Stocking your Tool Chest

Once you have completed basic and intermediate courses such as C# Business Tycoon, it will be time to put together your developer tool kit!  In many ways this is where you transition from being a struggling game developer to a SUPER STAR!  

You don't have to spend a lot of money and even just adding one of these assets can super charge your game development! Start by adding these ESSENTIAL tools to your game developer tool chest!

PRO TIP:   If you only have funds for ONE asset... make it Odin! 

Tip #1: Be Choosy on Art Assets

There will be a lot of great Unity Asset Sales. Breathtaking environments for your game at 50% off! Why not purchase them so you will have them for that game idea that you are saving up?  Surely you will find a use for them and they are such a steal at that low price!

The truth is that unless you are building an actual commercial production title that you plan to sell and release there is a good chance those art assets will just slow down the loading of your package manager.  

Instead purchase an asset that will improve your productivity or perhaps give you a framework (with C# code) that you can use to learn and build games from. 

The Ork RPG Editor is a great example of a high quality asset that provides a lot of components for you to work with in building a variety of games.

Tip #2: Purchase One or Two Assets at a time

Another tendency, particularly if you do have some extra funds to spend during an Asset Sale is to "stock up" and purchase a lot of assets at once. As a gamer, we can fall into the same issue during a Steam Sale.  

But once again the fact is it takes time to learn a quality asset and integrate it into your work flow. Instead of purchasing a dozen assets on the cheap during a sale, instead purchase the high quality one or two must have assets like the ones we are discussing here. 

Another sale will come along soon. 

Doozy is more than just a UI kit. It will help you build game workflow, events, sound management & much more.  One of the best Unity Assets.

Tip #3: Communicate with the Asset Developer 

I hesitated to include this tip as I hate to see Asset developers abused as they so often are.   So be ethical, considerate and always be conscious of the fact many asset developers are making very little money off these assets relative to what it costs to live in most places in the world. 

That said, purchasing an asset on the unity asset store provides you with an opportunity to ask reasonable questions about the implementation of the asset. First, exhaust Google and other sources for information. No Asset Developer wants to get questions anyone can find with a simple search.

But if you get stuck and are trying to solve a problem that involves the use of an asset, they can be one of your greatest resources.  You may even get lucky and find a potential mentor and add them to your network. You are creating a network of your important game developer contacts, right?  If not, email me now! You are doing it wrong and I can help! 

Another sale will come along soon. 

Adventure Creator is another powerful toolkit that will help you get your head around the various systems in Unity.  

Tip #4: Learn to Integrate Systems & Assets Effectively

I've now provided consulting and training to more than 10,000 professional developers both in Enterprise development and in the gaming industry.  One of the BIGGEST mistakes I see with intermediate coders is they often dismiss other systems and packages for their game because it doesn't fit their use case like a glove.  It is an issue not just in game development but in all forms of application development. 

The fact is that you should always be using as many existing code libraries as possible. Especially as you are getting your first few games out the door and published. The first thing you should do for any new game project is to research all the available assets that could assist you in building up your project. Naturally start with free available assets and then review and research paid assets. 

Many of the assets in the Unity Asset Store are very mature and included in numerous high quality commercial game titles.

Master Audio is a perfect example of a system that will solve many of your audio requirements in your game and has been used in many Triple A Games.