Holistic game development with Unity : an all-in-one guide to implementing game mechanics, art, design, and programming

Master game design and digital art principles simultaneously with this all-in-one guide to creating games in the cutting-edge game engine Unity 5. Bursting with images and tutorials, Penny de Byl's Holistic Game Development with Unity will help the reader gain the multidisciplinary skills needed to succeed in the independent game industry. Holistic Game Development includes new coverage on Augmented Reality, Networking and Virtual Reality such as the Oculus Rift. Supplementary material, including instructional videos, discussion forms and art assets are provided in the companion website located at www.holistic3d.com. Learn to combine the beauty of art and the functionality of programming in de Byl's second edition for Unity game development. Key Features Art and programming in unison-the only one-stop shop for individual developers and small teams looking to tackle both tasks. Proven step-by-step tutorials show you how to design and structure an entire game in Unity with art assets. Revised to cover the Unity 5 game engine. New coverage of Augmented Reality, Networking, and Virtual Reality. An introduction to essential two- and three-dimensional mathematical and physics concepts. A portfolio of royalty free reusable game mechanics. Revamped and expanded accompanying web site, www.holistic3d.com, features project source code, instructional videos, art assets, author blog, and discussion forums. Additional challenge questions and lesson plans are available online for an enhanced learning experience. The independent developer has ascended, and the new business model demands agility. You have to be able to work on all aspects of game creation, and your team's game will publish directly to platforms like Android, iPhone, and Facebook. You'll use Unity, the hottest game engine out there, to do it. In order to earn your place on the elite development team, you must master both sides of the development coin: art and programming. Holistic Game Development with Unity is an authoritative guide to creating games in Unity. Taking you through game design, programming, and art, Penny de Byl uses a holistic approach to equip you with the multidisciplinary skills you need for the independent games industry. With this book, you will master essential digital art and design principles while learning the programming skills necessary to build interactivity into your games. The tutorials will put these skills into action. The companion website offers: source code for completed projects from the book, art assets, instructional videos, a forum, author blog and lesson plans and challenge questions for professors. Examines art and programming in unison-the only one-stop shop for individual developers and small teams looking to tackle both tasks. Examines art and programming in unison-the only one-stop shop for individual developers and small teams looking to tackle both tasks. Teaches, using proven, step-by-step tutorials, how to design and structure and entire game in Unity with art assets created in Blender. Presents a gentle introduction to essential 2D and 3D mathematical and physics concepts. Provides a portfolio of reusable game mechanics. Companion website offers source code for completed projects featured in the book, art assets, instructional videos, author blog, and discussion forum, as well as lesson plans and challenge questions for professors Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1: The Art of Programming Mechanics -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Programming on the Right Side of the Brain -- 1.3 Creating Art from the Left Side of the Brain -- 1.3.1 Point -- 1.3.2 Line -- 1.3.3 Shape -- 1.3.4 Direction -- 1.3.5 Size -- 1.3.6 Texture -- 1.3.7 Color -- 1.4 How Game Engines Work -- 1.4.1 A Generic Game Engine -- 1.4.2 The Main Loop -- 1.5 A Scripting Primer -- 1.5.1 Logic -- 1.5.2 Comments -- 1.5.3 Functions -- 1.5.4 Variables -- 1.5.4.1 JavaScript Variables -- 1.5.5 Operators -- 1.5.5.1 Arithmetic Operators -- 1.5.5.2 Relational Operators -- 1.5.6 Conditional Statements -- 1.5.7 Arrays -- 1.5.8 Objects -- 1.6 A Game Art Asset Primer -- 1.6.1 The Power of Two Rule -- 1.6.2 Using Other People's Art Assets -- 1.7 Summary -- Chapter 2 : Real-World Mechanics -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Principles of Vectors -- 2.3 Defining 2D and 3D Space -- 2.3.1 Cameras -- 2.3.2 Local and World Coordinate Systems -- 2.3.3 Translation, Rotation, and Scaling -- 2.3.4 Polygons and Normals -- 2.4 Two-Dimensional Games in a 3D Game Engine -- 2.4.1 Quaternions? -- 2.4.2 Quaternions to the Rescue -- 2.5 The Laws of Physics -- 2.5.1 The Law of Gravity -- 2.5.2 The First Law of Motion -- 2.5.3 The Second Law of Motion -- 2.5.4 The Third Law of Motion -- 2.6 Physics and the Principles of Animation -- 2.6.1 Squash and Stretch -- 2.6.2 Anticipation -- 2.6.3 Follow-Through -- 2.6.4 Secondary Motion -- 2.7 2D and 3D Tricks for Optimizing Game Space -- 2.7.1 Reducing Polygons -- 2.7.1.1 Use Only What You Need -- 2.7.1.2 Backface Culling -- 2.7.1.3 Level of Detail -- 2.7.2 Camera Viewing Volume -- 2.7.3 Fog -- 2.7.4 Textures -- 2.7.4.1 Moving Textures -- 2.7.4.2 Blob Shadows -- 2.7.5 Billboards -- 2.8 Summary Master game design and digital art principles simultaneously with this all-in-one guide to creating games in the cutting-edge game engine Unity 5. Bursting with images and tutorials, Penny de Byls Holistic Game Development with Unity will help the reader gain the multidisciplinary skills needed to succeed in the independent game industry. Holistic Game Development includes new coverage on Augmented Reality, Networking and Virtual Reality such as the Oculus Rift. Supplementary material, including instructional videos, discussion forms and art assets are provided in the companion website located at (http://www.holistic3d.com) www.holistic3d.com . Learn to combine the beauty of art and the functionality of programming in de Byls second edition for Unity game development. Key Features