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Best Unity Books 2024

Unity is a powerful game development engine that has gained popularity for its versatility in creating 3D and 2D games for various platforms. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, there are numerous books available that can help you master Unity game development.

Unity in Action: Multiplatform game development in C#

Unity in Action, Third Edition: Multiplatform game development in C#
  • Hocking, Joe (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 416 Pages - 02/08/2022 (Publication Date) - Manning (Publisher)

by Joe Hocking will help you learn to write and deploy games with Unity. You will master the Unity toolset from the ground up. This Unity courses will give you the skills you need to go from application coder to developer. This practical guide shows every aspect of the dev process, including the initial groundwork, creating custom AI scripts and building easy-to-read UIs.

Thousands of new game developers have chosen Joe Hocking’s Unity in Action as their first step toward Unity mastery. Starting with the initial groundwork of a new game development project, you’ll quickly start writing custom code instead of clicking together premade scripts. This fully updated third edition comes packed with fully refreshed graphics, Unity’s latest features, and coverage of augmented and virtual reality toolkits. You’ll master the Unity toolset from the ground up, learning the skills to go from application coder to game developer developing games and game prototypes. You will learn how to:

Create characters that run, jump, and bump into things in first game
Build 3D first-person shooters and third-person action games
Construct 2D card games and side-scrolling platformers
Script enemies with AI
Improve game graphics by importing models and images
Design an intuitive user interface for your games
Play music and spatially-aware sound effects
Connect your games to the internet for online play
Deploy your games to desktop, mobile, and the web

This is one of the best Unity books for beginners in 2024.

Hands-On Unity 2022 Game Development

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Hands-On Unity 2022 Game Development: Learn to use the latest Unity 2022 features to create your...
  • Borromeo, Nicolas Alejandro (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 712 Pages - 10/31/2022 (Publication Date) - Packt Publishing (Publisher)

Unity is a cross-platform game engine that provides you with powerful but simple-to-use features to solve the most common problems in Game Development, such as rendering, animation, physics, sound, and effects. You’ll learn to use these features to create simple but complete games (and all the nuances needed to handle Unity) with this comprehensive guide to learn game development.

Complete with hands-on tutorials and projects, this book will teach you to use the Unity game engine, create C# and visual scripts, integrate graphics, sound, and animations, and manipulate physics to create interesting mechanics for your game. You’ll then code a simple AI agent to challenge the user and work with profiling tools to ensure code efficiency to unity certified programmer exam. Finally, you’ll work with Unity’s AR tools to create AR experiences for 3D apps and games before publishing them to the world. If you are interested in creating impressive, commercial-quality games that are playable on a variety of platforms, then you’ve come to the right place. You will learn:

Build a game prototype that includes gameplay, player and non-player characters, assets, animations, and more
Set up and navigate the game engine to dive into the Unity Editor and discover unique and new features released in 2022
Learn both C# and Visual Scripting to customize player movements, the user interface, and game physics
Apply shaders to improve your game graphics using Shader Graph and Universal Render Pipeline (URP)
Create win-lose conditions for the game by using design patterns such as Singleton and Event Listeners
Implement Game artificial intelligence to build a fully functional enemy capable of detecting and attacking the player
Debug, test, optimize, and create an executable version of the game to share with your friends

Unity Game Development in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself 4th Edition

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Unity Game Development in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself
  • Geig, Mike (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 464 Pages - 11/15/2021 (Publication Date) - Sams Publishing (Publisher)

by Mike Geig will teach you how to master the Unity 2021 game engine, which powers games like Inside, Kerbal Space Program, Subnautica, and many others. The clear, step-by-step methodology of this book covers everything from the fundamentals through advanced game physics, animation, and mobile device deployment procedures. Every course builds on the previous ones, providing you a strong foundation for real-world success. You will:

Use the Unity 2021 game engine and editor to get up and running quickly.
Get the most out of Unity’s graphics asset pipeline.
Take advantage of lighting and cameras.
Use Unity’s landscape and environmental capabilities to create magnificent environments.
Scripting activities ranging from input capture to complicated behavior creation
Use prefabs to quickly create repeated, reusable game elements.
Make game user interfaces simple and intuitive.
Use built-in and custom character controllers to direct players.
Create physical and trigger collisions that are realistic.
Take advantage of Unity’s Animation and Timeline features to their maximum potential.
Incorporate sophisticated audio into your games
Make use of accelerometers and multi-touch screens on mobile devices.
Use Unity’s 2D tools and Tilemap to create compelling 2D games.
Put the “final touches” on your games and deploy them.

