Unity doesn’t have an autotile system built in. Unity Technologies themselves provide the tool as a separate package you can install and use for free. But it can be a little tricky to implement the first time (especially if you aren’t familiar with Git/GitHub). Don’t worry. Today, I’ll be showing you how to set the Autotile system up for use in your Unity projects step by step.
Check Your Unity Version Number
Open your Unity project (or create a new one). In the top title bar of the Unity editor, you’ll see a series of number that will represent the version of Unity you are using. Make note of this for later.
For example, for my current entry in the Game Dev Knock Out game jam (GDKO 2023), I’m currently using Unity version 2020.3.
Download the Unity 2D Extras Package
The autotile package you need to install is called the Unity 2D Extras. Unity has a GitHub repository set up specifically for 2D Extras.
In the README section, find which branch to use for your version of Unity. Here’s the current version as of the time of writing. Be sure to use the most up to date version in the README section.
At the top of the page, switch the branch to the correct branch for the version of Unity we noted earlier. In my example, I have Unity 2020.3, so I’m switching to the appropriate branch.
Click the green <> Code button and select Download ZIP.
Unzip the Unity 2D Extras Package
Navigate to the downloads directory on your computer. Unzip the file you downloaded into the Packages folder of your Unity project.
And that’s it! The Autotile system should now be set up and ready to go in your Unity project.
Conclusion
Setting up the Autotile system in Unity is a little tricky the first time or two you do it. Especially if you aren’t overly familiar with Git or GitHub. Getting the right package version for your version of Unity is the most important part. But once you get past that step, it’s a fairly painless process.
Using the Autotile system after you’ve installed it in your Unity project requires a bit of setup on your tiles. I’ll be covering that in a separate tutorial.
