Scriptable Sheets

About

Scriptable Sheets is an asset that allows for easy modification of ScriptableObjects and other asset types in the Unity editor. This displays content similar to a spreadsheet editor (i.e. Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets) where each row contains an instance of an asset type and each column is a variable serializable by Unity.

It supports many features similar to a spreadsheet editor, making it convenient to modify data on many instances of an asset type at once.

Setup

Once you have purchased the asset, simply download and import the package from the "My Assets" section of the package manager. For DOTS Survivors, I decided to import all files from the package except the "Samples" directory. If you want to experiment with the samples, I'd recommend doing this in a separate project to avoid including unnecessary files in your main project.

To open the main window go to Window > Scriptable Sheets. From here you can select the type of asset you wish to modify i.e. Scriptable Object, Sprite, Material, Prefab, etc. Then you can select the specific type of that asset and all instances will be displayed.

I would highly recommend watching the video tutorials from the developer as they give a great introduction to the asset and some common/efficient workflows. The videos are all straight and to the point so you'll be up and running very quickly.

Usage in DOTS Survivors

As Scriptable Sheets is a development tool, there are no additional files to import that are specific to DOTS Survivors to demonstrate implementation.

Scriptable Sheets is a very helpful asset to use on a project like DOTS Survivors. This game stores much of its runtime data in ScriptableObjects which are stored in various folders throughout the project structure. While it is fairly simple to locate and modify assets in isolation, it can be tedious to replicate certain bits of data in many ScriptableObjects; this typically involves searching for an asset then copying some data, taking a screenshot, or opening another window, then having to navigate to another asset and apply the data and making unique adjustments as needed.

With Scriptable Sheets, you can just search for the type you wish to modify and all fields of all instances will be displayed. Here you can now edit data across many instances at once and even add new instances. Copying data is extremely easy too. There are also some instances where I need to reference or change data across multiple types simultaneously. In these cases, I can open a few tabs with the different types and bounce between them as needed.

While it's not something I used for this project, I'm glad this asset allows for exporting and importing of spreadsheets so that data can be modified in a proper spreadsheet editor in cases where you need to create some more custom logic to modify large batches of data.

Video Overview

Case Study