What do you think?
Rate this book
Unity 4 Game Development Hotshot
An easy-to-follow hands-on step-by-step project. Each project includes the complete source code and assets having screenshots and diagrams. If you are an experienced user who has a basic knowledge of how to use the Unity game engine, or are an intermediate user who wants to learn more tips and tricks in using the Unity game engine, this book is ideal for you.
466 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2014
5 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 20, 2014
Unity 4 Game Development Hotshot is written for developers who already explored basics of Unity game engine. If you expect to pick this book and start learning Unity3D, you will be disappointed to a degree, cause you as a complete fresher to Unity3D, don’t fall into target audience of the book.
However, you have basic knowledge of Unity3D, you can use this book as a quick how to guide. In initial chapters book focus on 2D game development with Unity3D native 2D features including physics, sprites, animations and camera. Taking a step further in next chapter creation of menu and scrollers are explained with new GUI system.
Third project of the book is dedicated to Shaders (a mystery for me yet). Following the project, was able to create some basic ambient and lighting shaders. Faced some issues while creating new shaders, mainly because of less detail about shader programming, but that altogether content for a separate book.
In fourth project unity’s mecanim animation system is explained with implementation of character animation. Making game character to walk, run, jump and fall and transition of states make it complete guide of creating FPS. Adding 3rd person camera gives unity’s powerful 3D environment feel to game.
Fifth chapter is about projectiles. Use of MouseLook and CameraControl script is explained along with particle effects. By following book upto this chapter, one can try hands on creating a FPS, yet incomplete due to missing smart enemies. Next chapter complete that part. Explaining waypoint concepts and how to create an editor for waypoints. Finally how to assign movement to enemy objects with AI script. Following addition it help to learn how to create a destructible world in response of firing weapons and triggers. Using ragdoll objects one can mimic effect of spring movements.
Last project section complete the FPS game by saving and loading high scores and implementing server side communication using XML format. A XMLParser script is created to read xml formatted data. At the end of book, 4 appendix sections are provided out of which actually A and C are not much useful, because these explains mostly basic functions which one would have known already and difference between C# and unity3D Javascript, which is less helpful and one will want to stick with either of the programming languages.
Only part I felt missing is mobile porting, which is a big reason of picking Unity3D among other options. There could have been few more pages explaining how to port game developed so far to any mobile platform and deal with resolution and performance issues (if any). Overall this book is a good companion for any unit developer. On a scale of 5, I will rate it 4 and recommend to other developers exploring Unity3D for next big game project.
Disclaimer, I got a review copy of this book from Packt Publishing. Grab your copy from http://bit.ly/WCcDEz
However, you have basic knowledge of Unity3D, you can use this book as a quick how to guide. In initial chapters book focus on 2D game development with Unity3D native 2D features including physics, sprites, animations and camera. Taking a step further in next chapter creation of menu and scrollers are explained with new GUI system.
Third project of the book is dedicated to Shaders (a mystery for me yet). Following the project, was able to create some basic ambient and lighting shaders. Faced some issues while creating new shaders, mainly because of less detail about shader programming, but that altogether content for a separate book.
In fourth project unity’s mecanim animation system is explained with implementation of character animation. Making game character to walk, run, jump and fall and transition of states make it complete guide of creating FPS. Adding 3rd person camera gives unity’s powerful 3D environment feel to game.
Fifth chapter is about projectiles. Use of MouseLook and CameraControl script is explained along with particle effects. By following book upto this chapter, one can try hands on creating a FPS, yet incomplete due to missing smart enemies. Next chapter complete that part. Explaining waypoint concepts and how to create an editor for waypoints. Finally how to assign movement to enemy objects with AI script. Following addition it help to learn how to create a destructible world in response of firing weapons and triggers. Using ragdoll objects one can mimic effect of spring movements.
Last project section complete the FPS game by saving and loading high scores and implementing server side communication using XML format. A XMLParser script is created to read xml formatted data. At the end of book, 4 appendix sections are provided out of which actually A and C are not much useful, because these explains mostly basic functions which one would have known already and difference between C# and unity3D Javascript, which is less helpful and one will want to stick with either of the programming languages.
