When you install Unity, you have the option to install Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Unity as the default script editor. However, this is not a full version of Visual Studio.
Visual Studio is a powerful IDE for all kinds of projects. When we build for UWP from Unity, we will actually build a Visual Studio-ready project folder that you can then open in VS to complete the compile, build, and deploy process in order to run the app on your device.
At a minimum, you will need Visual Studio 2015, Update 3, with the following components (see https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/holographic/install_the_tools):
- Windows 10 SDK (10.0.10586)
- Tools 1.4
Visual Studio comes in three editions, namely Community, Professional, and Enterprise; any of these are sufficient for us. The Community version is free and can be downloaded from https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/.
Once the installer is downloaded, open it to choose which components to install. As shown in the following image, under the Workloads tab, we have selected the following:
- Universal Windows Platform development
- Game development with Unity
Also, select the Game development with Unity options, as follows:
Under the Individual Components tab, in addition to the default Windows 10 SDK, ensure the one named Windows 10 SDK (10.0.10586) is marked, as shown here:
Begin the download and install it.
If you already had Visual Studio installed (minimum VS 2015, Update 3) or if you ever want to verify you have the required components, you can check as follows:
- Go to Windows Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features
- Locate the Visual Studio you have installed (for example, Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2015 with Updates), then right-click and choose Change, as shown here:
- In the next dialog box, click on Modify.
- Check any missing features and update your installation, as shown here:
