Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Save more on your purchases now! discount-offer-chevron-icon
Savings automatically calculated. No voucher code required.
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Conferences
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Building a Game with Unity and Blender
Building a Game with Unity and Blender

Building a Game with Unity and Blender: Learn how to build a complete 3D game using the industry-leading Unity game development engine and Blender, the graphics software that gives life to your ideas

eBook
€20.98 €29.99
Paperback
€36.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Building a Game with Unity and Blender

Chapter 2. Creating Characters

In the previous chapter, we learned the process of creating our own game concept, which was mostly theoretical. In this chapter, however, we are going to get our hands dirty by learning how to create 3D characters from scratch using Blender!

In this chapter, we will cover:

  • Downloading Blender for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux
  • A quick look at the basic user interface of Blender
  • Creating a 3D model of the monster from scratch
  • Unwrapping UV and creating a texture for the monster
  • Creating a 3D model of the player character from scratch
  • Unwrapping UV and creating a texture for the player character

Downloading Blender

As we all know, a blender is an electric kitchen appliance used to blend vegetables and fruits into drinks, sauces, or pastries. But in this tutorial, we will be using another Blender, which is an open source 3D computer graphics software developed and maintained by the Blender Foundation.

Note

You can download Blender for free, at http://www.blender.org/download.

Currently, three platforms are officially supported: Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Due to Blender's open source nature, it can be easily ported to other operating systems as well.

A brief history of Blender

Blender was originally proprietary software developed in the mid 90's by Ton Roosendaal for his animation company. Unfortunately, the company was shut down by investors in early 2002, resulting in Ton losing the ownership of Blender.

Later that year, Ton founded a non-profit organization called the Blender Foundation and successfully raised a total of 100,000 EUR in only seven weeks to convince the...

Creating the monster's 3D model

In this chapter, we will be using the character concepts from the previous chapter to walk you through the process of constructing a 3D game character from scratch. Once you have learned how to do that, you can then try to draw your own concepts and turn it into a 3D model!

You may ask why we start constructing the monster first, and not the player character. The reason for this is because the body shape of the monster is much simpler compared to the player character. Constructing a humanoid 3D model is not the best way for a newbie to learn the basics of 3D modeling. We will come back to the player character once you have mastered the basic skills.

The first thing we need to do is to refer back to our monster concept art and try to imagine its body shape using just the combination of primitive geometries. This will help you see through the complexity of details such as texture, color, facial expression, and so on, and focus solely on the shape. This will...

Unwrapping the monster's UV map

UV mapping is the process of converting the texture space of the 3D mesh into a 2D representation so that a texture can later be applied correctly.

To unwrap our monster's UV map in Blender, we need to first open up the UV editor window. Click and drag the split-window widget located in the top-right corner of your 3D view to split open a new window. Choose UV/Image Editor from the editor type drop-down menu and now you will see the UV editor alongside your 3D view.

Unwrapping the monster's UV map

The first step to UV unwrapping is to find out where to cut out the seams. First, select the edges that connect the ears and legs to the body.

Unwrapping the monster's UV map

Then, press Ctrl + E to open up the menu containing all operators related to edges. Click on Mark Seam to tell Blender to cut these edges when we unwrap the UV map. The edges will then be marked with thick red lines.

Unwrapping the monster's UV map

After that, mark all the other seam lines with the same method. Try to mark the edges that are hard to notice from the player's...

Creating the monster's texture

Once you're happy with the UV map, you can now remove the checker texture and replace it with a blank texture by clicking on the + New button and pick Blank as the Generated Type. What I'm trying to do now is to bake the soft shadow that we usually call the ambient occlusion onto the blank texture. This AO map not only serves as a guideline for texture painting but also makes the final texture look more realistic. This step is not necessary depending on what style you're trying to do.

Creating the monster's texture

On the Properties window, switch over to the World tab and check Ambient Occlusion. Then, scroll down a little bit and you will see the Gather category. Change the Samples value from 5 to 15.

Creating the monster's texture

Next, go to the Render tab and open up the Bake category. Change Bake mode to Ambient Occlusion and check Normalized. The normalized setting will make the AO map look brighter and clean.

Creating the monster's texture

Once you're done with the settings, click on the Bake button and watch the magic...

Creating the player character's 3D model

Now that you are equipped with all the basic modeling skills, let's move on to create the player character. Phew, we have come such a long way!

Although a humanoid character tends to look very complicated, if we take away the details and just look at its simplified form, what we will see is a bunch of cylindrical shapes stuck together with a spherical head on top.

Creating the player character's 3D model

That is exactly what we are going to do next—create a bunch of cylinders and a sphere at a low segments count; I usually go for 6-8 segments so it's easier to edit. Then, arrange the cylinders and sphere nicely so that it look like a stickman.

Creating the player character's 3D model

Next, join all the shapes together into one single object by pressing Ctrl + J. Then, delete the other half of the model (only the body part, not the head) and apply the mirror modifier to make our lives easier. Do note that if your object's pivot point is not in the middle, your model will look extremely wrong when the mirror...

Downloading Blender


As we all know, a blender is an electric kitchen appliance used to blend vegetables and fruits into drinks, sauces, or pastries. But in this tutorial, we will be using another Blender, which is an open source 3D computer graphics software developed and maintained by the Blender Foundation.

Note

You can download Blender for free, at http://www.blender.org/download.

