Convert all ScriptableObjects into enum-like integers for ECS use

Unity Engine
, ,
1

Is there a way to be able to assign all ScriptableObjects of one type to Monobehaviors, and in the conversion code map each ScriptableObject to an incrementing number? For example, if there was a Armor SO with the following settings:

Chestplate
Helmet
Greaves
Shield

then they will be mapped to

Chestplate | 1
Helmet | 2
Greaves | 3
Shield | 4

and if a Monobehavior assigns a field as, say, Helmet, then it gets converted to “2” and the number is injected into an IComponentData

2

search on google for “ecs blobasset scriptableobject” and you will find good stuff

3

It’s interesting content, but it only converts the ScriptableObject into an equivalent ECS format. I need it to be in an Enum-like format.

4

If you need an enum, the solution is probably going to involve code-generating an enum based on a list of ScriptableObjects:

  • Have a “EquipmentList” ScriptableObject that holds a List, where the index of each represents the number to store
  • Make this EquipmentList SO be in Resources folder or Addressables
  • Have a script that codegens an enum based on the list in EquipmentList in your EquipmentList’s OnValidate()
  • Use the codegen’d enum in your authoring scripts
  • If you need to retrieve the actual SO from the enum value, load the EquipmentList SO from Resources/Addressables and get the corresponding EquipmentScriptableObject from the list based on enum value (index in the list)

But if a simple int would do, you could skip the codegen part and simply store an int during conversion based on the index of the SO assigned in the authoring component:

  • Drag n drop the equipment SO directly into the authoring component’s inspector
  • Conversion code loads all equipment SOs from Resources/Addressables, and tries to find the index of equipment SO from previous point in that list of all equipments (if you want more control, you could also manually define a list of equipments in its own SO, like in the first solution)
  • Conversion code simply stores the index (int) in the ECS component

A third solution would be writing a custom inspector / propertyDrawer that tries to load all SOs of a certain type from Resources/Addressables, and draws a UI dropdown from it

4 Likes