Getting Started With Game Development! (Game Dev Day 3)
Happy Easter everyone, hope your Holiday was splendid! Let’s get back into the groove of things and move forward into 2D game Development.
The first step to creating interactive media is to pick an engine to work with. I will be using Unity for the duration of these articles, so grab it here to follow along!
Pick the appropriate version (I just use whatever the latest version is) and use the install wizard to finish your installation.
(It is a good idea to create a folder somewhere on your PC specifically for Unity projects. I keep mine on my desktop)
Next you need to use the Unity Hub to create a new project
Name your project and set the location, and make sure you pick the 2D option to follow along with this section.
Now that we have a project, open it up! Your screen should look like this.
Lets go over some of the windows here and their basic functions. Later, we will cover a more useful layout for project management!
First off lets look at the “Scene” window (shown below)
The “Scene” window is the visual representation of what you are working on. Each “Scene” is essentially a level in a video game. Anything you add to your game will be visible here, provided you are looking at the correct “Scene”.
If you tab over on the window you will get to the “Game” window (Shown below)
This is the representation of what the in game player will see.
(My screen turns black because I have the background set to be black and there is nothing else in the camera’s view)
The final tab is Unity’s built in “Asset Store”. You can peruse this at your leisure, but its a great place to find assets (models, textures, etc).
Let’s briefly cover the surrounding tabs. The “Hierarchy” tab (located on the left of the “Scene/Game” window shows everything inside the current scene.
By default, you should have a Main Camera and a Directional Light. Any object, entity, light, or camera you add to your scene can be selected here.
At the bottom of the Unity window, you have the “Project” tab. This is the file structure of everything inside your project. Keep it organized!
You can also access the Console from this tab.
Finally, on the right-hand side of the Unity Window you will see the “Inspector” Tab.
This tab will show you the properties of any object you select (you can select object in either the “Hierarchy” or “Scene” windows). Example below!
That’s the bare bones basics of the Unity layout. We will go more in depth as we use each tool and will learn some new ones along the way. Next time, I will cover a more convenient layout structure for Unity that will make your development much more fluid.
Happy Trails!
