Game Basics Game Level Design
GCC Academy
Hello everyone
This is Tak Kwang-wook, in charge of Unity Game Programming
In this section, we will work on decorating the space,
focusing on the level design process
We will learn how to create a 3D model based on an apartment floor plan,
apply colors to the 3D model,
and match lighting to make the space look realistic
Creating a 3D Space Using a 2D Floor Plan and Applying Materials
I searched for an apartment floor plan online
Based on this floor plan,
I will create a 3D model in Unity
The floor plan is in millimeters,
but the unit used in Unity
is the same as 1 meter
For example,
let's look at this number
A measurement of 1840mm in the floor plan
will be represented as 10.84m in Unity,
converted into meters
Please note this unit conversion
We will continuously refer to the image
that we have open for guidance
If you have a dual monitor setup,
I recommend displaying this image on the second monitor
and checking it while working on Unity
Please notice that
I have created a new scene
and saved it as Interior
Let’s start by creating the apartment in this space
First, we will create the floor
The floor is 10.84m in width
and 4.3m in length
Let’s create the floor by following these dimensions
Click the + button to create a 3D Object and choose a Cube
We will name the cube
as Ground to represent the floor
So this cube will be our floor
When adding any object, I will place it at the origin as a rule
So it's at the origin
Looking at the floor plan, the width is 10.84m
so enter 18,040 for the Z-axis
and 10.84 for the X-axis
In Unity, the Z-axis points forward,
X-axis points to the right, and the Y-axis points upward
This is likely what you're seeing now
In Unity,
Z is the forward direction,
X is to the right,
or the red,
the red arrow pointing to the right
So this is Right
The right side
And the green Y is up,
so the Y axis is Up
The upward direction
So, generally, with the Gizmo,
the blue arrow faces the front,
the red arrow points to the right,
and the green arrow points upward
When these arrows align as such, we can consider the direction correct
Based on this, let’s set the X-axis as the width, the Z-axis as the depth,
a nd the Y-axis as the height
Since the floor plan is a long apartment on the right,
let’s input 10.84 for the X-axis
To do this, select the cube,
or our Ground,
and enter 10.84 in the Scale X value
The cube should now stretch horizontally
For the Z-axis, the value is 4300,
so we will input 4.3
4.3 for the Z-axis
Now the floor is sized correctly, but the height is too thick
It's a very thick floor
Typically, walls are about 10cm thick,
so we will adjust the Y-axis to 0.1
to represent a 10cm wall thickness
Done
We're done with the floor
Let's move on from the left side
Next, we will begin with the balcony, bedroom, and kitchen
We will start by creating the bathroom and bedroom
and place them on the right side for a natural layout
That will be the order
The exact measurements are not the main focus here
The goal today
is not to have these exact numbers,
but is to get the general feel and proportion right
So we'll proceed with that
To start, we will create the left wall of the balcony
Click the + button, select 3D Object, and choose Cube
This will be the balcony, so let’s name it
Balcony,
and since it's the first, Balcony01
Place it near the correct location
and adjust the size first
For the depth, we’ll input 4.3
the wall thickness is 0.1,
which is our x-axis,
the horizontal thickness, so X is 0.1
and the height is 1 now
For a regular house, we need at least 2m
Y-axis will be 2m for human height
Now, we can move it
Move it
Now that the wall is sized, we'll snap it as we learned
Se the V key to snap it to the correct corner
by dragging and dropping it to the corner
For the upper wall, follow the same process
Let's make a balcony wall
Click the + button, choose Cube,
and name it
Balcony 02 for the wall
This wall will be used as the top wall,
so let’s start by creating the width first
Looking at the floor plan, the width is 1340,
o it’s best to set 1.34 for the X-axis
The height is set to 2m,
which is standard for human height
We’ve also set the wall thickness
to 0.1m or 10cm
Now, let’s move the wall
Press V
Snap it into place at the corner
Move
Perfect
Now that the wall is positioned,
let’s copy the Balcony 2 to use on the floor
Let's copy Balcony02
Press Ctrl-D to duplicate
and rename it as Balcony 3 or 03
and now Move
Now, position it in place using the snap feature with the V key,
and the wall is successfully created
Next, for the right wall, we’ll use the left wall as a reference
Duplicate Balcony 1
by pressing Ctrl-D
Rename it to Balcony 4 and position it
That's a simple way of doing this
Once done, use the V key to snap it into place,
and the wall will be set
With this, the Balcony partition is now created
Next, we will create the right bedroom
We will start
by creating the wall on the left side,
which will divide the balcony and the bedroom
This can be done using one wall, but
when we apply materials later,
we’ll see that
for different colors and textures,
objects can only have one color at a time
