Building an FPS Game with Unity: Create a high-quality first person shooter game using the Unity game engine and the popular UFPS and Probuilder frameworks

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Building an FPS Game with Unity

Chapter 1. Getting Started on an FPS

Welcome to Building an FPS Game with Unity! This chapter is dedicated to offer a brief overview, from a beginner's point of view, of the exciting world of Unity development for the creation of a First Person Shooter (FPS) title, leveraging the powerful Ultimate First Person Shooter (UFPS) framework by VisionPunk and Prototype/ProBuilder 2.0 by ProCore3D. But, before we get started, we first need to get all of the resources we'll need and set up our project for success.

Over the course of this book, we will be creating a 3D FPS game similar to the popular games in the market such as Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Halo 5: Guardians.

We will learn how we can create custom weapons of our own as well as how we can create interior and exterior environments. After creating our environments, we will populate them with different combat encounters for players to fight as well as include intractable objects such as exploding barrels. We'll then customize our user interface using Unity's new GUI system before we package our game and create an installer to get the game out into the world!

This project will be split into a number of tasks. It will be a simple step-by-step process from the beginning to the end. Here is the outline of our tasks:

Project creation
Getting started with Unity's Asset Store
Installing UFPS
Installing Prototype
File organization
Customizing Unity's layout

Getting started with the Asset Store

Since Unity 3, the Asset Store has been similar to Apple's/Android's app stores, except, instead of apps, you can buy prebuilt assets that can be imported directly into your project. We will be using this in our project; but, before we do so, we will need to have an account, that can be created using the following steps:

To open the Asset Store via Unity, we can go to Window | Asset Store from the top toolbar.
Note
You may also open the panel by pressing Ctrl + 9 (command + 9 on Mac). If nothing happens, make sure Unity is focused on window by clicking on the program and trying again. If you prefer working outside Unity, you may also go to the Asset Store website at https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/. However, you'll need to download assets from Unity via the Download Manager, which you can learn about from the link given later in this chapter.
Next, go to the top-right corner of the panel and click on the Create Account button. Fill out your information and click on Create account at the bottom of the screen.
You should receive an activation e-mail shortly after you submit the form. Open it and click on the activation link provided to verify your account.
Once this is done, go to Log In from the top-right corner of the panel and enter the information you put in when you created the account. If all goes well, the top-right corner of the window will change to reflect that you are logged in.

With this, we can download and purchase assets from the Asset Store!

Note

Do not be concerned if you do not see 11 by your account, it just shows that I have a Unity Pro account.

For more information on the Asset Store and how to navigate using it, visit http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/AccessNavigation.html.

Installing UFPS

Creating a game completely from scratch takes a considerable amount of time. Creating a first-person shooter relies on having a lot of knowledge as well as problem solving with things such as physics, mathematics, graphics, and programming. Now, books of each of these subjects could have been written based on it; but we are assuming that you want results in the fastest amount of time possible.

Rather than taking the tens of thousands of hours it would take to create it from scratch, we will leverage the very popular Unity add-on UFPS (Ultimate FPS) from VisionPunk. It will give us a solid foundation to create our own project with hundreds of parameters, which we can customize to create a project exactly the way we want it to be.

It's important to note that UFPS does cost money. But considering that a solid game programmer generally makes $50 or more an hour, the amount of time saved really makes it a worthwhile investment.

Now that we are logged into the Asset Store, let's purchase and install UFPS:

Now, from the search bar directly below the login information, search for UFPS. You should see an icon that looks similar to the following:
Click on the first option, which will bring you to the following page:
Now, click on the Buy button and purchase the asset. Once it is purchased, the screen will change the Buy button to a Download button. You can click on it to download the asset and bring it into your project.
Once it is downloaded, an Importing package window will open, giving you the option to choose which parts of the package you wish to import. We want everything, so just click on the Import button.
Note
If, for some reason, you get an error (the bottom bar, or Console, in the Unity interface) while importing that says something like 'Fatal error! getManagerFromContext:…". This is a bug in Unity due to the large file size UFPS has. Just Quit and continue with the import once again, when you restart Unity.
Once the project is imported, close the Asset Store window and go back into the Unity Editor. From there, go down to the Project tab in the bottom-left corner of the screen and double-click on the UFPS folder. Go to Base\Content\Levels\SkyCity and double-click on the SkyCity file to open an example level. Then, press the Play button at the top-center of the project to start the project!

With this, we know that UFPS is installed correctly!

Installing Prototype

In general, creating levels in Unity is a painful experience. You have to type in the values for each piece that you want to add or you have to create everything inside a modeling program and import it, which will require you to have 3D modeling skills.

Other game engines have tools like Binary Space Partitioning (BSP) or Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG), which allow you to build geometry from scratch and apply materials to it to create areas for play. Filling in the gap that Unity has, ProCore3D has created a toolkit that allows for in-editor construction.

We will later on use ProBuilder to polish up our final product; but, in the meantime, we will use Prototype, their free version to build the basic structure and flow of our levels without wasting time, thus making things visually appealing until we polish it. Perform the following steps to install Prototype:

Open the Asset Store once again by going to the toolbar, searching for Prototype, and looking for the following icon:
Click on the first option in the top-left corner and you should be brought to a page like the following one:
Tip
After the writing of this book, Prototype will in the near future be replaced by ProBuilder Basic which is still 100% free but has additional features. I've talked with the creators about this, and they've confirmed with me after reading the book that everything discussed here should still work with the new version. For more information on this, check out http://www.protoolsforunity3d.com/probuilder/.
Click on the Download button and wait for it to finish. Then, import the entire package by clicking on Import.
We will now test it out to see whether everything is imported correctly. Create a new scene inside Unity by going to File | New Scene. Once there, press Ctrl + K to create a new cube using Prototype.

