- Installing Unity
- Getting to Know the Unity Editor
- Navigating the Unity Scene View
- Summary
- Q&A
- Workshop
- Exercise
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Getting to Know the Unity Editor
Now that you have Unity installed, you can begin exploring the Unity editor. The Unity editor is the visual component that enables you to build games in a “what you see is what you get” fashion. Because most interaction you have is actually with the editor, many people refer to it as simply Unity. This section examines the various elements of the Unity editor and how they fit together to make games.
The Projects Section
Not only is the Unity Hub where you manage your editor installations, it is where you create and select projects. At this point, the Projects section of the Hub is probably blank for you (see Figure 1.4).
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FIGURE 1.4 The empty Projects section of the Hub.
In order to create a new project, all you have to do is click New. If you have multiple editor versions installed and you’d like to pick the version, you can do so by clicking the downward arrow next to the New button. Finally, if you want to open a project you’ve already created (and that isn’t in the project list already), you can do so by clicking ADD. In the following exercise, you will see exactly how to create a new project.
Try It Yourself
Creating Your First Project
You are ready to create a project. Pay special attention to where you save the project so that you can easily find it later. Figure 1.5 shows the dialog box you use to create a project. Follow these steps:
Open the Unity Hub and click NEW. The New Project dialog pops up.
Select a location for your project. I recommend that you create a folder called Unity Projects to keep all your book projects together. If you are unsure where to put your project, you can leave the default location.
Name your project Hour 1 TIY. Unity creates a folder with the same name as the project, in the location specified in this dialog.
Leave 3D selected for now. You’ll learn about some of the other options in the future.
Click CREATE.
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FIGURE 1.5 The settings for your first project.
The Unity Interface
So far, you have installed Unity and looked at the New Project dialog. Now it is time to dig in and start playing around. When you open a new Unity project for the first time, you see a collection of gray windows (called views), and everything is rather empty (see Figure 1.6). Never fear; you will quickly get this place hopping. The following sections look at each of the unique views, one by one. First, though, let’s talk about the layout.
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FIGURE 1.6 The Unity interface.
For starters, Unity allows you to determine exactly how you want to work. Any of the views can be moved, docked, duplicated, or changed. For instance, if you click the word Hierarchy (on the left) to select the Hierarchy view and drag it over to the Inspector (on the right), you can tab the two views together. You can also place your cursor on any line between views and resize the windows. In fact, why don’t you take a moment to play around and move things so that they are to your liking? If you end up with a layout that you don’t much care for, you can quickly and easily switch back to the built-in default view by going to Window > Layouts > Default Layout. While you are playing around, go ahead and try out a few of the other layouts. (I’m a fan of the Wide layout.) If you create a custom layout you like, you can save it by going to Window > Layouts > Save Layout. (I used a custom layout called Pearson for the writing of this book.) After you’ve saved a custom layout, if you accidentally change the layout, you can always get it back. It is worth noting that you can also control the layouts through the Layouts drop-down, located in the upper right of the Unity editor; it is the drop-down that says Default in Figure 1.6.
Duplicating a view is a fairly straightforward process as well. You can simply right-click any view tab (such as Inspector in Figure 1.7) and hover the mouse cursor over Add Tab, and a list of views pops up for you to choose from (see Figure 1.7). You may wonder why you would want to duplicate a view. Say that in a view-moving frenzy, you accidentally close a view. Re-adding the tab will give it back to you. Also, consider the capability to create multiple Scene views. Each Scene view could align with a specific element or axis within your project. If you want to see this in action, check out the 4 Split built-in layout by going to Window > Layouts > 4 Split. (If you have already created a layout that you like, be sure to save it before you check out 4 Split.)
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FIGURE 1.7 Adding a new tab.
Now, without further ado, let’s look at the specific views in the Unity editor.
The Project View
Everything that has been created for a project (files, scripts, textures, models, and so on) can be found in the Project view (see Figure 1.8). This is the window that shows all the assets and organization of a project. When you create a new project, you see a folder section called Assets. If you go to the folder on your hard drive where you save the project, you also find an Assets folder. This is because Unity mirrors the Project view with the folders on the hard drive. If you create a file or folder in Unity, the corresponding file or folder appears in the explorer (and vice versa). You can move items in the Project view simply by dragging and dropping. Unity enables you to place items inside folders or reorganize your project on the fly.
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FIGURE 1.8 The Project view.
When you click a folder in the Project view, the contents of the folder are displayed under the Assets section on the right. As you can see in Figure 1.8, the Assets section contains a single folder, named Scenes. If you open the Scenes folder, you see the contents of the folder—a single scene—listed on the right. To create assets, you simply click the Create drop-down (that is, the + drop-down). This menu enables you to add all manner of assets and folders to a project.
Tip
Project Organization
Organization is extremely important in project management. As your projects get bigger, the number of assets will grow, and eventually finding anything will be a chore. You can prevent a lot of frustration by employing some simple organization rules:
Every asset type (scenes, scripts, textures, and so on) should get its own folder.
Every asset should be in a folder.
If you use a folder inside another folder, make sure the structure makes sense. Folders should become more specific and should not be vague or generalized.
Following these few simple rules will really make a difference.
The Favorites buttons enable you to quickly select all assets of a certain type. This makes it possible to get an “at a glance” view of your assets. When you click one of the Favorites buttons (All Models, for instance) or perform a search with the built-in search bar, you can narrow down the results between assets and packages (or both; see Figure 1.9). With a little practice, finding exactly what you need will become a breeze!
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FIGURE 1.9 Searching the Project view.
