Unity 3rd Person Combat & Traversal

Name: Unity 3rd Person Combat & Traversal
Rating: 4.7 (1024 reviews)

Make a complete 3rd Person Combat System for an RPG in Unity!

Created byGameDev.tv Team, Nathan Farrer (aka Dapper Dino)

Last updated 11/2025

English

What you'll learn

Create your own custom state machine using the state machine pattern
Control the player camera using Cinemachine
Use events to drive the movement and animation of the player character
How to use the Unity Animator

Course content

7 sections • 66 lectures • 9h 49m total length

Welcome To The Course0:48
In this video (objectives)…
Nathan welcomes you to the course.
Community & Support1:40
In this video (objectives)…
Lucy invites you to join us in our various community support forums in order to ask questions, connect with other students and share your progress.
Accessing Our Projects4:38
In this video (objectives)…
Any time we change our project during a lecture we will commit that change to a public source control repository for students to access. In this video we show you how to access that content.
Installation & Setup7:58
In this video (objectives)…
We create our new project and then download and install the packages that we will be in future lectures.
IMPORTANT: Unity Security Update0:23

Section Intro - State Machines0:33
In this video (objectives)…
Nathan introduces you to the section where you’ll be learning about state machines.
What Is A State Machine?4:39
In this video (objectives)…
We look into what a State Machine is and why we should use it to control our player and enemies.
Creating Our State Machine12:11
In this video (objectives)…
We start to create our own custom state machine to handle the flow of logic for our player and enemies.
Constructors & Inheritance8:38
In this video (objectives)…
We learn how we can use inheritance and constructors to share logic between states.
Testing Player State Machine9:45
In this video (objectives)…
We create the first implementation of our State Machine for the player character.
Creating An Action Map5:43
In this video (objectives)…
We create an “Input Actions Asset” to set up key bindings for various input methods.
Handling Inputs10:23
In this video (objectives)…
We create a script to handle reading input so that we can then use that in our states to control the player.
Input Events8:50
In this video (objectives)…
We subscribe to our input reader events to change state when a button is pressed.

Section Intro - Basic Movement0:34
In this video (objectives)…
Nathan introduces you to the section where you’ll be creating basic movement using our state machine.
Player Character6:51
In this video (objectives)…
We use Mixamo to download a model and basic animations for our character, which we then import into Unity.
Animator State Machine6:04
In this video (objectives)…
We set up our animations in Unity’s animator state machine which we can then drive from our own custom state machine.
Movement Input12:08
In this video (objectives)…
We create the player’s free look state which handles movement logic for when the player is not locked onto a target and set up the player’s movement input.
Player Character Controller10:43
In this video (objectives)…
We use Unity’s character controller component to handle our player’s collisions and movement within our world.
Movement Blend Tree9:40
In this video (objectives)…
We create a blend tree for our player’s locomotion animations which we can then control from within our states when moving the player.
Cinemachine Camera13:32
In this video (objectives)…
We use Unity’s Cinemachine package to set up a 3rd person camera that orbits the player as they move around the scene that we can also control with our mouse and/or gamepad.
Camera Relative Movement8:14
In this video (objectives)…
We adjust our movement state logic to move the player relative to the camera’s rotation rather than relative to the world.
Movement Refactoring11:22
In this video (objectives)…
We rename the PlayerTestState to the PlayerFreeLookState and refactor before moving on to the next section.
Creating The Environment10:49
In this video (objectives)…
We import and use some environment assets such as trees and houses to make the world for our player much more interesting to traverse.

Section Intro - Melee Combat0:25
In this video (objectives)…
Nathan introduces you to the section where you’ll be creating melee combat with targeting, dodging, blocking, and more!
Targeting10:42
In this video (objectives)…
We create the ability to set objects in the world as targets that the player will be able to lock onto.
Entering The Targeting State9:01
In this video (objectives)…
We create the PlayerTargetingState that we can enter and exit with different button inputs.
Selecting A Target6:09
In this video (objectives)…
We select a target when entering the PlayerTargetingState that we can then lock our camera onto as we move around.
Targeting Camera6:37
In this video (objectives)…
We create a second camera setup that we can switch to when targeting an enemy to position them in the centre of the screen.
State Driven Camera7:37
In this video (objectives)…
We use Cinemachine’s “State Driven Camera” to switch the active camera whenever the player’s animator changes state.
Cinemachine Target Group10:06
In this video (objectives)…
Congratulations and what to do next!
Force Receiver10:25
In this video (objectives)…
We create the Force Receiver component that will sit on the player and handle calculations related to gravity and knockback.
Targeting Movement10:28
In this video (objectives)…
We start creating the player’s targeting movement and make sure that the player always faces their target.
Targeting Animations13:49
In this video (objectives)…
We set up the targeting movement animations in a blend tree and add code to the targeting state that will drive the blend tree.
Improved Targeting Selection9:27
In this video (objectives)…
We make sure that targets are visible on the screen before locking onto them and will prioritise the closest target to the centre of the screen.
Mixamo Animations Fix8:23
In this video (objectives)…
We fix a couple issues that students may face if they have downloaded their model and animations before a recent change to Mixamo.
Player Attacking State10:13
In this video (objectives)…
We create the PlayerAttackingState and transition to it with mouse input. We can then transition back when the animation finishes playing.
Attack Data8:40
In this video (objectives)…
We give the make the PlayerAttackingState data driven so that we can reuse it for each of the player’s different attacks.
Combo Attacks15:51
In this video (objectives)…
We check how far through the attack animation we are to determine when the player can combo into their next attack.
Attacking Force14:50
In this video (objectives)…
We create a way to handle external forces being applied to the player so that we can push the player forward whenever they attack.
Weapon Hitbox10:44
In this video (objectives)…
We create a way to handle external forces being applied to the player so that we can push the player forward whenever they attack.
Dealing Damage11:17
In this video (objectives)…
We create the Health and WeaponDamage components to be able to deal damage when attacking.
Attacking State Polish7:39
In this video (objectives)…
We refactor and polish a few parts of the attacking related scripts that we have been working on in this section.
Improving The Environment3:58
In this video (objectives)…
We import an improved version of the environment that Rick has created for us which will allow us to better test our traversal mechanics later in the course.