With this, we know that it was installed correctly! It may look pretty simple now, but we will be diving even more into using these tools later on.

Note

For more information on Prototype, check out http://www.protoolsforunity3d.com/prototype/.

Description

Unity, available in free and pro versions, is one of the most popular third-party game engines available. It is a cross-platform game engine, making it easy to write your game once and then port it to PC, consoles, and even the web, making it a great choice for both indie and AAA developers. Building an FPS Game in Unity takes readers on an exploration of how to use Unity to create a 3D first person shooter (FPS) title, leveraging the powerful UFPS framework by VisionPunk and Prototype/ProBuilder 2.0 by ProCore3D. After some setting up, you will start by learning how to create custom weapons, prototype levels, create exterior and interior environments, and breathe life into our levels. We will then add polish to the levels. Finally, we will create a custom GUI and menus for our title to create a complete package.

Who is this book for?

This book is for those who want to create an FPS game in Unity and gain knowledge on how to customize it to be their very own. If you are familiar with the basics of Unity, you will have an easier time, but it should make it possible for someone with no prior experience to learn Unity at an accelerated pace.

What you will learn

Use UFPS to build custom weapons with custom meshes and behaviors

Explore level design as you prototype levels, making use of Prototype to build levels out quickly

Build environments that are realistic as possible while keeping peak performance and repetitiveness down

Review tips and tricks on how to create environments using both terrain for outdoor areas and a modular workflow for interiors

Develop a number of different encounters that your players can fight against, from a simple turret enemy to complex AI characters from Shooter AI

Discover how to create unique objects such as exploding barrels and objects you can interact with

Create a custom GUI to help your game stand out from the crowd

Package your game for release, create an installer, and get your game out into the world

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Paperback book shipped to your preferred address

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Amazon Customer Dec 07, 2015

I bought this book a few weeks ago now and I find it a very helpful and well written guide.I am a self taught programmer and this book has helped me to extend my knowledge of Unity and UFPS. Yes UFPS is not free but if you are looking to gain more knowledge and worthwhile assets then this asset will not go amiss.I have recommended this book to a few friends who like me program in their free time and are looking for good resources.The book is very well written and very easy to understand so even if you are learning (like I am) you should not have a problem following this book and ending up with your own base FPS game to build and expand on.

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DK Aug 25, 2016

This book was a great introduction to building an FPS game and provides a foundation into what is necessary to build one.I am an experienced coder but not developer by job profession and I started on Unity 5 just a few months ago and this book provides the insight into what building an FPS really takes in Unity.I was not familiar with Prototype aka (ProBuilder), RAIN AI, or Shooter AI aka (Tactical AI Shooter) and this book gave me the knowledge and tools to build a prototype FPS shooter.Now some of the information in this book is outdated now [of no fault to the author] Rival Theory appears to have dumped its RAIN AI and is focusing on "Sentio" so you wont find much help there. Shooter AI appears to now be Tactical AI Shooter and the instructions are a bit different than the book. Prototype is now ProBuilder but those instructions are the same.When Rival Theory dumped its RAIN AI all you find is the legacy pages and the book cites a download from Rival Theory that is no longer available. I reached out to John directly on his website and within 6 hours he had responded back that he was asking Rival Theory for the code. Within 24 hours John sent me a link to Mega Upload to download the missing code. I don't believe I am allowed to post links [to the Mega Upload] in an Amazon review as I could see that as a security threat, just email John at his personal website with his resume he will get back to you.I don't know about you but I don't know many authors that A) respond to their readers B) respond so quickly C) resolve the issue in less in 24 hoursSo that's why I give 5 stars to this book, the author stands behinds his book and the book is a great introduction to FPS using Unity.

Harris Gellman Oct 15, 2016

well written

James Dec 03, 2015

This book will help make a FPS game with minimal coding by using assets from Unity's Asset store. Some of these assets will cost you but if your serious about your hobby like me then these are great purchases. The author will walk you through how to set it up with these tools which is great because you can easily spend hours scouring You Tube trying to find something like this which you may eventually find in different places or you will just give up looking. He makes it easy for you with it all in one place. I'm not an expert on Unity or coding but found this book very easy to follow and had my own little game setup with bots very quickly. But do remember some of these assets like UFPS (this is the only one that is required for you to purchase the other one is Shooter AI but you could use Rain AI which is free) will cost you $95 but it is something worth purchasing, just like any hobby you have to spend some money (like buying this book). I think its a very good starting point for you if your interested in FPS games and wish there were more like this.

Rob Thompson Dec 07, 2015

This is a great book. I like the fact that each chapter is laid out with clear goals. The software pre-requisites are also clearly described with additional information for each package from Unity Store. This is important and also, its rather unbiased in terms of what is actually going to be your personal choice over what is being recommended. As you progress through the book, you can see the power of both applications and start to enjoy Unity and UFPS more than you thought you would. My son, who is 14, is enjoying this book as well. He wants to be a level designer so this is a great start for him. I recommend this book if you are new to Unity and UFPS.

Building an FPS Game with Unity: Create a high-quality first person shooter game using the Unity game engine and the popular UFPS and Probuilder frameworks

What do you get with Print?

Building an FPS Game with Unity

Chapter 1. Getting Started on an FPS

Prerequisites

Project creation

Note

Getting started with the Asset Store

Note

Note

Installing UFPS

Note

Installing Prototype

Tip

Note

File organization

Tip

Note

Customizing Unity's layout

Note

Summary

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