Unity Books

I am new to this engine. I just wanted to know if there are any "great" books that can help me learn about using Unity?

 

http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/

 

This may be what you're looking for.

 

I got this book recently, I highly recommend it, it covers code in both C# and unityscript.

 

How much does it cover in terms of what type of games you can make base on that code?

 

If you understand the code you can make anything you want. limits of game design are limited to the imagination.

 

I looked at a couple unity books but they didn't explain much about what you have to do to make a game.

 

If you want a "How to make a game in general" book I wouldn't suggest looking at the Unity-specific titles. Those are more focused. I would suggest a game design book with a more holistic view that is not specific to any particular piece of software.

 

It goes over HUDs, inventories, scoring systems, character scripting, the terrain engine, rigidbodies, the particle system, menus,animations.

You make a first person game along with some minigames in it, it teaches you the basics, from there on its up to you.

My favorite part of the book is that its both c# and unityscript.

 

Packt has published several books on Unity: http://www.packtpub.com/books/all?keys=unity&x=21&y=21

 

What minigames are covered though? Matching, picking up objects and putting them somewhere? A shooting gallery?

Plus how would you compared this book to 3.x Example Beginner's Guide?

iOS related books are something I'm holding back on until a few detailed reviews are written.

That is why I decided to wait awhile longer.

 

Here's a list of other up-coming books to keep an eye on:

1) Scripting specific: http://www.amazon.com/Unity-3-x-Scr...00/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1326410386&sr=8-21
2) iOS starting-level: http://www.amazon.com/Unity-Game-De...3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1326410465&sr=1-3-catcorr
3) And the only Unity3D book I've ever seen advertised as "Pro" level: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-...=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326410640&sr=1-4


And, of course, there are many more (indeed, the number of published Unity3D books has been increasing dramatically lately), but those are just some I found in a quick search.

HTH!


- jmpp

 

@DrPygameNewb

Are you looking for Unity iOS books? or just plain Unity books, if ever I've read "Unity 3D Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide" (http://www.packtpub.com/unity-3d-game-development-by-example-beginners-guide/book), and I find it very easy to follow, and the author writes in a humorous way so its not a boring read.
I also have a copy of "Unity Game Development Essentials" (http://www.packtpub.com/unity-game-development-essentials/book), but I only use this book when I'm looking for answers for some questions I might have with Unity that isn't covered in the By Example book.

 

I wouldnt buy from packtpub if I were you. I preordered "Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials"

10 steps to rip off your customers:

1. Supposed release date: 25th Oct
2. On 28th Oct I write an email asking whats happening.
3. 3 days later they write they expect it 1st week of November
4. 3. Nov they say 'it will be released second week of November'
5. On 21. Nov (3rd week of November) they write: "This title is now expected to be published by the third week of December."
6. 22. Dec: "Your transaction has been processed by WorldPay, on behalf of Packt Publishing Ltd. "
7. 22. Dec: "We are sorry to inform you that your pre-order for the eBook of “Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials” was automatically cancelled"
8. I checked my bank account (online) and there they took 8.39 GBP from me.
9. So far I have not recieved the book OR the MONEY BACK! (16. Jan 2012)
10. ??? Profit.

The really funny bit is this.. If I wanted to buy the book now it would cost me 30.99 GBP. Only an increase of 369% in retail price...

So in the end they delayed the book 2 months then charged me the money, didnt give me the book and didnt give me back my money. Awesome.

 

That stinks, I almost preordered it but waited until it was released before buying. Who did you buy from? I purchased mine from Amazon.

 

From packtpub.com (the poster before linked to it)

 

Why not just watch some video tutorials? the Tornado Twins are good and also i hear the Walker boys are good to aparently

 

@Stefano_1990
Oh, I am so sorry to hear about that, have you tried emailing them after you received the transaction cancelled email?

I've been getting my books from Packt for free because I have a blog and sometimes write book reviews.

 

Haha yes of course I have. Hmm not bad receiving free books. I should start a blog about car reviews but I have to get a bigger garage first.

 

yah, you should. fashion bloggers get free clothes and shoes, tech bloggers get gadgets
maybe car bloggers get cars )

 

Stefano, are you sure your money that was "charged" from your card wasn't instead a preauthorization, where the money is held for them to collect, but not actually collected. This recently happened to me on an order drugstore.com canceled and it wont release my $35 on my debit card for a month after the preauth. That amount isn't worth the hassle of calling them to speed it up.

Packt wouldn't intentionally rip someone off, it wouldn't be in their best interest. So maybe it was one of those annoying preauth things that'll drop off after a while. If not they should be able to refund you.

