Also the new iTunes University iPad app is not bad.

You can create resources folder anywhere in your project, but you can also create subfolder in your resources folder allowing you to keep a cleaner folder structure.

For example we have the following subfolder structure:

We can use the following code to load our level data text file:

TextAsset levelData = (TextAsset) Resources.Load("LevelData/Level1") as TextAsset;

• Gizmos are used to give visual debugging or setup aids in the scene view.

In our current game for example, the heroes movement are limited to a 2d grid that need to be placed in the scene.  Using gizmos we can visualize our grid in the scene and make sure it’s aligned correctly with the world.

Click the picture to see a video of this in use

In our case the following code is used to draw the gizmo:

	public static void DrawGizmosGrid_XZ(Vector3 topLeftPosition, Vector3 bottomRightPosition,
	                                     int horizontalCount, int verticalCount, Color color)
	{
        Gizmos.color = color;

		//Top left
        Gizmos.DrawSphere(topLeftPosition, 1.0f);

		//Bottom Right
        Gizmos.DrawSphere(bottomRightPosition, 1.0f);

		//Vertical Lines
		float horizontalDelta = (bottomRightPosition.x - topLeftPosition.x) / (float)horizontalCount;
		for(int i = 0; i <= horizontalCount; i++)
		{
			Vector3 topPosition = topLeftPosition;
			topPosition.x = topLeftPosition.x + ((float)i * horizontalDelta);

			Vector3 bottomPosition = bottomRightPosition;
			bottomPosition.x = topLeftPosition.x + ((float)i * horizontalDelta);

			Gizmos.DrawLine(topPosition, bottomPosition);
		}

		//Horizontal lines
		float verticalDelta = (bottomRightPosition.z - topLeftPosition.z) / (float)verticalCount;
		for(int i = 0; i <= verticalCount; i++)
		{
			Vector3 leftPosition = topLeftPosition;
			leftPosition.z = topLeftPosition.z  + ((float)i * verticalDelta);

			Vector3 rightPosition = bottomRightPosition;
			rightPosition.z = topLeftPosition.z  + ((float)i * verticalDelta);

			Gizmos.DrawLine(leftPosition, rightPosition);
		}
	}

We call that debug function in:

	//This will draw the grid in the editor when the grid object is selected
	//Allow us to put the correct grid value more easily
	void OnDrawGizmosSelected()
	{
		DebugUtils.DrawGizmosGrid_XZ(ev_TopLeftWorldPosition, ev_BottomRightWorldPosition, ev_HorizontalCount, ev_VerticalCount, Color.red);

		//We might not be fully initialized yet
		if(HeroGrid != null)
		{
			for(int i = 0; i < HeroGrid.GetLength(0); i++)
			{
				for(int j = 0; j < HeroGrid.GetLength(1); j++)
				{
					HeroGridCell gridCell = HeroGrid[i,j];
					Gizmos.DrawSphere(gridCell.WorldPosition, 0.3f);
				}
			}
		}
    }

The test for “if(HeroGrid != null)” is needed because the OnDrawGizmosSelected() will be called when not in play mode, meaning that some part of the object might not be initialized yet.

You have to be careful when drawing gizmo, some things you want to represent might not have been created yet. In this case it was trying to draw the center of each grid for debugging purpose (visually making sure that our initialization code is correct, another way we can use gizmos), but the grid is initialized in the awake() function so it would not exit in the editor mode.

(Click on each picture to play the game). The game descriptions are from Cat’s blog.

• The first game was Beacon done for the Global Game Jam 2011 event

Game Description:
The last remaining humans are stranded in a city area. They are paralyzed by fear of man-eating creatures, and can’t see where they’re going – but the monsters are hunting them by sense of smell. Use the light to guide them to the lighted areas where they will be safe (click to select, click where you want them to go).

• The second game was Sushi Runner, the first game made by be, Cat, Suresh and Chad:

Game Description:
You play as a fish that is trying to escape a sushi restaurant. Jump, slide, boost and brake to avoid obstacles on the table, as well as obstacles that fly at you.

