Games Programming and Animation

Using Unity Indie

An extremely accessible course in 3D animation and games programming using Unity (Unity Indie development system is free to download). All necessary components provided on disk with instructions and background to 3D modelling, Javascript, object oriented programming and the physics engine.

This module uses the Unity games package (Indie version free to download) to show how games are constructed from models and scripts that work with the physics of the game engine. Stage by stage instructions are given with diagrams and movies showing how the game is constructed and programmed. Background information is given on all the elements of 3D modelling and gaming including texturing and materials. Physics materials, collisions and rigidbody dynamics are described and programmed via Javascript which is an extremely easy to use programming language. A pinball game is used for many of the examples and the user is free to add and modify the design so that each student can create their own version. All resources, models, and working examples provided on disk.

The teaching material comes in book form for the teacher as a pdf file. In addition there is a stand-alone multimedia title that can be used in front of the whole class or by individual students that contains text, pictures, animations and movies like the ones below. The sections are:

Introduction

1 Key concepts and background

• 3D Geometry for Unity
• 3D models and meshes
• Physics and rigid bodies
• The camera
• The pinball game
• Object-oriented programming

2 Creating your game's backdrop

• Introduction
• Creating a new project
• The terrain
• The Sky
• The Water
• Object-oriented programming

3 Your first game

• Introduction
• Materials
• Creating the ball board
• Collisions and Colliders
• Attaching a Rigidbody
• Programming the user input
• Conclusion

4 The pinball game

• Introduction
• The table
• Creating colliders for the pinball table
• The ball-bearing
• The Flippers
• The Launcher
• Making the flippers flip
• Jogging the table

5 Bumpers, sounds. and lights

• Introduction
• Making the bumper work
• Adding sound
• Modifying the launcher
• Triggers

6 Scoring and the HUD

• Introduction
• Writing to the HUD
• Counting the score
• Using GUI textures
• Selecting the texture to display with code
• Calling a function in another object's script
• Conclusion

7 A few extra techniques

• Creating a 'dropper' type bumper
• Ball counting

8 Finishing touches

• Creating a cube map for the ball-bearing
• Game over

All resources which include the pdf guide, the multimedia guide, all the 3d models, textures, scripts and examples are supplied on CD. You will find some movies below that will give you some idea of what is in this module.

This is an example of the videos that give instruction on how to use the Unity development environment - constructing an island.

You can view the first few chapters of the Games programming guide by clicking here. Example chapters