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Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity

Discussion in 'Community Learning & Teaching' started by k3D-Junkie, Jun 20, 2011.

  1. VisualPro

    VisualPro

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2013
    Posts:
    2
    Regards to all!

    Sorry if I go a little off topic, because I want to ask Sue, for some personal opinion.

    Sue, personally I am very happy because I have opportunity to ask you some questions related to your career.
    First of all, I am big fan of Unity3d, because so it is simpliest thing which enable us to make a step into wonderful world of game development.
    Your book, Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity is really outstanding, I hope that you will write some next time a book about other game genre, for example Real time tactic strategy (Commandos game or Desperados style of gameplay). I like your writing style because you always trying to simplify things, and this is very important for people who really want to learn scripting to be motivated to learn more, and not disappointed with some difficulties during their journey of learning of scripting.
    Personally, I need your professional opinion, because I have some dillemas related to my career.
    I am young IT Professional, who has expirience with all areas of IT (software programming, graphic design, even photography, web design, web programming, 3d graphics, animation, modeling, visual arts, broadcasting media, game industry, VFX, video compositing, even music postproduction...). Long list, but I like everything to do... :)

    I had always problems with my multifunctional personality, because others give me advice that I must find myself in one job. They said that it is no good for career to have different interest area when you applied for a job, since they only need a man, who is expert in one area, and he must know it the best... in some game company. But, I have times, when I do as 3d artist (3ds max of course) and I do it with pleasure, and I have click in my mind like "I want to back to scripting as well..." - for example, and it makes me hard time, because how to do in the same time scripting and 3d generalist job, in one company... :)
    I decide to write you here, since I saw your biography and you are similar person - "one man band" :) (very successful, big respect for you really), so I want to hear your attitude toward these dillemas in life and professinal career, because I am sure that you had it for sure, similar problems with "yourself". :)

    I hope that you will answer me, I will be very grateful for that.

    Wish you all the best in life and future career.

    VisualPro
     
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2013
  2. Tiggster

    Tiggster

    Joined:
    May 22, 2013
    Posts:
    29
    Hey Sue,

    I have previously gone through your Unity 3.5 Essentials course on lynda.com, which is basically where I was introduced to Unity3D, so I was absolutely thrilled when I saw you had published a new course dedicated to Mecanim. I've gone through the first two sections so far and it is AMAZING! I just wanted to say a big thank you!!

    Steve
     
  3. k3D-Junkie

    k3D-Junkie

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Posts:
    236
    Hi VisualPro,

    I think the first thing you need to decide is how important a predictable income is to you.

    You've obviously got several career options to choose from.
    but as you've indicated, you like to do a lot of different things (which I am sure is what draws you to Unity)

    A friend once told me that "Variety isn't the spice of life [as the old saying says it is], it is the essence of life."

    Having a large skill set should make you a valuable person in a small company that can't afford to hire a specialist for each job.
    Unfortunately, small companies and start-ups aren't always able to offer stability.

    My advice is to put together a strong portfolio of what you can do and to continually add to it.
    School projects are okay if you are just out of school, but you need to prove that you are capable of creating and finishing projects of your own.

    You may want (or need to) find a job that will pay the bills, then work on your other interests on the side, at least for a while.

    If you can find freelance work, make sure you can always deliver what is expected and/or promised (or more) on time.
    As you build credibility, you will find out just how much people and companies value reliability
    Many a talented "specialist" has lost his job because he can't (or won't) do what he was told to do

    My last bit of advice is to learn how clarify the requirements for a job or project.
    Most people don't have the visual vocabulary to explain what they want, but they "will know it when they see it".
    It is up to you to make sure you know what they think they want- then help them to find out what can realistically be expected and achieved for the given budget.

    I hope this helps!

    Sue
     
  4. k3D-Junkie

    k3D-Junkie

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Posts:
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    Hi Steve,

    Thanks for the feedback! Glad you are enjoying the course :)

    Let me know if you have any questions.

    Sue
     
  5. VisualPro

    VisualPro

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2013
    Posts:
    2
    Dear Sue, thank you very much, for your advices. I really appreciate it!

    First thing which I want to mention that that I am not just of of school, I am 27 years old . :)

    You are right. First I must see what are my priorities in life. I am good in 3d and I am earning my money with that job.
    I do as freelancer, and I have much time after work to dedicated to other stuffs for myself (for example reading books, doing hobbies which I like etc). So, probably I have too much time to think.

