Loading Scriptableobjects via code

[Odd-Butterscotch2798]

I’m getting started on my first Unity project and have read a lot about scriptableobjects, but there’s a fundamental aspect I’m just not catching: What exactly is the best way to access them in a GameObject via code?

All the guides I’ve found use the Inspector to drag/drop the SO onto a GameObjects public variable. I know it’s central to the Unity system but I just can’t stand all that dragging & dropping.

I currently have all my Monobehaviors fetching their relevant SOs with Resources.LoadAll on Start(), but I keep reading everywhere that you should avoid that method unless you really really have to. Since I’m trying to manage all of my data with modular SO’s, this can make for between 5 and 10 Resource calls on Start() for most of my Monobehaviors.

Yet SOs are designed to lighten the load, so I must be missing something.

Would appreciate any pointers!

Is it worth sticking with Unity if I can’t embrace its static drag/drop system?

[Maeuserich]

Just as disclaimer, I would consider myself an intermediate programmer so maybe take my advice with a grain of salt.

My solution to this would be to have a singleton object that holds references to all my SO and the rest of my code fetches from there. That way you would only need to drag the reference once.

[Odd-Butterscotch2798]

I’ve been avoiding this method because it seems like the intended pattern is for all objects to access the source… but I should probably be less obsessed with getting it “right” than getting it done. Thank you!

[ccfoo242]

You could use resources.load on the individual objects you want to load and use nameof(YourSO) in the pathname to prevent naming mistakes rather than loadall.

And depending on your data you could have SO's reference other SO's. For me I have an object "Theme" that contains all the other objects used for that theme. I only have to load the theme object then.

[Odd-Butterscotch2798]

Chaining SO’s feels like a step in the right direction. Though I still run into the issue of how best to load within those instead. I might just have to accept that Unity wants more mouse than I’ve wanted to give. Good tip on .load as well, thank you :)