Section Intro - Enemy AI0:28
In this video (objectives)…
Nathan introduces you to the section where you’ll be creating Enemy AI!
Enemy State Machine7:31
In this video (objectives)…
We create a new implementation of the StateMachine class for our enemies.
Enemy Idle State11:56
In this video (objectives)…
We create the first state for our enemies, the EnemyIdleState.
Player Detection10:11
In this video (objectives)…
We set up our enemies to have a detection range and to switch to the chasing state when the player is close.
Enemy Chasing State12:40
In this video (objectives)…
We give our enemies a NavMeshAgent component that allows them to move in the world to chase the player.
Enemy Attacking State9:44
In this video (objectives)…
We create the EnemyAttackingState to transition to once the enemy has reached our player.
Enemy Weapon9:37
In this video (objectives)…
We give our enemy weapon and set up its collisions and damage.
Weapon Knockback12:52
In this video (objectives)…
We make the both character’s attacks able to apply knockback as well as damage when they hit someone.
Impact States9:00
In this video (objectives)…
We create impact states for the player and enemies that we switch to when they are hit.
Impact State Transitions8:16
In this video (objectives)…
We finish creating our impact states and hooking them up to the state machines.
Dead States10:21
In this video (objectives)…
We create the dead states for the player and enemies which will handle disabling various components when they are defeated.
Ragdoll On Death15:30
In this video (objectives)…
We set up ragdolls for the character models and then enable them when the characters enter their dead state.
Player Blocking State11:10
In this video (objectives)…
We create the PlayerBlockingState where the player can use their shield to block incoming attacks.
Combat Polishing11:59
In this video (objectives)…
We make adjustments to the features that we’ve worked on in this section to improve the feel of the combat.

Section Intro - Advanced Movement0:30
In this video (objectives)…
Nathan introduces you to the section where you’ll be creating advanced movement for your character such as jumping and climbing!
Dodging13:51
In this video (objectives)…
We create the ability to dodge whilst locked onto an enemy to be able to avoid attacks.
Jumping & Falling14:42
In this video (objectives)…
We create the PlayerJumpingState and the PlayerFallingState to handle the flow from grounded, to jumping, to falling, to grounded.
Improved Dodging15:25
In this video (objectives)…
We extract the dodging logic out into its own state as well as implementing animations and invulnerability.
Ledge Detection9:44
In this video (objectives)…
We set up ledges on the roof of our buildings and allow the player to detect them.
Ledge Hanging10:47
In this video (objectives)…
We give the player the ability to jump to and hang off of the ledges.
Climbing17:03
In this video (objectives)…
We give the player the ability to climb up when they are hanging onto a ledge.
Bug Fixing & Polish12:55
In this video (objectives)…
We spend some time wrapping up the course by fixing some bugs and polishing some features.

Requirements

You'll need a basic understanding of C# and the Unity engine

Description

If you’re interested in learning how to make your own third person action combat game, similar to Dark Souls or Assassin’s Creed, then this is the course for you!

Using Unity 2022.1, you'll learn how to create your own 3rd person combat system (similar to that used in games like Dark Souls or Assassin’s Creed). It can easily be added to your RPG project, or any other 3rd person game you’re working on.

You’ll learn about player input, animation state machines, attack combos, dodging, target locking, cinemachine camera options, simple enemy attack AI and more.

By the end of the course you’ll have created your very own sandbox arena where you can hack and slash as many enemies as you like, using a 3rd person camera and control system - with either mouse / keyboard or game controller.

This course is aimed at a beginner plus to intermediate level. You'll need a basic understanding of the Unity interface and C# (if you've taken any of our other Unity courses then you should be good to go).

All students have access to the Q&A forums where our Instructors, Teaching Assistants and Community are ready to help answer your questions and cheer on your success.

Ready to create your own combat game? Come join the course now!

Who this course is for:

If you're interested in learning how to make your own third person action combat game, similar to Dark Souls or Assassin’s Creed.
It can easily be added to your RPG project, or any other 3rd person game you’re working on.
If you've got some experience in Unity and are looking to level-up your skills.

Unity 3rd Person Combat & Traversal

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction & Setup5 lectures • 15min

State Machine8 lectures • 1hr 1min

Basic Movement10 lectures • 1hr 30min

Melee Combat20 lectures • 3hr 6min

Enemy AI14 lectures • 2hr 21min

Advanced Movement8 lectures • 1hr 35min

Continuing Your Game Dev Journey1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: