It has been a while since my last In-Depth Post. Over the past month, I have worked on 3 different projects in Unity and I am continuing to make very good progress with my learning.

Before spring break, I made my first 3D game with Unity. I created a simple 3D roll-a-ball game in Unity by following a tutorial series on Youtube. This project gave me a better understanding of the Unity 3D physics system, as well as helped me become more familiar with the Unity interface. This game implements many basic concepts such as RigidBody and UI. I also practiced my programming skills and learned new concepts such as GetComponent(). Although I had some difficulty understanding some concepts such as UI, I overcame the struggle by doing some research on the topic. This was a simple and interesting project to work on. Below is the game:

I also created another game in 3D that I named Drift. While working on this game, I learned about saving mechanisms as well as managing audio. In addition, I also got more practice with working in 3D and programming various scripts. Below is the game:

After showing my game to Mr. Linburg, the game design teacher, we made a detailed plan for my learning during spring break and beyond. We decided that I would add more components to my roll-a-ball game, as well as work on more projects to practice my coding and to become more familiar with using Unity.

Over the break, I added a few new components to the roll-a-ball game and began to work on a 2D dungeon gunner game.

Applying what I learned, I added a few ramps, a second level, and a door that lets the player through after completing the first level. As I gain more knowledge about working in 3D in Unity, I will add more components to this game.

A screenshot from the project that I am currently working on.

I also expanded my Unity skills by working on a 2D game. Following a tutorial series, I created a simple dungeon-gunner game with 2 levels. I learned to manipulate cameras to create a mini-map, use prefabs and randomness to create random level generation, and other important skills. I am currently still working on this game and implementing new components such as boss fights, and character selection. I learned that working with 2D is very different compared to 3D. However, there are still a lot of similarities between them.

Questions:

1. What has been my most difficult mentoring challenge so far? Why?

The most difficult challenge so far is communicating frequently with my mentor. I have not contacted Mr. Linburg for 2 weeks. Communicating has been for me as I have not found a good opportunity to talk with my mentor. From our last meeting, we created a plan for my learning for the next month. I am working on many projects, and I could not find a good time to communicate with my mentor.

2. What is working well? Why?

One thing that is working really well is my learning speed. All of my learning is done online, through watching videos or reading articles. This is very convenient for me, as I have had a lot of time to learn at home over the past few weeks. My progress has never been quicker before.

3. What could be working better? How can you make sure this happens?

Something that could be working better is communicating more frequently with my mentor. Over the break, I have not contacted Mr. Linburg. I felt that there was no good opportunity, as I was not finished with my projects. I can communicate with him more often so he can keep track of my progress and provide support as I work on a project. I will make sure this happens by setting a meeting scheduled with Mr. Linburg, so we can keep the meetings consistent. I will communicate via email and I will be updating him with my progress this week.

Overall, over the past month, I made a lot of progress. I am proud of the games that I have created so far, and am driven to continue learning about game development. Over the next month, I plan on taking a course about scripting and learning how to implement assets that I have created in Blender into my final large game in Unity and I am excited to see how the game turns out!

It is a difficult time right now, and I hope everybody else is doing well.

-Mike