Only part I felt missing is mobile porting, which is a big reason of picking Unity3D among other options. There could have been few more pages explaining how to port game developed so far to any mobile platform and deal with resolution and performance issues (if any). Overall this book is a good companion for any unit developer. On a scale of 5, I will rate it 4 and recommend to other developers exploring Unity3D for next big game project.
Disclaimer, I got a review copy of this book from Packt Publishing. Grab your copy from http://bit.ly/WCcDEz
October 16, 2014
Probably this shouldn't be the first book you should buy if you're just getting started with Unity 3D. While you probably could struggle through it, it's really written for those with a good familiarity with the engine and at least some knowledge of C# or Javascript. If you're really new to the process, there are a good amount of beginner's handbooks available. The author pictures chapters as missions and I thought it was a cool way of gamifying my journey through the book.
Unity 4 Game Development Hotshot starts off with the creation of a simple 2D game. Any RPG is incomplete without a menu, and so the next mission(Chapter 2) includes instructions on how to use Unity's GUI class towards achieving it. Chapter 3 covers the creation of a 3D character using shader programming and the custom lighting model for it. Once the character is created, the book moves on to animation and lets you play around with Animation Control, Character control and a little play with the camera.
The next mission is the one which is also my favorite part of the book which was creating a rocket launcher, adding particle effects and switching camera views.
What game would you have created if there was no enemy running for your head. The next mission is all about creating enemy AI which is supplemented by the following mission which guides you towards creating an AI virtual world.
Once your game is made, Unity 4 Game Development Hotshot helps you show your efforts off by helping us save, load, and post the high scores locally and to the server database. As with any programming book, the source files are available online on the Packt site. At over 400 pages, this book is not a quick read and the less familiar you are with coding, the longer it will take you to get through it. Even with a fair amount of Unity 3D experience, portions can be a bit confusing, requiring some rereading. That being said, there are plenty of tips and tricks that you'll pick up, that you can apply toward other efforts, both 2D and 3D.
Tryout the hotshot challenges at the end of every chapter. There is a lot of learning hidden in there.
Unity 4 Game Development Hotshot starts off with the creation of a simple 2D game. Any RPG is incomplete without a menu, and so the next mission(Chapter 2) includes instructions on how to use Unity's GUI class towards achieving it. Chapter 3 covers the creation of a 3D character using shader programming and the custom lighting model for it. Once the character is created, the book moves on to animation and lets you play around with Animation Control, Character control and a little play with the camera.
The next mission is the one which is also my favorite part of the book which was creating a rocket launcher, adding particle effects and switching camera views.
What game would you have created if there was no enemy running for your head. The next mission is all about creating enemy AI which is supplemented by the following mission which guides you towards creating an AI virtual world.
Once your game is made, Unity 4 Game Development Hotshot helps you show your efforts off by helping us save, load, and post the high scores locally and to the server database. As with any programming book, the source files are available online on the Packt site. At over 400 pages, this book is not a quick read and the less familiar you are with coding, the longer it will take you to get through it. Even with a fair amount of Unity 3D experience, portions can be a bit confusing, requiring some rereading. That being said, there are plenty of tips and tricks that you'll pick up, that you can apply toward other efforts, both 2D and 3D.
Tryout the hotshot challenges at the end of every chapter. There is a lot of learning hidden in there.
October 17, 2014
Unity continues to be game engine of choice for Indie developers and with a strong community and with a large selection of high quality assets available, most for free. Unity is continually updated on a regular basis and version 5.0 is getting ready for release soon. Like any good program, the choice of what book or books to read in order to become familiar with the software is crucial. There are multitude of choices to pick from in order to learn and become comfortable with Unity.
One such book is Unity 4 Game Development Hot Shot, written by Jate Wittayabundit and published by Packt Publishing. This book covers the latest version of Unity, which is required in order to complete the projects and is available on the Unity website. There are eight chapters in the book, which would seem small number for such a large subject as Unity, but the author states that this book is for those who have a basic understanding of Unity as well as intermediate users. If you are completely new to Unity then this book may not be for you, though the chapters are well laid and each step in completing a project is clearly explained, so this may not be an issue.
Each chapter covers a complete project, though some projects will carry on into the next chapter as the author explains how a new feature is being added. Each chapter contains a list of objectives to be achieved as well as the steps that will be taken to accomplish the objectives. The code samples are shown using Javascript as well as C#.
