Chapter 1, Getting Started with Editor Scripting, introduces you to Unity editor scripting and explains why this is useful to improve the development workflow. In this chapter, the video game, Run & Jump, which is used as a base for this book is presented.

Chapter 2, Using Gizmos in the Scene View, explains how to use gizmos to display debug information in the Scene View. Here, we implement a grid with gizmos to be used as guides in the level editor.

Chapter 3, Creating Custom Inspectors, discusses how to improve the way the Unity components and scripts are presented in the inspector window, creating custom inspectors and using property and decorator drawers. In addition to the this, you will learn how to start adding and using the editor GUI components. Here we go through the process of making a custom inspector for the class responsible for the level logic in Run & Jump.

Chapter 4, Creating Editor Windows, covers how to create an editor window to present information and interact with features in a custom tool. Using some of the editor GUI skills developed in the last chapter, we create a Palette window, which is a quick and visual way to access the prefabs used as building pieces for the video game levels, grouping them by categories.

Chapter 5, Customizing the Scene View, dives into how to add the editor GUI components directly to the Scene View and capture specific events to expand their capabilities. Step by step, we add GUI components to enable and disable different modes we are going to implement on the level editor, like View, Paint, Edit and Erase, changing the way how the user interacts with the tool.

Chapter 6, Changing the Look and Feel of the Editor with GUI Styles and GUI Skins, explains how to change the look and feel of the Unity editor custom tools. Here we finish the level editor investing our time modifying the appearance of it.

Chapter 7, Saving Data in a Persistent Way with Scriptable Objects, describes how to save data in Unity and manipulate it as a reusable asset using scriptable objects. We walk through the process of reallocate certain properties from the class responsible for the level logic to a scriptable object class, making them reusable across levels.

Chapter 8, Controlling the Import Pipeline Using Asset Postprocessor Scripts, demonstrates how to improve and control the importing pipeline using Asset Postprocessor scripts. We work in automating the process of changing the import settings of the assets imported to the project to make them usable by the video game in an easy way.

Chapter 9, Improving the Build Pipeline, discusses how to automate and improve the build creation pipeline modifying the Unity player settings through code and calling scripts outside Unity. Here, we create a basic build pipeline for Run & Jump that publishes the mobile version of it in a distribution platform called AppBlade.

Chapter 10, Distributing Your Tools, concludes this book by showing how to use Unity packages and Git submodules for custom tools distribution, suitable for sharing inside a team, and how to sell content on the Asset Store.

To follow this book, you will need to download a copy of Unity available at https://unity3d.com/get-unity.

You can use any version of Unity from version 5.0, but we recommend the latest 5.x version, which at the time of writing this is version 5.1.2 (all screenshots have been updated to this version). Don't worry about the kind of license you have, the examples will work with the Personal and Professional Edition.

While working with this book, we will use as base project the video game Run & Jump, available at https://github.com/angelotadres/RunAndJump.

You must have the Run & Jump project in order to test the code in this book.

This book is for anyone who has basic knowledge of Unity programming using C# and wants to learn how to extend and create custom tools using Unity Editor Scripting to improve the development workflow and make video game development easier.

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Create a script called LevelInspector.cs inside the folder Editor"

A block of code is set as follows:

public override void OnInspectorGUI() {
    DrawLevelDataGUI();
    DrawLevelSizeGUI();
}

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

public override void OnInspectorGUI() {
    DrawLevelDataGUI();
    DrawLevelSizeGUI();
}

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

$ git submodule update

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Select the category Misc and then click on the Sign piece"

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To send us general feedback, simply e-mail <[email protected]>, and mention the book's title in the subject of your message.

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