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Unity 2D Game Development
A fun, easy-to-follow experience that takes you from an empty project in Unity 4.3] all the way to a finished, functional 2D platformer, while giving you challenges and ideas to take what you learn in this book and expand upon it. This book is ideal for anyone who wants to learn how to build 2D video games or who just wants to expand their knowledge of the Unity game engine. It would be helpful to know how to navigate your way around Unity and some basic C# before getting started with this book; however, if you don't, no worries - we will point you in the right direction!
126 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 26, 2014
At first glance this book seems to be a promising step into creating 2D games utilizing the new native 2D development tools that were introduced in Unity 4.3. However, before the end of Chapter 1 that impression was all but completely shattered.
The book’s author states early on that it is expected that the reader has an understanding of both the fundamentals of Unity editor and C# programming. There is no real prerequisite knowledge listed and a novice programmer will quickly be thrown for a loop if they lack understanding of programming concepts like event handlers, event listeners, and state machines. The author’s approach to the book’s code implementation is one of copy/paste and look at the results. Although there is quite a bit of commenting within the code files that explain the fundamental actions the code is performing and when, there is little explanation of why. This lack of explanation to the reasoning behind the structure of the code makes any knowledge this book provides fall into a category of “learning to know” rather than “learning to do”. I do agree with the way the author has structured the code provided, being that it is extensible if you have the knowledge to take advantage of it. However, coming from the perspective of a former teacher, the methodology by which the end product is reached in this book is one that I refer to as “Sloppy and Paste”. I feel that providing any “learning materials” to a student that simply require copying of an existing product without explanation as to the fundamentals and reasoning behind it fails to make this book a worthwhile endeavor for anyone that actually wants learn fundamental principles of the subject.
There is a good bit of information provided that could help someone get used to navigating Unity’s 2D development tools, but once again the primary approach in the book is one of mimicry with very little explanation of the benefits or downfalls of the author’s given approach. Personally, I have spent thousands of hours teaching software and through it all I tried to avoid going the easy route and just telling my students to do something without given them a reason to follow a given process in the future.
The project provided with this book would be better used by any reader through a process of code dissection. Looking at the end product that is provided via the publisher’s website will give you a fully working, albeit simple, 2D game that contains all the fundamental properties of a 2D platformer. One could then look at the code, attempt to determine what it is doing and when they get confused jump on the internet to find the answers they are looking for. I won’t disagree that this book contains information on Unity’s 2D development tools, however, a curious beginner would be better served following the tutorials provided by Unity Technologies on their website.
The book’s author states early on that it is expected that the reader has an understanding of both the fundamentals of Unity editor and C# programming. There is no real prerequisite knowledge listed and a novice programmer will quickly be thrown for a loop if they lack understanding of programming concepts like event handlers, event listeners, and state machines. The author’s approach to the book’s code implementation is one of copy/paste and look at the results. Although there is quite a bit of commenting within the code files that explain the fundamental actions the code is performing and when, there is little explanation of why. This lack of explanation to the reasoning behind the structure of the code makes any knowledge this book provides fall into a category of “learning to know” rather than “learning to do”. I do agree with the way the author has structured the code provided, being that it is extensible if you have the knowledge to take advantage of it. However, coming from the perspective of a former teacher, the methodology by which the end product is reached in this book is one that I refer to as “Sloppy and Paste”. I feel that providing any “learning materials” to a student that simply require copying of an existing product without explanation as to the fundamentals and reasoning behind it fails to make this book a worthwhile endeavor for anyone that actually wants learn fundamental principles of the subject.
There is a good bit of information provided that could help someone get used to navigating Unity’s 2D development tools, but once again the primary approach in the book is one of mimicry with very little explanation of the benefits or downfalls of the author’s given approach. Personally, I have spent thousands of hours teaching software and through it all I tried to avoid going the easy route and just telling my students to do something without given them a reason to follow a given process in the future.
