Slides from my presentation at Unite 2012 in Amsterdam.

1. Mark Rondina Unite 12
For
Introduction to Unity for AS3 Developers
Mark Rondina Unite 12 1
Tuesday, April 30, 13

2. Mark Rondina Unite 12 2
Introduction
http://markrondina.com
@mrondina
mrondina@gmail.com
Tuesday, April 30, 13

3. Mark Rondina Unite 12 3
Audience Poll
Tuesday, April 30, 13

4. Mark Rondina Unite 12 4
Audience Poll
Tuesday, April 30, 13

5. Mark Rondina Unite 12 5
Session Overview
• Window Layout
• Where’s my stuff?
Unity IDE Basics
Unity Objects
The GUI
• GameObjects, Prefabs
and Transforms
• Components
• Text
• GUI elements
• GUI skins
Scripting
• Languages
• Adding Scripts
• Accessing Scripts
Tuesday, April 30, 13

6. Mark Rondina Unite 12 6
Unity IDE Overview - Project Window
Project Window
• Linked to the folder on your
computer where project is stored
• ~/Project Folder/Assets/
• Built-in Unity assets are loaded here
• Similar to Flash Professional Library
Tuesday, April 30, 13

7. Mark Rondina Unite 12 7
Unity IDE Overview - Hierarchy Window
• List of all objects in the Unity scene
• Unity scenes ≈ Flash Pro scenes
• Can rename objects and elements
Hierachy Window
Tuesday, April 30, 13

8. Mark Rondina Unite 12 8
Unity IDE Overview - Inspector Window
• List of all the properties of selected object
• Unity inspector += Flash Pro properties
panel
• Rename objects and elements
• Add/Delete and Enable/disable
components
• Edit/Modify object components
• Edit/Modify object properties
• Interact with script variables
• Assign materials and shaders
Inspector Window
Tuesday, April 30, 13

9. Mark Rondina Unite 12 9
Unity IDE Overview - Animation Window
• List of all the properties of selected object
• Edit existing animations imported with
geometry
• Split animations apart for ease of
triggering and looping
• Create new animations
Inspector Window
Tuesday, April 30, 13

10. Mark Rondina Unite 12 10
Unity Objects - Transform
• Component of GameObject
• Holds Position, Scale and Rotation of
the object
• Accessed using -
GameObject.transform
• 3D objects can be cast as Transforms
i.e. var myCube:Transform;
• Casting as Transform may provide
speed increase when working with Scale
Position and Rotation
• Access the GameObject parent -
myCube.gameObject
Transform
Tuesday, April 30, 13

11. Mark Rondina Unite 12 11
Unity Objects - GameObject
• Base class for all elements in a scene
• Able to access any component on the
selected object - i.e.
GameObject.GetComponent();
• Must use to add or remove
components, such as colliders, scripts.
etc
• Similar to Flash - Sprite class
GameObject
Tuesday, April 30, 13

12. Mark Rondina Unite 12 12
Unity Objects - Prefab
• Container of GameObjects
• Can be configured to hold multiple
objects with set components
• Editing of the base Prefab can provide
quick and easy updates to all linked to it
• Similar to Flash - MovieClip class
• Convenience of build once and use
anywhere
• Can be placed on scene or instances
created from code
• Combined with code can be powerful!
Prefab
Tuesday, April 30, 13

13. Mark Rondina Unite 12 13
Working With the GUI
• Exist in OnGUI ≈ onEnterFrame
• Buttons
• Labels
• Text Input - normal/password
• TextField, TextArea
• Vertical/Horizontal Scrollbars
• Toggle
• Window
• ScrollView ≈ scrolling text component
Unity GUI Objects
Tuesday, April 30, 13

