Here at Beamable, we provide you with all of the tools to create your future game, but what if this is your first game? Working in Unity can be easy while working with our support teams, but if you’ve never launched Unity before this can seem like a daunting task. In this article, you’ll be able to see our resource recommendations as well as advice from Game Developers here at Beamable.
One of the most important things you’ll need to work in Unity is… Unity. There are four different types of subscriptions, and assuming you’re a first-timer at game creation, all you’ll need is a free subscription. ( Click here to set up your free Unity account)
Each subscription has its perks, and if you’re looking to upgrade use this link to compare each subscription.
While Unity downloads on your computer, you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with the software before diving in. We highly recommend watching Brackey’s How To Make A Video Game playlist that consists of 11 videos that cover the basics of game creation including Programming, Movement, and Camera Flow. ( For more information on how to Zoom a Camera in Unity read our article here.) Brackey’s in-depth How To Make A Video Game series allows for any beginner to become more familiar with Unity before opening the software.
We know what you’re thinking. “When can I START making MY game?!” In order to start your own project, it is important that you’ve not only watched educational videos on Unity but that you have some hands-on experience before diving into creating your dinosaur-princess-zombie-adventure game.
Upon entering the software you will be met with this page:
This is your Unity Hub and is where your projects will be stored.
If you look to the left panel you’ll notice there are four separate tabs. One for Projects, one for Installments, one that says Learn, and the final one says Community.
The Install tab will show all content that you have installed into Unity that you are using for your project.
The Community Tab allows for you to connect to the Unity Blog, Answers to common questions, Forums, Live Help, Unity Play, and Unity Pulse. Think of this tab as your helper tab, if you have a question you can ask Unity developers through a live Chat or connect with other Unity creators for inspiration.
The Learn Tab will be the most helpful tab when starting to be hands-on with the platform. This is what the tab looks like:
In the Learn tab, you will find an array of projects to choose from. Each project is a tutorial for a specific mechanic that can be used to create your own game. There are various levels to these projects from a Beginner Project, to an Intermediate Tutorial. Each Sample project takes a certain time to complete ranging from 5 minutes to 840 minutes. ( Don’t worry there are various tutorials that are 5-30 minutes long so that you can get to creating your own game faster, although we recommend taking on one of the larger projects before diving into your own) When selecting a sample project to work on, you will be prompted with downloading Unity’s editor ( when using the Unity Hub), make sure to download the most recent version in order to utilize all of their tools!
It is time young padawan, you are on your way to becoming a Game Dev Jedi! ( and a master of Unity Software!) To start your own project, return to the projects tab and select “New Project”. From here you will be met with a similar page that you have worked with during the Sample Projects.
Here are resources recommended by Software Engineer Chris Hanna:
GDC: https://www.youtube.com/c/Gdconf https://www.gdcvault.com/free “These are a bit more advanced, and have less to do with game-dev specifically, but are great resources for math and computing in general. They’re fun!” – Hanna, 2021
Looking for more?
Join our discord at beamable.com/discord and come and talk to our team, as well as other Unity creators!
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