Hey all! Welcome to my first blog. This blog is a linear learning path for Unity game developers. I have used Unity for quite some time, both in academic and professional settings, so I think it’s a good time to share the helpful resources I have found along my journey to everyone.
Students nowadays have smaller chunks of time to learn new things, so rather than textbooks, I listed episodic Youtube series that are more welcoming than thick books on How To Become an Expert in XXX if You Read These 800 Pages. Of course, you should definitely read books to reinforce your knowledge base, and btw Milo Yip’s Study Path for Game Programmer is a great resource for bookworms, but I personally don’t think they are the perfect entry points.
Software
You can learn about these pieces of software if you want to create digital assets by yourself. It’s always great to learn how game assets are created (even if you are a programmer).
Graphics
Photoshop: 2D art in general.
Maya: Industry-standard 3D modeling. Great for animation and rigging. Free for students.
3DS Max: Industry-standard 3D modeling. Great for modeling. Free for students.
Zbrush: Quick, detailed 3D model sculpting.
Blender: Basically free Maya.
Substance Painter: Great for 3D model material authoring.
Marvelous Designer: Great for cloth
Houdini: Procedural, non-destructive assets
PureRef: Easy-to-use art reference software
Optimization
Texture Packer: Create texture atlas from multiple images
Basic
Basic tutorials to get your started on game development. Beware, sometimes tutorial include not-so-optimized code for ease of understanding, but you always can learn along and read about optimization later. Always remember to refer to API libraries if you don’t understand something.
Gameplay
Roll-a-ball (optional): Super simple 3D physics game
Official Unity 2D Game Kit: Learn what a completed project should look like
Intro to Game Development: Learn the basics and create a little game (feel free to skip anything you know already)
How to make a Doodle Jump in Unity: Finish a (sort of) complete game in an hour
Graphics
Shader 101 - Intro to Shaders: The basics you need to know to make good graphics
Shader 102 - Basics of Image Effects: Image effects (postprocessing)
Shader 103 - Using Replacement Shaders: Creating interesting effects with shader data
Art
Intermediate
It’s highly recommended you learn Unity Editor Scripting and all of graphics category before moving onto the Advanced section. At this point, you have everything needed to create cool prototypes, so an Events category is included if you ever decide to show your work to the community!
Gameplay
“Field of view” visualization: Create cone-shaped indicators for a character’s field of view
2D Platformer Controller: Create custom physics for your 2D platformer character
Procedural 3D level: Generate randomized, natural-looking 3D level
Procedural Planet: Generate randomized planet
A* pathfinding: Using A* algorithm to find a path from point A to B in your game
Graphics
Tools
Unity Editor Scripting: customize inspector GUI to accelerate your workflow
Curve Editor: Create a curve editor tool to quickly create a road, river, etc.
Gradient Editor: Create a color gradient editor for quick in-engine gradient texture
Events
Global Game Jam: Annual on-site game jam
Ludum Dare Game Jam: Biannual online-only game jam
GMTK Game Jam: Hosted by Mark Brown (GMTK Youtube channel).
CIGA Game Jam (China): Annual game jam, hosted in bigger Chinese cities.
Advanced
It’s a good idea to pick one specialization and focus on it. Instead of listing individual tutorials, links are provided here in their own categories and you can tread your own path.
Gameplay
Brackeys: Unity feature updates, gameplay tutorials
Sebastian Lague: Advanced gameplay tutorials
N3K EN: Misc gameplay tutorials
Filmstorm: Action RPG tutorials
SpeedTutor: Beginner tutorials and free asset recommendations
GucioDevs: Pixel art 2D games
Graphics
Alan Zucconi: Cool shaders
Lele Feng: Known for her book Introduction to Unity Shader
Keijiro Takahashi: Super cool guy. Known for his opensource kickass graphics
Walking Fat: Technical Artist at NetEase
Catlike Coding: In-depth graphics studies
Minions Art: Cool cartoon shaders
Sirhaian’Arts: VFX artist at Riot that makes a lot of break-down videos on Youtube
Art
Flipped Normals: Art pipeline tutorials (Substance Painter, Maya, Zbrush)
Blender Guru: Art theories and Blender tutorials
MortMort: Pixel art & animation
Game Design
Extra Credits: All kinds of game design/history talks
Game Maker’s Toolkit: level design analysis
ZEN
Read at your own risk. These are really advanced topics that can take days to grasp and make your hairline recede in an inhumane rate.
Sanity