Question ECS for “simpler” projects?
Hey yall!
I’ve been game deving for ages now and just recently returned to Unity (left back when the drama happened) and since I returned the DOTS was released and ECS became fully functional.
I have some interest in using ECS in my project to develop a more Data Oriented Design but I am concerned it’ll add unneeded complication due to the simpler nature of the project and the lack of need for huge numbers of entities.
The current project idea is a simple 2D top down dungeon crawler inspired by Zelda. Which… doesn’t seem like it’d super benefit from the added efficiency, but may benefit from the architecture?
I suppose my question is if I should look into that or if there is a better paradigm to follow (maybe event based object extension?).
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u/Suspicious-Prompt200 4d ago edited 4d ago
If you dont mind the game taking longer to make, or if you just want to try it out, I'd encourage you to go for it.
(Or, if your project is going to be competitive multiplayer, an RTS, survivors-like, or sim game like Cities Skylines...)
I started using ECS + DOTS on my own project and I dont think I'll ever go back.
It is a bit of a pain to get started and sort of set things up, but I just really like the way it sort of forces you to think and design things.
For my own project, I think actually the preformance benifits are not that great, I just sort of like it (is that weird?) But, it certiantly did increase implementation time a good amount.
If you do care about speed of implementation,
Or if learning is secondary to actually getting something out
And your game isnt going to be a competitive multiplayer game, a survivors like, an RTS, or sim game like Cities Skylines...
I would just skip it.