Unity Tutorial 02: UI, Audio & Ray Tracing

Sure, I get it...
Source: Giphy

  This week on Unity - Some C# coding that I'm not gonna pretend I understand! I understand the functions that they performed, but the actual elements are going to take some time and practise to become as familiar as HTML and CSS. I've come across 'if' statements before, but I'm still unsure of what some of the more complex coding involving 'public', 'static', and 'Raycast' really do. I will definitely be researching some basic C# coding, to get a better idea of what these functions are doing behind the scenes.

  I began by adding a sound effect to the gem I created last week. This was a simple process that involved creating some subfolders and ticking some boxes. I can handle this much. Adding water was a much simpler process than I expected. After creating a dip in the terrain, I dragged and dropped in the water prefab and adjusted the desired height of the water. To create a wall, I added some new textures and materials. I was able to create the normal maps and the materials on my own, so at least I know some information is sticking.

  Then it was time to edit the User Interface somewhat. I was able to add a crosshair to the centre of the players screen to mark what is being aimed at. This was done by adding a square to centre screen, and then adjusting the size and rotation to create a small diamond. This can be further edited later on to create a dynamic crosshair that changes depending on what the user is pointing to.

  With the crosshair in place, the coding for Ray Casting came next. Ray casting is something that I never realised I knew nothing about until I went to implement it into my game. Now I know that it is a ray that goes from the start point straight ahead until it hits a solid object in the game. So far, I have set it that it marks the distance from the player to wherever the crosshair is pointing. It will be useful when it comes to debugging later on.

  While I am still unsure of C#, and would not yet be able to code on my own with no help from my good pal, Jimmy Vegas, I feel like I will get there soon enough. With some extra theory homework and a bit of patience I can become familiar with this new language.

If you look really closely, you will see a crosshair... And many, many pixels.

- Ultan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction: How I Became Addicted

Image
The photo for my business profile: Ultan O'Cinnéide Photography   As the blog would lead you to believe, my name is Ultan O'Cinnéide. I'm a 26 year old father, drama teacher, photographer, videographer, student, and musician trying to fit as much of the things that I love in to every day. These are all things that I have become so passionate about, with the list continuously growing. The best news that I have heard in my Creative Digital Media college course is that employers are now looking for candidates skilled in many different fields. While I expect to be proficient in certain areas, I want as vast a knowledge as possible about as many things in the creative media field. Employability is a fortunate and welcome bonus, but I'm so invested because I love it.   I left a job as a Production Supervisor in a factory to be a stay-at-home Dad, and had the best time with my first child. Having so much time with him was a blessing, and a time of my life and his th
Read more

Alpha

Image
Inventory, Health and Combat Systems have been implemented   Progress has been made! A lot of the core gameplay has been implemented, including combat, inventory, equipable items, enemy AI and health systems. It was a difficult road, but I managed to make all of the code work.   My next step is is to add quest and dialogue systems. This will mean that my storyline can start to take shape.    The main thing that I am finding difficult is altering the codes I am using to fit my game idea. I have had to simply follow others methods and adapt my game rather than editing the code to suit me. I am hoping that the quest and dialogue elements will work with the features I already have.   Here is a video that shows my game in action.  - Ultan
Read more

Game Design: What is it?

Image
Pieces from a board game. Image Source:  PHere What is a game?   A game has many definitions. One such definition used by Ian Schreiber is "a play activity with rules that involves conflict." Each game has a set of fundamentals that make it a game. They have ends and means; objectives, outcomes and rules defining how to get there. Decisions are made by a player, who seek objectives within the space given.   Schreiber states that there are six properties in a game: It is "Free". Playing is optional. It is "Separate", here meaning fixed in space and time in advance. It has an uncertain outcome. It is "Unproductive". It does not create real life goods or wealth. It is governed by rules. It is make believe.   These properties lend structure to a game, and help to distinguish the border between the game world and the real world. It is not necessary to play a game, therefore it is optional; the first decision made by the player is to
Read more