Learn to Code by Making an Air Hockey Game in Unity®!

Here you will learn the foundations of coding a C# script for Unity. We will use different coding concepts like variables, methods, conditions, and loops to change how a game object is rendered.

Variables: the building blocks of code. When building a game in Unity, you often need to store information, such as a player's age or the current time. Variables are perfect for storing data.

In this lecture, we will use an example of a cube to show some of the useful things variables can do. We will change the size, name, and rotation of a cube using variables in C#.

A method in a script performs an operation or function. There are two methods that appear in any C# script you create in Unity. 

A method can perform an operation and return the result. For instance, a method can add numbers, return the sum, and store the sum in a variable. void means the Start method does not return anything. The method can still execute operations.

Suppose we wanted to run code only when a certain condition is met. For instance, a player could only fly in a game if they had a jet pack. A player could only buy a bicycle if they had enough money. To implement this kind of functionality, we can use if blocks. 

An if block runs code when a specified condition passes. 

If we wanted our game to contain multiple cubes, we could duplicate Cube. However, there is an easier way to set the number of game objects in the Scene: using loops. 

In this section:

We will enable our game to respond to user input. For instance, we will have key presses on a keyboard move a cube around a plane. We will have the cube jump when the Space bar is pressed.

Many games use a system with multiple cameras. We will be able to click, hold, and move a mouse to look at the cube from different perspectives.

When playing a game, a user should interact with the game's software. For instance, to enter a building, a player may have to show their ID. This is an example of an input. Input is important in games because games rely on interaction. 

Coming up:

We will enable user input to move the cube.

There are two ways to make the logic for a player to jump. 

Here you will enable a player to move forward and back using their keyboard!

A prefab is a stored instance of a game object that you can reuse. Instead of making multiple enemies in the scene in Unity, you can make an enemy prefab and replicate it.

Coming up, we will create a game where a player shoots a bullet at a wall. When the bullet hits the wall, the bullet will split into multiple pieces. We will use prefabs to achieve the explosion effect. With a prefab, we can make one bullet and replicate it in the scene as many times as needed. 

Coming up: we will offset the movement of the bullets!

Now that we have learned how to spawn a bullet, we will make a simple explosion prefab. Every time a bullet touches the wall, we will spawn an explosion. 

Get here - source files from the air hockey game of this course!