Screens, level and transitions

hi all,

i am NOT a newbie engineer as i was developing games in both 2D and 3D (Dx and OGL) using C++ and native graphics API BUT i am new to using Unity. i just started using it to create quick demos for my game and prototyping,
but it looks like a good engine to make a full and complete game,

my question is, are there any tutorials that show example or teaches how to do things in a complete game such as
switching from screens to screens? things like, from splash screen, to a certain screen like main menu, jump to another screen like a selection or an option menu, back to main menu, change to a loading screen then to a game?
i am only seeing GAME or asset tutorials online.
the things i mentioned above is the key to have a complete game and not just assets and visual graphics, etc.

doing this in native straight coding is fairly straightforward if done using design patterns, now i am pretty confuse as i see the editor as a 'Scene' or asset editor only.
are there any links or tutorials on how to do such thing using Unity3d?
i am trying to port a game of mine to Unity3d and see if i can totally convert myself to using unity as my first choice.

Thanks in advance.

PS. please don't point me to a tutorial where i just need to download a already coded assets or package, this is not how i intend to learn stuff, i want to learn by doing it myself and becoming comfortable at it.

 

Switching between scenes in Unity is simply a matter of calling the Application.LoadLevel method. You can specify the name of the scene or its number. Numbers are automatically assigned when you add levels to the Publish dialog.

Closest tutorial I know of off-hand would be the past session in Live Training titled "Creating a Scene Selection Menu".

 

I wrote my book Unity in Action specifically for people who already know how to program but are new to Unity. That target audience seemed to be a gap in existing learning materials; most "learn Unity" books start at the beginning of time by teaching what a variable is. Plus the code examples definitely fit your post-script; I'm the same way, I want to learn from first principles and not just twiddling with an existing package.

http://www.amazon.com/Unity-Action-Multiplatform-Game-Development/dp/161729232X/

 

so switching scenes to scenes is same as level to level then?
and thanks for the Live training link, ill check it out.

 

Thanks for the book link, i'll definitely check it out

 

Yes, the two terms are referring to the same thing. By the way if you ever need to load a scene without clearing the old scene, you can use the LoadLevelAdditive method. It can be handy if your game consists of many sub-scenes and needs to assemble them at runtime (ie a roguelike).

 

If you have a small levels, it might be better to contain them in one scene by enable/disable objects for different level layout or by moving the player to different areas in the scene. LoadLevel is not the only way.