    You are right when you said that I must have real expectation of myself and build credibility gradually, so maybe it is better decision to put 3d graphics on highest list of my priority for now. Unity for sure is something like ideal fusion of programming, level designing, modeling, and in the end get multiplatforms games. But, again, there is lot of stuffs which I can improve in 3d graphics...but on other way...could you tell me how you are become good in all these areas which you writing a books? It is many areas, and you are expert in every of them (you proved it, since you have so great books). I am just curious, how it is possible to become expert like you succeed in non only one area?

    All the best,
    VisualPro
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2013
  6. Novitch

    Novitch

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2013
    Posts:
    3
    Hello Sue,

    I've been experimenting with the Alpha program version of your new book. It is really good! But, I was wondering about the downloadable assets, any chance they will be available before the official release date?

    Thank!
    Sébastien
     
  7. k3D-Junkie

    k3D-Junkie

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Posts:
    236
    hi Sébastien ,

    just finished the cover art, so going through assets is my next task

    pm me and I'll give you a link and you can help me make sure they're all working correctly before I get them posted to Apress site

    Sue
     
  8. dvirus1023

    dvirus1023

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2013
    Posts:
    51

    Hi Sue, I have had your newest edition on pre-order since April I believe. It has been pushed back a couple of times and was wondering if the Aug 28th date would be sticking. I am really looking forward to reading it.

    Thanks!
     
  9. bhutunga

    bhutunga

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2013
    Posts:
    1
    Hi Sue, I bought your book from Google Play but requested a refund because a lot of the code didn't work for version 4 of unity.

    I am assuming the new version that dvirus1023 mentions supports version 4 right? If so I would like to buy it and finish the exercises, when will it be going to Google Play or is it available elsewhere?
     
  10. k3D-Junkie

    k3D-Junkie

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Posts:
    236
    Hi guys,

    The Aug 28th date looks like it will be good- I'm going over the assets this weekend so I can get them posted to the Apress website.

    @bhutunga,
    re code not working- it is Unity, get used to it. They tend to make small code changes on a regular basis that can break things. It is frustrating for both authors and readers, but in the long run, it makes for a far better product. In response to these improvements, I keep a list of the necessary changes on my first post in this thread and will do the same when I start a new thread for the 4.x book.

    The 4.x book has been changed to accommodate Amazon's print on demand guidelines. I also added new chapters introducing dialogue trees and Mechanim characters, and one on some staple Unity functionality (physics, etc) and on top of that, had to bring the size down to ~850 pages. Bottom line is that the project is similar, but I make a lot of changes.

    Re Google Play- no idea, but I'd gues the e-version will be ready before the print version

    hope that helps,
    Sue
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2013
  11. islanddreamer

    islanddreamer

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2006
    Posts:
    473
    Congratulations on the release of the new book, Sue. I just got it in the mail, along with an unexpected Amazon discount too.
     
  12. k3D-Junkie

    k3D-Junkie

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Posts:
    236
    Thanks!

    Looks like it's time to start a new thread for it!

    As before, I'll keep the first post for errata version changes (since Unity is always improving adding new features)


    Sue
     
  13. islanddreamer

    islanddreamer

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2006
    Posts:
    473
    And making it next to impossible to document in a traditional book format. Thanks for fighting the good fight!
     
  14. mike274

    mike274

    Joined:
    May 24, 2012
    Posts:
    16
    Hey Sue!

    I got your book from Amazon. It is fantastic! Only one question so far.... Where are the new Assets for this book? Thanks immensely for such a great book.
     
  15. Venged

    Venged

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2010
    Posts:
    500
    This is a good book. I bought it off of Google Play a while back. Is there any plans for offering a C# version of the script examples?
     
  16. k3D-Junkie

    k3D-Junkie

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Posts:
    236
    Editor promised the assets would be up on Friday (she didn't get them to the web guy in time last week)

    Re: C#, was planning on "porting" the scripts to C# eventually, but haven't had time yet- syntax isn't too different and there are a lot more samples in C# these days

    if you want to give it a try post when you get stuck, we can help out

    Sue
     
  17. mike274

    mike274

    Joined:
    May 24, 2012
    Posts:
    16
    Just wanted to let you know, Sue, that the assets are now up. They appeared there Friday. Thanks so much for all your help so far!!
     