Unity 2021 Cookbook 4th Edition

Unity 2021 Cookbook: Over 140 recipes to take your Unity game development skills to the next level,...
  • Smith, Matt (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 816 Pages - 09/06/2021 (Publication Date) - Packt Publishing (Publisher)

by Matt Smith, Shaun Ferns will guide you through the latest features of Unity 2021 as well as recipes for advanced tasks. This cookbook will walk you through a range of recipes that will teach you how to make the most of the Unity game engine’s core capabilities. You learn about shaders and the Shader Graph before diving into animation elements to improve your game-building abilities.

As you go, you’ll learn how to use Unity’s newest editor to plan out scenes, adjust current apps, and create custom tools for augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences. The book will also teach you how to interface with database-driven websites and handle XML and JSON data files without prior knowledge, as well as many other Unity C# gameplay programming techniques. You will discover:

Learn how to use C# scripting to bring fundamental game features to your projects.
With Unity’s UI system, you can create powerful and appealing UI, such as power bars, radars, and button-driven scene changes.
Work with important audio elements including background music and sound effects.
Learn how to use Cinemachine in Unity to control camera motions intelligently.
Create and customize particle systems to add visual effects like smoke and explosions.
Learn how to use the Shader Graph tool to create your own Shaders.

Game Development Patterns with Unity 2021 2nd Edition

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Game Development Patterns with Unity 2021: Explore practical game development using software design...
  • Baron, David (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 246 Pages - 07/30/2021 (Publication Date) - Packt Publishing (Publisher)

by David Baron is an introduction to the core principles of reusable software patterns and how to employ them to build components efficiently. In this second edition, you’ll tackle design patterns with the help of a practical example; a playable racing game prototype where you’ll get to apply all your newfound knowledge. Notable updates also include a game design document (GDD), a Unity programming primer, and the downloadable source code of a complete prototype.

Your journey will start by learning about overall design of the core game mechanics and systems. You’ll discover tried-and-tested software patterns to code essential components of a game in a structured manner, and start using classic design patterns to utilize Unity’s unique API features. As you progress, you’ll also identify the negative impacts of bad architectural decisions and understand how to overcome them with simple but effective practices.

By the end of this Unity book, the way you develop Unity games will change – you’ll adapt a more structured, scalable, and optimized process that will help you take the next step in your career.
What you will learn

Structure professional Unity code using industry-standard development patterns
Identify the right patterns for implementing specific game mechanics or features
Develop configurable core game mechanics and ingredients that can be modified without writing a single line of code
Review practical object-oriented programming (OOP) techniques and learn how they’re used in the context of a Unity project
Build unique game development systems such as a level editor
Explore ways to adapt traditional design patterns for use with the Unity API

Unity Game Development Cookbook

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Unity Game Development Cookbook: Essentials for Every Game
  • Buttfield-Addison, Paris (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 405 Pages - 04/16/2019 (Publication Date) - O'Reilly Media (Publisher)

Unity Game Development Cookbook: Essentials for Every Game by Paris Buttfield-Addison, Jon Manning and Tim Nugent will help you discover how to use the Unity game engine to its full potential. Find out how to use the Unity game engine to its full potential for 3D and Unity 2D game development, from the basics of scripting to helpful gameplay, behavior and animation tips. You will learn about the Unity game engine through short recipes that teach specific features of software and scripting systems. Next, you’ll apply a collection of snippets to cover common game scenarios, like keeping score correctly with game programming. With this Unity Game Development book, you will see the problem, outline the solution, and discuss how to solve your problem in the best and easiest way possible. This best unity tutorials is ideal for beginning or intermediate Unity developers. This is the best Unity book in 2024.

Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C#

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Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity...
  • Gibson Bond, Jeremy (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 1024 Pages - 08/20/2017 (Publication Date) - Addison-Wesley Professional (Publisher)

by Jeremy Gibson Bond will give you strong hands-on experience with modern techniques and tools in learning. This Unity book covers game design theory, rapid iterative prototyping, and practical programming. The first edition was among the top-selling game design book on Amazon and had more than 70% of the reviews being 5 stars.

If you want to design and develop games, nothing can replace the rigorous practical experience of modern techniques and tools, and this is what this book offers in game projects.

Unity Games by Tutorials: Make 4 complete Unity games from scratch using C#

Unity Games by Tutorials: Make 4 Complete Unity Games from Scratch Using C#
  • Tutorial Team, raywenderlich (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 665 Pages - 02/08/2019 (Publication Date) - Razeware LLC (Publisher)

by Ray Wenderlich Team will help you in learning Unity to create games with Unity. By the time you finish learning from this Unity book, you will have made 4 complete mini-games. These games include a twin stick shooter, a first person shooter, a 2D platformer, and tower defense game. You will learn to model your own game assets and work with virtual Reality. Unity Games by Tutorials is one of the best books to learn Unity from scratch.

