Installing Unity – Windows
Introduction
In this lesson, we will guide you through the process of downloading and installing Unity on a Windows computer. The Unity Hub is a separate application that helps manage multiple Unity installations and projects, but we will not be using the Unity Hub for this installation. Instead, we will directly download and install the Unity Editor.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Download the Unity Editor installer.
- Install Unity Editor on your Windows computer.
Lesson Outline
Step 1: System Requirements Check
Before you start downloading and installing Unity, ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements to run Unity Editor:
- OS: Windows 7 (SP1+) and Windows 10.
- CPU: SSE2 instruction set support.
- GPU: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities.
- RAM: 4GB minimum (8GB recommended).
Step 2: Download Unity Editor Installer
- Open your web browser and navigate to the Unity Download Archive. The Unity Download Archive contains all the versions of Unity Editor.Unity Download Archive
- Scroll down and find the version of Unity that you want to install. Click on the ‘Unity Editor’ download link corresponding to your chosen version.
Step 3: Run the Installer
- Locate the downloaded file. It will be a ‘.exe’ file named something like ‘UnitySetup64-x.x.x.exe’ where ‘x.x.x’ is the version number.
- Double-click the installer file to run it.
Step 4: Install Unity Editor
- The Unity Installer will open. Click ‘Next’ to start the installation process.
- Read and accept the terms and conditions, and then click ‘Next’.
- Choose the components you want to install. For a basic installation, you only need to select ‘Unity Editor’, but you can also select additional components such as ‘Documentation’, ‘Standard Assets’, and ‘Example Project’ if you want. Click ‘Next’ after selecting the components.
- Choose the installation location. By default, it will install in the ‘C:\Program Files\Unity’ folder, but you can change this to any location on your computer. Click ‘Next’ to continue.
- The installation will start. It may take some time to install all the components.
- Once the installation is complete, click ‘Finish’ to close the installer.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully downloaded and installed Unity Editor on your Windows computer. You can now start creating your Unity projects.
In the next lesson, we will learn how to download and install Unity Hub, which will help you manage multiple Unity installations and projects.
Exercise
- Open the Unity Editor that you just installed and create a new project.
- Explore the Unity Editor interface and familiarize yourself with the different panels and options.
Note
- The process outlined in this lesson installs the Unity Editor directly without using the Unity Hub. However, it is recommended to use Unity Hub for managing multiple Unity installations and projects, as it provides a more streamlined experience.
- This lesson does not cover the installation of additional components such as the Android or iOS build support. These components can be installed later through the Unity Hub or by running the Unity installer again and selecting the necessary components.