2D camera setup in Unity - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output of this camera position code?

Consider this Unity C# script snippet that moves a 2D camera to follow a player object with a fixed offset. What will be the camera's position after running this code if the player is at (5, 3, 0)?

Unity

Vector3 playerPosition = new Vector3(5f, 3f, 0f);
Vector3 offset = new Vector3(0f, 2f, -10f);
Vector3 cameraPosition = playerPosition + offset;
Debug.Log(cameraPosition);

A (5.0, 5.0, -10.0)

B (5.0, 3.0, -10.0)

C (0.0, 2.0, -10.0)

D (5.0, 2.0, -10.0)

💡 Hint

Remember that adding vectors adds each component separately.

The camera position is the player's position plus the offset. So (5,3,0) + (0,2,-10) = (5,5,-10).

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Which component controls the camera's zoom in a 2D orthographic setup?

In Unity's 2D camera setup using an Orthographic camera, which property controls how zoomed in or out the camera view is?

A Camera.nearClipPlane

B Camera.fieldOfView

C Camera.depth

D Camera.orthographicSize

💡 Hint

Orthographic cameras do not use field of view.

The orthographicSize property controls the half-height of the camera view in world units, effectively controlling zoom for 2D orthographic cameras.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this 2D camera script cause jitter when following the player?

Given this Unity C# script attached to the camera to follow a player, why might the camera jitter during gameplay?

Unity

public Transform player;
void Update() {
    Vector3 newPos = player.position + new Vector3(0, 2, -10);
    transform.position = newPos;
}

A Because the offset vector is incorrect and causes the camera to move erratically.

B Because the camera position is updated in Update(), which runs before physics updates causing jitter.

C Because the camera's z position is set to -10, which is invalid for 2D cameras.

D Because the player Transform is not assigned, causing null reference errors.

💡 Hint

Think about when Update() runs compared to physics updates.

Update() runs before physics updates, so the camera position can lag behind the player's physics movement causing jitter. Using LateUpdate() fixes this.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Which option correctly sets the camera to orthographic mode in Unity C#?

Choose the correct line of code to set the main camera to orthographic mode.

A Camera.main.orthographic = true;

B Camera.main.SetOrthographic(true);

C Camera.main.isOrthographic = true;

D Camera.main.orthographicMode = true;

💡 Hint

Check the exact property name for orthographic mode.

The correct property to set orthographic mode is Camera.orthographic, which is a boolean.

🚀 Application

expert

How many items are in the resulting dictionary after this camera layers setup?

Consider this C# code snippet that sets up a dictionary mapping layer names to their camera culling masks. How many entries does the dictionary contain?

Unity

var cameraLayers = new Dictionary<string, int>();
cameraLayers["Background"] = 1 << 8;
cameraLayers["Player"] = 1 << 9;
cameraLayers["Enemies"] = 1 << 10;
cameraLayers["UI"] = 1 << 5;
cameraLayers["Player"] = 1 << 11;

A 3

B 5

C 4

D 6

💡 Hint

Remember that dictionary keys must be unique and duplicate keys overwrite previous values.

The key "Player" is assigned twice, so the second assignment overwrites the first. The dictionary ends with 4 unique keys.