Unity 5 for Android Essentials

A fast-paced guide to building impressive games and applications for Android devices with Unity 5

Unity 5 for Android Essentials

Essentials
Valera Cogut

A fast-paced guide to building impressive games and applications for Android devices with Unity 5
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Book Details

ISBN 139781784399191
Paperback200 pages

About This Book

  • Design beautiful effects, animations, physical behaviors, and other different real-world features for your Android games and applications
  • Optimize your project and any other real-world projects for Android devices
  • Follows a tutorial-based approach to learning the best practices for accessing Android functionality, rendering high-end graphics, and expanding your project using Asset Bundles

Who This Book Is For

This book is perfect for competent Unity developers who want to learn how to develop, optimize, and publish games for Android devices in a quick and easy manner. This book assumes basic knowledge of game design concepts and/or some experience with other game technologies such as Unreal Engine 4, CryEngine, or GameMaker.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Setting Up and Configuring an Android Platform
Configuring Unity 5 for Android devices
APK expansion files in Unity 5
Building for Android devices
Unity License Comparison Overview
Summary
Chapter 2: Accessing Android Functionality
Creating Java and native C plugins for an Android platform
Accessing the Android sensors and features within Unity 5
Summary
Chapter 3: High-end Graphics for Android Devices
Physically-based shaders
Global illumination
Practicing in shader optimization
Summary
Chapter 4: Animation, Audio, Physics, and Particle Systems in Unity 5
New Mecanim animation features in Unity 5
Physics and particle system effects in Unity 5
Summary
Chapter 5: Asset Bundles in Unity 5 Pro
An overview of the asset bundles in Unity 5
Downloading new code and data in real time for Android devices
Safeness techniques in practice
Summary
Chapter 6: Optimization and Transformation Techniques
Occlusion culling and level of detail in optimization techniques
Unity C# and Unity JS optimization tips and tricks
Transforming Unity C# code into Unity JavaScript code and vice versa
Summary
Chapter 7: Troubleshooting and Best Practices
Measuring performance with the built-in Android profiler
Debugging Android devices with the Unity profiler tool
Real-practice techniques
The scriptable profiler tool
Summary

What You Will Learn

  • Discover tips and tricks to optimize Unity scripts
  • Create Java and native C plugins for the Android platform
  • Access Android features and sensors inside the Unity 5 engine
  • Render high quality graphics and optimize Cg shaders
  • Play Legacy and Mecanim animations in Unity 5
  • Download new assets and code behavior while your game is running on an Android device in order to expand your game in real time
  • Debug your games and applications on Android devices using the Unity Profiler tool

In Detail

Unity is a very popular and effective technology for creating 2D and 3D games and applications. The Unity rendering engine provides great real-time rendering of high quality graphics without too much cost and effort. It boasts industry leading multi-platform support and world class monetization and retention services for mobile games, making it the first choice for many game developers across the world. Unity 5 is a great starting point for game developers looking to develop stunning and robust games.

Starting with a refresher on the basics of Unity 5, this book will take you all the way through to creating your first custom game. By the end of the book, you will understand how to work with all the aspects of Unity 5. You will quickly explore all the major key features of the Unity 5 engine and learn to implement real-world Android game and application features in practice.

We begin by introducing how to set up the Android SDK on Windows and Mac OS X and configure Unity 5 settings for the Android platform. As you progress through the chapters, you will learn to implement innovative and user-friendly features with the aid of real-world examples. You will explore how to render high quality graphics with physically-based shaders and global illumination to enhance your project’s performance. Building on this, you will then learn to transform your native C# and JavaScript code into Unity scripts. Best practices to improve your Android games will also be discussed to help you create games fast and efficiently. Finally, putting together all these concepts, you will learn to create your own Android game from scratch.

This book will teach you how to harness the benefits of different tools to become proficient at game design and development processes.

Authors

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Setting Up and Configuring an Android Platform
Configuring Unity 5 for Android devices
APK expansion files in Unity 5
Building for Android devices
Unity License Comparison Overview
Summary
Chapter 2: Accessing Android Functionality
Creating Java and native C plugins for an Android platform
Accessing the Android sensors and features within Unity 5
Summary
Chapter 3: High-end Graphics for Android Devices
Physically-based shaders
Global illumination
Practicing in shader optimization
Summary
Chapter 4: Animation, Audio, Physics, and Particle Systems in Unity 5
New Mecanim animation features in Unity 5
Physics and particle system effects in Unity 5
Summary
Chapter 5: Asset Bundles in Unity 5 Pro
An overview of the asset bundles in Unity 5
Downloading new code and data in real time for Android devices
Safeness techniques in practice
Summary
Chapter 6: Optimization and Transformation Techniques
Occlusion culling and level of detail in optimization techniques
Unity C# and Unity JS optimization tips and tricks
Transforming Unity C# code into Unity JavaScript code and vice versa
Summary
Chapter 7: Troubleshooting and Best Practices
Measuring performance with the built-in Android profiler
Debugging Android devices with the Unity profiler tool
Real-practice techniques
The scriptable profiler tool
Summary

Book Details

ISBN 139781784399191
Paperback200 pages
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