Currently, three platforms are officially supported: Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Due to Blender's open source nature, it can be easily ported to other operating systems as well.

A brief history of Blender

Blender was originally proprietary software developed in the mid 90's by Ton Roosendaal for his animation company. Unfortunately, the company was shut down by investors in early 2002, resulting in Ton losing the ownership of Blender.

Later that year, Ton founded a non-profit organization called the Blender Foundation and successfully raised a total of 100,000 EUR in only seven weeks to convince the former company...

Creating the monster's 3D model


In this chapter, we will be using the character concepts from the previous chapter to walk you through the process of constructing a 3D game character from scratch. Once you have learned how to do that, you can then try to draw your own concepts and turn it into a 3D model!

You may ask why we start constructing the monster first, and not the player character. The reason for this is because the body shape of the monster is much simpler compared to the player character. Constructing a humanoid 3D model is not the best way for a newbie to learn the basics of 3D modeling. We will come back to the player character once you have mastered the basic skills.

The first thing we need to do is to refer back to our monster concept art and try to imagine its body shape using just the combination of primitive geometries. This will help you see through the complexity of details such as texture, color, facial expression, and so on, and focus solely on the shape. This will help...

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Key benefits

  • Learn the fundamentals of two powerful tools and put the concepts into practice
  • Find out how to designand buildall the core elements required for a great game - from characters to environments, to props—
  • Learn how to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into your game for sophisticated and engaging gameplay

Description

In the wake of the indie game development scene, game development tools are no longer luxury items costing up to millions of dollars but are now affordable by smaller teams or even individual developers. Among these cutting-edge applications, Blender and Unity stand out from the crowd as a powerful combination that allows small-to-no budget indie developers or hobbyists alike to develop games that they have always dreamt of creating. Starting from the beginning, this book will cover designing the game concept, constructing the gameplay, creating the characters and environment, implementing game logic and basic artificial intelligence, and finally deploying the game for others to play. By sequentially working through the steps in each chapter, you will quickly master the skills required to develop your dream game from scratch.

Who is this book for?

This book has been created for anyone who wants to learn how to develop their own game using Blender and Unity, both of which are freely available, yet very popular and powerful, tools. Not only will you be able to master the tools, but you will also learn the entire process of creating a game from the ground up.

What you will learn

  • • Design and create a game concept that will determine how your game will look and how it will be played
  • • Construct 3D models of your game characters and create animations for them before importing them into the game
  • • Build the game environment from scratch by constructing the terrain and props, and eventually put it all together to form a scene
  • • Import and integrate game assets created in Blender into Unity—for example, setting up textures, materials, animation states, and prefabs
  • • Develop game structures including a game flow, user interface diagram, game logic, and a state machine
  • • Make the game characters move around and perform certain actions either through player inputs or fully controlled by artificial intelligence
  • • Create particles and visual effects to enhance the overall visual aesthetic
  • • Deploy the game for various types of platforms
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Luxembourg

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€17.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Nov 27, 2015
Length: 250 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785282140
Vendor :
Unity Technologies
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Luxembourg

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€17.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Nov 27, 2015
Length: 250 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785282140
Vendor :
Unity Technologies
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
€18.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
€189.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
€264.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total 119.97
Blender 3D By Example
€36.99
Building a Game with Unity and Blender
€36.99
Unity 5.x Cookbook
€45.99
Total 119.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

10 Chapters
1. Creating Your Game Concept Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Creating Characters Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Animating Your Characters Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Creating the Environment Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Integrating Your Assets into the Game Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Developing the Game Structure Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Creating Levels and Game Progression Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Post-Production and Visual FX Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Deploying the Game Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Most Recent
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.3
(6 Ratings)
5 star 33.3%
4 star 16.7%
3 star 16.7%
2 star 16.7%
1 star 16.7%
Filter icon Filter
Most Recent

Filter reviews by




Jtown Dec 28, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Good and fast delivery, book in great condition!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Jeannette Maldonado Mar 24, 2021
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1
I think when this book was first published it might have been ok. The images are all in black and white and the link offered to get the images in color doesn't work. Also the unity and blender platforms have both changed so much that many of the steps are either obsolete or result in broken code. Overall I feel like I wasted my money.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Pradiv Garg Apr 21, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This is good book to learn game development if you don't even the basics of it. I can't say weather you like it or not as a pro but as beginner you will love it. There are few things which have changed in softwares compared to version of book I have but still by moving a little around and reading changes in docs of unity you can fully utilize this book to learn from start to end of development
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Melody Jan 22, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I'm a graphic design student and I have an interest in dabbling in game design. Love this book - very cool. Bought this with "the art of game design" by jesse schell. Would recommend both.Also -- had to wait for this book for over a month to ship because they had none in stock. But it was worth the wait.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
W Jan 15, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 2
I had high hopes after getting another book for PacktPub that was top notch but this is absolute junk. There's very little explanation of what is being done or why and an absurd number of steps just get skipped. Most steps require some extra googling to figure out what you were supposed to do. There is too much skipped information to be useful to beginners and too little helpful information to be of any use to those with a little experience. The author should have made a detailed book about making game assets in Blender or about working with them in Unity. Instead we got a book that fails on two fronts.Edited to two stars. I used it a couple times for quick references. It isn't totally useless as vague outline of steps, though I still wouldn't suggest it to anyone.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact customercare@packt.com with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at customercare@packt.com using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on customercare@packt.com who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on customercare@packt.com within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela