Using new assets on older versions

Is it possible to use new assets on older versions? I want to get an older version because I think it would run better on my laptop

 

1. Go ahead and try. 3rd party assets might run
2. Did you try 2020 or 2021 lts? The biggest slowdown is what you do with the engine, not the engine version. If you want a very lightweight engine because unity doesn't run maybe try godot (but then still, your project decides performance, not the editor)

 

Unity's system requirements are dependent on the project you're working on. If the project and its assets are heavy using an older version won't improve performance in a noticeable way. If anything you might be losing performance due to not having the improvements in the newer release of the engine.

 

You are right. But unity removed monodevelop. Visual studio is the culprit, my laptop takes 10minutes for it to load. I know you could you vscode. But vscode has some problems with code completion.

 

Rider works as well. Or some in-editor code editing assets could be used

 

still if you want to use older unity version,
then you'll need to install newer unity version just to download the assets. (if they are from asset store).

then export or copy the imported files from that newer unity version (in case the asset store .unitypackage doesnt import),
into your older unity.
But many things might break, like prefabs, scripts and more, if import into older version that the asset supports.

*for me too the older unity versions are much more responsive/faster, even on a higher end pc.
(things like. startup time, enter play mode, script compilation, UI "snappiness")

 

Last year I actually managed to get the 2021 version to work on Ubuntu Linux.

Still a bit on the slow side but at least it actually runs.

 

If you don't mind the cost of it ($39) Script Inspector 3 is extremely lightweight (5 MB) and is extremely fast.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/script-inspector-3-3535

Visual Studio Code is as problematic as it is because the add-on that makes it work with Unity hasn't had updates for more than two years. Unity has officially deprecated it in the most recent releases meaning the only free option available is now the full Visual Studio.

https://forum.unity.com/threads/update-on-the-visual-studio-code-package.1302621/