The Unity Asset Store offers a vast array of game-ready assets for Unity developers to choose from. However, the sheer volume of assets frequently overwhelms and confuses novice developers.
Furthermore, not every asset is created to be used in a game; some are created to help with game development. These are the ones you should obtain prior to beginning a fully-fledged game development project. Here is a list of essential assets for Unity developers.
Unity: What Is It?
What is Unity? Unity is a game engine that allows you to create 2D, 3D, and other kinds of games.
It is built on Microsoft C#. Because of its user-friendly tools, it's one of the most popular game engines among aspiring artists and home-based developers.
Unity apps will have received over 4 billion downloads monthly, and 70% of the top 1,000 mobile games are said to have been made using the game engine.
When advertisements are incorporated into a game, it also results in a lot of dollar signs. Through the use of in-app advertisements, Unity has generated over $1.1 billion in revenue thus far.
Although Unity started on macOS, it has since expanded to other operating systems. It is now compatible with a variety of platforms, including desktop, mobile, console, and virtual reality.
It's more than just a graphic and visual aid these days.
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Unity Essential Assets
Umodeler
With UModeler, you can quickly create 3D models in Unity. Without requiring the use of external modeling software, UModeler allows you to create, edit, and texture 3D models right within the Unity Editor.
Game developers love UModeler because it makes it easy for them to prototype and refine game environments and assets quickly.
Amplify Shader Editor
With Unity, developers can design custom shaders without writing code thanks to the node-based shader editor Amplify Shader Editor.
Developers can create complex lighting effects, materials, and post-processing effects with shaders using Amplify Shader Editor. Unity developers love Amplify Shader Editor because it gives them a strong and adaptable tool to create custom shaders without requiring them to be shader programming experts.
Playmaker
Using a node-based interface, PlayMaker is a visual scripting tool that lets developers design the behavior and logic of games.
Without knowing how to write code, developers can design intricate game mechanics and behaviors with PlayMaker. PlayMaker is well-liked by Unity developers since it offers a user-friendly method of creating game behavior and logic without the need for programming expertise.
Easy Save
One useful tool for giving Unity games save and load capabilities is Easy Save. Developers can quickly save and load game data, such as player progress, preferences, and settings, by using Easy Save.
Because it offers a quick and easy way to add save and load functionality to games without requiring the creation of intricate save and load systems from scratch, Easy Save is well-liked by Unity developers.
Ultimate Character Controller
One useful tool for making third-person character controllers in Unity is the Ultimate Character Controller. Developers can design characters with intricate movement and animation systems-including support for parkour, swimming, and climbing-by utilizing the Ultimate Character Controller.
Because it offers a complete toolkit for producing high-quality character controllers without requiring the writing of intricate code from scratch, the Ultimate Character Controller is well-liked by Unity developers.
Also Read: Enhance Productivity: Crucial Unity Tools for Developers
Particle Dynamic Magic 2
With custom static/dynamic batching, single pool distribution techniques, and multithreading, the new Particle Dynamic Magic 2 version delivers optimal performance.
Particles from Splines, pictures, meshes (static, moving skinned/animated, procedural), painted, propagated, projected, and Shuriken positions can all be processed and created by it. In order to modify the properties of particles, such as color and size, and to apply various forces, including gravity, turbulence, vortexes, and repel-attract, manipulators are essential tools in the interaction with particles.
GPU Instances
GPU Instance removes the complexity associated with Compute Shaders and GPU infrastructure, making Indirect GPU Instancing simpler.
Its well-documented API and user-friendly tools streamline runtime changes. GPU Instance solves issues with other GPU Instancing solutions by using Unity's DrawMeshInstancedIndirect method and Compute Shaders to outperform static batching and mesh combining.
For repeated mesh instances, the indirect method greatly improves rendering performance, making the GPU Instance the most effective and efficient option.
Aura 2
With its optimization and flexibility, Aura 2 is Unity's best volumetric lighting and fog solution. Aura 2, honoree of the BEST ARTISTIC TOOL UNITY AWARDS for both 2018 and 2019, uses state-of-the-art simulation to imitate atmospheric fog and light rays, or "god rays." This cutting-edge device improves the visual environment by simulating the illumination of dust grains or other microparticles.
Aura 2 raises the bar for realistic and immersive lighting effects by utilizing rendering techniques found in high-end games.
Realistic Effects Pack 4
A flexible package, Realistic Effects Pack 4 works with VR, URP (10x+), HDRP (10x+), and mobile platforms. This package, which includes 27 effects and their corresponding sound effects, is made to be simple to use and seamlessly integrated.
Implementation is made simple with the included PC and Android demos and a video tutorial on usage.