The project provided with this book would be better used by any reader through a process of code dissection. Looking at the end product that is provided via the publisher’s website will give you a fully working, albeit simple, 2D game that contains all the fundamental properties of a 2D platformer. One could then look at the code, attempt to determine what it is doing and when they get confused jump on the internet to find the answers they are looking for. I won’t disagree that this book contains information on Unity’s 2D development tools, however, a curious beginner would be better served following the tutorials provided by Unity Technologies on their website.
July 1, 2014
Having a strong development background and someone that knows Unity and C#. I was looking for a book just to get me up to speed on the new 2D toolset introduced in Unity 4.3 and this book didn't disappoint. I would recommend this book for those who already have a solid foundation in Unity and C# but wants to get a better understanding of Unity's 2D tools and workflow. You can read a more in depth review here: http://desirelifesoftware.com/unity-2...
June 27, 2019
I found this book to be quite useful for the Unity newcomer. The only real drawback is when it came to creating particle effects. Creating these was not addressed.
One last thing to keep in mind, this book is a bit dated. It can help you learn the basics, but some things have changed in Unity. This means if something doesn't work or you get errors you may need to do a few quick searches. Unity docs are very helpful for figuring these things out.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Especially the tone which was set right from the start.
One last thing to keep in mind, this book is a bit dated. It can help you learn the basics, but some things have changed in Unity. This means if something doesn't work or you get errors you may need to do a few quick searches. Unity docs are very helpful for figuring these things out.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Especially the tone which was set right from the start.
August 3, 2014
When I purchased this book that time I was not having experience in game development with Unity3D & C#. Coming from Actionscript/Flash background when Unity announced 2D features, I was among many of developers who felt blessed and made goal of learning unity by porting existing 2D games which were made in AS3 earlier.
For some reasons, I couldn't start with this book earlier as got to work on some 3D project. Later when I picked this book last month, I felt that my decision/chance of first getting my hands on 3D project was good, because this book except you to have basic unity3d interface and programming knowledge.
I find it a fast paced book, which drive through a 2d platformer game step by step. Given the intended audience is who know Unity3D, author doesn't spend too much time on stuff like where to find specific option. Book has a good space dedicated to State machine concept, which helps to understand concept in general itself a lot. Same goes for basic 2d physics and AI too. However, at same time with lacking information of some features which are used in project (e.g Spirte -> Pixtel To Unit option for asset).
In the eBook copy I found many typos which usually I never find in other Packt Pub books. Also the source code companied with book is little confusing due to its file/folder structure. However, since expectation for us as a reader is to be someone having experience of Unity3D thats not a very big issue, as we are gonna to type code ourself instead of copy paste while following the book.
However somewhere to maintain fast pace or some other reasons author had to skip certain elements like audio, ray casting, screen resolution handling, mobile platform specific quirks with unity2d tools etc, which I think very important and must have been included in book.
Since author shared real word problems and solutions which his team applied in the game studio, it makes book helpful in that context.
Overall this book should be a good & recommended as quick reference if you are working in Unity3D for 3D games already and want to develop a 2D game. You can go through this as a quick guide to start with 2D tools. However don't expect that reading this book alone would be enough to get your 2d game released, as I mentioned that it lacks some pointers.
You can check book & TOC at http://bit.ly/1rrMS4D
Disclaimer: I got an offer for review copy of the book from Packt Pub, but since I had already purchased this one and was reading, I decided to share my review.
For some reasons, I couldn't start with this book earlier as got to work on some 3D project. Later when I picked this book last month, I felt that my decision/chance of first getting my hands on 3D project was good, because this book except you to have basic unity3d interface and programming knowledge.
I find it a fast paced book, which drive through a 2d platformer game step by step. Given the intended audience is who know Unity3D, author doesn't spend too much time on stuff like where to find specific option. Book has a good space dedicated to State machine concept, which helps to understand concept in general itself a lot. Same goes for basic 2d physics and AI too. However, at same time with lacking information of some features which are used in project (e.g Spirte -> Pixtel To Unit option for asset).