The Hierarchy View
In many ways, the Hierarchy view (see Figure 1.10) is a lot like the Project view. The difference is that the Hierarchy view shows all the items in the current scene instead of in the entire project. When you first create a project with Unity, you get the default scene, which has just two items in it: the Main Camera and Directional Light game objects. As you add items to a scene, they appear in the Hierarchy view. Just as with the Project view, you can use the Create menu to quickly add items to your scene, search using the built-in search bar, and click and drag items to organize and nest them.
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FIGURE 1.10 The Hierarchy view.
The Inspector View
The Inspector view enables you to see all the properties of a currently selected item. Simply click any asset or object in the Project or Hierarchy view, and the Inspector view is automatically populated with information.
In Figure 1.11, you can see the Inspector view after the Main Camera object is selected from the Hierarchy view.
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FIGURE 1.11 The Inspector view.
Let’s break down some of the functionality available in the Inspector view:
Unchecking the box next to an object’s name disables it and ensures that it does not appear in the scene. Objects are enabled (that is, their boxes are checked) by default.
Drop-down lists (such as the Layer and Tag lists, which are discussed later) are used to select from a set of predefined options.
Text boxes, drop-downs, and sliders can have their values changed, and the changes are automatically and immediately reflected in the scene—even if the game is running!
Each game object acts like a container for different components (such as Camera and Audio Listener in Figure 1.11). You can disable these components by unchecking them or remove them by right-clicking and selecting Remove Component.
You can add components by clicking the Add Component button.
The Scene View
The Scene view is the most important view you work with in Unity because it enables you to see your game visually as it is being built (see Figure 1.12). Using the mouse controls and a few hotkeys, you can move around inside a scene and place objects where you want them. This gives you an immense level of control.
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FIGURE 1.12 The Scene view.
In a little bit, you will learn about moving around within a scene, but for now, let’s focus on the controls that are part of the Scene view:
Draw mode: This controls how the scene is drawn. By default, it is set to Shaded, which means objects will be drawn with their textures in full color.
2D/3D view: This control changes from a 3D view to a 2D view. Note that in 2D view, the scene gizmo (described later this hour) is not visible.
Scene lighting: This control determines whether objects in the Scene view are lit by default ambient lighting or only by lights that actually exist within the scene. The default is to include the built-in ambient lighting.
Audition mode: This control sets whether an audio source in the Scene view functions.
Visual effects: This control determines whether items like skyboxes, fog, and other effects appear in the Scene view.
Hidden objects: This control toggles the visibility of hidden objects in the Scene view.
Scene grid: This control allows you to configure the Scene grid.
Tools: This control toggles the Component Editor tool panel.
Scene camera: This control allows you to configure the Scene camera (the camera used to view the scene while editing).
Gizmo selector: This control enables you to choose which gizmos—that is, indicators that help with visual debugging or aid in setup—appear in the Scene view. This control also determines whether the placement grid is visible.
Scene gizmo: This control shows which direction you are currently facing and aligns the Scene view with an axis.
The Game View
The last view we need to go over is the Game view. Essentially, the Game view allows you to “play” the game inside the editor by giving you a full simulation of the current scene. All elements of a game function in the Game view just as they would if the project were fully built. Figure 1.13 shows what the Game view looks like. Note that although the Play, Pause, and Step buttons are not technically part of the Game view, they control the Game view and therefore are included in this figure.
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FIGURE 1.13 The Game view.
The Game view comes with some controls that assist with testing games:
Play: The Play button enables you to play the current scene. All controls, animations, sounds, and effects are present and working. Once a game is running, it should behave very similarly to how it would behave if it were actually being run in a standalone player (such as on your PC or mobile device). To stop a game from running, click the Play button again.
Pause: The Pause button pauses the execution of the currently running Game view. When a game is paused, it maintains its state and stays exactly where it was when the Pause button was clicked. Clicking the Pause button again causes the game to continue running.
Step: The Step button works while the Game view is paused and causes a single frame of the game to execute. This effectively allows you to “step” through the game slowly and debug any issues that exist. Clicking the Step button while the game is running causes the game to pause.
Aspect drop-down: From this drop-down menu, you can choose the aspect ratio you want for the Game view window while running. The default is Free Aspect, but you can change it to match the aspect ratio of the target platform you are developing for.
Maximize on Play: This button determines whether the Game view takes up the entirety of the editor when run. By default, this option is turned off, and a running game is only the size of the Game view tab.
Mute Audio: This button turns off the sounds when playing the game. This is handy when the person sitting next to you is getting tired of hearing your repeated playtesting!
Stats: This button determines whether rendering statistics are displayed on the screen while the game is running. These statistics can be useful for measuring the efficiency of a scene. The stats are turned off by default.
Gizmos: This is both a button and a drop-down menu. The button determines whether gizmos are displayed while the game is running. Game view gizmos are not displayed by default. The drop-down menu (the small arrow) on this button determines which gizmos appear if gizmos are turned on.
Honorable Mention: The Toolbar
Although not a view, the toolbar is an essential part of the Unity editor. Figure 1.14 shows the toolbar components:
Transform tools: These buttons enable you to manipulate game objects and are covered in greater detail in later hours. Pay special attention to the button that resembles a hand. This is the Hand tool, and it is described later this hour.
Transform gizmo toggles: These toggles allow you to manipulate how gizmos appear in the Scene view. You can leave them alone for now.
Game view controls: These buttons control the Game view.
Account and Services controls: These buttons allow you to manage the Unity account you are using as well as the services you are using in your project.
Layers drop-down: This menu determines which object layers appear in the Scene view. By default, everything appears in the Scene view. Leave this alone for now. Layers are covered in Hour 5, “Lights and Cameras.”
Layout drop-down: This menu allows you to quickly change the layout of the editor.
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FIGURE 1.14 The toolbar.