Chapter 4. Developing graphics for your game

We’ve been focusing mostly on how the game functions and not as much on how the game looks. That was no accident—this book is mostly about programming games in Unity. Still, it’s important to understand how to work on and improve the visuals. Before we get back to the book’s main focus on coding different parts of the game, let’s spend a chapter learning about game art so that your projects won’t always end with just blank boxes sliding around.

All of the visual content in a game is made up of what are called art assets. But what exactly does that mean?

4.1. Understanding art assets

An art asset is an individual unit of visual information (usually a file) used by the game. It’s an overarching umbrella term for all visual content; image files are art assets, 3D models are art assets, and so on. Indeed, the term art asset is simply a specific case of an asset, which you’ve learned is any file used by the game (such as a script)—hence the main Assets folder in Unity. Table 4.1 lists and describes the five main kinds of art assets used in building a game.

4.2. Building basic 3D scenery: whiteboxing

4.3. Texture the scene with 2D images

4.4. Generating sky visuals using texture images

4.5. Working with custom 3D models

4.6. Creating effects using particle systems

4.7. Summary