2D camera setup in Unity - Mini Project: Build & Apply

2D Camera Setup in Unity

📖 Scenario: You are making a simple 2D game in Unity. You want to set up a camera that follows the player smoothly as they move around the scene.

🎯 Goal: Build a Unity script that makes the 2D camera follow the player object with smooth movement.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a player GameObject variable

Create a smooth speed variable

Write code to move the camera smoothly towards the player position

Print the camera's position after moving

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

In many 2D games, the camera needs to follow the player smoothly to keep the gameplay visible and enjoyable.

💼 Career

Understanding camera control is important for game developers and Unity programmers to create polished game experiences.

1

Create a player variable

Create a public Transform variable called player to hold the player's position.

Unity

public Transform player;  // Your code here

Need a hint?

Use public Transform player; inside the class to hold the player object.

2

Add a smoothSpeed variable

Add a public float variable called smoothSpeed and set it to 0.125f.

Unity

using UnityEngine;

public class CameraFollow : MonoBehaviour
{
    public Transform player;
    public float smoothSpeed = 0.125f;  // Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use public float smoothSpeed = 0.125f; to create the speed variable.

3

Write smooth follow logic in LateUpdate

Write a LateUpdate method that moves the camera smoothly towards the player position using Vector3.Lerp. Use smoothSpeed for interpolation. Keep the camera's original z position.

Unity

using UnityEngine;

public class CameraFollow : MonoBehaviour
{
    public Transform player;
    public float smoothSpeed = 0.125f;

    void LateUpdate()
    {
        // Your code here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use Vector3.Lerp to smoothly move the camera from its current position to the player's position.

4

Print the camera's position

Add a Debug.Log statement inside LateUpdate to print the camera's current position after moving.

Unity

using UnityEngine;

public class CameraFollow : MonoBehaviour
{
    public Transform player;
    public float smoothSpeed = 0.125f;

    void LateUpdate()
    {
        Vector3 desiredPosition = new Vector3(player.position.x, player.position.y, transform.position.z);
        Vector3 smoothedPosition = Vector3.Lerp(transform.position, desiredPosition, smoothSpeed);
        transform.position = smoothedPosition;
        // Your code here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use Debug.Log("Camera position: " + transform.position); to print the camera's position.