Getting Started
Game Kit 2D
Game Kit Introduction
This guide will walk you through setting up an empty scene to start creating a new level with the
Game Kit. This will walk you through some of the fundamentals used in this Kit to create
gameplay.
The Kit comes with a premade game where you can find example of every part of the Kit in use
if you get stuck for ideas.
Creating a new scene
The project contains a utility to automatically create a new default scene. This scene will contain
Ellen (our hero), a small platform, Health UI and everything you need to move around and
attack.
Let’s create a new scene;
● Click on Kit Tools from the top menu
● Choose Create New Scene...
● A new Window will open
● In the empty field next to New Scene Name, enter the name you would like to call your
scene
● Click Create
A new scene will be created in the root of your project and the scene will be added to the build
settings for you.
The scene we just created will also be opened in the editor so you can start working on it.
Painting a Level
In 2D we can easily paint a level, the Kit uses Unity’s Tilemap feature you can easily draw out a
level. The Kit has everything set up for you so you can quickly get up and running.
Let’s start designing a level:
● Go to Window > Tile Palette
The Tile Palette window will open;
We have created two Tilesets that will allow you to draw out levels, these tiles use the
Scriptable Tile system of the Unity Tilemap. They automatically choose the right sprite for a
platform based on settings in the Rule Tile Asset. We have two styles of sprites; Grassy Rocks
and Alien Structure.
We need to make sure the correct set of tiles in Tile Palette is selected;
● Click the Tileset Menu
● Click on Tileset_Gamekit
● Pick the type of tile you like best for your level
Now let’s paint some tiles in the scene to create a level;
● Select one of the two tiles by clicking on it in the Tile Palette
● Navigate to the Scene View
● Left click and drag to draw out your level
If you make a mistake you can erase Tiles by holding Shift and left click or drag.
Testing your Level
Now that you have created a level, let’s run around in it.
● Press Play at the top of the Editor
The controls for Ellen (our player character) are as follows
Move A, D
Jump Space
Crouch S
Shoot O
Melee K
Activate E
Pass Through Platform S and Space
We have included a debug menu, pressing F12 on your Keyboard will bring up the option to
enable or disable each of Ellen’s weapons in the Game View.
Adding a Moving Platform
Before we begin manipulating GameObjects in the Scene View, make sure that you are not in
paint mode by closing the Tile Palette or selecting the M
ove Tool at the top left of the editor or
by pressing W on your keyboard.
Now let’s add a moving platform to our level;
● Navigate to the Project Window
● Go to Prefabs < Interactables
● Right click and drag MovingPlatform into the Scene View
● Make sure the MovingPlatform is selected in the Hierarchy
● Press W to use the Move Tool
Using the Move Tool on the Moving Platform, position it to where you would like in your level.
There is a red dotted line and a move tool at the end of it, this indicates the path the platform will
take and end up in.
● Use the move tool manipulator at the end of the red dotted line to indicate a path you
would like the platform to take
We can preview the path the Moving Platform will take, with the Moving Platform selected;
● Navigate to the Inspector
● In the Moving Platform Component find the Preview Position slider
● Click and drag to scrub and see where the Moving Platform will go.
Let’s make the path of this platform a little more complex by making it loop in a square, we do
this by adding Nodes.
Nodes are additional navigation points for the Moving Platform.
● In the Inspector locate the Moving Platform Component
● Click Add Node twice
This will add an additional two red dotted lines and gizmos, use the gizmos to position your
extra Nodes into a square shape.
You’ll notice that there isn’t a path going from the last node back to beginning. If we try this now
it will stop at the last point and go backwards on the path and start again.
We can change the settings of the platform to make it form a loop;
● In the Moving Platform Component find the Looping option
● Click the dropdown that says BACK_FORTH
● Select Loop
A loop will now be formed in the gizmos and the platform will take this path. Note: The preview
slider will not preview a complete loop, press play to see it fully.
Every Component we have provided in the Kit has many options to customise the way they
work. For more information on what every option does in the Moving Platform Component,
check the Component Documentation and find the Moving Platform section.
Opening a Door with Events
Creating actions in the Kit happens with Events, we’ll be using Events to trigger a door to open
by stepping on a pressure pad.
Let’s start by adding in a Door;
● In the Project Window go to Prefabs < I nteractables
● Find the Door Prefab and drag it into the Scene View and block the players path
Now let’s add the pressure pad into the scene
● In Prefabs < Interactables find the PressurePad Prefab
● Drag it close to the ground in front of the Door
Note: If the player seems to be blocked by the pressure pad instead of stepping on it, lower it
slightly. The player can easily get stuck against the collider.
Now let’s connect the PressurePad to the Door. Some events are already defined, when
stepped on, the PressurePad will play a sound and light up.
● In the Hierarchy select the P ressurePad
● In the Inspector, find the PressurePad component
● In the On Pressed list, click the + at the bottom right to add a new event
● Drag the Door from the Hierarchy to the None(Object) field in the event
● In the No Function dropdown, find Animator < Play(string)
● In the text box that appeared under the dropdown, enter the text: DoorOpening
● Press Play and run onto the Pressure Pad using WASD, watch the door open.
All the Animation Clips are stored in Art < Animations < Animation Clips in the Project
Window. To play different Animators in an Event, you must match the name (String) of the
Animation Clip exactly.
If you wanted to shoot a switch instead of a pressure pad, you can do that by using the same
steps but selecting the ResusableSwitch in the prefabs folder instead. Give it a try!
Enemies
We have two pre-made enemies in the Kit, Chomper and Spitter.
They can be found in Prefabs < Enemies
They are both controlled by the Enemy Behaviour Component in the Inspector. This is where
you can adjust their speed, field of view (FOV), health and much more. Each enemy has the
same component they are just set up slightly differently.
Try adding a Chomper in your scene and adjust his speed and field of view (FOV), start playing
around with the settings. Don’t forget you can attack by pressing O or K you can press F12 to
make sure weapons are enabled.
Here we can see a Chomper is selected, his View FOV and View Direction have been
adjusted so he won’t spot Ellen until he turns around. For more information on the Enemy
Behaviour Component check the Component Documentation.
Damaging with Objects
In this section we’ll go through dropping a box on a Spitter to kill him (sorry little guy) and thus
exploring the damage system.
Start by drawing out a level where Ellen is higher up and there is a drop with a platform for
Spitter to be placed.
● Go to Prefabs < Enemies and drag a Spitter into the Scene View
● Place him on the lower portion of your level close to the cliff face
● With Spitter selected locate the Enemy Behaviour Script
● Reduce the View Distance number so that Spitter does not shoot you immediately so
you can test this gameplay (You can also click and drag left/right on the word View
Distance to scrub through values.)
● In the Project Window got to Prefabs < Interactables click and drag the PushableBox
Prefab into the Scene View
● With the PushableBox selected, at the bottom of the I nspector click Add Component
● In the Search Box type Damage
● Click on Damager to add it to the Pushable Box
A Damager is a component that will tell any object that has a Damageable component on it, like
a Spitter or a Chomper, to give it damage. There is more in depth information on this system in
the Component Documentation.
The Damager is represented by a green collision box as shown, this is the area which causes
damage. Since this is not covering the PushableBox right now, when we push the box onto the
Spitter, it will not damage him.
Let’s move this box so that it’s roughly the size and position of the PushableBox, this can be
achieved in two ways;
● Select and drag the green dots on the edges of the green collision box to be over the
PushableBox
Or
● In the Inspector locate the Damager Component
● Adjust the Offset and Size by left clicking on the words and dragging left and right to
scrub through values to position and size the collision box.
Lastly we need to make sure the damage is given to the right objects, we separate objects into
Layers in the Editor so that they can easily be found and seperated.
● Select the PushableBox
● In the Inspector, find the Damager Component
● On the HittableLayers dropdown select the Enemy Layer
The PushableBox will now cause damage to anything on the Enemy Layer, like our Spitter.
What other objects can you use to cause damage to an enemy, or even Ellen?
Decorating
The Kit also includes decorative sprites, these are all used in the example game, The Explorer
that is included in the Kit. Tip: If something catches your eye in the example, you can look up
the name and search it in the Project View.
To make your level Instragrm worthy, all the decorations are located in
Art < Sprites < Environment
A lot are stored in sub folders, so don’t forget to expand the small arrows and see what other
sprites are in that category.
Teleporting the Player
It is possible to teleport a player from one area in a scene to another, or between different
levels.
Teleporting within a Scene
To teleport the player within a scene, we will setup a transition.
First we need to setup the starting point of the transition:
● Go to Prefabs > SceneControl in the Project folder
● Find the TransitionStart Prefab
● Drag TransitionStart to the Scene View (for example behind the door)
● Place it at a position where the player will collide with the Collider (the green box) when
walking
To set up the destination;
● Drag another TransitionStart Prefab from the SceneControl folder into the Scene View
● In the Inspector, rename this to TransitionEnd
Now let’s link the two together;
● In the Hierarchy, select the TransitionStart object
● In the Inspector find the TransitionPoint Component
● Find the Ellen GameObject in the Hierarchy
● Drag the Ellen GameObject from the Hierarchy into the Transitioning Game Object
slot of the Transition Point Component.
● Set Transition Type as Same Scene
This has ensured that Ellen will be the only object teleported and that it within the same scene.
Now let’s set the destination;
● In the Hierarchy, find the TransitionEnd you made earlier
● Click and drag TransitionEnd into DestinationTransform in the TransitionPoint
Component
● Set Transition When to On Trigger Enter
On Trigger Enter means that the Transition only activates when the player enters the Collider
and not on a key press (if you want to teleport only when the player press the interact key (e),
just set that to Interact Pressed)
Teleporting to another Scene
To make the player transition to a new level, the same prefab is used. But instead of setting it to
send the player to another point in the same level, we set it to send them to a
TransitionDestination into another level.
To simplify the setup, let’s make the player transition to the 1st level of the game. In your
TransitionStart component, change the settings to :
● Set Transition Type as Different level
● In New Scene Name, choose a scene to send the player. Here, choose Zone 1.
● Set the Transition Destination to A
All transition destinations have an associated letter. Selecting A will send you to
the Destination with the tag A in the Zone1 scene.
Now that you have set up your basic scene, press Play, and walk to where the transition is and
you should travel all the way to the start of Zone1!
Transitioning to your own Scenes
If you want to add transition to another scene you created (let’s say you called it MyScene2),
just find the prefab Prefabs < SceneControl < TransitionDestination and place it in
MyScene2, select that scene in the Transition Destination drop down on your
TransitionStart.
Don’t forget to check if it’s added to your build setting (File> Build Settings) otherwise it won’t
appear in the drop down!
Drag Ellen in the Transitioning Game Object slot, and to set the same Destination Tag on
both the TransitionStart and the TransitionDestination
Having Fun
Most objects within the kit play with the system of events seen in the Pressure Pad setup.
Use the existing scenes (Zone 1 to 5) to see how some other types of objects are set up using
events and triggers.
Refer to the Components Documentation of the project, which lists all the components and their
parameters in detail.
Happy level designing!
