I'm currently writing up a draft for a potential First Person Shooter class, similar in structure to Kent's class on beginning Blender and I wanted to get feedback from you all on whether or not you'd like to see a class like this made and/or what should be included.
Currently I have a few live streams pending for the future that were going to cover the process of creating the weapons for the FPS project we have been working on called "The Range". Topics this class could include are:
Building HitScan Weapons - Currently this project contains two "hitscan" type weapons, meaning it's based off a raycast impact. One is a submachine gun type and another would be a sniper rifle. Two live streams could cover the specifics of these. This would include scripting, using animations, using audio, and using effects. Models will be provided, but I'd encourage using your own assets.
Building Ranged Projectile Weapons - this will be for project based weapons such as rocket launchers, grenade launchers or anything that shoots a projectile. We'd start by creating a generic projectile weapon class that can be modified to fit multiple weapon types. Focus would be on creating a rocket launcher. Like above, this would be broken up into two parts; projectile weapons and explosives. Since we're building a rocket launcher we'll also cover the explosive aspects of the rocket in a second live stream.
This being the first Unity class, I would like to get feedback from you all on what you would like to see in a class of this kind. Are you interested in an FPS class? Anything in particular you want to see in a Unity class? Also if there's something from the current Blender class that you enjoy that should be kept in all classes let me know.
Hi Jonathan, would this class be designed for the absolute beginner or will the student need to have completed some of your other classes first? Personally, I have watched your intro to unity course, but still need to work through the exercises.
I would definitely be interested, but am also something of a noob when it comes to unity. The topic (FPS weapons) seems pretty case-specific for someone like me who is still trying to figure out what all I can do with Unity, but the systems you listed (scripting, animation, audio, and effects) are all things I would like to know more about.
It could be aimed at beginners, but usually my idea of a beginner might be different than your idea. My only concern for beginners is that this would cover a few different topics such as animation with Mecanim, using audio clips, C# scripting and particle systems.
I have covered some of these topics before in the FPS flow. essentially we're trying to create classes around courses or flows we've built before to help the learning process as live streams will not be able to cover everything.This class would include slightly different types of weapons, although the general concepts are about the same.
The class would get students to build their own weapons, some assets would be provided to help if needed such as the muzzle flash, 3d models and possibly some sound clips. If there's something you'd like to see taught in a course like this let me know.
Thanks Jonathan, I am currently working through some of the other Blender flows at the moment. I will definitely check out the recorded live stream once I'm up to speed in Unity.
I have dabbled a bit in Mecanim animations, audio, and C#. I got about halfway through Ben Tristem's "Learn to code by making games" course, if you are familiar with that, and have done the fundamentals series on Unity here. So I know the kinds of things Unity can do, but don't have the experience under my belt to be intuitive about doing any of those things yet. I still get confused a lot in the C# department, and have very little knowledge regarding optimization or reqs for various builds. All that to say, I would be interested in the class, and have intended to eventually run through you FPS flow anyway (this would be a good excuse to do so), but am definitely still a beginner so the exercises might be an uphill climb for me (though I'm not opposed to that).
I could break down the exercises so they are easier to follow. When building a weapon it would involve three main things:
I feel like I could do those things with some guidance, and it might be just the right amount of challenge. I would be happy to learn whatever you most want to teach.
This is a class I would like to take but don't think I am quite there yet, have quite a bit of learning flows to go through first.
I think live-stream classes that go with and/or expand learning flows is a great approach.
I can only watch the week-day ones after the fact, if they occurred on a weekend now and then, that would be great, though I certainly understand wanting your weekend to yourself.
Another topic I would eventually be interested in, would be melee combat. Maybe stealth mechanics as well, though again these are advanced topics for my current skill level.
Speaking of Melee combat another idea for a class in the future would be a fun animation bootcamp type course. One that covers all sorts of unique animated characters and rigs within a sandbox environment. Going over the process of things like melee combat, character movements, ragdolls, using IK. etc.
In February I'm looking at rebuilding the C# Bootcamp course and expanding it out a bit. So far I'm leaning on creating a class on that as it's the most popular course for game dev. It's also a crucial skill to learn in order to proceed with anything else that isn't directly focused on learning the coding.
I love the idea but due to daytime job limitations making class times could be difficult.