What are ScriptableObjects used for?

Hi,

I read about the ScriptableObject class but i still can't figure out what it may be good for.

From reading the documentation/some more information on the answers site, i gathered that:

• It is good for storing data.
• It can be copied by reference, hence saving up on memory (instead of creating multiple copies of the data object).
• It is not associated to a GameObject (like Components are).

Can you please provide some example usages of how you are using ScriptableObject and the problem that it solves? It may be easier for me to understand it that way.

 

What I can think of is maybe a localization texts. If many objects need to access storage with lots of strings, ScriptableObject can be useful. Really it's one of those features that most of us have never asked for
Maybe can store terrain data or something like that...

 

ScriptableObjects are types that I infact use on a daily basis. Especially when diving deeper you will love them. On of their huge benefits is that the get serialized properly as reference and even when they are stored as their parent class. So yes they aswell work under polymorphism. Other than that, you can store them directly to the asset database.

Regarding the serialization aspect:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/serialization-best-practices-megapost.155352/

 

Zomg wall of text! But looks like a good article. Bookmarked for dinner time.
Can you share with us more details about your usage of SO? What kind of data you store in them?

 

Well, the most recent example would be my batching tool. It effectivly needs to split up submeshes of meshes into own meshes. This takes alot of procssing time when doing it at runtime. So I grant developers the possibility to set up those BatchParts at edit time. BatchParts are nothing more then a storage class to hold the newly generated meshes and materials, and yes they are scriptable objects in order to save them to disk.

 

What I used them for so far;

- Item definition
- Localization
- Audio item
- Quest
- Character customization
- ... and I probably forget some

In other words, any time I have to save data that is not related to a spatial position, and is independent of all scenes.

 

Unity Live Training just made an excellent tutorial on scriptable objects.

The archive link isn't up yet, but here is the Twitch link http://www.twitch.tv/unitytech/b/539093937 the actual tutorial starts at around the 10 minute mark.

 

Is there a good reason to use a Scriptable object in place of a static class?

 

What are the benefits of using ScriptableObjects over a plain old class that stores data ?

 

It's all explained in the video I linked

 

Unity handles all the serialization/deserialization.

Otherwise, you have to create your own file format.

The Inspector also display values in ScriptableObject, which it wouldn't with custom file format.

 

Awesome. Looks like I have some links to check out. But I think I am getting the point.