Unity is a popular game engine used by AAA Studios and individual game developers. Whether you have some game development experience or are a complete beginner, this Unity book will help you learn how to create games with Unity. After you finish reading this book, you have created 4 complete mini-games, modelled your own Unity game resources, played with virtual reality, and published a few of them on your phone with good unity tutorials. These games include a double stick shooter, first person shooter, a 2D platform and a tower defense game.

Unity From Zero to Proficiency

Unity From Zero to Proficiency (Foundations): A step-by-step guide to creating your first game
  • Felicia, Patrick (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 236 Pages - 02/04/2019 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)

by Patrick Felicia will walk you through the abilities you’ll need to grasp Unity’s interface, use its key features, and create and traverse realistic 2D and 3D settings. It makes no assumptions about your past knowledge and guarantees that you get all of the information and explanations you require at all times. The information is presented in a sequential manner. This book is for parents or teachers who want to expose their children or pupils to game development; it’s also for Unity beginners or aspiring indie game creators.

Developing 2D Games with Unity

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Developing 2D Games with Unity: Independent Game Programming with C#
  • Halpern, Jared (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 405 Pages - 11/29/2018 (Publication Date) - Apress (Publisher)

by Jared Halpern will help you build Unity 2D game quickly. Follow the walkthrough of Unity Engine and learn important 2D lessons with an emphasis on scripting with the help of image resources, animation, camera, collision detection and state management. In addition to the basics, you’ll learn the best practices step by step guide for creating functional 2D games, useful game architecture models, and mastering unity to suit your needs to best unity tutorials.

Unity UI Cookbook

Unity Ui Cookbook
  • Sapio, Francesco (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 284 Pages - 12/31/2015 (Publication Date) - Packt Pub Ltd (Publisher)

by Francesco Sapio is based on real-world problems, these recipes will begin by showing you how to create common user interface elements such as counters and health bars. Then you will learn how to manage time using timers and learn how to format them with advanced concepts. You will proceed to decorate and animate the elements of the UI to liven them up and give them a professional touch. In addition, you will be guided through the world of 3D user interface and HUD scripting. Lastly, you will learn how to implement complex minimaps in the interface.

Unity 3D Game Development

Unity 3D Game Development: Designed for passionate game developers―Engineered to build...
  • Davis, Anthony (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 370 Pages - 08/29/2022 (Publication Date) - Packt Publishing (Publisher)

This best unity courses, written by a team of experts at Unity Technologies, follows an informal, demystifying approach to the world of game development. You’ll learn the 3D and C# fundamentals before starting to build one short segment of the full game — a vertical slice. With every progressing chapter, you’ll learn to improve this game (alongside building your own) to make it ready to pitch to studios. Within Unity 3D Game Development, you will learn to:

Design and build 3D characters, and the game environment
Think about the users’ interactions with your game
Develop the interface and apply visual effects to add an emotional connection to your world
Grasp a solid foundation of sound design, animations, and lightning to your creations
Build, test, and add final touches

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Unity good for game development?

Yes, Unity is one of the leading game development engines, renowned for its ability to create a wide range of games for different platforms, including mobile games. Its user-friendly interface and extensive functionality make it a top choice for both indie developers and large game studios.

Can I use Unity for VR development?

Yes, Unity is a popular platform for VR development due to its robust support for VR technologies. Books such as “Complete Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Development with Unity” provide in-depth guidance on creating VR experiences, making Unity a versatile tool for immersive game development.

Is Unity suitable for beginners?

Unity is indeed beginner-friendly, offering a range of resources and tools designed to help those new to game development. Books like “Unity for Absolute Beginners” and “Learning C# by Developing Games with Unity 5.x” are specifically tailored to help novices get started with Unity.

Can I develop mobile games with Unity?

Unity is extensively used for mobile game development, thanks to its flexible and powerful engine that supports both iOS and Android platforms. “Unity 2022 Mobile Game Development – Third Edition” provides a detailed approach to creating mobile games using the latest Unity features.

What programming language is used in Unity?

Unity primarily utilizes C# for scripting, which is essential for developing games within the Unity engine. A strong understanding of C# is crucial for anyone looking to create interactive and complex games in Unity.

Can I create 2D games with Unity?

Unity supports both 2D and 3D game development, with a variety of tools and features specifically for 2D games. “Unity in Action” includes dedicated content on building 2D platformers, showcasing Unity’s versatility in game creation.

Is Unity free to use?

Unity offers a free version, which is quite comprehensive and suitable for beginners and small projects. For developers seeking more advanced features, Unity also provides paid subscription options.

Can I use Unity for AR development?

Unity is commonly utilized for AR development, with robust support for AR platforms. The book “Complete Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Development with Unity” is an excellent resource for learning about AR development with Unity.

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