3D Interactions and Navigation (Coursera)

3D Interactions and Navigation (Coursera)
Welcome to 3D Interactions and Navigation, the third course in the Unity Certified Programmer Specialization from Unity Technologies. This course will help you prepare for the Unity Certified Programmer exam, the professional certification for entry to mid-level Unity programmers. Unity is used to create real-time 3D applications for many industries, including video games, automotive, film, training, and more. In this course, you will be challenged to solve realistic Unity programming problems that are aligned to topics covered on the exam.

In the third course, you will start development on a new 3D application: Stealth. In this application, a 3D stealth-style game, the user guides a 3D character through a maze-like environment filled with hazards in an attempt to avoid detection. In implementing this application, you will review and practice many of the skills covered in the exam, including setting up navigation meshes and agents, working with 3D character animation, scripting camera movement, and more.

This is an intermediate course, intended for people who are ready for their first paying roles as Unity programmers, or enthusiasts who would like to verify their skills against a professional standard. To succeed, you should have at least 1-2 years of experience programming interactive applications in Unity. You should be proficient at programming in the C# language and familiar with Unity's scripting APIs. You should have experience in the full product development lifecycle, from concept to launch (and beyond). And you should understand multi-platform development, including deploying applications to XR (AR and VR) platforms.


Syllabus


WEEK 1

Agent Navigation

Welcome to the third course in the Unity Certified Programmer exam preparation series. For the first week of this course, you'll begin to build out the Stealth game. It's a third-person, 3D game with stealth mechanics, and the first thing you'll do is implement the navigation of the "enemy," a robot sentry.


WEEK 2

Character Animation and Camera Control

The enemy agent can now move around the level, but we need to let our a player character or avatar move. In this week's lessons, you'll implement character animation and a sophisticated camera system to track it.


WEEK 3

Environmental Interactions

Next, you'll create a set of environmental interactions that will give context to the character and enemy movement and help complete the core interaction loop for the Stealth game.


WEEK 4

2D Overlays: Mini-Map

Finally for this course, you'll give the player the ability to look beyond what the main camera shows by creating a mini-map that renders in a corner of the screen. Your work on this mini-map will be reviewed by your peers for your final graded assessment of the course.