To change the color of the object, we need to use several techniques
Therefore, we will create one more wall
to have two walls,
each with a different color
Let’s duplicate the wall 4
So Duplicate the wall at 4
by pressing Ctrl-D,
separate it for clarity
and name it
Big Room for clarity
BigRoom01
This will be
a very clear name for it
Use V to snap it on
This wall will be for the large bedroom
We will now create the bedroom on the right
You could create a new object by pressing the plus button,
but it might be easier to copy the balcony wall on the left like this
Let’s press Ctrl-D to duplicate it
and rename it as Big Room 02
Now, let’s adjust the size
For the X-axis, the width is 3150
So, we will set 3.15 for the X-axis,
and that will be the width of the bedroom
Since this is a copy of the balcony object,
there’s no need to adjust the height or thickness
We will just move it using the snap feature, and that should be fine
Now, the wall is positioned properly
For the bottom part, we will copy the Big Room 02 object
by pressing Ctrl-D, and quickly move it into place
Looking at the current Hierarchy,
we’ve been duplicating
and moving objects from the balcony,
but this makes the structure a bit harder to manage
So, let’s organize the balcony objects separately
and the big room objects separately
Now, we will create the bedroom and bathroom from the other end
It would be good to copy the Big Room object for this
Let’s press Ctrl-D to duplicate it and move it
We’ll move it down
and name it
Small Room
You can adjust the measurements as you like
As long as the overall feel is similar, it doesn’t need to be exact
Now, let’s create the bathroom at the end
Next, let’s create the outer walls
We’ll make the walls stretch,
stretch
along the outside of the apartment
So that this can be the wall for the entire house
So for this wall,
let’s add a new wall
Press the plus button, select 3D Object,
and name it Wall
When we place it, it will protrude at the bottom,
but we will ignore that for now
We will copy this outer wall as well, just like we did with the other one
This will complete the basic shape of the apartment
Now, let’s add colors to the walls
Let's color this house
Before we start coloring, let’s review the principles of material expression in 3D space
Most 3D programs,
like Unity, Blender, Max, or Maya,
these 3D programs
use a similar structure to show objects
First, there are points, lines, and planes
to form a mesh that shapes the object
Then, there are elements like numbers, colors,
or images to express texture,
which is material These two elements
are what allow us to visually represent a 3D object
For visual representation, these two elements are essential
In Unity, there is also a component called collider
to define areas for collision detection
There are also other components
that combine to form a game object
Now, we will apply materials
to add colors to the object
Let’s start by coloring the living room
Materials are created in the Project window
To organize resources easily,
we will create a folder
Right-click on the Assets folder and create a new folder
Or click on the plus button to select on it
and create a new folder
We'll make an Art foler
to add the Assets here
Inside this folder,
right-click
or press the plus button
I will choose
to right-click in the empty space
Coose Create > Material
to create a new material
Let’s name it MAT
for Material
MAT_
We're going to color the living room orange
So let's say Orange
for this Material name
Once the material is created,
you can see various options in the Inspector window on the right
Next, the current state shows two lines extending downward
If you grab these two lines and move them upward,
you will be able to see the preview of the Material
At the top, you’ll notice an option labeled Albedo
Next to it is a small white square
Clicking this square will allow you to choose a color
Let’s click on the orange color here
The outer circle is where you select the color
I’ll rotate it towards orange
and adjust the saturation and brightness by using the inner square
Right now, the black circle is set to white,
which is why no color is appearing
If I move this circle towards the upper-right corner,
you will see that orange appears
You can see it in the preview
So this Material can be thought of as orange-colored paint
Now, let’s apply this Material to the wall
To put it to the wall,
we can either drag and drop the material
onto the wall
or click the wall,
go to the Inspector, and find the Mesh Renderer component
In the Materials section,
you see the menu for it
You can drag and drop the material there as well
They're the same,
either by dragging and dropping
or directly applying it through the Materials section
After that,
when we try to apply it to the interior walls,
you will see that the outer walls,
the exterior
and even the large room
The walls there are also all colored in
Since only one material can be applied to each object,
at least according to the settings now,
both sides of the object will be orange by default
To prevent this,
like the living room and large rooms,
we need to create separate walls for each section,
like inside the wall here,
