An Important question regarding UI Elements(Toolkit) (785164)

[faqeerhasnain]

I want to get into leaning UI,Somebody plz guide me which is better frame work,Unity UI or new UI Elements(Toolkit).

[JoNax97]

I’ve been been using UI toolkit for a couple months now and I can say I’m having a blast. The API is powerful, and I’ve found a way to do everything I need so far. And I’m doing a fairly complex UI (a full windows OS shell).

That said, I think you should consider if the UI you want to do is structurally complex or visually complex.

If it’s the first, I’d say go for UI toolkit. It manages complexity like a champion.

Now, if it’s the second, UI toolkit is not there yet for the visual stuff. If you’re gonna need non-rectangular shapes for your elements, particle effects, complex animation, full support for TextMeshPro, or custom shaders, I’d stick with UGUI.

[JoNax97]

OP contacted me via PM asking some details, and I thought I’d leave my answer here in case it’s useful for someone who finds this in the future:

It’s true that UI Toolkit is still in development and need some love before being ready, but from what I’ve tested it’s pretty solid already. UI Toolkit is the future of UI in Unity and it’s a good idea to learn it sooner rather than later. Now that doesn’t mean that UGUI is going to be removed tomorrow; it has least 1 or 2 more years ahead, so it’s not useless to learn it either.

I couldn’t tell you much about tutorials because I don’t use them much. The “UIElements developer guide” section in the manual is not bad, but can be a bit technical and not beginner-friendly. One of the best things about UI toolkit is that you can find a lot of tutorials and guides on web development and apply them. It’s not a 1:1 conversion but the principles are largely the same, so most efforts will be translating the syntax and API equivalents.

If you’re a complete beginner, or making a game that only needs a HUD, I would recommend starting with UGUI. UI Toolkit shines in UI heavy games, like strategy games, RPGs, and stuff with lots of menus and data to be displayed. If you have enough programming experience to make a game like that, give UI Toolkit a try.

In short, I think there are advantages to both:

UGUI

• It’s mature, lots of resources available
• It’s easy to make simple UI
• Supports all kind of fancy visual effects
• Can get a lot done without coding (or with minimal coding)

UI Toolkit

• Works both for making games UI and editor tools
• It’s a lot easier to make big, complex UI
• You can apply a lot of knowledge and resources from web development
• Is more future-proof