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Folders in the hierarchy view

Discussion in 'Wish List' started by Willem, Mar 30, 2007.

  1. Willem

    Willem

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2007
    Posts:
    184
    Would be great to be able to create folders in the hierachy view so all of one type of object could be stashed away and hidden from view.

    Say you're making a Sonic type game and you create a prefab of a coin you can pick up. If there are 100 coins in a level, that's a long stream of objects that take up a ton of space in the hierarchy list box. Would be great to hide them in a folder named "Coins".

    I realize you could probably fake this by creating an empty game object and parenting them to that, but a folder would be a nice, consistent and official way of doing things.
     
  2. Alpha-Loup

    Alpha-Loup

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2006
    Posts:
    797
    I second that.

    You could of course organize certain objects in a game object, what i do currently, but i really mislike using up game objects justs for keeping my lists clean...

    That would be a great feature!
     
    Gibton and FelisPhasma like this.
  3. freyr

    freyr

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2005
    Posts:
    1,148
    Empty game objects do behave exactly like folders, so I don't really understand the reason behind this request.

    Can you describe why grouping the objects into an empty game object is not sufficient, and what behaviour should be different?
     
  4. NicholasFrancis

    NicholasFrancis

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    Posts:
    1,587
    The problem with this system is that you would not be sure if rollouts showed transform parenting or "just" organizational.

    Assume you have the following hierarchy:
    Code (csharp):
    1.  
    2. BouncyPlatform
    3.     Platform graphic
    4.     jump pad trigger
    5.     bonus coin
    6.  
    if the bonus coin was set to show in a separate "coin" folder, when moving the platform, of course, the coin should move with it. But it would lead to a lot of weird "why is the coin moving when its not in the same folder" type of confusion. If we didn't move it (because it was in a separate folder) then the transform hierarchy was pointless (and of course you want the coin to actually move with the platform).

    Basically, overloading meaning to a single GUI element is bad practice. I kind of like that if I see a file in a finder window, then it means the file is _actually_ there (or at least that a link is).

    Just put all your coins under a separate transform node.
     
  5. Alpha-Loup

    Alpha-Loup

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2006
    Posts:
    797
    Hmm... i thought that game-objects take up performance?! So i try to use as less as possible... If they are just like folders, i have to change my misliking ;)

    Are they?
     
  6. NicholasFrancis

    NicholasFrancis

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    Posts:
    1,587
    If you have 1000 parents behind something you manipulate all the time, then yeah - you will feel it.

    Nothing is ever free, but game objects that don't do anything is as close as you're gonna get
     
  7. Alpha-Loup

    Alpha-Loup

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2006
    Posts:
    797
    Somtimes its good to know, that you already have what you desire. :D

    Thanks for clearing this!
     
  8. Willem

    Willem

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2007
    Posts:
    184
    Yeah, I'm using empty game objects for this now and it works well enough but it seems inconsistent with the project view. That's all. (and I realize that the project view is working with real folders on the hard drive but the paradigm is good, regardless)

    A folder would be "more free" than the almost free empty game object. :twisted: