Unity Intermediate: 2D Worlds

Name: Unity Intermediate: 2D Worlds
Author: Ken Geary

Learn how to create 2D levels using sprites

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 5 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

Hello, welcome to this lesson in Unity. In these lessons, you will learn how to create a 2D world and levels using sprites. From Unity Hub, open a platformer project. Make sure the level one scene is loaded. In order to start level building, we need to import images and convert to sprites in sprite sheets to create characters and level design. You can do this in any paint program that allows you to save images with an alpha or transparent background, typically in a PNG format. We can also find free assets in the Unity Assets Store and work with those. Open the web browser and browse to assetsstore.unity.com. Sign in to your account. Once signed in, type in Pixel Adventure in the search window. Select Pixel Adventure 1. This is a free asset that contains images that we can use to convert to sprite sheets. Click Download, then open in Unity. Click Open Unity Editor. Select Pixel Adventure 1 on the left side, then click Import. We did not want all the assets, just the images. Scroll all the way down and uncheck Scenes. Click Import, then close the panel. Open the Assets folder. We now see a new folder called Pixel Adventure. To keep organizing our project, we will create some folders to put our sprite level design assets into. Create a new folder in the Assets folder. Name it Background. Open the folder up. Create another folder. Name it Tiles. Navigate back to Assets. Select the Background folder. Press Ctrl D on your keyboard to make a duplicate. We'll rename this folder Foreground. You can press the F2 key to allow you to rename the folder. Let's locate a tile map image from the asset we downloaded. Open the Pixel Adventure folder, then the assets, then Terrain. There are two images here. The second one has already been prepared. We want to select the first one named Terrain 16 by 16. Open a preview window in the Inspector. You may have to click and drag the bar up to see better. This image may look strange, but basically this is a collection of image brushes that we can use parts of, design our level layouts. In the top of the Inspector we see Pixel per unit. It's set to default 100. This is too high. As we gather from the image name, our tiles will be 16 pixels by 16 pixels. So change a pixels per unit from 100 to 16. This sprite sheet will be used to create and paint multiple sprites from one sheet. So change the sprite mode to multiple. Multiple is also used for animated sprite sequences. Be sure to click Apply. Now we are ready to enter the sprite editor and create our first prepared sprite sheet. Click sprite editor. A floating panel appears and you can clearly see our various images we want to slice up into smaller parts. The slicing function will automatically detect the transparent background and only surround the pixel edges. Open the slice menu, select type, grid by cell size, and the pixel size as we know from before is 16 by 16. You will see a red preview grid of how the slice will work and you can change values if it doesn't look right. Now click slice, then click into the panel to close the menu. You will now see white grid lines around the images. Finally, click Apply and then close the panel. Next we will create a tile map. A tile map is a two-dimensional grid that allows you to create 2D levels by arranging or painting tiles onto the grid. Right click on the hierarchy and select 2D object, tile map, rectangular. Now we have our grid ready for placing sprite tiles on it. To see our work area, select grid in the hierarchy. Hover your mouse into the scene panel and press F. Now you can see our work area and the grid. You can also add basic 2D sprite shapes by right clicking the hierarchy, selecting 2D object, sprites, and any sprite shapes such as a triangle. You can easily change the color of a sprite in the inspector. Let's try a few more shapes, give them a different color and range them around the scene. You can use the W key to move. Right click, sprites, square, we'll give that a color. I'm going to move each shape to the different corners of our work screen. Right click, sprites, do a circle, give it a color, move it to a corner, and one more. These sprites can be animated and have code attached to make them interact in the game. We will be creating sprites from the image assets we downloaded, so it will lead to sprite shapes. Save the scene. In the next lesson, we're going to learn how to create a 2D background for our game immunity. Thanks for watching!

Intermediate Provider : Ken Geary 5 Lessons · 25m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

In these lessons, you’ll work with imported sprite sheets to create levels, a player, and interactive items.

You’ll learn how to import sprite game assets using the Unity Asset Store. You can edit these imported sprites into tiles for use in creating backgrounds and a foreground the player can run along.

You’ll be able prepare sprite sheets and determine if a sprite sheet will be used for creating levels or to create looping animated sprite characters.

These lessons will show you how to create a background and assign sorting layers so one layer can appear over another. The background is created by first creating a tilemap that sets a grid area where you can place tile sprites. You’ll understand how to use the tile palette and the various palette tools such as the filled box tool to quickly draw a full background area with repeating tile images.

You’ll be able to create additional tile palettes, each unique for its use, such as a foreground palette. You’ll create the foreground in a new sorting layer, and select various sprite elements to add to the tilemap with tools such as the paint brush tool.

What You'll Learn

Use 2D assets and sprite sheets imported from the Unity Asset Store
Edit imported sprites into tiles for building backgrounds and a foreground the player can run along
Create a tilemap that sets a grid area and use tile palettes to place tile sprites
Apply tile palette tools such as the filled box tool and paint brush tool to draw repeating tile images
Assign sorting layers so one layer appears over another when building backgrounds and foregrounds
Prepare and distinguish sprite sheets for creating levels versus looping animated sprite characters

Key Takeaways

The course works with imported sprite sheets to create levels, a player, and interactive items.
Backgrounds are created by first making a tilemap that defines a grid area where tile sprites are placed.
Sorting layers control which layer appears over another, and the foreground is created in a new sorting layer.
Multiple unique tile palettes can be created, each for a specific use such as a foreground palette.
Palette tools like the filled box tool draw full background areas quickly, while the paint brush tool adds individual sprite elements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I build in this course?

You will work with imported sprite sheets to create levels, a player, and interactive items, including a background and a foreground the player can run along.

Where do the 2D assets come from?

You learn to import sprite game assets using the Unity Asset Store and edit those imported sprites into tiles.

What lessons are included?

The course covers five lessons: Working With Sprites, Creating the Background, Creating the Foreground, Creating Levels (Part 1), and Creating Levels (Part 2).

What tools will I use to create backgrounds and foregrounds?

You use the tile palette and palette tools such as the filled box tool to draw repeating tile images and the paint brush tool to add sprite elements to the tilemap.

What skills does this course relate to?

It relates to skills including Cocos2D, Java 2D, Level Editor, SpriteKit, Unity Container, and UnityScript.