GAM 392: Game Modification Workshop - DePaul University - College of Computing and Digital Media

GAM 392: Game Modification Workshop

Perforce

How to use Perforce with Unity effectively (PPT) Thanks Chris Wade for writing this!

Unity

Throughout the course you'll have hundreds of questions like, "How do I do X in Unity?" You will need to learn how to answer those questions for yourself. Here are steps to solve them:

1: Start here: https://unity.com/community - there are a ton of resources.

2: In Unity go to Help in the top menu panel and search the Scripting Reference and Manual.

3: Unity Forums - Search to see if the question has been answered already. If it hasn't, then post the question. Taking a screenshot of the problem always helps for clarity (people can also see the post has an attachment, making it stick out more in the queue). If your question isn't answered within a day, have a teammate bump the question back to the top by commenting on the question thread, or, you can comment on it yourself, clarifying the question or posting any progress you've made in solving it. In general, the forum is an awesome place to browse for tricks, tips, and downloads.

4: Unity Answers - Search first and if it isn't answered then post your question. If you're impatient, post the question here at the same time as the Unity Forums.

5: The Unity has 100s of developer groups https://unity3d.com/community/user-groups. There is also a massive Unity developer discord server: https://discordapp.com/invite/unity

6: You can ask the class questions in the class Discord.

7: Ask Game Tutors in the Tutoring Lab and even make online appointments for help!

Unity Cheat Sheet for Programmers

Unity Cheat Sheet for Artists -- Other Resources for Artists

Unity Cheat Sheet for Game Designers

Unity Cheat Sheet for Sound Designer

Unity Cheat Sheet for Building and Publishing

Thank you Samantha Kalman for compiling the Cheat Sheets!

Unity Game Engine

Your games will be based in Unity, installed on all the class workstations. Unity is an integrated development environment with hierarchical, visual editing, detailed property inspectors, and a live game preview. It can deploy on myriad consoles, platforms: PS4, Xbone, iPhone/iPad, Android, Browsers, and stand alone Windows and Mac OSX applications. Unity is a popular engine for indie studios, research labs, and universities because it supports fast, iterative game development. The indie license is free. You don't need to install it on your own machines but it can make working on your projects much more convenient. A comparison between the different personal plans is here. The required specs are relatively low.

Official Downloads, Tutorials, etc.

You're Free to Use Any Code/Content You Can Find

If you can find it, you can use it in your projects! No limitations! You don't have to ask me if you can use it. ANY downloaded content, music, code, middleware, etc. are acceptable. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, however. When you submit your final project at the end of the course you will be asked to list all the code and assets that you used in but did not create. It's easier to just to update a text file documenting what you're currently downloading and testing out something rather than trying to remember everything you used at the last minute.

Be selective with what you use in your projects! Don't use everything and the kitchen sink. Don't stuff a bunch of complex particle effects, a TARDIS, an animated mountain troll, etc., into your mod just because you can. The secret to producing a game that's more than just the sum of its parts is to only use/create elements that unify the experience. Be ruthless with what you cut and think holistically. Thoughtfully consider if that item you just found or made adds to or subtracts from the overall experience. Less is often more. For example, maybe that awesome A* Pathfinding system is overkill for your project because it burns up way too much of your programmer's time to get it working properly. Don't be afraid to test things out, but don't be clingy to code/assets if they don't add to your overall vision. Remember to "Tell the story every way possible." - This maxim has been popular at Disney for 60 years.

This is a good project (a 3rd Person Shooter) to start playing around with:
On the lab computer go to:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Unity Projects\Bootcamp Demo\Assets
Click on "Bootcamp".

Here are some other good projects to download. Some are final examples from tutorials. If you find good ones, email me and I'll add them here. Go to Assets>Scenes and open a scene: