Intro

Hey! This documentation will guide you through setting up a project in the Unity Game Engine. You will learn how to navigate through some of Unity's basic functions and use those functions to setup your first game and upload it online.

What is Unity?

Unity is a game engine that is used to develop two-dimensional (2D), 3-dimensional (3D) , Virtual Reality (VR) and Alternative Reality (AR) experiences. While mainly used for game development, it is also widely used in the film, automotive design and architecture industries. This guide will focus on the gaming functionalities of Unity.

Intended Users

This documentation is designed for beginner developers who want to start learning basic game development in Unity. This guide does not expect you to have any experience in game development.

Prerequisites

• Working knowledge of programming data types strings, ints and floats - you are expected to know what these data types are, and what they represent in programming languages.

• Experience with statically typed programming languages such as Java or C - you are expected to know how to write a small class with a name, fields, a constructor and methods.

• A computer with Windows operating system and internet access.

• Knowledge of keyboard and gaming terminologies.

Account and Program Requirements

Before beginning, please ensure you have the following accounts and programs:

• A Unity account
• An itch.io account
• Unity Engine Hub downloaded and installed
• 7zip (or any other way to compress files to zip format)

Objectives

1. Install Unity Editor
2. Navigate the Editor
3. Create a Simple 2D Game
4. Create a Main Menu
5. Build and Upload Game to itch.io

Typographical Conventions

Convention	Example
Clickable buttons and sections within Unity are bolded	Hierarchy window
Commands, functions and file names are formatted in monospace font	Canvas Scaler
Glossary defined terms have a link to the glossary page	sprite

Menu and Button Sequence

The > symbol indicates the flow of menu or button click actions.

2D Object > Sprites > Square

Tabs

For instruction sections with multiple tabs, you can select the tab that best fits your situation. See an example of this below.

If you do not have Visual Studio 2022 installedIf you have Visual Studio 2022 installed

Code Blocks

This syntax denotes a section of code that would be put into the Unity editor.

void Start()
{
    Debug.Log("Hello World");
}

Code Annotation

The 'plus' symbol at the right of these lines of code denotes an explanation tooltip that will give further information on the line of code. Left-click on it to have the explanation appear.

void start()
{
    Debug.Log("Hello"); // (1)
    Debug.Log("Hello"); // (2)
    Debug.Log("World"); // (3)
}

1. Explanation tooltip 1
2. Explanation tooltip 2
3. Did you notice the numbered lines?

Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+Shift+S

Notes and Warning Messages

We will use message blocks to inform you of additional relevant information. Here are each possible message block.

Warning

Indicates specific information that should be read before proceeding.

Success

Indicates what success looks like.

Failure

Specifies actions that may lead to unexpected behaviour.

Info

Indicates additional information.

Tip

Indicates useful knowledge, such as keyboard shortcuts.

Bug

Specifies actions that may cause an error.