Chapter 6. Saving Data to Create Longer Games

By now, you've learned all of the basic steps to create fun mechanics in OUYA games, and you can start being creative by playing around with your current knowledge and see if it leads to new discoveries. However, without persistent save data, your creative scope is limited to a single play session, which probably won't be longer than a few hours.

Implementing long-term skill progression and narrative development can do a lot for your game experience, and it keeps players coming back to the game to reach new milestones. Even single-session games such as Canabalt expand their replayability drastically by simply adding in save data for the all-time high score.

We'll accomplish the following goals in this chapter:

• Learn how to save game data with the Unity engine

• Enhance your prototype from Chapter 4, Moving Your Player with Controller Input, by adding collectibles

• Save collectible data so that player progress is tracked between play sessions

• An introduction...