  18. Twinny

    Twinny

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2013
    Posts:
    13
    im curious as to how complex the code in this book gets. Im new to programming and am focusing on C#, but i still have the knowledge required to translate javascript code as long as its just the basics.
     
  19. Wampy

    Wampy

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Posts:
    14
    I just bought the new version of this book. I downloaded the assests/etc. from the Apress web site when I try to unzip them I get crc errors anyone else having this problem?
     
  20. k3D-Junkie

    k3D-Junkie

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2011
    Posts:
    236
    Hi guys,

    I've just started a thread for the new book (because looking through pages of old posts can be daunting)

    http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/199717-Beginning-3D-Game-Development-with-Unity-4

    @ Twinny-
    as I mentioned earlier, I am considering redoing the scripts in C#
    the scripting starts pretty simple, but there are a couple of scripts that you will keep adding to throughout the second half of the book

    @ Wampy
    The download is big (but not as big as last time...;)
    I had to upload it one zipped chapter at a time to the Apress manuscripts site because it kept timing out on me
    I'd suggest re-downloading if possible
    if that doesn't work or if anyone else has problems, I'll contact Apress and let them know

    Sue
     
  21. mike274

    mike274

    Joined:
    May 24, 2012
    Posts:
    16
    Sue, I had issues with the Assets Folder saying it was corrupted on unzipping. I tried redownloading it and had the same isssue. All of the Chapter Folders unzipped fine.
     
  22. fireant911

    fireant911

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2013
    Posts:
    7
    I am coming in on this very late so I hope that this thread is still valid. I am in Chapter 7 (page 321) of the original book and have come to an absolute halt.I have imported the 'AnimationObjectsFull' into the scene and scaled them according to the directions. When I click 'Play', per the instructions, no animation occurs to the new objects (chest, key, flower, rock); however, the other objects previously placed in the scene behave as before. I am using the newest version of Unity (Unity 4.3). What am I doing wrong to prevent this prefab from animating? Is this a compatibility issue where these older imports do not work with the newer version(s) of Unity? Any help/guidance will be much appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Daryl G
     
  23. fireant911

    fireant911

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2013
    Posts:
    7
    After much more searching I found that the issue has already been addressed in Sue's original thread.

    Importing needs to be handled by using the Legacy option- make sure that after you import, you click on the asset in the project view, click Rig > Animation Type > Legacy, and then apply.Unity is switching the animation control over to Mecanim slowly and we've lost functionality in the process for mechanical type animation.

    All is working well now! Although this thread has undoubtedly been superseded by the 2nd edition thread to Ms, Blackman's book, I have to say that this is an amazing book with a wealth of information (albeit a bit daunting for a beginner's book to have so much information).
     
  24. megafenix

    megafenix

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2013
    Posts:
    3
    i am really interested in using tesselation displacements, but want to know if they can be done only by using the GPU or if even current GPUS like the amd hd5000 or hd6000 still need the help from the CPU to handle the list of buffer indices of vertices and do the analiosis of the flatness of the tesselation to see if further tesselation is needed, seems also has to do a recursive procedure that is only suited for CPUs and not GPUs

    I read this in GPU gems
    https://developer.nvidia.com/conten...ion-subdivision-surfaces-displacement-mapping
    "
    7.1.5 The GPU Tessellation Algorithm

    The tessellation algorithm works as follows. First, we copy the vertex data of the control mesh (positions) into the patch buffer texture. The flatness test assumes the vertex coordinates are in eye space. If they are not in eye space, they can be transformed before or during this copy. Next, we check each patch for flatness (see "The Flatness Test," later in this section). Then we compute vertex attribute data, such as positions and normals, for the patches that are flat and write them to the vertex array, writing the index information to a primitive index buffer. Patches that are not flat are subdivided into another patch buffer. Then we swap patch-buffer pointers and go back to the flatness test step. This section describes each step in the tessellation process in more detail.

    CPU Processing

    We use the CPU to do buffer management and to create the list of vertex indices that form part of the tessellation result. The CPU does not have to touch the vertex data, but it does read the flatness test results (using glReadPixels) and decides which patches need further tessellation. It assigns patch locations in the buffers, and it uses a simple recursive procedure to build the primitive index list based on the edge flatness results computed by the shaders.
    "

    does the unity engine tell you if some work is done on the cpu for the tesselation?
     
