Hello! We’re updating the “Standard Assets” packages that come bundled with Unity.

Before we finalise and integrate it with Unity itself, we’re releasing a beta version for you to try out. We’d like you to have a play and give us feedback before we finally integrate it into Unity and replace the old Standard Assets.

You can download the new Sample Assets Beta package from the Asset Store here.

There are a number of changes to look out for:

Firstly, the name is now “Sample Assets” rather than “Standard Assets”, which better reflects their purpose: to provide a collection of examples that can be used out-of-the-box, picked apart or expanded upon.

We’re also going to improve the delivery method. The Sample Assets will still be bundled with the Unity installer, but the packages themselves will be linked to the asset store so that we can update them independently of new Unity editor releases.

And of course what’s in the packages themselves.  We’ve addressed some missing examples by adding a mecanim-based third-person character, some shuriken-based particle systems, and some simple AI systems, as well as improving and adding new samples such as a better first-person controller, cross platform input examples and even a few vehicles!

We’re including sample scenes where you can try these out, and our intention is that this collection of playable sample scenes will replace the existing “Angry Bots” project which is included in the current Unity installer. Angry Bots will still be available to download from the asset store, but having these lightweight prototype sample scenes will reduce the download and install size of Unity itself, and hopefully provide more useful material out of the box to help you get your projects started even faster than before.

This project has multiple goals: the new samples will provide an example of good practice in terms of how they are put together. For example, you’ll be able to look at how we used a componentised architecture on our prefabs to separate out core movement, control, audio and peripheral visual effects. We also hope the samples will act as a useful toolbox for rapid prototyping. You can just drop a character, vehicle, camera rig or effect into your scene, and it’s good to go.

So what are the highlights?

A New First Person Character
Unlike the previous first person character, this first person character uses a standard rigidbody capsule and can push physics objects around. It also has configurable head-bob effects and footstep sounds.

A New Third Person Character
The new third person character is Mecanim-based, with root-motion driving its movements giving a more realistic feel. It’s also incredibly easy to replace the character art with your own rigged humanoid model, or swap the user control component with an AI component.

A Sample 2D Character
Swift on the heels of our recent 2D tools release, we have a sample 2D sprite-based character in a platform game scene for you to use.

Camera Rigs
These are a few useful camera set-ups, making it easy to drop in an automatic follow cam, or a free-look camera straight into your scene. All our sample scenes use these rigs.

Car
We’re including an example of a car controller and our sample scene shows one possible configuration: a high-powered futuristic sports car. However, the script itself is also flexible enough to simulate front, rear and four-wheel drive vehicles, SUVs, Karts and Forklift Trucks. Have a play and test the settings to their limit! The car code prioritises fun over realism, but still offers a large degree of freedom in terms of gears, torque, and tendency to burnout or skid.

Aircraft
The aeroplane scripts allow you to set up a forward-flying aircraft with ease. There are optional components if you want to implement moving ailerons, rudders, etc, but you can just as easily throw the basic script on a cube and take to the skies in your cube-o-plane! We provide some slightly more elaborate examples of Jet and Propellor aeroplanes, each set up with different parameters to give the correct feel. Again, the code is designed with a priority of fun over realism, and as such doesn’t include realistic flight equations, but you’ll still find you can glide, stall and barrel-roll to your heart’s content.

Cross Platform Input Example
We’ve also included an example of how you can set up cross-platform input so that you can seamlessly publish to desktop, web and mobile from the same project. Our sample uses a relatively simple script which acts as a ‘middle man’ between the game controls and Unity’s existing input system. When on mobile, simple touch or tilt controls override the axis names, allowing you to easily switch between desktop and mobile with minimal changes to your scripts. We’ve also included a few example “mobile control rigs” which are suitable for many common scenarios such as a tilt-to-steer car control, or a 3rd-person run and turn control.

AI
For the character, cars, and planes, we’ve included a sample of how you can set up AI-controlled versions. These AI systems “pilot” the character or vehicle in the same way that a user can, by sending input values to the controller.

Prototype Environment
To keep the package sizes down and the examples as clear and easy to understand as possible, our sample scenes use simple prototype models for the environments, and these are packaged up for you to use if you want to. They can be a good way of quickly blocking out level designs, to be replaced with your own real artwork later.

Of course, since this is an update to the current standard assets, there is a significant amount of good stuff in there that we’re keeping just  the same: you’ll still have the same favourite image effects, skyboxes, shaders, water, etc. These and many of the other standard assets haven’t changed, but we’ll be looking to improve and expand on these areas as time goes on – and from your feedback. For the beta release we’re including only the new stuff to save on download size and import time.

As mentioned above, this is a ‘beta’ release of the new Sample Assets, so it’s not currently included with the Unity Installer. If you’d like to check it out, you can download the entire pack from the Asset Store here:

Sample Assets (beta)

Complete Projects/Packs

Free

Having worked on this rather furiously for the last few months along with the guys from the Learn team, we’d all love to hear your feedback and questions! You can reply here, or if you’d like to take part in an altogether more civilized (and detailed) discussion on the forum about it, head over to this forum thread for that very purpose:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/223158-New-Standard-Assets-a-k-a-Sample-Assets-Beta-Release

Enjoy!