The subject material covered in each chapter cover a whole range of material from creating a platform jumper, creating shaders, building a menu system to creating custom AI for your games. Each chapter is full of screen shots showing the reader what steps to do as well as what the final project will look like.
Overall, this book is highly recommended. It is well written with clean code and lots of screen shots to give the book a visual appeal as well as being an excellent aid to creating the projects. This book will provide an excellent set of programming skills that will be of benefit to any Unity coder.
One such book is Unity 4 Game Development Hot Shot, written by Jate Wittayabundit and published by Packt Publishing. This book covers the latest version of Unity, which is required in order to complete the projects and is available on the Unity website. There are eight chapters in the book, which would seem small number for such a large subject as Unity, but the author states that this book is for those who have a basic understanding of Unity as well as intermediate users. If you are completely new to Unity then this book may not be for you, though the chapters are well laid and each step in completing a project is clearly explained, so this may not be an issue.
Each chapter covers a complete project, though some projects will carry on into the next chapter as the author explains how a new feature is being added. Each chapter contains a list of objectives to be achieved as well as the steps that will be taken to accomplish the objectives. The code samples are shown using Javascript as well as C#.
The subject material covered in each chapter cover a whole range of material from creating a platform jumper, creating shaders, building a menu system to creating custom AI for your games. Each chapter is full of screen shots showing the reader what steps to do as well as what the final project will look like.
Overall, this book is highly recommended. It is well written with clean code and lots of screen shots to give the book a visual appeal as well as being an excellent aid to creating the projects. This book will provide an excellent set of programming skills that will be of benefit to any Unity coder.
January 31, 2015
The book turned out much different than I expected. Based on its excerpt and table of contents, I was hoping it would focus more on the game design and development concepts and general approaches. It is written in a much more hands-on approach, instead. That's not necessarily worse, it just targets a different audience.
Taking that into account, the book still has its flaws. The manner it is written in, makes it almost necessary to actually repeat the steps from the book in Unity, while reading it. The book can be really difficult to follow otherwise. This works very well with the sections which are oriented more towards configuring the Unity project in its UI. The code oriented parts didn't leave that good an impression on me - it's still too much code that needs to be typed into Unity or copied from the completed project. Having all the code printed in the book both in C# and JavaScript, makes the matters even worse.
Even after doing the projects from the book yourself, you'll be often on your own to generalize the knowledge from it. The book doesn't offer all the much accompanying explanations which would give a broader picture of the concepts that were used. Each section is followed by a brief description of what has been done and there are a couple of appendices at the end which can be used as reference material. For the rest, the reader will have to follow many links to the official documentation or find a different source. It also bothers me that I've encountered a couple of technical inaccuracies in the book.
Having said all that, I can still recommend it, if you already know your way around Unity and would like to learn a couple of very specific more advanced techniques. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to take advantage of the learned experience in your own projects. On the other hand; if you're expecting to gain some general knowledge about 2D and 3D animation, AI and shaders, as I did, you'll most likely be disappointed in the end.
Taking that into account, the book still has its flaws. The manner it is written in, makes it almost necessary to actually repeat the steps from the book in Unity, while reading it. The book can be really difficult to follow otherwise. This works very well with the sections which are oriented more towards configuring the Unity project in its UI. The code oriented parts didn't leave that good an impression on me - it's still too much code that needs to be typed into Unity or copied from the completed project. Having all the code printed in the book both in C# and JavaScript, makes the matters even worse.
Even after doing the projects from the book yourself, you'll be often on your own to generalize the knowledge from it. The book doesn't offer all the much accompanying explanations which would give a broader picture of the concepts that were used. Each section is followed by a brief description of what has been done and there are a couple of appendices at the end which can be used as reference material. For the rest, the reader will have to follow many links to the official documentation or find a different source. It also bothers me that I've encountered a couple of technical inaccuracies in the book.
Having said all that, I can still recommend it, if you already know your way around Unity and would like to learn a couple of very specific more advanced techniques. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to take advantage of the learned experience in your own projects. On the other hand; if you're expecting to gain some general knowledge about 2D and 3D animation, AI and shaders, as I did, you'll most likely be disappointed in the end.
