Starting Small in Unity: My First Scene with Physics and Fun

I just finished the “Make a Bouncy Ball” tutorial from the Unity Essentials pathway, and honestly, it felt like a big step for someone like me who’s just starting. I’ve always wanted to make games, but opening Unity for the first time felt a bit overwhelming. This tutorial helped me break that fear and start building.

The process began by adding a simple 3D sphere into the scene. At first, it didn’t seem like much—just a plain ball sitting in an empty room. But then I got to add a material to it. I created my material from the Project window, chose a color, and dragged it onto the ball in the Scene view. Just that small act of seeing something I made appear in the world made the whole thing feel more real.

What made the ball come to life, though, was the Rigidbody component. By adding it through the Inspector, I learned that it enables gravity and lets Unity handle the ball’s movement using physics. Once I hit play, it dropped to the floor automatically. That moment clicked with me—this was no longer just a shape; it was something that existed and behaved according to rules.

The most fun part was making the ball bounce. I had to create a Physics Material, not just a regular one, and set its bounciness to the max. After applying that to the sphere’s collider, the ball didn’t just fall—it bounced all around the room like a rubber ball. Seeing it react, collide, and move naturally was exciting, especially knowing that I had set all of that up myself.

Going through the tutorial also helped me get more familiar with the Inspector window. I began to recognize what each component did, how to modify its properties, and how Unity ties everything together. At first, it didn't look very safe, but now I see it as a beneficial control panel for whatever I’m working on.

Now that I’ve made this simple bouncy ball, I’m ready to keep going. The following tutorial is about knocking over a tower of blocks with the ball, which sounds even more fun. For the first time, Unity doesn’t feel so distant or complicated. It feels like something I can learn, one small project at a time.