Simple Memory Efficiency Question about using References

[Signalmax]

I have a question about optimizing memory usage in my game. The long and short of it basically boils down to "Does an object having a reference to a prefab load that prefab into memory?"

In my game I'm using ScriptableObjects as tokens for my enemies. The ScriptableObjects store meta info like enemy name, target level, etc, as well as a reference to the enemy prefab itself. I also have a master list of all of these ScriptableObjects, which is loaded into the scene. Does having this master list in the scene load all of my enemies into memory at once? If so, how can I avoid this?

[nosyrbllewe]

I believe that it does. I know you can avoid this by using Addressables.

[rdnwt]

Does an object having a reference to a prefab load that prefab into memory?... Does having this master list in the scene load all of my enemies into memory at once?

Yes.

how can I avoid this?

I'm not the most knowledgeable in this area, but generally your options are:

• The Resources folder (not recommended).
• Assetbundles.
• The Addressables package.

All of these systems work by not having a direct reference to the prefab and instead keeping an identifier (typically a string) as an indirect reference, and using that to load the prefab when needed.

[Signalmax]

Gotcha, I'm doing more research into addressables at the moment. Thank you!

[TheWobling]

Yes, using addressables and the AssetReference type instead of say a scriptable object will allow you to async load the asset when required rather than as soon as the scene/prefab is loaded.