[Developer in Progress] How I'm learning with Unity and game development

[Note : this post will be updated each time I will add a post #n]

Hi everybody,

After a little more than one month on Unity, I'm getting a bit familiar with the basics in Unity. While I'm still struggling with C-sharp but really passionate about it, I thought I could share with you some useful links and other things. Also as I am currently preparing the Bar exam, I really need a quick break to change my mind and write anything .

Thus, I will try to post regular things about my progress and useful links that I found on my journey.

POST #1​

• UNITY

Current state (like me) : I recommend to watch closely the tutorial videos on Unity3d of course, it is the basic and the more you watch it, the more you will understand. At the beginning, focus on those which explain topics such as scene/game, component, the inspector, adding game objects, using scripts etc. ...

Then what ? I'm sure the most difficulties that you encountered then is learning how to code, and by that, I mean using C-sharp or UnityScript. Personally I focus more on C-sharp but the choice is yours. For that matter, several links really helped me to get the basics (variables, operators, functions, classes, ...). Here there are :
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa288436(v=vs.71).aspx
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/csharp/
https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy...es/c-fundamentals-for-absolute-beginners-8295

Tutorials oriented for Unity :
[Jonathan Weinberger] https://www.youtube.com/user/Unity3DCoder/playlists
[Brackeys] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPV2KyIb3jR6ZkG8gZwJYSjnXxmfPAl51
[ETeeski] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfAMZpOjTmpYjEX4B9iVsE_YQbDJljHCG

I really like those videos because the guys take the time to explain not only the concept but also try to explain it in situation. For beginners, the two fundamental courses of Weinberger and Brackeys are very good. Once we're more familiar, we can then rewatch the Unity3d script tutorials and understand them better.

For a more formal education, I can also recommend Coursera and Edx which both have several courses on programming (including C-sharp). Close to my home, the Engineering college "Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne" will teach an "Introduction to C++ Course" https://www.coursera.org/course/initprogcpp (yeah I know, it's C++ but to learn the basics i.e. variables etc. ... it's very good and the videos are given with English subtitles). The next course will begin on September 18, 2015, it's free and I follow some chapters of the previous course, it's really good to learn how to program.

Once you get the basics, it's very good to return to Unity3d and then perusing closely the documentation. It's there that we can learn how to use functions, classes and things that Unity offers us.


GAME DEVELOPMENT

Magazines

You are certainly interested not only on game programming with Unity, but also in graphics, animation, lighting, game design, audio, at least at understanding the basics of these topics. And you would like to learn from the pros. Well, there is a solution :

http://www.gdcvault.com/gdmag

The Game Developer Magazine was (from 1994 to 2013) a very good magazine full of articles oriented on game production. Especially the issues after December 1997 cover most topics we need in Unity (AI, shaders, bump mapping, etc. ...). In addition, you have also columns made by developers like Richard Garriot, Harvey Smith, Warren Spector etc. ... Since the magazine's closure, all issues are now online and free as an archive. Some articles can be challenging on the math side but it's a great way to have a full understanding and why not pick up again some old maths and algebra books (which I'm doing). Believe me, it's not so scary after all.

I also recommend to closely read the "postmortem" where a studio explains what were right and wrong in the development of their game. Many classics (Deus Ex, Jak & Daxter, Age of Empires) are covered and you will understand that making a game : requires A LOT of works, a great design process at the beginning, some flexibility and most of all were done generally by a team of twenty developers during more than 18 months for a total budget of 1 to several millions dollars. So think twice before going for the new GTA/Call of Duty/MMORPG as a first project. I know, I know, it's hard.

Books
This is a list of books on game development that I read, some are a bit old (circa 2003 era) but are really useful.