and this area where it meets the large room,
and then here
We need to make separate walls for all these
I'll do that and come back
After creating the interior wall to match the living room,
I painted it with an orange material
Now, let’s make the large room inside orange as well
You might want to do it like this
Drag and drop,
change the material’s color to orange
This could be your thought process
What happens is,
the material on the interior of the living room,
which was orange, also changes to yellow
You can see that the material asset in the project window is shared across the scene view
Therefore, if you want to make it yellow here,
you’ll need to create a new material of a different color
Now, let’s switch back,
create a new material
by right-clicking
Create
Material
I'll name it MAT_YELLOW
Click on the Albedo white square, change the color to yellow,
then drag and drop the new color onto the large room’s wall
Now, the large room will be painted yellow
Thus, we see that materials
are composed of a single texture in Unity
Now, we will create new materials for each room,
and apply different colors to each
You’ll see various options in the Inspector window
We’ve only changed the color for now
But there are other options you can adjust
Let’s now explore
some basic concepts of materials
Let's learn about the theory behind materials
Looking at the Inspector,
you’ll see the name we created at the top,
and below that, the Shader section
Right now, it’s set to Standard
So let’s take a look at this shader
A shader is a formula or function
that decides how something will look
It's like a function
For example, it can make an object look like liquid,
cartoonish,
translucent,
or make the outline visible
This is a formula for various visual effects
The basic formula for this shader is the PBR system
Unity uses the PBR system
So what is it?
PBR stands
for Physically Based Rendering
In the real world, light reflects off the surface of objects and this reflection is what our eyes recognize as the object
In 3D spaces, Unity mimics this real-world phenomenon
Light is shot towards an object,
and when it hits the surface, the material shader computes it using complex physics formulas
The camera then captures this reflected light,
allowing us to recognize the material of the object
By simulating reality,
we can achieve realistic, lifelike visuals
In the past, complex physical calculations
weren’t feasible for real-time engines,
so they were mostly used in 3D rendering software like 3ds Max, Maya, or Blender.
However, with advancements in computer performance,
By adding certain properties to the existing physical calculations and reclassifying several parameters,
we can now achieve near-photorealistic results in real-time engines
Another big advantage of the PBR system is that
with just one shader,
we can express everyday materials we use in life
In the material instance window,
by adjusting these values,
you can create materials that resemble plastic, wood, stone, and more
In the past, different shaders were required to represent various materials,
and each shader had
unique parameters,
such as numbers, colors,
and coordinates
These are examples of parameters
These parameters needed to be adjusted individually
Even for the same material,
you often had to input parameters differently depending on the situation
It was not efficient
However, with the introduction of the PBR System,
it became possible to create and express various materials
in a unified way using a single shader,
significantly improving content quality
Even by simply modifying a few key properties of the shader,
it’s possible to create a variety of materials
Here, Albedo, Metallic, and Smoothness
are examples of what can create such textures
Keys to this PBR System
are Albedo, Metallic, and Smoothness
And we'll also learn about one more commonly used parameter
First, Albedo, you’ve likely already experienced it,
as we used the color picker
on the right to change colors earlier
Albedo represents the inherent color
of the material
You might have already noticed this change in the preview window when you adjusted it earlier
Next is Metallic
Metallic represents
whether the material is metallic or not
If the value is 0, it’s non-metallic; if it’s 1, it’s metallic
For instance, setting the slider to 0 represents a non-metal material like rubber,
and setting it to 1 changes it
to a metallic material like gold
0 for non-metal,
1 for metal
You can observe the change in the preview window below
When set to 0, it looks like a rubber texture
Like rubber
When set to 1, it resembles gold
Now, Smoothness
Smoothness refers to the surface smoothness of the material
If the surface is highly smooth and polished,
it reflects surrounding light directly,
like a mirror, with a shiny surface
Conversely, if the surface is rough,
it diffuses light and diffuses the surrounding objects,
resulting in a blurred appearance
Setting Smoothness to 0 makes the surface rough
and matte,
making it look blurry
Setting it to 1
makes it highly polished
and reflective, which gives us
the impression of it being very crisp and clear
Currently, the reflected material
shows the default environment,
