Book Image

Creating an RTS Game in Unity 2023

By : Bruno Cicanci
4.5 (2)
Book Image

Creating an RTS Game in Unity 2023

4.5 (2)
By: Bruno Cicanci

Overview of this book

Building a successful real-time strategy game is challenging, because of both the complex mechanics and the need to strike a balance between different elements, ensuring that players enjoy creating and executing strategies against the game's AI. Creating an RTS Game in Unity 2023 will teach you how to install and set up the Unity game engine, create a new 3D project, and build a level editor to make it easier to modify and add maps to a game. The RTS game will start to take shape while you learn to implement different core systems such as melee and ranged battles, unit spawners, camera controls, dynamic mapping generation, basic enemy AI, and the pathfinder algorithm. You'll also get to grips with implementing command units to perform actions, crafting and producing resources, basic physics and collision detection, and building an RTS game from scratch using C# and the latest features of the Unity game engine. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to make professional and high-quality end-to-end RTS games using the best practices and techniques from the gaming industry.

Related Content you might be interested in

Current Title:

Small book image
Creating an RTS Game in Unity 2023
Bruno Cicanci
Oct, 2023 | 548 pages
Small book image
ChatGPT Prompts Book - Precision Prompts, Priming, Training & AI Writing Techniques for Mortals
Oliver Theobald
Feb, 2024 | 104 pages
Small book image
GPT-3
Sandra Kublik | Shubham Saboo
Feb, 2023 | 150 pages
Small book image
Generative AI for Cloud Solutions
Anurag Karuparti | Paul Singh
Apr, 2024 | 300 pages
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the example code files
Conventions used
Get in touch
Share Your Thoughts
Download a free PDF copy of this book
1
Part 1: Foundations of RTS Games
Part 1: Foundations of RTS Games
Free Chapter
2
Chapter 1: Introducing Real-Time Strategy Games
Chapter 1: Introducing Real-Time Strategy Games
What is a real-time strategy game?
Understanding the game and level design of an RTS game
Creating a game design document
Summary
Further reading
3
Chapter 2: Setting Up Unity and the Dragoncraft Project
Chapter 2: Setting Up Unity and the Dragoncraft Project
Technical requirements
Downloading and configuring the Unity Editor
Using Visual Studio Code as the default IDE
Importing and organizing assets from the Unity Asset Store
Summary
4
Chapter 3: Getting Started with Our Level Design
Chapter 3: Getting Started with Our Level Design
Technical requirements
Setting up our base scene
Creating the first map layout using Prefabs
Using ScriptableObjects to configure the map
Creating a map editor to speed up map creation
Controlling the camera
Summary
Further reading
5
Chapter 4: Creating the User Interface and HUD
Chapter 4: Creating the User Interface and HUD
Technical requirements
Using Canvas for a responsive UI
Setting up the UI and HUD using Prefabs
Rendering the minimap
Loading the UI scene additively
Summary
Further reading
6
Part 2: The Combat Units
Part 2: The Combat Units
7
Chapter 5: Spawning an Army of Units
Chapter 5: Spawning an Army of Units
Technical requirements
Configuring the unit ScriptableObject
Spawning units using the Object Pooling pattern
Updating the UI using the Message Queue pattern
Creating a debugging tool for the Editor
Summary
Further reading
8
Chapter 6: Commanding an Army of Units
Chapter 6: Commanding an Army of Units
Technical requirements
Preparing the Prefabs and UI
Selecting the units
Moving the units
Summary
Further reading
9
Chapter 7: Attacking and Defending Units
Chapter 7: Attacking and Defending Units
Technical requirements
Updating the UI with the selected units
Attacking and defending with units
Adding the new Mage unit and ranged attack
Summary
Further reading
10
Chapter 8: Implementing the Pathfinder
Chapter 8: Implementing the Pathfinder
Technical requirements
Understanding the pathfinder
Implementing the pathfinder using the NavMesh
Debugging the NavMesh
Summary
Further reading
11
Part 3: The Battlefield
Part 3: The Battlefield
12
Chapter 9: Adding Enemies
Chapter 9: Adding Enemies
Technical requirements
Configuring the enemies
Spawning the enemies
Damage feedback in the UI
Summary
Further reading
13
Chapter 10: Creating an AI to Attack the Player
Chapter 10: Creating an AI to Attack the Player
Technical requirements
Updating the physics settings
Calculating the damage
Managing the collision and chase behavior
Implementing the character life cycle
Summary
Further reading
14
Chapter 11: Adding Enemies to the Map
Chapter 11: Adding Enemies to the Map
Technical requirements
Creating spawn points
Adding fog on the map
Patrolling the area
Summary
Further reading
15
Part 4: The Gameplay
Part 4: The Gameplay
16
Chapter 12: Balancing the Game’s Difficulty
Chapter 12: Balancing the Game’s Difficulty
Technical requirements
Writing unit tests
Using unit tests to simulate battles
Balancing the battle difficulty
Summary
Further reading
17
Chapter 13: Producing and Gathering Resources
Chapter 13: Producing and Gathering Resources
Technical requirements
Generating resources
Gathering resources
Testing the resources
Summary
Further reading
18
Chapter 14: Crafting Buildings and Defense Towers
Chapter 14: Crafting Buildings and Defense Towers
Technical requirements
Crafting and upgrading buildings
Training units
Defending with towers
Summary
19
Chapter 15: Tracking Progression and Objectives
Chapter 15: Tracking Progression and Objectives
Technical requirements
Setting up objectives
Tracking objectives
Winning or losing the game
Summary
Further reading
20
Chapter 16: Exporting and Expanding Your Game
Chapter 16: Exporting and Expanding Your Game
Technical requirements
Exporting Dragoncraft for desktop
Creating a build system
Expanding Dragoncraft
Summary
Further reading
21
Index
Index
Why subscribe?
22
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
Packt is searching for authors like you
Share Your Thoughts
Download a free PDF copy of this book

To get the most out of this book

To get the most out of this book, a basic understanding of programming concepts and the C# programming language is required. Some experience with any game development engine or framework would be an advantage.

It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the Unity Engine features and the interface. The Unity website has a lot of beginner-friendly content that can help you get a good understanding of the engine quickly.

Since we will develop an RTS game, it is also recommended that you play a few RTS games or watch gameplay videos on YouTube, especially the games StarCraft and Warcraft III, which are the ones we will use as a reference and inspiration to develop the features of our Dragoncraft game.

Software covered in the book

Operating system requirements

Unity Engine version 2023.1 or above

Windows or macOS

Visual Studio Code or Visual Studio 2022

Windows or macOS

C#

Windows or macOS

You will need an internet connection to download Unity, IDEs, and the assets required for the project. The disk space required for Unity Engine 2023.1 and Visual Studio Code or Visual Studio 2022 may vary, but make sure you have at least 30 GB of disk space before installing the software. The project itself should require at least 4 GB. Although it is not required, a dedicated graphics card is recommended.

You can find more information about the Unity Engine requirements in their documentation at https://docs.unity3d.com/2023.1/Documentation/Manual/system-requirements.html.

Previous Section
Next Section