Game Development and Production, by Erik Bethke is a deep presentation of the managing of a video game project from scratch to the end from a producer side and will help you to define the scope of your project.
A Theory of Fun for Game Design, by Ralph Koster is a focus on the "fun factor" and the balance of the game, very inspiring.
Chris Crawford on Game Design, helped you to understand what are the core mechanics of a game.
Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design will give you a referential to think and speak of game design
The Game Design Reader, a Rule of Play Anthology, edited by Katin Salen and Erik Zimmermann, is an academic reading on the topic that is very interesting to know more and think about play as a concept but I wouldn't recommend it as a first lecture if you just want to learn about game design, keep it for the end to appreciate it.
Master of Doom, by David Kushner, it's the Steve Job's book of video game, the story of ID Sotware, John Carmack is in there What else ?

• OUR FIRSTS PROJECTS WITH UNITY

I think beginning by the "Roll a ball" tutorial is very good for a start. It teaches the basics. The 2d platform tutorial is also good but maybe a little more advanced for a beginning (especially with the scripts if you are not yet familiar).

http://noobtuts.com/unity

I found that excellent tutorials site for the the basics games like Pong, Arkanoid, Tetrist, Pac-Man etc. ... I think it's great because you learn the core concepts of game programming, once you master Pong, then you can try Pac-Man and so on.


That's it for now. I hope that it was not too long to read or boring. Before clicking on "create thread", I will add a last link to give some juice for that (difficult but enjoyable journey) :

POST #2​

[Added on 9/8/2015]

• UNITY

Current state (like me) : you can make Roll-a-ball tutorial, the 2d Platformer tutorial, and a basic Pong in few minutes.

The Unity3d.com site is yet full of information and I'm constantly discover new things by browsing closely the website. Did you ever seen the wiki part when you click on the community side of the site ? Personally, not seen recently. And it's a shame because some links are really useful.

http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php/Programming_Chapter_1_Old
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php/Tutorials
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php/Tips
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php/Csharp_Coding_Guidelines
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php/Programming_Chapter_1

It is good to read again about the guidelines to code in C#. The tutorials page is full of links to external tutorials (such as those I speak above).

After experiencing more with the tutorials (on this website and others) and the basics of coding in C#, I think that the videos from the live training sections of this site are a good jump in beginner to intermediate level, especially the first ones and then you select the subject you want to dig deeper.

• GAME DEVELOPMENT

Do you already have read all Game Developer Magazine issues ? Wow ! No, just kidding. Read it at your pace. But now, you're maybe saying : "ok, I read quite some, I see how it works, seems good but I would like to know, how it is going in motion".

2PlayerProduction did a giant making-of documentary of a video game made by the studio of Tim Shaffer (remember Full Throttle, Grim Fandago ?), this is more than 20 hours of video (seriously!) and it's interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIhLvue17Sd7F6pU2ByRRb0igiI-WKk3D

To get a deeper understanding of each category of game developer, the guys from Naughty Dog are making some cool videos (game designer, VFX, programmer, ...) and that happens there :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVTWPp76nRPzpCsQ8hE0AaHgtFyuzbu2d

And last but not least, it's a good way to end this post by their 30's anniversary video to learn more about their extraordinary journey :

POST #3​

[Added on 9/13/2015]

• UNITY

Current state (like me) : you can make Roll-a-ball tutorial, the 2d Platformer tutorial, and a basic Pong in few minutes.

At the moment, I'm mainly focus on learning how to code in Unity with C#. It can be painful sometimes because my progress are slow and I can't allow to much time per day so I try to not skip the steps to a good understanding of the code. As a musician who study by practicing, we have to code, code and code to really learn how to do it. It is not sufficient to just watch the videos if you are not typing during, before or after the session. After one month, I have a quite good of understanding of the topics presented in the fundamentals of Jonathan Weiberberger Youtube's channel.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLadYLGMfR6Lphpq1PZFo25_acWAEuoLh_

I strongly recommend it when beginning before trying to use the codes as presented in the intermediate and other tutorials of Unity3d.com.

In addition, if you want to add some tips to easier your coding work in Unity, you can personalise a bit MonoDevelop like this :

I recently found some other tutorials channels :
[Marshall P] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoYbm8rtFIsLy-QovmjwNob_ArCdYaa1K
[Derek Banas : how to learn C# in one lesson]

It is good to alternate the different tutorials as you are progressing. Sometimes, you don't understand everything at first, but using other resources and then coming back to the one where you experienced the difficulties are a good way to progress.

