If you’re hoping to develop your own game, you may be thinking about which game engine to use and if you’ve chosen which one, you’re probably wondering where to start!
Unity is one of the most popular game engines around and as a game music composer (see more about me and my musicif you wish!) I’ve worked with many super talented indie game developers who I know would swear by it! I must confess, I’m not a programmer and so I can’t give you first hand advice or suggestions on how to go about creating your exciting game, but I have supported enough indie game developers to know that the road ahead may be quite a challenging one!
So, given the popularity of Unity, I thought that it could be useful to help compile some awesome places online where you can learn how to use it and how to get the best out of it.
We all learn in different ways and you may know of or come across other resources that could suit you better, but I hope that these offer a starting point to your (hopefully wonderful), game development journey!
1. Unity Tutorials
https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials
If you’re looking to learn Unity, it makes sense to take notice of some of the tutorials provided by Unity themselves! Check out their website for a variety of tutorials covering everything from creating 2D platformers, 3D games, survival shooters and more. Their tutorials are designed to support people just starting out through to more advanced game developers.
2. Udemy
Udemy is an online course website and catalogue with over 80,000 courses to choose from with new courses becoming available each month. Some courses are fairly cheap and there are regular sales – so keep a look out for those. A good one to start with for learning Unity and getting started in game development is: https://www.udemy.com/unitycourse
Also check out Gamedev.tv, created by Ben Tristem, a Udemy instructor focusing on helping anyone wanting to learn about development, design and selling indie games. There you can see which courses he and his team created on Udemy and also access their gamedev community and blog for further support.
3. Brackeys Game Dev Tutorials
This is an awesome YouTube channel dedicated to learning how to make video games. New videos are uploaded each Sunday with Brackeys explaining his code as he writes it, and there’s a wealth of information and video tutorials on everything from Unity, programming through to game design and more.
4. Walker Boys Studio – Unity Training Series
http://www.walkerboystudio.com/wbstudio/learn-unity
This company, set up by 3 game developers offers a range of free courses covering game art, Unity, drawing and game development. The Unity Training Series is a step-by-step guide with over 50 hours of video, to learning Unity.
5. 3D Buzz
This site offers an extensive video training library covering programming, game development, 3D design and animation, mobile app development and more. The training tools on this site aren’t free but are reasonably priced and cover a lot of ground. There’s also a community and blog for added support.
6. Gamedev Academy
The Gamedev Academy is part of Zenva Academy, which offers a host of courses and online learning. On the Gamedev Academy website you’ll find a range of free ebooks and courses to explore. Check out these: https://gamedevacademy.org/category/tutorials/unity
7. Unity Student
Unity 3D Student offers ‘bitesize’ modules alongside various challenges to help you learn the skills required to develop a game using the Unity Game Engine. The modules are short explanation/tutorials offering some insight into the game mechanics, which you watch and learn from, and the challenges give you tasks to get you actively learning and using your newly learned skills! Unity3DStudent is the brainchild of Will Goldstone who’s main aim is to provide new developers with a modular way of learning.
8. Catlike Coding
https://catlikecoding.com/unity/tutorials
Jasper Flick, the man behind Catlike Coding is a Dutch independent softward developer. He’s written loads of tutorials, which you can find on his site designed to help you learn and make the most of Unity. The tutorials on his site are all free but you can donate to him via Patreon if you want to.
9. Hackr.io
https://hackr.io/tutorials/learn-unity
Hackr.io offers a range programming courses and tutorials all in one place – from a basic introduction to programming, through to android development, Unity, artificial intelligence, blockchain programming, assembly language courses and more.
10. Game Code School
This site has lots of lessons and courses to help the beginner through to intermediate game programmer. You can learn the different engines including Unity, Unreal, Game Maker and more. You won’t be able to download all the sample projects but you should have access to the final code, tutorials and written explanations to help you with your learning.
11. Envato Tuts+
https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/search/unity
Envato Tuts+ is part of the Envato empire and offers easy learning courses online. If you search for tutorials covering Unity or any other parts of game development, you will certainly find some interesting and useful courses to look out and learn from.
So, I hope that these 11 wonderful sites give you something interesting to check out! Happy learning and if you need any help with music and your game music soundtrack, do drop me a line!
About the author: Ninichi is a game and film music composer. She works on a range of freelance composing projects supporting talented game developers and film makers with their music.
Want some great custom music for your game? Listen to Ninichi's game music or contact her now to discuss your game music needs.
Follow her @ninichimusic
