Unity Style Guide (WIP)

This style guide was produced for Unity3D as a purpose and aims to create a common language with Unreal Engine. For this reason, all style guides that are currently important in the market have been examined and common points have been carefully determined. I am sure, it will be very useful for studios that use both Unity3D and Unreal Engine and think it would be healthy to establish a certain joint bridge between the two.

Bulent Gercek | bulentgercek@gmail.com | bulentgercek.com

Inspirational Resources

timdhoffmann - Unity Project Style Guide | Allar - Gamemakin UE4 Style Guide

1. Introduction Terminology

1.1 Spaces

• Never and ever use Spaces in folder, file or variable names.

1.2 Cases

• Use PascalCase for custom file and folder names. (E.g. DetailedSpecificObjectName) Do not use spaces, underscores, or hyphens, except naming different aspects of the same thing. Use underscores between the core name, and the thing that describes the "aspect". For instance:

  • GUI buttons states EnterButton_Active, EnterButton_Inactive

  • Textures BigRocket_Diffuse, BigRocket_NormapMap

  • Skybox CitySky_Top, CitySky_North

  • LOD Groups BigRocket_LOD0, BigRocket_LOD1

    Do not use this convention just to distinguish between different types of items, for instance Tree_Small, Tree_Large should be SmallTree, LargeTree.

• Use camelCase for local variables, e.g. carCount, rotateSpeed, thrustPower. If its a class variable add underscore as the first letter, e.g. _rigidBody,_audioSource.

2. Asset Naming Conventions

Naming conventions should be treated as law. A project that conforms to a naming convention is able to have its assets managed, searched, parsed, and maintained with incredible ease.

2.1 Base Asset Name

All assets should have a Base Asset Name. A Base Asset Name represents a logical grouping of related assets. Any asset that is part of this logical group should follow the standard of Prefix_BaseAssetName_Variant_Suffix.

Keeping the pattern Prefix_BaseAssetName_Variant_Suffix and in mind and using common sense is generally enough to warrant good asset names. Here are some detailed rules regarding each element.

Prefix and Suffix are to be determined by the asset type through the following Asset Name Modifier tables.

2.2 Asset Name Modifiers

2.2.1 Most Common

Asset Type	Prefix	Suffix	Notes
Scene / Level	SC_
Level (Lighting)	LS_
Mesh	SM_
Material	MA_
Texture	TT_
Prefab	PF_
Particle System	PS_
Audio Clip	AC_
Animation Clip	ANCL_
Animation Controller	ANCR_
JSON Text File	TXT_

2.2.2 Textures

Asset Type	Prefix	Suffix	Notes
Texture (Editor)	TT_	_ED	Unity Editor GUI
Texture (Sprite)	TT_	_SP	2D and UI
Texture (Cursor)	TT_	_CR
Texture (Cookie)	TT_	_CK
Texture (Diffuse/Albedo/Base Color)	TT_	_Diffuse
Texture (Normal Map)	TT_	_Normal
Texture (Mask)	TT_	_Mask
Texture (Alpha/Opacity)	TT_	_Alpha
Texture (Bump)	TT_	_Bump
Texture (Specular)	TT_	_Specular
Texture (Ambient Occlusion)	TT_	_AO
Texture (Tilemap)	TT_	_TM

3. Project & Hierarchy Structures

3.1 Project Structure Principles

• Prefab everything.

  • To modify an asset from the store, drag it into the hierarchy and create a prefab inside _Project.

• Use the Project tab's search functionality:

  • Search by Type in the upper right.
  • Restrict results to selected folder only (recursively): Click on Search and selecting the desired folder from the drop-down (operation mode will be remembered).

• Save searches as context sensitive filters (two colum layout):

  • Click on the star in the top right to save a search. The filter will apply to any selected folder, for example:
    • Only scripts in selected (and sub-folders)
    • Only prefabs in selected (and sub-folders)
    • Only animations in selected (and sub-folders)

• Pin folders by dragging them to Favorites.

• Don’t disassemble context-specific assets. For instance, leave the folder structure of downloaded assets intact.

• Use Tags to mark imported 3rdParty assets:

  • Select an item in the project browser and assign a tag in the bottom right of the inspector.
    • For entire packs, mark the top folder of the asset pack.
    • Assets that come as individual files can be marked directly.

• When working with assets from the asset store:

  • Leave any complex asset package files, where they imported to by default. This makes updating and keeping track easier.
  • When making modifications, copy the file(s) you want to modify (script, art, etc.), to an appropriate subfolder in _Project. Make only changes to that copy and make the other parts reference the newly created, modified file.

3.1.2 Example Project Structure

Assets
    __NoVersionControl
    __Project
    |-- Commons
    |-- Actors
    |   |-- Cameras
    |   |   |-- PF_Camera_SplashScreen.prefab
    |   |   |-- PF_MainCamera.prefab
    |   |-- Structures
    |   |   |-- MA_LandingPad.mat
    |   |   |-- PF_LandingPad.prefab
    |   |-- Pawns
    |   |   |-- AC_RocketDeathExplosion.ogg
    |   |   |-- AC_RocketMainThrustEngine.ogg
    |   |   |-- MA_Rocket.mat
    |   |   |-- PF_Rocket.prefab
    |   |   |-- PS_RocketExplosion.prefab
    |   |   |-- PS_RocketMainThrust.prefab
    |   |   |-- SM_Rocket.fbx
    |   |   |-- TT_Rocket_BaseColor.png
    |   |-- Characters
    |   |   |-- Robocop
    |   |   |   |-- AC_Robocop_Victory.ogg
    |   |   |   |-- AC_Robocop_Death.ogg
    |   |   |   |-- MA_Robocop.mat
    |   |   |   |-- PF_Robocop.prefab
    |   |   |   |-- SM_Robocop.fbx
    |   |   |   |-- TT_Robocop_Diffuse.png
    |   |   |   |-- TT_Robocop_Normal.png
    |   |-- Terrain
    |   |   |-- MA_Ground.mat
    |   |   |-- MA_Obstacle.mat
    |   |   |-- PF_Ground.prefab
    |   |   |-- PF_Obstacle.prefab
    |   |-- Items
    |   |-- UI
    |   |   |-- Fonts
    |   |   |-- Icons
    |   |   |   |-- Main
    |   |   |   |   |-- TT_Project_Icon_64x64_SP.png
    |   |   |   |   |-- TT_Project_Icon_512x512_SP.png
    |   |   |   |-- Content
    |   |   |   |   |-- TT_Continue_Icon_SP.png
    |   |   |-- Buttons
    |   |   |   |-- Menus
    |   |   |   |-- Content
    |-- Environments
    |   |-- MA_Skybox.mat
    |-- Scenes
    |   |-- SC_Start
    |   |   |-- LightningData.asset
    |   |   |-- ReflectionProbe-0.exr
    |   |-- LS_Common.lighting
    |   |-- SC_Start.unity
    |-- Scripts
        |-- Managers
        |   |-- GameManager.cs
        |-- Pawns
        |   |-- RocketMovement.cs
        |-- Terrain
        |   |-- ObstacleOscillator.cs

3.2 Hierarchy Structure

This is an example hierarchy structure.

Main
Managers
Cameras
Lights
UI
|-- Canvas
|   |-- HUD
|   |-- PauseMenu
Gameplay
|-- Pawns
|-- Items
Place
|-- Props
|-- Structures
|-- Terrain
_DynamicObjects