts in an artist-friendly way, and rapidly teaches the basic scripting skills you'll need with Unity. It goes on to show how you, as an independent game artist, can create casual interactive adventure games in the style of Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island, while also giving you a firm foundation in game logic and design.

The first part of the book explains the logic involved in game interaction, and soon has you creating game assets through simple examples that you can build upon and gradually expand.
In the second part, you'll build the foundations of a point-and-click style first-person adventure game—including reusable state management scripts, load/save functionality, a robust inventory system, and a bonus feature: a dynamically configured maze and mini-map.
With the help of the provided 2D and 3D content, you'll learn to evaluate and deal with challenges in bite-sized pieces as the project progresses, gaining valuable problem-solving skills in interactive design.

By the end of the book, you will be able to actively use the Unity 3D game engine, having learned the necessary workflows to utilize your own assets. You will also have an assortment of reusable scripts and art assets with which to build future games.

What you’ll learn

How to build interactive games that work on a variety of platforms
Take the tour around Unity user interface fundamentals, scripting and more
Create a test environment and gain control over functionality, cursor control, action objects, state management, object metadata, message text and more
What is inventory logic and how to manage it
How to handle 3D object visibility, effects and other special cases
How to handle variety of menus and levels in your games development
How to handle characters, scrollers, and more
How to create or integrate a story/walkthrough

Who this book is for

Students or artists familiar with tools such as 3ds Max or Maya who want to create games for mobile platforms, computers, or consoles, but with little or no experience in scripting or the logic behind games development.
Table of Contents

Exploring the Genre
Unity UI—Basics and Getting Started
Scripting—Getting your Feet Wet
Terrain Generation—Creating a Test Environment
Navigation and Introduction to Functionality
Cursor Control
Action Objects
Managing State
Object Metadata
Message Text
Inventory Logic
Managing the Inventory
Finishing the Basic Functionality
Getting Down to the Game
Maze and Final Sequence
Menus and Levels
Beyond the Basics
Appendix A: Shader Graphs
Appendix B: Keyboard Key Names
Appendix C: Final Sequence Outline