Beginner game developers are wonderfully optimistic, passionate, and ambitious. But that ambition is often dangerous! Too often, budding indie developers and hobbyists bite off more than they can chew. Some of the most popular games in recent memory – Doodle Jump, Paper Toss, and Canabalt, to name a few – have been fun, simple games that have delighted players and delivered big profits to their creators. This is the perfect climate for new game developers to succeed by creating simple games with Unity 3D, starting today.This book starts you off on the right foot, emphasizing small, simple game ideas and playable projects that you can actually finish. The complexity of the games increases gradually as we progress through the chapters. The chosen examples help you learn a wide variety of game development techniques. With this understanding of Unity 3D and bite-sized bits of programming, you can make your own mark on the game industry by finishing fun, simple games.This book shows you how to build crucial game elements that you can reuse and re-skin in many different games, using the phenomenal (and free!) Unity 3D game engine. It initiates you into indie game culture by teaching you how to make your own small, simple games using Unity3D and some gentle, easy-to-understand code. It will help you turn a rudimentary keep-up game into a madcap race through hospital hallways to rush a still-beating heart to the transplant ward, program a complete 2D game using Unity's User Interface controls, put a dramatic love story spin on a simple catch game, and turn that around into a classic space shooter with spectacular explosions and "pew" sounds! By the time you're finished, you'll have learned to develop a number of important pieces to create your own games that focus in on that small, singular piece of joy that makes games fun.
Find out how people are using the amazing new Unity 3D game engine
Develop and customize four fun game projects, including a frantic race through hospital hallways with a still-beating human heart and a catch game with a jilted lover that morphs into a space shooter!
Create both 2D and 3D games using free software and supplied artwork
Add motion, gravity, collisions, and animation to your game objects using Unity 3D s built-in systems
Learn how to use code to control your game objects
Create particle systems like shattering glass, sparks, and explosions
Add sound effects to make your games more exciting
Create static and animated backdrops using multiple cameras
Build crucial elements you ll use again and again, like timers, status bars, title screens, win/lose conditions, and buttons to link game screens together
Deploy your games to the Web to share them with friends, family, and adoring fans
Discover the difference between game skins and mechanics, to earn more money from your games