as you can see on top,
such as the gray ground,
horizon,
and sky seen in the scene view
Like this
This is the reflection this is makeing
For example, because the Smoothness is set to 1 and Metallic is set to 1,
the material
looks like shiny gold
If we look at the yellow wall applied in the scene,
it reflects the sky above smoothly,
this color of the sky above,
acting almost like a mirror
By adjusting Albedo, Metallic,
and Smoothness,
you can create countless material variations
For the yellow wall, because it isn’t metallic,
the Metallic value should be set to 0
Additionally, walls typically aren’t fully shiny or entirely rough
By adjusting the Smoothness
to about 0.3,
you can create a rough texture with a slightly glossy appearance, resembling a realistic wallpaper
Similarly, the orange color can be adjusted to a similar nuance
Like this
You can also change the metallic property in a similar manner
For instance, setting it to 0.3 creates this kind of effect
The combination of Albedo, Metallic, and Smoothness forms the most basic elements for representing materials
Among the additional commonly used elements is something called a Normal Map
Normal Map
A Normal Map refers to an image texture
Image texture
Let’s search for it on the internet
When you search for Normal Map
on Google, like this,
you’ll see images with a bluish tint appearing like this
These images
are special textures used to make flat meshes
appear as though they have a complex and detailed surface
If there are more polygons, or rectangles or triangles
forming the surface,
it’s easier to represent curves
and details
However, the more polygons there are,
the more data the system needs to process,
which can degrade performance
Thus, many high-quality games
use Normal Map data to make materials
appear detailed without increasing the polygon count
Let’s apply it
I’ll download an image of bricks
by right-clicking and saving it
Once downloaded,
we can bring the image into the Unity project
by drag and drop
Now, the Normal Map data imported from Google is in the Unity project
Simple, right?
Let’s apply this image to
the yellow material
that we’ve been working
Drag and drop it
into the square checkbox next to the Normal Map option
This rectangle
Let's drag and drop it in there
When you do, an error appears stating that the texture type doesn’t match the Normal Map setting
This means,
as it’s a special type of texture,
you need to configure this asset
as a Normal Map, a special feature
On the right side, under the texture type setting,
change it from Default to Normal Map
Scroll down and click on Apply
Apply allows you to save the changes,
resolving the error
After applying,
you’ll notice that
the surface now appears textured, as if it has grooves or bumps
This is the feature of a Normal Map
With light shining on it,
bright and dark areas are created,
making it look as though the surface is raised and recessed
By inserting the image, the Normal Map can be configured like this,
making the surface appear raised or recessed
If you look at the square box where the Normal Map was inserted,
you’ll see similar boxes for Albedo and Metallic
Just like how you can change the color of Albedo,
you can also use texture maps
to express specific characteristics in these areas
For example,
I downloaded an Albedo map from the internet,
and I’ll drag and drop it
into the Albedo section of the orange material
Currently, it might be a little confusing because of the Normal Map,
so I’ll remove it
Clicking on the Normal Map will remove it
Now, the yellow color is applied to the material
If I reset it to white,
like this,
the applied image color will be displayed clearly like this
In this way, the material properties are not limited
to just colors or sliders
You can also use image maps to define them
Let’s decorate the walls with individual colors
and use images and Normal Maps
for the floor and the outer walls
You can do your project freely as well
So far, we have created
and applied materials to each room, the floor, nd the outer walls of the sides in a simple manner
For now, you’ll notice that the sides appear to stretch outward
As for the wood texture inside,
it seems quite large when you consider someone actually being there, right?
Thus, the pattern needs to be smaller
To adjust such details, a UV map must be created
separately
for each game object and its mesh
This work must be done in Blender, 3D Max, or Maya
because Unity does not support UV mapping within itself
However, there are still things you can adjust within Unity
Go to materials
Let’s use the floor as an example
I’ve created a material named MAT_WOOD
and applied an image to it,
of this wood texture
If you look below, you’ll see options labeled as Tiling and Offset
Currently, the tiling is set to 1 by 1
Let’s increase this to 10 by 10
When adjusted, the image shrinks and becomes densely packed
What this means is that the texture is now divided
and repeated 10 times across the current surface
So, the scale looks more appropriate because the image is packed tightly
However, you’ll notice that the repetition
of the pattern becomes visible
Seeing these repetitive patterns isn’t ideal, right?
