The LUMOplay SDK is available for Unity 3D. If you don't have Unity, you'll need to download it and install Unity Hub. CONTACT US FOR LINKS.
If you don't have any experience using Unity, we recommend that you look through the Unity User Manual and follow some simple Unity tutorials prior to working with the LUMOplay Unity SDK.
Before you begin, you should have Unity installed and know what prefabs, scenes, packages, and build settings are.
How to request access to the LUMOplay SDK
Unity basics
If you've never used Unity before, here are some great tutorials to help you get started:
Getting started with Unity Hub (5 min)
How to install Unity game engine (3 min)
Roll a damned ball in Unity (12 min)
Opening the LUMOplay SDK
NOTE: You can use any LTS (Long Term Support) editor release of Unity from 2019 on. The most recent 2020 LTS editor is what we're currently using, so that's the best Unity editor version to install and use. If anything changes, we'll update the information here and in our Discord.
01. Create a new project in Unity Hub.
02. Choose 2D or 3D depending on the type of app you want to make. For this example, we're choosing 3D. Make sure you're using an editor version that has long term support from 2019 or later. Click 'Create Project'.
NOTE: It's always a good idea to give your project a sensible name, version number, and to save it in an organized location so you can find it again. These options can be modified under 'Project Settings'.
03. Open your new project.
4. Import the LUMOplay SDK by selecting 'Assets / Import Package / Custom Package'.
Locate the LUMOplay SDK on your computer.
Make sure you're importing all the elements. This will provide you with the components, scripts, prefabs, and example scenes you need to get started.
Editing an example scene
For this article, we're editing the 3D Particle example scene. If you want a tutorial showing how to edit other example scenes, please contact us and let us know!
05. Locate LUMOplay SDK Examples in your Project panel and open the Scenes folder.
Open the example scene you'd like to edit. In this example we'll be editing the Particle 3D example scene.
06. Select the Particle Generator and locate the Particle Systems component in the Inspector panel. This is where you can replace the default particles with your own assets. Alternatively, you can edit the connected systems (Particles Blue, Particles Green, Particles Red) in the Inspector by selecting them from the Hierarchy panel.
For this example we will import a new particle system pack and use particles from the Unity Asset Store.
This is the asset pack we'll be using for this example:
It can be purchased from the Unity Asset Store.
If you don't want to purchase assets, there are a lot of free particle packs available in the Asset Store.
07. Import your assets. Once you've chosen an asset pack and added it to your assets, open 'My Assets' in the Unity Asset Store website.
Open the asset pack in Unity. This will open the package manager (as seen in step 4) and allow you to choose which elements of the pack you want to import into your project.
08. Choose assets. Once the assets are imported, they will appear in the Assets folder of the Project panel in Unity. In this example, the assets that can be used are under 'Plasma FX / Prefabs / Desktop'.
09. Drag the particle prefabs you want to use into the Hierarchy panel of the Particles 3D scene. They will appear in the scene.
10. Replace default assets. Select the Particle Generator from the Hierarchy panel and open the Particle Systems list in the Inspector panel to replace the default particles with the particle systems you just added.
Open each particle system in the list by clicking the little circle next to it in the Inspector panel and choose the new system from the list in the popup window.
Press play to preview your scene.
Right away you'll notice a few things. Your particle effect may start automatically, it may be slow, and it probably won't look exactly the way you want it to the first time you play it. There's also a 'Back' button in the top right corner by default, which is something we use for testing more advanced experiences. Press the play button again to go back to editing and you can fine-tune your effect in the next step.
11. Adjust the particle and scene settings. Choose each particle prefab in the Hierarchy panel of your scene and use the Inspector panel to adjust it until it looks the way you want it to. If the particle effect is playing automatically, you can turn off Loop and Emission, since the particle emitter is triggered by the Particle Generator in this scene.
Here's where we started before modifying this scene, vs where we ended up:
You can also delete the Back button in the Hierarchy panel by right clicking on it and choosing Delete.
If you want to add a background, you can do that by changing the background color or skybox of the main camera, adding a UI component to the main camera, or adding a mesh plane and applying a material to it. If you want a tutorial to cover these methods please let us know.
Exporting and publishing
12. Prepare your project for build by opening 'File / Build Settings'.
Click 'Add Open Scenes' and select the scene you want to build.
Set your platform to 'PC, Mac & Linux Standalone' and your target platform to 'Windows' (this is especially important if you, like me, design on a Mac).
Open 'Player Settings'. This will open the 'Project Settings' window.
In the 'Player Settings' area of the 'Project Settings' window, add your 'Company Name', the 'Product Name' (name of the app you've created), and select the game icon displayed in the image below as the 'Default Icon'.
Replace or turn the 'Splash Image' off if you are using a version of Unity that supports this. Free versions of Unity will not have this option.
When you're done, close the Project Settings window to return to the Build Settings.
13. Build your app by clicking 'Build'. Make sure your 'Save As' project name is the same as the 'Product Name' you choose in the last step. Then click 'Save'.
You will end up with a folder that looks like this:
Make a folder named 'data' and throw all that stuff in there. Then create a json text file with the following text:
{"Exec":"Your App Name.exe"}Obviously you should replace Your App Name with the actual name of your app.
When you're done, you should have something that looks like this:
14. Publish your app. Select everything, zip it up and email it to us from an email address authorized to publish LUMOplay apps! Here's what the app looks like on our website.
Not yet authorized? Here's how to request access.
We'll run your new app through our virus scans and stress tests, publish it to your account, and notify you as soon as possible.
Join the LUMOplay Discord
Follow this link to join our Discord. It's new, so you'll need to introduce yourself if you want to be added to the developer channels. We're always around to answer questions!