This is an implementation of couple of Ryan Hipple's scriptable objects. Note that he is not affiliated with this project.
After playing around with a basic implementation, I really liked how Hipple's Variable Object system worked. However, this early implementation relied on Bash scripts to automate certain editor tasks... not the best solution!
So I spent a couple months refining the editor tools for this. I think the project is at a point where I'm happy to share it with the world. Most of this work isn't on the original scriptable objects, but on the Unity Editor tools.
IMPORTANT: You also need the EventObjects package!
Go to Projects, and grab the latest unitypackage. Extract this into your project, and you're done! Alternatively, you can also clone/submodule this into your current project using git. If you do that, I recommend putting it under a path such as Imported/ReachBeyond/plugins/VariableObjects.
I recommend you watch the video linked above. It explains the gist of this project.
Variable objects allow you to track values outside of specific components. In this sense, they are global. However, they give the Unity Editor control over what objects can access these components.
I won't describe these in much detail for the time being. I highly recommend watching the video linked above for the premise. I'll mostly be going over what I've added.
Variable Objects inherit from Event Objects. Whenever the value of a Variable Object changes, it emits an event. This lets you create Listeners that trigger when a value gets updated.
There are components called Registraters. These allow you to make 'singletons' using variable objects. They're ideal for prefabs that you only want to exist one time in the scene, such as a player, a boss, or HUD elements.
In the future, I want to create a variation of this which works with lists, making objects automatically add/remove themselves to/from a list. Also, registraters only work with reference datatypes (i.e. classes).
If you go to the Window dropdown, you'll find a couple of buttons related to Variable Objects. One will let you view/manage all of the variable object types supported, while the other lets you create new ones.
You normally shouldn't need to create new variable objects unless you need to keep track of variables using your own datatypes. (If you do use this feature, make sure you read all the tooltips and hints. If you don't, you'll get syntax errors.)
These editor tools require tags to work correctly. If you need to move files around, make sure the tags are preserved!
If the define symbol REACHBEYOND_VAROBJ_BUILTIN_MODE is used, then editor tools will do a couple of things:
- The VariableObject settings panel will allow you to edit/delete scripts associated with built in types.
- The wizard which generates the scripts will generate templates that will be treated as built in types.
To change the scripting define symbols, refer to this page: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-PlayerSettingsStandalone.html#Configuration
More documentation will come eventually.
If you have a bug to report or a feature request, please open an issue!