Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot Book Review

The Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot book has been released and it had my name on it. I was wondering what type of “hotshot” advice it could help me with. I always love learning new things, so I picked up the Kindle version and started going at it.

By the way, if you get the Kindle version, it is easier to read if you make it display horizontally. The code examples are really hard to read if it is in vertical mode.

I have read through most of the other Unity books as well as going through most of the tutorials on the Unity website, so I have a decent understanding of what’s out there. After reading the whole book, here is my assessment.

Topics and Critique

I think it is best to break the book apart into sections, as each section seems to be written differently and it teaches concepts in a different way.

The main topics the book goes over are the following:

• implementing a 2D sprite character  in a 3d world
• framework for character  stats, inventory, and GUI system for RPG game
• importing a 3d character and configuring animation states
• Writing surface shaders and CG
• Going into depth with how a 3d character controller and camera works
• creating and implementing a rocket launcher
• creating basic AI
• destructible environments (using triggers and PhysX rigidbody controls)
• setting up a ragdoll
• Optimizing tools (Statistics and Profiler)
• high scores using local and web technologies
• Appendix (this is better than you think)

Certain topics were very engrossing like the 2D sprite character, RPG GUI system, writing shaders, and creating high scores on the web. Other parts such as the 3d character controller, ragdoll, importing a 3d asset, and the rocket launcher section were less interesting. I have seen a few rocket launcher things out there, so I was surprised a section like that was chosen for the book.

Some topics I haven’t seen before were the RPG GUI system and the sprite animation system. They are both pretty code heavy, but I thought they were particularly interesting. I haven’t seen many “sophisticated” GUI system examples or tutorials, so it was nice to see how the writer architected the code to make it readable and flexible with the different screens.

The first chapter that goes over the 2D sprite framework was also pretty good - especially the engine that managed all of the different states of each animation.

As odd as it sounds, I thought the appendix was a great section at the end of the book. So good, that I thought that some of the content should have been used in the chapters – especially the shaders section. I usually think of appendixes being API references, but there was some good explanations about the more intricate parts with how Unity works. I imagine the writer put it at the end because he probably didn’t write some of the content. I still think the content is too valuable and informative to just stick it at the end in an appendix.

For the improvement areas, I wish the writer would have covered less topics and went into more detail. Some concepts were mentioned, but then just referenced the Unity website for more information. A little more information on CG scripting and  AI programming would have made my day. What was written about each section was pretty informative, so the sections still felt complete on there own .

Most people that are “advanced” probably know about the Unity website for the API reference, so it would have been a little more helpful to give book references to learn more about a given subject. The books probably wouldn’t have “Unity3D” in the title, but I am sure most “advanced’ users would understand that the concepts would carry over.

One of the things that is good to know going into this book is that some sections are VERY code heavy. With some of the other books that I have gone through, I usually write all of the code. I feel like it helps me understand some of the nuances of the concepts better. For this hotshots book, when I got about 40% done, it felt like it would be  better to use my time analyzing the finished code - so that is what I did. The book felt less cumbersome taking this approach.

Conclusion

For the price, I would recommend the book highly. I am sure you will have a different experience based off what you already know about Unity3d. If some of the topics he covers pique your interest, it is worth the money to grab a copy.  Speaking of topics, knowing what topics are covered in the book is essential to know if it will be a good fit for you. I don’t do 3d programming for my job, so there were plenty of concepts that were new to me. My criteria for a good book is based off how much I learn – and I think this book did a pretty good job.

Final Score: