Editor Extensions as addons in core Unity / separated from Assets folder?

Hi,

is there a way to add editor extensions (packages obtained from the asset store) to Unity as addons instead of imported packages.

I explain myself:
I want to avoid having to import all editor extensions in every new Unity project I create, and I don't want to see them cluttering my Assets folder, which should be only for game assets in my opinion.
I want the "tools" extending the functionalities to be part of Unity, not part of my project.
I'm looking for a folder in Unity's directories where I can place them so they run every time I open Unity regardless of the project being opened, as if they were part of the core of Unity.

For example, Blender has a folder in: "AppData > Roaming > ... > scripts > addons" where I put the scripts of the addons I want to install and, when enabled in Blender's preferences, they are shown in the interface as if they were functionnalities built in Blender.

Is this possible for Unity?

Thanks.

 

Hm interesting idea. As of my knowledge this is not supported. I think one of the main reasons to store the editor scripts in the assets folder is to make sure that version control catches all the scripts for the project so every developer has the same tools to their hand.
As for cluttering: At least it is not cluttering the build itself, everything that is inside an editor folder won't be exported to the build

 

Fair enough. I'm not much of a programmer, but I think adding a line in the code for another directory where Version Control can look to catch the scripts wouldn't be too difficult.

Seems in contradiction with the "one license per seat" often found in many assets sold on the store.

I wouldn't even mind having an Editor folder outside of the Assets folder. But the problem would still be having to copy all the editor extensions in each project, thus creating duplicates of the same files, which is mainly what I'm looking to avoid.

Thanks for answering.

 

You can already do this but it's not documented and requires quite a bit of setup. They are called modules and it's how Unity.UI and most of their other plugins work. They exists in the instillation of Unity at 'Editor\Data\UnityExtensions'.

 

@BMayne
Thanks for the tip. I looked into it and tried putting one of the editor extensions I bought from the asset store "as is" in these folders:
- Data > UnityExtensions
- Data > UnityExtensions > Unity

but neither did work.

Can you tell me more about that setup process?

 

You may have to build them as Managed plugin DLL's using Visual Studio or MonoDevelop, if you haven't as such.