5 replies to this topic

[Cdrandin]

Hiya, so before I want to make my game come true with Unity I want to create a simple game in Unity so understand the basic since I have never used it before. Was wondering what is a nice simple game to get me started. Someone told me to just get a Pong working and work up from there. If that is the case would i need to do scripting? I know Python and C++, I have seen C# code before, and I think I can mange to work with it. I just have no idea how I would make a Pong in Unity. Would I make it 3D or is it possible to make it 2D or is the difference in dimension with respect to the camera angle? Also, how would I "script" in my commands to make Pong work. I have made Pong using Pygame, but I am having trouble see this work out in Unity is all. I have seen a few basic Unity tutorials so far and none have explain scripting.

Also, why would one prefer Unity over something like the Blender Game Engine. I looked into Blender and it seems pretty simple to make basic games and even I have seen some complex games as well. Just curious on the dynamic between the two. I believe Blender has some restrictions with model imports whereas Unity has a more diverse set to import from. I believe export is the same and I am not sure if Blender could do standalone or embedded device (not entirely sure).

Just hoping to get some advice.

[minibutmany]

From the little I have tried, I have found that unity scripting is a big pain in the rear. Pong is definitly a good place to start, although it really won't teach you much about unity's extensive tools for 3D, which is really the only reason to use unity over a C based language.
This is the official documentation for unity scripting: http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/ScriptReference/. Unlike normal programming where it is all in the code, unity painfully goes back and forth between visual elements and code. I am not farmiliar with blender, but I find that unity is a good choice for learning, as it has a large community behind it and therefore an abundance of user-made documentation.

[Casey Hardman]

From the little I have tried, I have found that unity scripting is a big pain in the rear. Pong is definitly a good place to start, although it really won't teach you much about unity's extensive tools for 3D, which is really the only reason to use unity over a C based language.
This is the official documentation for unity scripting: http://docs.unity3d....criptReference/. Unlike normal programming where it is all in the code, unity painfully goes back and forth between visual elements and code. I am not farmiliar with blender, but I find that unity is a good choice for learning, as it has a large community behind it and therefore an abundance of user-made documentation.

I don't see what you mean about Unity3D being "painful". I've been using Unity for years and I never thought the scripting language (which is UnityScript, though you can use C# or Boo if you want) was annoying. UnityScript is easier and faster to write code with than C# from my experience, because it automatically does some things that you would have to do manually in C#. There are some minor things C# can do that UnityScript can't, but they've never bothered me much.

To the OP:
Personally, I started programming by using Unity with 3D games, and I only had very slight experience with 2D from years ago, so you could say I hopped right into 3D scripting. I can't say whether this was "good" or "bad", as I think it depends on the individual. I often hear the most important thing is to just stick with one language/engine and roll with it until you get experienced. Programming experience is fairly general, so it will be helpful regardless of which language you're using.

You could definitely use Unity to make a Pong game, if you had an orthographic camera looking down on the paddles and didn't use the Y position of the paddles (the Y is up/down in Unity, the Z is forward/back, and the X is right/left). That way, you'd basically be "not using" the Y dimension, and you could just focus on the two that you need.

Unity also has built-in collisions and other such physics that you could learn the basics of by making a pong game.

If you're getting into Unity, I would suggest you bookmark this page, which has a search bar where you can look at classes and functions in the Unity engine, as well as a short little tutorial to get you started:
http://docs.unity3d....ence/index.html

Also, this website below is where you can go to ask specific questions about problems you're facing while using Unity:
http://answers.unity3d.com/

With some practice, I think you'll find that Unity is very powerful and flexible. Stick to the website and look through the documentation there, because it's very detailed and helpful!

Good luck!

[Cdrandin]

From the little I have tried, I have found that unity scripting is a big pain in the rear. Pong is definitly a good place to start, although it really won't teach you much about unity's extensive tools for 3D, which is really the only reason to use unity over a C based language.
This is the official documentation for unity scripting: http://docs.unity3d....criptReference/. Unlike normal programming where it is all in the code, unity painfully goes back and forth between visual elements and code. I am not farmiliar with blender, but I find that unity is a good choice for learning, as it has a large community behind it and therefore an abundance of user-made documentation.

I don't see what you mean about Unity3D being "painful". I've been using Unity for years and I never thought the scripting language (which is UnityScript, though you can use C# or Boo if you want) was annoying. UnityScript is easier and faster to write code with than C# from my experience, because it automatically does some things that you would have to do manually in C#. There are some minor things C# can do that UnityScript can't, but they've never bothered me much.

To the OP:
Personally, I started programming by using Unity with 3D games, and I only had very slight experience with 2D from years ago, so you could say I hopped right into 3D scripting. I can't say whether this was "good" or "bad", as I think it depends on the individual. I often hear the most important thing is to just stick with one language/engine and roll with it until you get experienced. Programming experience is fairly general, so it will be helpful regardless of which language you're using.

You could definitely use Unity to make a Pong game, if you had an orthographic camera looking down on the paddles and didn't use the Y position of the paddles (the Y is up/down in Unity, the Z is forward/back, and the X is right/left). That way, you'd basically be "not using" the Y dimension, and you could just focus on the two that you need.

Unity also has built-in collisions and other such physics that you could learn the basics of by making a pong game.

If you're getting into Unity, I would suggest you bookmark this page, which has a search bar where you can look at classes and functions in the Unity engine, as well as a short little tutorial to get you started:
http://docs.unity3d....ence/index.html

Also, this website below is where you can go to ask specific questions about problems you're facing while using Unity:
http://answers.unity3d.com/

With some practice, I think you'll find that Unity is very powerful and flexible. Stick to the website and look through the documentation there, because it's very detailed and helpful!

Good luck!

Thanks very helpful. My intentional purpose was to create a 3D model platformer , but with a plane functionality. So essentially it acts like a 2D game, but with 3D modeling, which will be presented with a tilted camera perspective to present a wholesome figure. Always been my dream game to make something like that and I have always been attracted to platformers and MOBAs (but this will have to wait for a while since it is much more complex)

Edited by Cdrandin, 08 December 2012 - 09:36 PM.

[Stixx]

If you like video tutorials, I have been following along with this series (for a 2-d pong-style game)
I think it's great and really well explained. I'm incredibly happy with it.

I'm just beginning (less than a month) with both Unity and learning programming, but have had no problem following these tutorials. The first one is from may 2012 (I link here to part 1B because 1A was just discussing what the tutorials would cover. 1B is where you get started). These tutorials are in easily-digestible 15 minute blocks and use UnityScript I believe. I only have some HTML experience from years ago, but the guy in the video really tries to explain a surprising amount and the scripting was easy for me to get started with. It sounds like you have more experience and could breeze through them even faster. Hope this is helpful to you.

[Cdrandin]

If you like video tutorials, I have been following along with this series (for a 2-d pong-style game)
I think it's great and really well explained. I'm incredibly happy with it.

I'm just beginning (less than a month) with both Unity and learning programming, but have had no problem following these tutorials. The first one is from may 2012 (I link here to part 1B because 1A was just discussing what the tutorials would cover. 1B is where you get started). These tutorials are in easily-digestible 15 minute blocks and use UnityScript I believe. I only have some HTML experience from years ago, but the guy in the video really tries to explain a surprising amount and the scripting was easy for me to get started with. It sounds like you have more experience and could breeze through them even faster. Hope this is helpful to you.

Thanks that is really helpful