  25. pat68

    pat68

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2013
    Posts:
    34
    Hi Sue,

    on page 299 I should locate a "pollen ball" in the hierarchy.
    This question was already asked in this thread but I got stuck anyway....

    Under "Bone07" I only find a jewel instad of the ball. What did I wrong ?

    $flower.png

    Greetings
    Pat
     

    Attached Files:

  26. fireant911

    fireant911

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2013
    Posts:
    7
    I imagine that this thread is no longer active since the release of the 2nd edition but I will ask any now. I am in Chapter 7 in the section entitled "Using Unity's Animation view" (page 383) of the original book. In fact, I have been stuck here for the last three days because I do not get the same results when I follow the printed instructions. Once I add the Animation component it is empty (comparing the graph in figure 7-57 to mine, which contains nothing). I have changed everything I know to change (making the Animation Type 'Legacy' and ensuring the Generation Type is 'Stored in Nodes (Deprecated)') yet nothing appears. I have tried all the different Generation Types but it simply does not work when I adhere to the printed instructions. I have gone through this entire thread and no one else has mentioned this issue. Could this be (another) problem that has arisen because of changes to the game engine itself or is there an error in the instruction?
    Sincerely,
    Daryl G
     
  27. slimste

    slimste

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2013
    Posts:
    7
    sue

    on p 98 is says save the scene to make splatmap show up in the project view.: ok
    "open Terrain asset in the project view" : ok
    and "then select the SplatAlpha 0 object" where is the SplatAlpha 0 object ?
     
  28. Ijisthee

    Ijisthee

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2014
    Posts:
    12
    Hello Sue,

    first of all thanks for writing your great book! I love it.

    Now Unity released the new 4.6 beta with the new UI System.
    On page 196 you write to create a GUI Texture via "GameObjects -> create other -> GUI Texture. This menu has disappeared in 4.6.

    Can you tell me how to handly this now?

    Thanks for your answer :)

    Ijisthee
     
  29. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    You can still create a GameObject with a GUITexture component by creating an empty GameObject from the GameObject menu, select the GameObject, and then in the Component menu, under the Rendering submenu, select GUITexture.

    Edit: actually, I realized I'm looking at 4.5, not 4.6, so I hope the GUITexture and GUIText components are still there.
     
  30. Ijisthee

    Ijisthee

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    Aug 30, 2014
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  31. Ras

    Ras

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2013
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    Has anyone figured out a solution for the missing GUI Texture item from page 196. I've been experimenting with different methods, but, It's only confusing me more...
     
  32. paddyrao

    paddyrao

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2015
    Posts:
    5
    Sue,

    Greetings!

    I am using your book "Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity 4." However, I downloaded Unity 5 from the Unity website onto my iMac.

    When I get to the 4th chapter on Terrain creation, I really am not able to add any meaningful texture. None of the textures mentioned in your book are available. Even the ones that are available aren't getting added to the Terrain object in the Scene (the Add button just won't get enabled).

    Am I missing something? For your book does not state that textures such as GoodDirt, etc, should require Unity Pro.

    Thanks Sue!

    Paddy
     
  33. Adam-Buckner

    Adam-Buckner

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    Posts:
    5,664
    These textures may have been updated in Unity 5. Try going to Assets/Import Package/Environment and look at the assets in that standard assets package.

    Screenshot 2015-04-16 23.35.45.png

    I'm seeing some interesting choices under "Surface Textures":
    Screenshot 2015-04-16 23.37.59.png

    You should be able so add them to the terrain in the same or similar way to Unity 4. Click on edit textures:
    Screenshot 2015-04-16 23.40.05.png
    and then add texture:
    Screenshot 2015-04-16 23.39.29.png
     
    paddyrao likes this.
  34. paddyrao

    paddyrao

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2015
    Posts:
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    Adam,

    Thank you. I was able to import the package...hopefully everything goes like a charm from now on :).

    Sue's book is a great read, and very detailed. I am enjoying the read as also trying out her examples.

    Thanks again,

    Paddy
     
  35. SkyeBoy

    SkyeBoy

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2016
    Posts:
    1
    Hi Sue,
    I am one of your reader in China,i am sorry to tell you that it's hard to get the resources in China
    I logged in unity3d and found the address .
    Now i am downloading the resources in the speed of 21k/s……
    Loking forward to building my first game.
    Wish u have a good day ~