My Review of Unity Turn Based Strategy - Intermediate C# Coding

Unity Courses Talk
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#1

I’m not really sure where to put my review on the course so i’ll put it here.

First off, I want to give much thanks to @CodeMonkey for this great course and all the other content that you have created on YouTube ! It has given me more confidence not just as a unity developer but as a programmer in general.

What did i learn/gained ?
In this course you learn a lot about grid systems and how games are built on it. On top of that you get to work with some basic 3d stuff from setting up animation from mixamo, spawning ragdolls, to destructible objects. There is also an entire section about pathfinding utilizing a simple version of A* to have a general idea.

However, what I have gained the most out of this course was the coding aspect of it. Here are a list of things I picked up;

  • Naming variables and functions ( Before I was wondering how would i ever keep track of events, and just naming the way you have done has significantly improved my readability)
  • Using singletons, has always been a big debate in the internet. But as an indie developer I realize how useful it is and in some cases makes my code more readable and refactorable !
  • Using normal classes. ( before this i use all monobehaviour classes ! )
  • Creating Debug code and visuals
  • More modular UI components
  • Using more intermediate c# functions like “out”
  • Using Delegates to trigger methods in other scripts
  • Using IEquatable, to make classes more usable than just simple value containers
  • Generics !
    And the list goes on…

The code base that I have gained out of this would be something I would study and refer back definitely to strengthen my knowledge.

How did i approach the course ?
I personally find it better to watch the video first and then code second. To follow along things like setting up animations or configuring Unity tools its fine. But if it’s code, i believe its best to just try to watch first and check the gitlab code later.

What was tough for me ?
I would say it’s not all smooth sailing for me during the course. Half way through the course, i stopped and started to build my own grid game and that is where I have learned the most. Things where math is involved, and the pathfinding section I wouldn’t say I 100% understand them as its not really my forte. But I believe when I do need them someday, I would at least have a starting point I can start researching on.

What I would like to see more in the future

  • More intermediate courses similar to this.
  • Games with more complex state machines would be interesting especially for Platform or top down genres.
  • A course that would set me up releasing a game to the public.( not necessary the marketing part but the more technical aspect of it)
1 Like
#2

That’s awesome to hear, looking at the list of things you learned it is exactly what I intended the course to teach so that’s really great!

Going outside the course and attempting to do build something similar yourself is an excellent way to learn. Trying to build something then rewatching that section really helps to solidify all the knowledge that you have gained.

Many thanks for the detailed review, I’m glad you enjoyed the course!

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#3

Hello Napmi,

I’m intending to take this course, however I wanted to build an isometric RTS game, do you think this will help me?

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#4

Hi @pedronrito

So it depends what level of game development are you at.
If you are a seasoned beginner and want to level up, this course will prepare you with the mindset of writing clean code and how to expand upon it. Especially in a more complex/larger project where you have to keep building on top and improving the system to make it easier to add more features.

I’m sure you will pick up many ideas and learn a number of things that is applicable to the rts genre, have a look at the syllabus.

But remember that this course is a turn based xcom-like project so don’t expect all rts essentials here.

Overall, I highly recommend it.

#5

RTS is a bit different from TBS but they also share a lot of concepts. You have units which you can select and give actions, you have movement and shooting, you have friendly and enemy units, etc.
If you were to just remove the TurnSystem and run every action as soon as one is needed then it would pretty much become a simple RTS game. (without Resource Gathering, Unit Spawning, multi-unit selection, Building construction)

So yes a lot of the concepts taught in this course would definitely be applicable to an RTS.
But keep in mind the course is not for complete beginners, it assumes you already have a solid grasp of the basics of both Unity and C# and it helps you make the jump from beginner to advanced.

So if you are a complete beginner just wanting to make an RTS then I would say probably best to pick a different course, perhaps one focused on specifically making an RTS.
But if you are on a more advanced level, if you’re confident enough in your own skills to be able to learn more advanced concepts and apply it to a different game idea then yes this course will help you with a lot of things that are required to make an RTS

#6

Thank you @Napmi for your suggestions, and @CodeMonkey I would like to have access to more information on how to build an rts game. maybe an idea for a new course? :slight_smile:

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