Here are the control:

• Next was Dungeon And Dorks, where Suresh shows his vocal talent Play with sound!

Game Description (written by Chad):
This week we tried a new take on a little known but classic game (in some circles). You play the role of a pewter miniature swept up in an ill-conceived D&D adventure! Well worth a play through if for no other reason than the epic voice acting. Just click to move and interact with the world.

• To Boldly Go was our next game, it was our more polished game and I think the most fun

Game Description:
Click in the direction you want to go with the left mouse button to move. Use the right mouse button for a boost. Various obstacles harm you in different ways – the planets have gravity which pulls you in, supernovas can either kill you with their initial explosion, or repel you outwards into space, space squids latch onto you and must be shaken off or they will destroy you, and various enemy ships and bases will shoot to kill.

• For the second Vicarious Vision gamejam, we tried to do a game that use multiple devices all working together. Fear The Whale! is what we ended up with, click on the image for a YouTube video showing me trying to explain it

Game Description (from Suresh):
We created a single project that would run on all devices and the PC. When you load the game, you choose what you are, the TV, a fisherman, or the whale. The TV is the host, while the fisherman and whale are clients. Tim set up a matchmaking server, so technically they all connect to a game specified by name. Thanks to Unity we were able to deploy the same game to an iPhone 3GS, iPad1/2 and an Android Tablet without too much trouble, there were of course rendering discrepancies and performance problems on certain devices, but everything just seemed to work across the board!

• For our last game, we tried to try to see if we could make a game about exploration and picture taking. Island is the game we ended up with.

Summary: Run around the world taking pictures! You may take pictures anywhere you want to build your gallery, but to complete the game, take pictures at all of the ‘picture spots’ (represented by yellow star effects). (Warning: We didn’t actually add an ending…. so all you’ll really get from collecting all of the picture spots is a sense of satisfaction.) You can also take pictures of anything you think is interesting.

Some C# code:

	HeroBaseScript _Hero = null;
	public HeroBaseScript Hero
	{
		get
		{
			return _Hero;
		}
		set
		{
			//TODO: if 	_Hero != null do something?
			_Hero = value;
		}
	}

You can collapse the code:

public class HeroGridCell
{
	public int[] Index = {0,0};
	public Vector3 WorldPosition = Vector3.zero;

	HeroBaseScript _Hero = null;
	public HeroBaseScript Hero
	{
		get
		{
			return _Hero;
		}
		set
		{
			//TODO: if 	_Hero != null do something?
			_Hero = value;
		}
	}

	public static HeroGridCell[,] NewInitHeroGrid(int horizontalCount, int verticalCount, Vector3 topLeftWorldPosition, Vector3 bottomRightWorldPosition, GameObject heroGridGameObject)
	{
		//Allocate the memory
		HeroGridCell[,] HeroGrid = new HeroGridCell[horizontalCount, verticalCount];
		for(int i = 0; i < horizontalCount; i++)
		{
			for(int j = 0; j < verticalCount; j++)
			{
				HeroGrid[i,j] = new HeroGridCell();
			}
		}

		//Fill the array with initial values
		Vector3 horizontalDelta = (bottomRightWorldPosition - topLeftWorldPosition) / (float)horizontalCount;
		horizontalDelta.z = 0.0f;

		Vector3 verticalDelta = (bottomRightWorldPosition - topLeftWorldPosition) / (float)verticalCount;
		verticalDelta.x = 0.0f;

		Vector3 topLeftCenterPosition = topLeftWorldPosition + (horizontalDelta / 2.0f) + (verticalDelta / 2.0f);

		for(int i = 0; i < horizontalCount; i++)
		{
			for(int j = 0; j < verticalCount; j++)
			{
				HeroGridCell gridCell = HeroGrid[i,j];
				gridCell.Index[0] = i;
				gridCell.Index[1] = j;
				gridCell.WorldPosition = topLeftCenterPosition + ((float)i * horizontalDelta) + ((float)j * verticalDelta);
			}
		}

		return HeroGrid;
	}
}