October 14, 2014
Unity 4 Game Development Hotshot is another interesting book about game development in Unity3D. In my opinion its book was written probably for developers who'd already got some minimal experience with the environment. It's not a problem and can be fixed in some hours with first steps learning.
So if You know Unity basics, You can easily continue Your way of developers samurai with the book. In the beginning it shown how to easily manipulate with 2D objects while making 2D platform game, so reader gets important knowledge about interaction of the game elements in the game world. Author tells how to work with sprites, spritesheets, sprite animations, and 2D physics and gives some useful advice by the way. Another important aspect of the book is working with user interface.
I have to admit that chapter about shading was the most interesting to me because it's still missing subject in my skills and still can't make myself to learn it :) So this book told me quick tutorial with shading basics and theory.
The book continues with 3D theory and shows how to create shooter-like game. It tells about general and peculiar for Unity3D game development techniques and their implementation. You can find many code examples and step-by-step tutorials.
In conclusion I would like to say that book highlights sugar of game development in Unity3D and helps beginner developer to study basic aspects in short time. In my mind this book misses chapter about basic optimizations techniques and its implementations, despite this full enough of useful information. Also topics selection might be considered a bit weird and topics are well covered and it keeps the book of becoming too huge. Pretty nice, recommended.
So if You know Unity basics, You can easily continue Your way of developers samurai with the book. In the beginning it shown how to easily manipulate with 2D objects while making 2D platform game, so reader gets important knowledge about interaction of the game elements in the game world. Author tells how to work with sprites, spritesheets, sprite animations, and 2D physics and gives some useful advice by the way. Another important aspect of the book is working with user interface.
I have to admit that chapter about shading was the most interesting to me because it's still missing subject in my skills and still can't make myself to learn it :) So this book told me quick tutorial with shading basics and theory.
The book continues with 3D theory and shows how to create shooter-like game. It tells about general and peculiar for Unity3D game development techniques and their implementation. You can find many code examples and step-by-step tutorials.
In conclusion I would like to say that book highlights sugar of game development in Unity3D and helps beginner developer to study basic aspects in short time. In my mind this book misses chapter about basic optimizations techniques and its implementations, despite this full enough of useful information. Also topics selection might be considered a bit weird and topics are well covered and it keeps the book of becoming too huge. Pretty nice, recommended.
October 20, 2014
At least a basic knowledge of Unity is desired before diving into this book, as the author doesn't get into great detail or explanations about basic things like the Unity interface or menus. A general knowledge of scripting (C# and JavaScript) is helpful as well, although if you are scripting challenged like me, you can always just type what is said, like I did.
On the subject of scripting, this book is not for the fain of heart. While there are some things that are done in Unity, most of the projects and chapters dealt with working in MonoDevelop and then using the script produced in Unity. So if you are uncomfortable with scripting, you might want to choose another book. If you enjoy scripting and are looking for some specialized scripts and or projects to practice on, this book should be not only informative but a bit of fun as well.
The projects were interesting and something I could see using often in various game setups. The explanations seemed fairly clear and outside links were provided to further explore various areas more fully.
On the subject of scripting, this book is not for the fain of heart. While there are some things that are done in Unity, most of the projects and chapters dealt with working in MonoDevelop and then using the script produced in Unity. So if you are uncomfortable with scripting, you might want to choose another book. If you enjoy scripting and are looking for some specialized scripts and or projects to practice on, this book should be not only informative but a bit of fun as well.
The projects were interesting and something I could see using often in various game setups. The explanations seemed fairly clear and outside links were provided to further explore various areas more fully.
October 2, 2014
Das Buch bietet die Grundlagen, um in Unity 4 ein Spiel zu entwickeln, und das mit sehr umfangreichen Einzelschritt-Screenshots. Allerdings sollte man schon Erfahrungen für Unity mitbringen, oder sich entsprechend vorher informieren.
Ich kann das Buch jedem empfehlen, der sich mit Unity auskennt und Spaß an der Spieleentwicklung damit hat.
Ich kann das Buch jedem empfehlen, der sich mit Unity auskennt und Spaß an der Spieleentwicklung damit hat.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews