An extremely stupid question... I'm a newbie

Ok, this is gonna sound stupid. But I'm new to Unity and Javascript (and making games in general), and I need to know. Before now, the only "programming" I have ever done is messing around on an ancient Apple 2e computer and using a graphical programming software to program home-made LEGO robots. But, about my problem. Basically, I am making a platformer where you collect 10 items around a map within a time limit. If you run out of time, game over. So, I have the countdown timer working fine (It loads the "Game Over" screen after a minute or whatever time I tell it), but I need help getting the items to work. There are 10 in each level. So, here is how I was thinking the script would work. When the character hits a collider around the item, it would ad 1 to a counter thing (Variable, correct?) and then destroy the object. Once the counter reaches 10, the player must have collected all 10 items, and it loads the next level. Simple, but I have no clue how to code it. Can somebody either write a quick sample piece of code giving some ideas or refer me to a scripting tutorial? Thanks!

One Question/Answer that everyone should read is: How do I learn Unity fast? It contains a ton of tutorial links, videos, book recommendations (Will Goldstone has a book on Unity Game Development that's great), etc.

for game logic and drawing GUI i recommend simple 2d shooter tutorial at 3d buzz, you can use OnTrigger colliders for collecting objects ( increase score and delete object you have collided with).

for making games you wont need to go study university level programming carreer as I did, you only need passion and dicipline to learn things yourself, find tutorials online theres more avaible than you could ever do. And the more you study the more you learn.

My motivation comes from this idea that i have. This is the coolest job there is out there,

and secondly I have always wanted to learn how the games work and how to modify and make them.

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