Thus, you need to find a balance
by adjusting the size appropriately
while also selecting textures
where repetition isn’t too obvious
The same principle applies to this image as well
For instance, I applied a brick texture to a material called MAT_WALL
We have this brick image here
By increasing the tiling to around 5 for the x-axis,
the bricks appear aligned properly
On the side surfaces, the texture stretches
outward because of the tiling adjustments
But if you check from other angles,
the texture looks compressed on the side
It's the same 5x, but it's more compressed like so
This is why, during level design,
artists employ various techniques
starting with UV mapping and modularization
Such adjustments are tasks for artists,
but we’ve kept it simple for now
Let's finish it here
Lighting Types and Placement
Now that we’ve built the structure and applied materials,
light is needed to make the space visible
Lighting
In Unity, lighting can be added by clicking the plus button
in the hierarchy and selecting Light
You’ll find four types of lighting options there
Let’s review them in order from the top
The Directional Light is already present in the hierarchy by default
If you look at the second item
from the top in the hierarchy, you’ll see Directional Light
This light functions like the sun
If you double-click it and zoom in,
you’ll notice it has a sun-shaped icon
The icon may appear too large,
but you can reduce its size
using the 3D Icons slider
in the top-right corner, just like this
Let's make it smaller
It has a sun-shaped icon,
and the lines
that are extending outward
These lines represent the direction of the light
This light functions like sunlight,
so its location doesn’t matter, like the sun
Whether you’re in Seoul or Busan,
the sun will shine from the east in the morning
and from the west in the afternoon
Similarly, within this space, the Directional Light provides uniform illumination at the same angle,
regardless of its location.
The lines you see here represent the light’s direction
Currently, the light is coming from the top left
and shining diagonally downward,
so the direction is like this,
which is why shadows are being cast in this direction.
The light is being cased from the top left
Thus, with Directional Light, its position doesn’t matter,
but only its rotation does
For example, if we rotate it along the x-axis,
you can see the shadows shifting accordingly
Similarly, rotating it along the z-axis
also alters the light’s direction
If you open the Inspector window for the Directional Light, there’s a section for color
By clicking on this, you can change the light’s color
to red, blue,
or green, for example
Below that is the intensity value,
which represents the strength of the light
When you increase the intensity, a strong green light shines,
and when you lower it slightly, a dim green light is cast
That's the gist of it
Let's go back
Directional Light is a light that evenly illuminates the entire area of the scene
Now, let’s press the plus button and look at the Point Light option in Lights
Since Point Light needs to be checked in a dark area,
and currently there isn’t any darkness in the scene,
we’ll duplicate the ground
to create a ceiling
This way, the Directional Light
won’t penetrate the space
In this state, let’s bring in a Point Light
Press the plus button, go to Lights, and select Point Light
It may appear far away at first,
so let’s bring it closer
Now you can see the area brightening up,
and the icon takes the form of a lightbulb
As its name suggests, Point Light emits light from the center,
radiating outward in all directions
The light weakens as it moves away from the center,
eventually fading out
as to this
The intensity decreases gradually from the center
to the outer wireframe
Strong inside,
and fading out as it reaches the outer wireframe
That's what this lighting does
Unlike Directional Light,
the position of Point Light matters,
as the bulb itself can be moved
However, the angle does not matter
since it radiates in all directions
In the Inspector window, you can adjust the color
to red, green, or other shades,
and control the light’s strength using the intensity slider
An interesting feature here
is the Range option,
which represents the distance from the center
to the edge of the wireframe,
where the light fades
For example, by decreasing the Range, the wireframe boundary shrinks,
like this
So we can adjust the wireframe like this
That's what Range does
So, when the distance from the center
to the wireframe is short,
the light weakens rapidly
If you extend the Range slightly
or increase the Intensity value,
you can adjust the light to illuminate the interior properly
Currently, the Range value is too short to reach the bottom,
making the lower area appear dark
n this case, increasing the Range allows the light,
while slightly lowering the Intensity
ensures a balanced brightness throughout
Next, let’s press the plus button
and take a look at Spot Light
Let's do it here at the back
Plus, Light, Spot Light
Let's bring it in
Now it's inside
I have it right here
Spot Light resembles the stage lighting you often see
at concerts or plays,
commonly referred to as pin lighting
The icon for Spot Light mirrors the design of stage lighting
As you can see, the light originates from the center
and radiates outward in a cone shape
This cone-shaped boundary determines the extent of the light
At the bottom, you can see the light’s coverage area, a circular region illuminated by the light
Spot Light functions by projecting light in a specific direction at a defined angle
Within the Inspector window, you can adjust
the color of the light,
you could go with different colors,
its Intensity here too,
and the Range
The Range value represents the distance
at which the light begins to fade
You can shorten or extend this distance as needed
So, the Range represents the end of the cone
By adjusting the Range, you can control how far the light extends
It's too weak, so we could do this with the intensity
The unique aspect of the Spot Light, compared to other lights, is its Spot Angle
The Spot Angle
determines the cone’s width
increasing the Spot Angle widens the cone,
and decreasing it narrows the cone
This makes it possible to fine-tune how the light spreads
For example, you could do it like this
If you direct it onto a wall
and slightly rotate it,
like this,
you can replicate the kind of pin lighting
seen in museums
or galleries where spotlights highlight specific objects or art
Next, let’s press the plus button again and select Area Light from the Lights menu.
