General Overview about Unity

[anon_8603696]

Hi, I am totally new to Unity but I have a lot of experience with 3D using Maya and 3DS Max.

My idea is to use Maya with Unity but I have noticed that Unity does not import correctly NURBS models. I had to convert my model to polygons in order to have it read correctly by Unity. But my question is other.

As being totally new to Unity and as I saw that Unity has the ability to create some primitives and polygons, what is the ideal way to make a game using it.

1. Should I model the whole world of my game in Maya, including the characters and them import them in Unity and work from that?

2. Should I create animations in Maya? What is the purpose of having an animation created in Maya?

3. If I create all mesh in Maya, will it possible to animate water, wind, etc., using that mesh created in Maya?

4. what about score boards and menus? How these elements are created in Unity or do I need to create them in separate using another app or xcode?

What I ask from you guys is an overview of the steps involved in a game creation. Where should I create in each application (Maya and Unity).

thanks in advance

[anon_43237147]

@anon_8603696

1. Should I model the whole world of my game in Maya, including the characters and them import them in Unity and work from that?

Generally, yes. Unity only has built-in support for creating basic primitives; for anything more complex, you use 3D modeling software such as Maya.

2. Should I create animations in Maya? What is the purpose of having an animation created in Maya?

Again, Unity only has basic facilities built in for animation authoring. Some simple things (like a door opening and closing) can be done via scripting, but for anything more complex you need to use external tools.

3. If I create all mesh in Maya, will it possible to animate water, wind, etc., using that mesh created in Maya?

Possible, yes; Unity allows you to deform a mesh at runtime through scripting, or you can animate the mesh in Maya as you would for, say, a character. Depends on the effect you want to achieve.

4. what about score boards and menus? How these elements are created in Unity or do I need to create them in separate using another app or xcode?

Unity has a GUI system (read the GUI Scripting Guide section in the Unity Reference Manual). There are other options, but that should be your starting point.

What I ask from you guys is an overview of the steps involved in a game creation. Where should I create in each application (Maya and Unity).

A general overview is a bit much to ask of the forums; that’s what the Getting Started guides and tutorials are for. There are also lots of user-created guides and tutorials; just google, search on YouTube, etc and you’ll find lots of learning materials to help you get started.

[anon_42117051]

My idea is to use Maya with Unity but I have noticed that Unity does not import correctly NURBS models. I had to convert my model to polygons in order to have it read correctly by Unity.

Every game engine uses polygons, or specifically triangles, because that’s how graphics cards and opengl/directx work these days.

You create and UV map (low polygon) models in whatever modeling app you prefer, and import them into Unity. You then program your game from within Unity, making use of these models. You will model and animate your characters in your modeler, and then drive their animation and movement in Unity using scripts. You almost always want to split up your models and scenes into distinct objects, not import the entire scene as a single object.

Check out some of the tutorials and example projects on the official site, they should serve as an introduction to what is required to put together a 2d or 3d game.