Unity 3D Game Development by Example

[UntoldEnt]

Hi, everyone! I just wanted to start a thread for those of you reading Unity 3D Game Development by Example, a book I just finished writing with Packt Publishing, the same folks who published Will Goldstone's Unity Game Development Essentials.



Here's a link to the book:

http://bit.ly/benbHv

And here's a link to a quick FAQ and chapter list on my blog:

http://bit.ly/b3VzpB

I wrote the book with beginners in mind - not just Unity beginners, but game development beginners. I had lots of friends saying "I've heard of Unity ... I'd like to check it out." I'd say "Have you ever done any programming?" and they'd say "No." So they'd be able to use this book and be successful.

I'm using the book as the study guide for a college-level 3D programming intro course, which is going very well.

The first two chapters are theoretical, and drive home the need to start simply with a small, manageable project; the remaining ten chapters help the reader develop four very simple casual-style games:

- a keep-up game (3D)
- a catch game (2.5D)
- a memory card game (2D - entirely using Unity GUI)
- a very basic space shooter (2.5D)

The book came hot off the printing presses today! As soon as Packt gives the thumbs-up, they'll start printing copies. It's also available as an e-book.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your feedback! Throw me your email and I'll drop you a line when the book is out, which will be very soon.

- Ryan

ryan {the at sign} untoldentertainment {the dot sign} com

[Esila]

I have already bought your book from packtpub.com, but it is in pre-order. When can be download???

[UntoldEnt]

Thanks so much, Esila!

The publisher just received the first hard copy today. They'll check it over and give the thumbs-up to the printers. Once the hard copy's rolling off the presses, they'll make the e-book version available.

We've been calling this a September book, so i expect it to be ready next week. Thanks for your patience!

- Ryan

[TheLorax]

Hello! I just bought the eBook/Book combo earlier this evening. I've read through the first two chapters and I like that you're stressing the start small, be successful, and grow into bigger things approach. I too see many people say that they're going to make the next WoW and when they hit the first snag, quit. Quit to become an accountant of all things!!!

Thanks for taking the time to do this, and I'll write more as I get through it!

TheLorax

[rawi]

Hi Ryan, i bought the combo yesterday, hardcover will take a while i suppose, but ebook is on my desktop!
first impression: really nice and helpful for the beginner.
I always appreciate learning materials with small, but full starting projects - which seem to be fulfilled in your book.
I am excited to work with the lessons !

one flaw though - especially for non-native english speakers!
the language, the slang expression are sometimes hard to understand ( 'tis volley, no grabsies, nix the referee, cube-fest)
I suppose, for english ears that sounds cool!

Besides that, your book is a wonderful learning tool with a thorough introduction and a detailed guidance!

thanks so much for that!

rawi

[Mani]

Congrats on the book Ryan! I heard that it was great!

[eedok]

Just a bit of background, I'm a flash programmer at XGen, and I came across this part of the book:

The last 2 bullet points are already in Motherload, you just have to dig deeper

You totally owe us a sale of Super Motherload when it hits Wiiware for this inaccuracy

[UntoldEnt]

i'll grant you the first point. On the second, i was trying to avoid doling out spoilers.

i'll be careful not to freely publicize your games in my books in the future.

- Ryan

[Esila]

I am downloading your ebook from packtpub.com.
Happy~~~

[tim_bkk]

Just bought the book a few days ago and read a few chapters. I think it will be a great intro for designers without any programming experience.

As an experienced programmer, with moderate Unity experience, this book is clearly not for me though.

[Merries]

It is a very good book for a beginner, and I'm learning alot, it is very well written and easy to understand, thank you!

[Merries]

I am kinda stuck Game 2 Robot Repair with the GUI Game Start button. I see the title screen but the button is not showing. Below is the provided code.

var customSkin:GUISkin;

function OnGUI() {
//Button width:
var buttonW:int = 100;
//Button height:
var buttonH:int = 50;
//Half of the screen width:
var halfScreenW:float=Screen.width/2;
//Half of the button width:
var halfButtonW:float = buttonW/2;

GUI.skin = customSkin;
if(GUI.Button(Rect(halfScreenW-halfButtonW,560,buttonW,buttonH),"PlayGame"))
{
print("You Clicked Me!");
}
}

Could the title screen be hiding the GUI button? Thank you.

[Merries]

I figured this out in the following:

GUI.skin = customSkin;
if(GUI.Button(Rect(halfScreenW-halfButtonW,560,buttonW,buttonH),"PlayGame"))

I changed the number 560 to 400 and it can be seen and fits nicely.

[ployer]

I have been wanting to get into Unity for a bit now, however I like a book to lead me along paths. I purchased this book last night after reading the thoughts on it in this thread and I must agree it is a well written book. My only gripe (and this is really just a matter of personal preference) is that I wish the code samples were in C# as that is the language I used daily in my professional life and I am well versed in it. I was however able to translate most of it to C# with out much issue but there was a time or two it wasn't super clear.So far I am about half way through chapter 4 and I have understood everything completely, while a lot of books on various topics I've come across over the years tend to gloss over things you tend to explain them pretty well. Once I finish the book I'll come back I'm sure and make a few more comments, but my initials thoughts are it is a job very well done.

Phil

[DocSWAB]

Great to see some books about using Unity to extend the documentation and community resources.

Do you and Will have plans for 2nd editions updated for 3.0?

[UntoldEnt]

Will left a comment on my blog when i announced that Unity 3D Game Development by Example was available for pre-order:

Second edition for me is just more content, a few updates as far as scripts go and just in general more stuff – you’ll realise this once you get some distance is there are lots of things that whilst in the midst of writing a book just don’t spring to mind, even with the awesome amount of eyes on it editorial wise that Packt give you, there’s always ‘one more thing’ as Apple put it.

Also I’ve taken your criticism on board about the route into the book – I totally get where you’re coming from (hence my work on unity3dstudent.com) – simpler early on is ideal, so I’m betting your book is gonna be awesome – so i’m gonna try and build in a chapter as a precursor to kicking things off on the island, just something to get people into using the interface and method of Unity before they start the whole terrains & models thing.

Keep in mind that Will wrote his book a year ago. i just finished mine, so the thought of diving into a second edition right now makes me feel a bit barfy. i'd like to wait to see how the book is received, so that i can decide 1) whether people even WANT a second edition and 2) what should be in it.

[Hakimo]

Nice, can't wait to see the book in local stores

[Dantes]

Well being a COMPLETE Unity newbie, I went ahead and ordered your book, Ryan. I actually got the combo pack with Will's book which basically made one book free!. I can't wait to dive into it and start my journey. I understand the whole issue with 3.0 but what you stated below makes complete sense to me.

Q: Does the book cover the new version of Unity 3?

A: No, it doesn’t – but i’ll stress that it’s a beginner-level book, and most of the features added to Unity v3 are advanced features. No sense teaching how to rig up a softbody gameobject with multiple colliders when the reader doesn’t know what a collider is, or hasn’t had any initial experience with rigidbodies. You know?

Best of luck on the book's popularity!

[DocSWAB]

The reason I would love to see 3.0 based 2nd editions of these books is that there have been a number of API changes as well as significant new workflows (lightmapping, for example), and sorting out what's new and what's old, for both newcomers and more experienced users alike is challenging.

[minevr]

Looks great! I would like to have it