Book Image

Game Development Patterns with Unity 2021 - Second Edition

By : David Baron
Book Image

Game Development Patterns with Unity 2021 - Second Edition

By: David Baron

Overview of this book

This book is written for every game developer ready to tackle the bigger picture and start working with advanced programming techniques and design patterns in Unity. Game Development Patterns with Unity 2021 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.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
1
Sections 1: Fundamentals
5
Section 2: Core Patterns
16
Section 3: Alternative Patterns
20
About Packt

Understanding the Visitor pattern

The primary purpose of the Visitor pattern is simple once you grasp it; a Visitable object permits a Visitor to operate on a specific element of its structure. This process allows the visited object to acquire new functionality from visitors without being directly modified. This description might seem very abstract at first, but it is easier to visualize if we imagine an object as a structure instead of a closed-off container of data and logic. Therefore, it is possible with the Visitor pattern to traverse an object's structure, operate on its elements, and extend its functionality without modifying it.

Another way to imagine the Visitor pattern in action is by visualizing the bike in our game colliding with a power-up. Like an electronic current, the power-up flows through the inner structure of the vehicle. Components marked as visitable get visited by the power-up, and new functionalities are added, but nothing is modified...