Savor the simplicity of a pre-configured particle system that offers realistic projectile motion physics, one-click functionality, and simple color customization.
A sneak peek at the village setting, characters, and animations can be found in the demo scene. Take advantage of optimized instanced rendering to reduce draw calls and quick screen space decals.
Weather Maker
For complete weather, water, day/night cycles, volumetric clouds, fog, lights, terrain overlay, and sky systems, Weather Maker is the best Unity asset available.
It simplifies development by offering complete C# source code and shader code for both 2D and 3D modes. This adaptable tool supports multiple color spaces, VR/AR in the standard pipeline, and both Standard and URP pipelines.
Weather Maker has 27 sound effects, ranging from realistic atmospheric scattering to aurora borealis, rain, snow, and hail.
It offers a comprehensive solution for AAA games, independent projects, prototypes, and applications, and it integrates seamlessly into your work. Weather Maker is a one-stop shop for all your environmental needs in Unity, offering features like volumetric clouds, day/night cycles, water, floating point origin offset, and optimal performance tuning.
Curved World
A wide range of shader bending effects, such as spherical World, little planet, inception effect, and exaggerated horizon curve, are available in Curved World.
Without changing the original geometry, this specialized vertex displacement technique gives meshes and the scene as a whole a bending illusion. The effect, which is only visible inside the camera, blends in perfectly without interfering with game features like physics, animation, artificial intelligence, and pathfinding.
Curved World is renowned for its utilization in well-known games such as Animal Crossing, Minion Rush, and Subway Surfers.
It offers premade shaders for both high-end and mobile devices. It provides an intuitive and adaptable way to create one-of-a-kind bending effects, and it works with all render pipelines.
It also supports Shader Graph and Amplify Shader Editor. Before making a purchase, make sure you fully comprehend Curved World's capabilities by looking through the documentation and PC demos.
Ultimate VFX
For both 2D and 3D games, Ultimate VFX provides an extensive selection of special effects, such as Storm VFX, Particle Plexus, Particle Force Fields, and Action VFX.
This asset gives you the ability to create amazing visual experiences with over 300 prefabs, 200 textures, and an expanding collection of XP Shockwaves. It also includes XP Titles for screens and menus. The potential is demonstrated through exclusive interactive demos, and the MIR-2II Shader Pack provides additional shaders for advanced visual design.
DOTween Pro
With new scripting and visual scripting features, DOTween Pro expands on the features of the free engine that comes with it.
It also adds support for external assets like TextMesh Pro, Easy Performant Outline, and 2D Toolkit. With its seamless integration with Unity UI onClick events, the Visual Animation Editor provides a script-free method for animating a variety of gameObject properties, including Move, Fade, Colour, Rotate, Scale, Punch, Shake, Text, Camera properties, and more.
It also allows you to preview animations without having to switch to Play Mode. With support for Transform coordinates, the Visual Path Editor makes it easier to create path animations along straight or curved CatmullRom paths.
An additional component that is particularly helpful in pooling systems is the Visual Editor Manager, which allows the setup of additional actions upon game object activation or deactivation. Extra scripting features include:
- A DOSpiral shortcut.
- Shortcuts for supported assets.
- A low-level system for TextMesh Pro text animation at the character level.
ShaderGraph Essentials
With key features and optimizations, ShaderGraph Essentials improves your ShaderGraph experience. More than thirty noise nodes, a texture generation node, three more controller nodes (Unlit, SimpleLit, Toon), a custom lighting node for HLSL coding, and a flexible water shader with vertex displacement and dynamic foam are all included in this all-in-one package.
By providing noise variations, baking textures from any graph node, and performance-optimized controller nodes, the bundle aims to improve ShaderGraph's capabilities.
It has been tested for mobile, VR, low-end, and high-end PC use, and it comes with full source code and demo scenes for various effects. An essential tool for anyone using ShaderGraph, allowing for effective texture generation, advanced lighting customization, and noise creation.
Conclusion
Assets are a fantastic way to make the most out of Unity and optimize your game development process. The assets for Unity developers outlined in this blog post save a tonne of time and free up more time for enjoyable activities like creating content and games.
Paul is a highly skilled Full Stack Developer with a solid educational background that includes a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Software Engineering, as well as a decade of hands-on experience. Certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, and Agile Scrum Master bolster his knowledge. Paul's excellent contributions to the software development industry have garnered him a slew of prizes and accolades, cementing his status as a top-tier professional. Aside from coding, he finds relief in her interests, which include hiking through beautiful landscapes, finding creative outlets through painting, and giving back to the community by participating in local tech education programmer.
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