14. Mark Rondina Unite 12 14
Working With the GUI
• Exist in OnGUI ≈ onEnterFrame
• Buttons
• Labels
• Text Input - normal/password
• TextField, TextArea
• Vertical/Horizontal Scrollbars
• Toggle
• Window
• ScrollView ≈ scrolling text component
Unity GUI Objects
DEMO THIS
Tuesday, April 30, 13

15. Mark Rondina Unite 12 15
Positioning GUI Elements
GUI
vs
GUILayout
• Positing your GUI elements yourself
• May have speed improvements
• For when you know what you’re
dealing with
• Unity’s Layout Manager positions your
GUI elements
• Layout is similar to HTML tables
• Rapidly getting elements on screen to
test
Tuesday, April 30, 13

16. Mark Rondina Unite 12 16
Positioning GUI Elements
GUI
vs
GUILayout
• Positing your GUI elements yourself
• May have speed improvements
• For when you know what you’re
dealing with
• Unity’s Layout Manager positions your
GUI elements
• Layout is similar to HTML tables
• Rapidly getting elements on screen to
test
DEMO THIS
Tuesday, April 30, 13

17. Mark Rondina Unite 12 17
GUI Skinning - IDE
• Customize the built-in GUI components
• Make your own custom skins
• Can set global GUI fonts and add
additional fonts to use in scripts
• If not specified, Unity uses default skins
Skinning in the IDE
Tuesday, April 30, 13

18. Mark Rondina Unite 12 18
GUI Skinning - Code
• Use “private” keyword for your GUISkin
variables
• Can be overridden by IDE GUI Skin
• States need to have same background
image or won’t show
Skinning in code
Tuesday, April 30, 13

19. Mark Rondina Unite 12 19
GUI Skinning - IDE
• Very easy to use
• Global access for any GUI elements
• Override using scripts if needed
Skinning in the IDE
Tuesday, April 30, 13

20. Mark Rondina Unite 12 20
GUI Skinning - IDE
• Very easy to use
• Global access for any GUI elements
• Override using scripts if needed
Skinning in the IDE
DEMO THIS
Tuesday, April 30, 13

21. Mark Rondina Unite 12 21
Scripting Options
Boo Script
• Based on Python
• Less Verbose
• Debugging in MonoDevelop
UnityScript
• Based on Javascript
• Allows for strict typing
• Familiarity
• Pascal case (OnGUI)
• Run time and Compile time
error checking
C#
• Established code language
• Lots of available libraries
• Ability to use Visual Studio
• Possible speed
improvements
Tuesday, April 30, 13

22. Mark Rondina Unite 12 22
Script Popularity Survey
Tuesday, April 30, 13

23. Mark Rondina Unite 12 23
Variable Scope
UnityScript
• public by default
• Vars public && undeclared are
accessible via IDE
• static == global i.e. myScript.staticVar;
• private are kept within the script scope
• local variables - those within functions
exist during the function and then are
marked for GC
** in C# variables are private by default
Tuesday, April 30, 13

24. Mark Rondina Unite 12 24
Adding Scripts
Scripts
• Unity treats scripts as components
• IDE - drag and drop onto objects (similar
to Macromedia Director behaviours)
• Code - use
GameObject.AddComponent(ScriptName)
Tuesday, April 30, 13

25. Mark Rondina Unite 12 25
Learning Resources
Online
• Unity Answers - http://answers.unity3d.com
• Unity Forum - http://forum.unity3d.com/
• Unify Wiki - http://wiki.unity3d.com
• Unity Documentation - http://bit.ly/3wgqcp
• Unity Script Reference - http://bit.ly/NX42Db
• Reference Manual - http://docs.unity3d.com
• BIG LIST of TUTS! - http://bit.ly/oXSGNy
• Virtual Game Lab - http://bit.ly/QVohzg
Offline
http://bit.ly/Nh6bXy
Tuesday, April 30, 13

26. Mark Rondina Unite 12 26
THANK YOU!!
http://markrondina.com
@mrondina
mrondina@gmail.com
Tuesday, April 30, 13