In the eBook copy I found many typos which usually I never find in other Packt Pub books. Also the source code companied with book is little confusing due to its file/folder structure. However, since expectation for us as a reader is to be someone having experience of Unity3D thats not a very big issue, as we are gonna to type code ourself instead of copy paste while following the book.
However somewhere to maintain fast pace or some other reasons author had to skip certain elements like audio, ray casting, screen resolution handling, mobile platform specific quirks with unity2d tools etc, which I think very important and must have been included in book.
Since author shared real word problems and solutions which his team applied in the game studio, it makes book helpful in that context.
Overall this book should be a good & recommended as quick reference if you are working in Unity3D for 3D games already and want to develop a 2D game. You can go through this as a quick guide to start with 2D tools. However don't expect that reading this book alone would be enough to get your 2d game released, as I mentioned that it lacks some pointers.
You can check book & TOC at http://bit.ly/1rrMS4D
Disclaimer: I got an offer for review copy of the book from Packt Pub, but since I had already purchased this one and was reading, I decided to share my review.
July 2, 2014
A good book on the 2D system in Unity3D, especially in linking the animations. Familiarity with C# and Unity3D is important to get the most out of the book, as use of state machines and event listeners could be confusing for beginners, though the code is thoroughly commented. The audience is noted in the book page on packt and includes a recommendation of Unity experience: http://bit.ly/R0djAC
I find Packt have been publishing books similar to this, shorter books on specific topics, good for a weekend project. I've mucked around with the 2D system previously but found quite a few better practises among the material in this.
If you've been using Unity3D for some simple 3D projects in the past and want to understand the core 2D system in Unity3D then this book is worth reading. Though I'm not sure about the humour :/
Disclaimer : I received the ebook from Packt to read and review.
I find Packt have been publishing books similar to this, shorter books on specific topics, good for a weekend project. I've mucked around with the 2D system previously but found quite a few better practises among the material in this.
If you've been using Unity3D for some simple 3D projects in the past and want to understand the core 2D system in Unity3D then this book is worth reading. Though I'm not sure about the humour :/
Disclaimer : I received the ebook from Packt to read and review.
July 10, 2014
The book serves as a good reference at best, it is expected that the reader has an understanding of both Unity 4.3 and C# programming, it’s difficult to understand who’s the target audience, I would suggest its aimed at experienced Unity users. It would be difficult for novice programmers to start using this as their go to reading material for learning 2D programming. The author’s approach to code implementation is copy/paste, like others have suggested, which leaves you wanting more explanations. Overall it’s a good quick reference to 2D development in Unity, but could have been so much more.
Read more http://www.packtpub.com/unity-2d-game...
Read more http://www.packtpub.com/unity-2d-game...
July 10, 2014
Aimed at those developers who have been using existing 2D system or want to start building 2D games with the new 2D system introduced in to Unity3D in 4.3 (and even more astounding features upcoming in 5.0), this title will walk you through all the new improvements at a high level and helps you build a nice and simple 2D platformer, complete with enemies and boss battles. This is an introduction title, so it is only intended to be an overview so don’t expect heavy technical detail.
http://www.packtpub.com/unity-2d-game...
http://www.packtpub.com/unity-2d-game...
July 10, 2014
This book serves you well, but only covers the basics, if you want more in depth knowledge and technical details, then you would be left wanting. This might have been better titled "Intro to Unity 2D..". The preface is little misleading. Fun and easy to follow .. good read http://www.packtpub.com/unity-2d-game...
June 6, 2014
Don't.
July 6, 2014
This book (http://bit.ly/R0djAC) was far more detailed and useful than I had originally expected. A pleasant surprise!
It got me off-and-running on 2D development with Unity3D.
It got me off-and-running on 2D development with Unity3D.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews