Elevate your UI development skills with Unity and C# by learning design principles as well as leveraging Unity UI (uGUI), the UI Toolkit, and IMGUI

Key Features

• Develop game user interfaces with both technical and aesthetic considerations
• Understand how to use the diverse UI systems provided by Unity
• Follow step-by-step examples to create popular user interfaces seen in multiple game genres

Book Description

A captivating, fully functional UI is necessary for player interaction and engagement. Unity's tools give you the opportunity to create fascinating UIs to make your game stand out.

Written by a skilled game designer and programmer, Mastering UI Development with Unity begins by describing various design considerations for developing stellar UIs for different genres and platforms. From laying out UIs and creating movements through animation and particle effects to optimizing UI performance, every aspect is meticulously covered. Next, you'll learn the technicalities of implementing UIs with all three UI systems provided by Unity as well as both the Unity input systems. You'll be able to breathe life into your game with visually engaging heads-up displays, pause menus, health bars, circular progress bars, animated menus, and more. This book not only teaches you how to lay out visual elements but also how to program these features and implement them across multiple games of varying genres. With practical examples, you'll understand how to develop and implement UIs across multiple platforms and screen resolutions with minimal changes.

By the end of this book, you'll have the skills you need to develop game UIs confidently with both technical and aesthetic considerations using Unity's versatile UI elements.

What you will learn

• Discover design principles and patterns for crafting visually appealing UIs
• Explore techniques to scale your UI across resolutions
• Streamline your UI building process with automatic layouts
• Understand the properties of the Event System and appropriately hook events to your UI elements
• Implement Unity's built-in uGUI components, including those provided by TextMesh Pro
• Infuse UIs with stunning animation and particle effects
• Understand when and how to use Unity's UI Toolkit and IMGUI

Who this book is for

This book is for game developers looking to elevate their Unity game design skills. Individuals who want an in-depth explanation of specific UI elements and anyone looking for step-by-step guidance on how to implement UI components across multiple game genres will also find this book helpful. A basic understanding of Unity and C# programming is needed.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Designing User Interfaces

Chapter 1: Designing User Interfaces

Chapter 2: Designing Mobile User Interfaces

Chapter 3: Designing VR, MR, and AR UI

Chapter 4: Universal Design and Accessibility for UI

Chapter 5: User Interface and Input Systems in Unity

Part 2: Unity UI Basics

Chapter 6: Canvases, Panels, and Basic Layouts

Chapter 7: Exploring Automatic Layouts

Chapter 8: The Event System and Programming for UI

Part 3: The Interactable Unity UI Components

Chapter 9: The UI Button Component

Chapter 10: UI Text and TextMeshPro

Chapter 11: UI Images and Effects

Chapter 12: Using Masks, Scrollbars, and Scroll Views

Chapter 13: Other Interactable UI Components

Part 4: Unity UI Advanced Topics

Chapter 14: Animating UI Elements

Chapter 15: Particles in the UI

Chapter 16: Utilizing World Space UI

Chapter 17: Optimizing Unity UI

Part 5: Other UI and Input Systems

Chapter 18: Getting Started with UI Toolkit

Chapter 19: Working with IMGUI

Chapter 20: The New Input System

About the Author

Ashley Godbold is a programmer, game designer, artist, mathematician, and teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, a Master of Science in Mathematics, a Bachelor of Science in Game Art and Design, and a Doctor of Computer Science in Emerging Media where her dissertation research focused on educational video game design. She also authored Mastering Unity 2D Game Development: Second Edition (Packt Publishing) and the first edition of Mastering UI Development with Unity. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games and watching anime with her husband, daughter, three cats, and dog.