 

It is listed as DEB on my statement and lists OUT: 8.39

Note that was a day after the email! And also funny is how they didnt ask me about it they simply said 'now you cant get the book for the 8.39! instead you have to pay the full price of 30.99!'

real smooth after you ordered the book two months in advance for a reduced price.

"Here sir your steak for $8.39 but instead we will charge you $30.99" haha smooth

 

Sorry you had to go through all of that, but in all fairness I'm currently working my way through Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials and I think that it's definitely worth the price.

 

It might well be and to clarify I have no grudge with the author at all! Its with the publishing company that wants to charge me 300% of the initial price if I wanted to get it now.

Bharati Kambli from Packt Pub has now sent me the link to download the book. So story is sorted out.

 

Yeah that would have been a bad deal if they canceled your preorder where you had to pay a lot more. I was sleepy and wasn't thinking about that. I'm glad Packt Pub sorted it out for you Stefano.

 

@Stafano_1990 glad you have that sorted out

 

If I had 100 to spend, I'd want both books. I recently heard a few negative things about the packtpub iOS essentails book. Example Beginner’s Guide sounds interesting, IRC theres a chapter that covers 2D programming. Know anything about Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide?

 

It's alright as a very beginners book, but the projects in there are super basic and not very entertaining to be honest. Also seems kinda hacky.

 

Will, I think that there is an error in the PDF version of the book that prevents me from getting the powercell after knocking down three targets. The error is on page 270 where target count is added and subtracted. Why is the target count subtracted?

 

Should this be asked in another thread?

 

I recently received "Unity iOS Essentials" book, will be reading it these couple of days, and then I'll post a short review or something

 

I would recommand this one:

I spent my weekend on it it really good:
Link

Compare to a lot of books, it doesn't just cover the basis of "How to start to use Unity" but it gives you a lot more info about game mechanics and more advanced techniques of game development. It gives you a lot of exercices with all the files!

I've got Unity game development essential and it became fairly quickly useless...
If you look a slightly more advanced book go for this one !

 

I purchased that on the kindle store, it is alright. The author jumps around a LOT though between project to project so you're never really building one complete game per se, just implementing some algorithms in a lot of premade unity packages. Basically filling in the blanks.

As far as game design is concerned, I liked this book a lot, although it doesn't really go into algorithms, it's a real gem. Art of game design.

As far as Game Development Essentials goes, this is a webplayer link to the project you build once you've finished the book, It took me about 5 days to finish this working on it during my spare time.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14278373/Survival Island/WebPlayer/WebPlayer.html

 

I'm sorry to hear others had trouble with PacktPub, but for me at least things have gone well, although I stick to eBooks when ordering from them.

They have a deal going on right now that I actually just took advantage of yesterday, and that is if you order 5 "Open Source" e-books (and all books about Unity qualify) then it's just $60, so it comes out to $12 per ebook.

I ended up getting the latest versions of Will's and Ryan's book, as well as the 'Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot' one. I rounded out with a book for UDK UnrealScript and the Panda3D 1.7 book for a little variety in life.

So, if you're not sure which book to get, then this is an affordable way to get them all! (Just be sure to order the 3.x version of Will's and Ryan's books!)

 

The most affordable way is to get a subscription to safaribooks imo $10/month and you could have all 5 of those books, and change them every month too It's what I do, although I do buy some hardcopies that I want to share. I have Unity 3.x Dev Essentials and Unity 3 Hotshot as hardcopies.

For what it's worth, I didn't like game development hotshots at all. It's rather obvious the writer isn't a native English speaker, the book could use a lot more proofreading.

I'm looking forward to checking out this book when it comes out next month, hopefully it has some neat pieces of code Unity 3.x Scripting

Also this book which is to be released in July, hopefully this one is more professionally oriented.
Professional Unity and C#

 

Mentioning Safari is a good point, Vdek. I used to have a 5 bookshelf subscription there, but it sat idle so long I went back to occasional cheap ebook purchases. But, for someone a little more diligent in using it than i was, it's a really good deal.

Sad to hear about the "Hotshot" book, but if I can at least get a few good tips out of it I'll feel it's worth it.

 

I just started reading Unity iOS Essentials, and I do not recommend it. It's all over the place. The author jumps between useful iOS tips to completely random game design tips. It is very confusing to read.

 

Yeah I agree, it was a terrible book. It showed some promise in the first chapter and I thought it might actually be a good book, while reading the rest of it however my opinion changed quickly.

He didn't even go into creating multitouch joysticks or input!

 

For anyone who's interested in these two books from Packt Publishing: Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials and Unity iOS Essentials

Currently we are hosting a giveaway contest:
http://abitgames.com/2012/blog/great-unity-books-giveaway-contest/

The deadline is 15, Feb, 2012. If you're interested please follow the link and enter the contest!