Education Ecosystem Blog

Do you want to develop video games? Then you must pick a game engine to accompany you in the adventure.

Right now, there are multiple game engines in the market that you can use to develop a video game. However, there is one game engine that can easily overshadow others regarding features, availability, and learning-curve.

It’s the famous Unity game engine.

Unity game engine was first introduced in 2005 with the aim of providing game developers the necessary tools to create top class games. Its initial release was only for the OSX. Slowly, it became popular and caught the attention of thousands of developers around the world. There are also tons of Unity tutorials available online that can help anyone to get started easily.

After the initial success, constant efforts were made to bring it to Windows. And, here we are as you can now use Unity on both OSX and Windows. Linux version is still in the works.

We also have an amazing community of developers who stream their Unity projects. Right now, there are more than 7000+ videos on Unity. That’s a lot when you compare that indie game developers stream most of the videos. Unity game engine has its presence in both industry leading projects to indie game projects that earn millions of dollars. Also, Unity can be used to develop games
for almost all the available platforms right now, including the web, PC and the mobile.

A great example of Unity showcase is shown by CodeHatcher from San Francisco, United States. You can watch one of his videos to know more about his work. You can also follow his channel for regular Unity projects and videos.

Why should you learn Unity as a beginner?

Becoming a game developer is not an easy feat. It is a mix of different skillset and requires quite some time to get good at it. However, starting out in any trade can be overwhelming for any beginner. That’s why it is wise to start with a game engine and slowly develop expertise over the different aspects of game development.

Just like any game engine, Unity does all the heavy lifting. Want an object to rotate at a certain speed? Just set it in the editor, and it will be done. Just like any other development, there is no benefit in reinventing the wheel.  

With Unity, you can focus on creating a great game and not doing basic level stuff that has been already done many times earlier.

There are also plenty of Unity tutorials online that you can seamlessly use in your learning. You can get started with the free version of Unity. If you later opt to do full-time game development, it is advised to get a hand on the paid version of Unity.

Benefits of using Unity game engine

To build upon what we have discussed about Unity, let’s go through some of the main advantages of using Unity game engine. The benefits are evaluated from a beginner’s point of view and will help you understand Unity from a much better angle.

The first thing that you need to understand is that Unity is easy to learn. The community is great, and there are plenty of tutorials to follow. Let’s get started with other key aspects as well.

Easy Scripting: If you are going to develop games, you need to be good with scripting. With Unity, you get access to easy scripting tools. Right now, Unity uses C# programming language. Other than that you can also use Unity script or Bono to do the same work.

Easy Asset Workflow: Unity provides tools to manage easy asset workflow.

2D and 3D game development: With Unity, you can dive deep into both 2D and 3D development. So, it doesn’t matter which type of game you are trying to make; Unity will help you do so.

Unity Asset Store: Unity Asset Store enables developers to get easy access to amazing content for game development. You can find great artwork, scripts, and other content types to help you build amazing video games.

Great documentation: Unity is known for its amazing documentation. The documentation covers every aspect of the Unity game engine. Also, the documentation gets updated every time new feature is added.

How do you get started with Unity?

To get started with Unity, you need to download the free version from the Unity download page. Now, you can go to the Unity learn page. The learn page offers all the information that you need to get started. You can watch the videos listed on the learn page or can just go to the book section to know more about which book is the best for your learning experience. You can also go through the detailed tutorial on the official Unity tutorials page.

Hello, World! in Unity? Let’s look at the code below.

// HelloWorld.cs
using UnityEngine;
public class HelloWorld : MonoBehaviour {


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

The above code will output “Hello, World, Streamers” to the console window.

Final Conclusion

So, what do you think about Unity as your first game engine? If you are picking it up, don’t forget to start streaming and share your adventure with the LiveEdu.tv community. You can also get help from other Unity experts who hang out on LiveEdu.tv.

Also, don’t forget to comment below about your game engine choice and the reason behind it.