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Augmented Reality Game Development
Augmented Reality Game Development

Augmented Reality Game Development: Create your own augmented reality games from scratch with Unity 5

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Augmented Reality Game Development

Chapter 2. Mapping the Player's Location

The core of most real-world games is the location-based map. That integration of the player's real-world position mapped into the virtual world extends the game's virtual elements into the real world, allowing players to explore the world around them with a new perspective and sense of exploration.

In this chapter, we will take our first steps to understanding how to integrate maps into a Unity game. However, before working with Unity, we will cover the basics of GIS and GPS. This will allow us to establish some simple definitions and background for what can be complex topics. After that, we will dive back into Unity and add a location-based map, a basic character, and free look camera to our Foody GO project. Even though we are dealing with advanced concepts, we will keep things simple for now and avoid getting into any code. Of course, more advanced readers with a background in GIS have the options to explore the code at...

GIS fundamentals

GIS stands for geographic information system, a system in which geographic data is collected, stored, analyzed, manipulated, and served as maps. Although that definition is still prominent, GIS has come to mean everything from software applications, hardware, tools, science, and services. Google Maps, for example, is the best-known example of a GIS in use today. Yet, in this book, we will also use GIS to mean the science and process of converting geographic data and mapping.

Mapping

Cartographers have been mapping the world around them for thousands of years. Yet only very recently with the development of computers did it become efficient to be used in computers and GIS to create dynamic maps. Unlike traditional hand-drawn paper maps, dynamically rendered maps are composed of layers of spatial data that could describe roads, points of interest, parks, boundaries, landscape, water, and more. As much as the common Google Maps user has little control over what layers are shown...

GPS fundamentals

GPS is an acronym for global positioning system, a network of 24 to 32 satellites that orbit the earth twice every hour. As these satellites orbit, they emit time-encoded geographical signals as a beacon to any GPS device on earth that can see them. A GPS device then uses these signals to triangulate its position anywhere on the planet. The more satellites and signals a device can receive a signal from, the more accurate the location will be. We will get into more details about GPS triangulation and accuracy in Chapter 4, Spawning the Catch.

The following diagram shows a GPS device acquiring a signal from visible satellites on the network:

GPS fundamentals

GPS Device tracking visible satellites

This is a list of terms we may come across when talking about or using GPS on a device:

  • Datum: It is a term used in GPS to define the coordinate transformation system used to convert those satellite signals into usable coordinates. All GPS devices use WGS 84 as the standard, which is convenient for...

Summary

In this chapter, you were introduced to some fundamentals about GIS, mapping, and GPS. This basic knowledge helped us define some terminologies for working with and loading the Google Maps API in Unity. We then added a map to the game but decided the quality was lacking. This led us to building a tile map system for the game map. After which, we took a quick break to introduce a console debugging tool called CUDLR. CUDLR helped us debug a fundamental piece of our game and find the player's location via GPS. This allowed us to finish out the chapter by adding GPS to our game using the GPS location service.

Now that we have the fundamentals established, we can now get into more hands-on game development. The following chapter will be a whirlwind introduction to adding a fully rigged character to our scene and also cover mobile touch input, free look cameras, and how to access the device's motion sensors.

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Key benefits

  • • Create your own augmented reality game from scratch and join the virtual reality gaming revolution
  • • Use the latest Unity 5 VR SDK to create pro-level AR games like Pokémon Go
  • • Innovate and explore the latest and most promising trend of AR gaming in the mobile gaming industry

Description

The heyday of location-based augmented reality games is upon us. They have been around for a few years, but the release of Pokémon Go was a gamechanger that catalyzed the market and led to a massive surge in demand. Now is the time for novice and experienced developers alike to turn their good ideas into augmented reality (AR) mobile games and meet this demand! If you are keen to develop virtual reality games with the latest Unity 5 toolkit, then this is the book for you. The genre of location-based AR games introduces a new platform and technical challenges, but this book will help simplify those challenges and show how to maximize your game audience. This book will take you on a journey through building a location-based AR game that addresses the core technical concepts: GIS fundamentals, mobile device GPS, mapping, map textures in Unity, mobile device camera, camera textures in Unity, accessing location-based services, and other useful Unity tips. The technical material also discusses what is necessary for further development to create a multiplayer version of the game. At the end, you will be presented with troubleshooting techniques in case you get into trouble and need a little help.

Who is this book for?

This book is for those who have a basic knowledge of game development techniques, but no previous knowledge of Unity is required. Some basic programming knowledge would be desirable, but the book is an introduction to the topic. The book is also suitable for experienced developers new to GIS or GPS development.

What you will learn

  • • Build a location-based augmented reality game called Foodie Go
  • • Animate a player's avatar on a map
  • • Use the mobile device's camera as a game background
  • • Implement database persistence with SQLLite4Unity3D to carry inventory items across game sessions
  • • Create basic UI elements for the game, inventory, menu, and settings
  • • Perform location and content searches against the Google Places API
  • • Enhance the game's mood by adding visual shader effects
  • • Extend the game by adding multiplayer networking and other enhancements

Product Details

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Publication date : Jan 20, 2017
Length: 334 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781787124523
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Product Details

Publication date : Jan 20, 2017
Length: 334 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781787124523
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Table of Contents

10 Chapters
1. Getting Started Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Mapping the Player's Location Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Making the Avatar Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Spawning the Catch Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Catching the Prey in AR Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Storing the Catch Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Creating the AR World Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Interacting with an AR World Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Finishing the Game Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Troubleshooting Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
(3 Ratings)
5 star 100%
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1 star 0%
Khai Sep 30, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
A very good book, I hope there will be more of the similar book!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
stormcorn Apr 18, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
nice book
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Janie Clayton May 08, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is an excellent book for people who are somewhat familiar with Unity and computer programming but are not experts. The author does not assume you know everything about Unity but also doesn't go into weird depths about minutiae that derails the point he's trying to make. Some tech writers either assume you're an expert or an idiot. Lanham threads the needle of giving necessary explanations but not talking down to the reader. Everything is explained well and mathematical concepts are broken down into understandable chunks without abstracting away the actual math. If you are curious about Unity or augmented reality development but don't know where to begin, this is a good place to start.
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