Day 0.5: Introduction to the Unity Editor

So many windows…

Now that we have set up a new Unity project, it’s time to get familiar with all the windows you’re using almost all the time.

The complete Unity Editor windows without any changes

Hierarchy
The Hierarchy window is the place where you see every GameObject placed in your project (in text form). The hierarchy also gives you insights of how GameObjects are connected to each other.

Scene view
This window allows you to navigate and edit your Scene. Depending on your project, the Scene view can show either a 3D or a 2D perspective.

Game view
In here, you can see a simulation of how your game will look like outside the Editor.

Change your Aspect Ratio to 16:9!

Quick tip:
It is recommended that you change (and set) your aspect ratio from “Free Aspect” (which is the default Unity setting) to “16:9”. With this setting enabled, you make sure the resolution stays fixed, your UI stays the same and is not moving around.

Inspector window
This window allows you to view and edit all the properties of the currently selected GameObject. Keep in mind that the Inspector will look different depending on the chosen GameObject to edit. Different types of GameObjects have different properties to change.

Project window
This basically shows every asset that is available to use in your project. Imported assets will appear here.

Console window
The console shows you errors, warnings or information messages.

And finally:

Settings you should take a look at:

• Head to the Preferences (Edit > Preferences)
• Click on “Colors” and set a easy to notice color for your as “Playmode tint”
  Because Unity does not save any changes you have made in Play Mode, setting a very noticeable tint color can save you from some pain later on. Trust me. It will definitely help you out instead of the default gray-ish one.
• Click on “External Tools” and then on “Open by file extension” on the right. Select the IDE you’re using. You are doing this so tooltips and Unity methods within the IDE will work properly.
  There will probably be “Visual Studio 2019” for you, as it is used commonly. In my case, it’s Rider 2020 because I’m using that as IDE and not Visual Studio.

Done! Now we have set up Unity and can finally start!