From a more general point of view on Computer and Programming, in the aim to gain a general comprehension of the topic, I can also add this (free) coursera from Harvard "CS50", a good introduction to computer programming from non-programmer like me.
https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-harvardx-cs50x

• GAME DEVELOPMENT

This time, the links are about mostly programming and producing a video game. Videos made by Ubisoft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgSZYNLSP-w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgSZYNLSP-w

I like to see videos from "old" games because it is easier to relate to development with Unity where we don't have AAA budget and team behind Here are Ratchet & Clank from Insomniac Games :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Mr5-db06U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEs1xKIKGU8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a5srlkcwc4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHI6w9MPlEE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFRnW4PZJo0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg9t8Gc1dBE

I'll try to post regularly, some day a huge post, some day a short one. Feel free to add your post on this thread and to update it.

 

This is great and as a newcomer myself thank you for this I'm sure it will become very helpful. Hope will be added too, not only by yourself but how others get started too, sharing everything in one thread on beginning would be a bonus and maybe put as a sticky on the forums

 

Thank you DarkXess for your comment. I did as you said, I updated my main post and if anyone want to contribute to this topic, you are more than welcome by opening a post in this thread.

Also, to all, English is not my primary language so don't hesitate to tell if something is not easy to understand, I'm always happy to improve !

Cheers !!!

 

An important update post for people who would like to get a formal introduction to Unity and Game Development. Coursera and the Michigan State University open today a new online course : "Introduction to Game Development" and this one is targeted to use and learn Unity3d.

As always on Coursera, you can choose to follow the course for a specialisation or for free.

According to the Syllabus of the course that I just read, this will be a basic but overall course to learn Unity. See by yourself :
https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-development/

Week 1
From Game Player to Game Developer

1. Welcome
2. Intro to Unity3D (hands-on)
3. Creating and Integrating Assets

1. Quiz: Game Development Concepts
2. Quiz: Game Engines and Unity Editor
3. Quiz: Game Asset Concepts

Week 2
Intro to Unity3D Development

1. Project 1: Setting Up the Solar System Simulation
2. Project 1: Materials, Lighting, and Audio
3. Project 1: Cameras, Building for Web, and Deploying
4. Project 1: Finishing Up the Solar System Simulation

1. Quiz: Working in 3D Space
2. Quiz: Materials, Audio, and Lights
3. Quiz: Cameras, Building, and Deploying
4. Assignment: Solar System Project Peer Review

Week 3
Creating Games in Unity3D

1. Project 2: Setting Up the Roller Madness Game
2. Project 2: Physics, Player Control, and Health & Damage
3. Project 2: Pickups, UI, Game Manager, and Enemies
4. Project 2: Particles, SFX, Animation, and Spawners
5. Project 2: Finishing Up Roller Madness

1. Quiz: Game Objects, Prefabs, and Standard Assets
2. Quiz: Physics, Player Control, and Health & Damage
3. Quiz: Pickups, UI, Game Manager, and Enemies
4. Quiz: Particles, SFX, Animation, and Spawners
5. Assignment: Roller Madness Project Peer Review

Week 4
Designing and Coding Gameplay Systems

1. Programming in Unity
2. Project 3: Setting Up the Box Shooter Game
3. Project 3: Player, Camera, Projectiles, and Shooting
4. Project 3: UI, Game Manager, Play Again, Particles, and SFX
5. Project 3: Targets that Spawn and Animate
6. Project 3: Finishing up Box Shooter

1. Quiz: Programming Concepts 1
2. Quiz: Programming Concepts 2
3. Quiz: Player, Camera, Projectiles, and Shooting
4. Quiz: UI, Game Manager, Play Again, Particles, and SFX
5. Quiz: Targets that Spawn and Animate
6. Assignment: Box Shooter Project Peer Review

 

This is really useful, thank you !