Pixel Art Class - Fully Lit Isometric Tiles in Unity!

Hey Pals! Here's another video on isometric pixel art in Unity. I really love how this one came out, as I get to share a lot of the lessons I learned that were actually very frustrating to set up for me. There are a lot of pitfalls in this process so thankfully I can save you from all of them lol.

2D lights with normal mapped isometric looks so good. I really want to make a little game with this style one day. Enjoy!

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:27 - Setting up Universal RP 2D
03:45 - Adding Lights and Textures
07:05 - Adding Normal Maps
10:57 - Setting Up a Camera
11:48 - Isometric Tilesets in Unity
15:45 - Fixing the Sorting Order
16:50 - Brief Level Design Timelapse
17:05 - Adding Details to the Textures
24:00 - Scene Lighting & Dynamic Shadows
27:00 - Polished Mockup Showcase
28:19 - Outro
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This video features clips from my stream. Catch it live: Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri 1-6pm AEST.

Later, pals!

[ShiloBuff]

You are seriously underrated. You cater to my experienced game programming side and my amateur pixel art passion. And the way you explain things is the way I think and like to learn. I would totally pay for detailed tutorials or assets from you. Thank you for the lovely content.

[TheZenmaster]

In case anyone was having the same issue I was trying to get the normal map to work, one crucial step that was omitted in this video was that when you import the normal map png you have to set the Texture Type to Normal Map rather than Sprite 2d. It won't give you any error when you attach it as a normal map when it's just a regular sprite, but it just won't do the normal mapping lighting effect.

[yvettenaomi]

for anyone who needs correct Z values (for 3D A* implementations for example) you can change the "Transparency Sorting Axis" for the 2D Renderer part of URP to "Custom" and change Z to -.26. it does some math and renders tiles at higher Z axes on top of those with lower!

[justinwhite]

I've been using unity for years (maybe even a decade now) and I learned 2 things.
1 - 'secondary textures' is huge. I would have had to create a custom shader to use normal maps without that. Fantastic.
2 - you can do math in the inspector!?
3- having the grass sit 'on top of' the base tile is a fantastic idea. I would have been dead set in making these full solid tiles.

[pi-or-die]

Found your channel recently and just wanted to say that this is really incredible content. You really teach how to *think* about the the problems and find solutions to them rather than just simple how-to tutorials. Good luck with your game!

[cat-boy]

By far the best videos on isometric. All of the channels that cover this topic, just kinda handwave away the textures.
"Yeah, just import these textures I found. Mess around with these settings till it looks good." This video thoroughly explains not only the how, but the why as well.
Quality work.

[vincebilotti]

The most helpful video ive seen about isometric game dev i swear.

[ironbard]

Woah! That looks so clean and beautiful! I don't quite know how to describe it, but this is like seeing graphics from an alternate timeline, where 3D accelerated hardware never became a thing, and so 2D graphics progressed two or three decades further than in our own timeline. I want to try my hand at this in the not too distant future.

[tsselr]

very cool process. bit scary how unintuitive some of the 2D tools are, but your explanations were clear, the results look great, and the lighting/shadow system works a lot better than I would have expected.

[clickchapman]

Love this new format! Feels much more like a personal connection/teaching lesson rather than watching a Twitch VOD. Will be back for much more!

[GabeWilliams]

I was…amazed when I saw what you could do with those isometric tiles and textures. I’m definitely going to have to try this out

[faycalbenlarbidelai]

DUDE!?? I've always loved isometric games n wanted to make some but they always seemed haarder, but u really explain things way better n simpler making me wanna get on it! thanks man!

[ahnmichael]

I have watched hundredsss of tutorials, and this is probably the best I have ever seen. Incredible structure, flow, demonstration, and execution 😭

This was brilliant! I just installed Unity and it looks so complicated and technical, tutorials like this help A LOT! Thank you!

[toongloong]

I wonder if you know how good our videos are... bro... these are so well thought and delivered. Masterclass material.

[Hersatz]

This is exactly what I needed.
Thank you very much, good sir.

Extremely underrated channel.

[JustGabe]

This is GOLD!!! This will seriously help my videogame to get more polished :D THANK YOU!

[LootGoblinPenny]

I love watching you work, especially when you're happy with something, your whole face lights up with a smile it's great. Keep up the great work, it helps a lot

[teggundrut]

This is my first time seeing your channel and omg you are amazing! I have been wanting to make a game for a while and I didn't have any ideas until I saw your isometric tutorial and now im binging you videos. Thank you for your great work! :)

[frankeeeej]

Wow thats neat :D
You can make it even more fancy by also drawing the lines between the bricks in the normalmap :)