9 replies to this topic

[IanD]

So.... who is beginning to have annoying issues with the clutter that is literally littering Unity...?

 

Whilst creating textures and trying them, it's a matter of dragging them in your Unity project folder to try them out...  sounds easy, but when days pass and you think I'll clear the ones I don't want later - it becomes problematic. You naturally name files something similar, so you can discover them easily, but man... unless tightly controlled within folders - this should serve as a warning to those in Unity use..

 

You use objects easily enough, they can be nicely folderised.. but when choosing the texture via the properties, it seems to become an endless trawl of what you thought you need, kept in a great mess. I look at it in awe of the past 3-4 weeks... I've got old socks that don't compare to the history of these textures... so comfy do they feel that I'm hard pushed to remove them from their resting place...

 

It's no good, they got to go... but I'll keep the textures..

 

I'm not alone in this am I....?

 

- Sock Collectors Unity -

[garynorman]

My workflow is 'chaotic' at the best of times, so you can imagine the state of my assets folder!!

 

I also have about ten projects on the go at once, some on my desktop others somewhere on my C drive, most of them cleverly named 'Unity Project' followed by a number, meaning I have to open at least three to find the one I want...

 

Still, life's boring if you make it easy for yourself

[Kablammo11]

Every workflow is an individual expression of personal habits. I fear there is no golden rule, except the one you set for yourself. Mine are:

 

I, too, have at all times more files than I need. I try to get rid of those I know I won't use anymore, deleting them out of the asset video with a right click.

CAVEAT: Always have backups of all your files outside the current project you are working on. At import, Unity copies them into the project. If you edit them, they will be updated and changed insider your project, but remain as they were in your backup folder outside the project.

 

To keep the Assets window tidy: I create Folders like "k11 textures"; "k11 imports" etc. When I add a new asset later, I drag it into these folders. 

 

I never choose textures, trees, grass from the huge asset synopsis window that contains everything - I open the required file in the Assets window (by clicking along the path through my folders), then perform a simple drag and drop into the "edit" window that opens when I creat a new asset in the inspector.

 

To keep the hierarchy window tidy: I create a new "Empty Game Object", which happens to be Unity's weird name for a new folder in the hierarchy window. I use these folders/empty object to sort all my imports int Folders and subfolders and to create a folder hierarchy similar to the one in my project.

 

My old socks usually go into the hazmat bin around the corner from my house.

 

Sounds all like a good plan on paper - and STILL it's an inglorious mess!

[garynorman]

Seriously, thanks for the 'Empty Game Object' tip

 

I had about 30 'wall' prefabs in there and that has made it so much tidier

[Kablammo11]

Just passing it on, it came from MJ...

[IanD]

The Empty Game Object K11... do you place anything CF into those or is it purely your own created additions you put into those folders?

 

Love the idea... that works nice and neatly.

[Kablammo11]

Some CF things, like splines, won't go into such a folder. You may put them in here, but they jump out again when you enable the CF tools at your next session. I understand from posts on the private forum that this sort of clutter is going to be addressed and gotten rid of (I don't know how) in later versions of CF. Right now I have around 45 spline objects (some of them surrounding up to 8 interior splines) sitting in my hierarchy window.

I make sure to rename all items accordingly, so that "k11" is the alphabetically first name in my hierarchy list and all the connected objects will stay on top of my list so that I don't have to scroll down too often.

[IanD]

Cheers for that K11..

[shimonko]

I use a version control system (Git) to reduce the clutter, although I'm not sure I'd recommend it unless you're used such things as there can be a bit of a learning curve.  But I see the Unity asset store has a few Git plugins for the purpose, so maybe they've made it a bit easier to get into. If you're used to such things, I recommend using it with your Unity project.

 

Essentially a version control system eliminates the need to have multiple versions of files hanging around. If you had a grass texture, say grass.jpg, and you thought it was too green, normally you might create grass2.jpg, then grass3.jpg...

 

Mess!

 

"Which one was good again? Better keep them all in case  I delete the wrong one."

 

With a version control system you just modify grass.jpg and if you wish to go back to the greener version, you can.

 

Why it's especially good in Unity is that when you save the scene file, it's really only saving the arrangement of the individual objects. If you notice you'd accidentally painted your terrain and 'undo' doesn't rescue you, reloading your last scene file won't rescue you either because the terrain painting is stored in the terrain asset file, not the scene file. Version control lets your restore the good terrain asset file.

[TheBigYin519]

Shimonko,

I agree with your quote "although I'm not sure I'd recommend it unless you're used such things as there can be a bit of a learning curve". 

Something for us to keep in mind when we become more adept with Unity / CF.