Area Light, as the name suggests, consists
of a panel and a line
Area Light is essentially surface-emitting,
meaning light is emitted from the rectangular surface
in the direction of the line
In this case, the light is directed downward,
so the entire surface emits light evenly downward
This is called an Area Light
Unlike other lights,
which you can see directly shining on objects,
Area Light cannot be previewed in real-time
If you check the Inspector window,
you’ll notice the label Area - Baked Only attached to it
This means
that Area Light
is a type of light that cannot be calculated in real-time
Since calculating these lights in real-time is heavy,
you can’t use many of these lights
Though, lights
play an important role
in creating
or altering the mood of a scene,
so you might want to use many lights
But that will overload the program
To address this limitation,
Unity provides a feature called Light Mapping
As you become more familiar with Unity
and create more projects,
you’ll eventually encounter Light Mapping
Light Mapping is an optimization process
that allows for using numerous lights
and creating richer lighting effects
This process
involves, instead of creating,
baking
Baking the light into the scene
We use bake for this
So, when using Light Mapping,
we use the term baking
Now, for Area Lights, you’ll notice they are labeled as Baked Only
This means that Area Lights are exclusively
for use with Light Mapping
For now, you cannot see the effects of Area Lights in real-time
However, when working on a project and using advanced techniques
like Light Mapping, you will be able to use them
For now, just understand that such a type of light exists
This wraps up the explanation of the lighting options available in Unity
Unity provides a total of four types of lights
Using these lights, let's decorate the living room
Let's remove Area Light
I placed multiple Spot Lights in the living room
I adde Point Lights in the darker areas
to brighten the atmosphere
Additionally, I applied an orange material to the ceiling
to create a sense of unity
While doing this, you may notice flickering in some areas
Sometimes the lights
may turn on and off randomly
as you work on this
This happens
because lights are heavy,
or are resource-intensive to calculate,
and Unity has implemented a limitation
of the number of lights for one object
Unity only allows to a maximum of four
That's its decision
to not compromise the performance
For example, if you check the Point Light ranges on this floor object,
you’ll notice that the ranges overlap,
causing this flickering effect
So, even just looking at this floor object,
you can see that all the Point Lights and Spot Lights,
as well as all the Point Lights here, are affecting it
As a result, when many lights are applied to a single object at the same time,
it exceeds the maximum number of lights allowed
Thus, some lights turn on while others turn off,
and you can see them switching back and forth like this
There are ways to address this, such as increasing the maximum number
of lights in the settings,
but this method can lower performance
Another approach is to reduce the number of lights,
minimizing the number of lights affecting a mesh
and only using lights in the most necessary areas
That's another way
However, with this method,
the desired visual effect may not come out as intended
In such cases, it would be much better
to use the special feature called Light Mapping, which I mentioned briefly earlier
Another way
is to avoid using a single large mesh
and instead reduce the number of lights affecting the mesh
This is why level design is often done using a modular approach
This is an art-related topic,
so I’ll leave it here for this video
Lighting is a very resource-intensive element
and one that requires the most optimization
When designing levels,
you’ll need to carefully plan
to use lights only in essential areas
As you continue to learn more about lighting,
you’ll be able to create richer,
more immersive environments
Let's summarize what we learned today
Creating 3D spaces using 2D floor plans and applying materials 3D spaces were created by converting mm units from 2D floor plans into m units
3D spaces were produced by modifying the scale values of Cube object transforms Material Application Meshes and materials are essential elements
Make a new folder, create Material Asset Drag and drop on an object to apply Images can also define materials
Materials Shader: Formula for rendering surface color Parameters: Values like color, texture, etc
PBR System Simulates realistic light reflection Adjust a single shader for plastic, wood, metal, etc
Parameters: Albedo (base color), Metallic (metal property), Smoothness (roughness)
Light Types Directional Light: Uniform light across the scene, angle-dependent shadows
Point Light: Emits light outward in all directions Spotlight: Focused light for specific areas
Area Light: Surface-emitting light, visible only with light mapping
Lighting Tips Heavy real-time calculations: Unity limits 4 lights per object
Use light mapping or modular design for performance optimization if more lights are needed