Get the Template! Get the Setup Code!

Project was worked on between March & April in 2024, and still used by me today. This article was written in August 2024.

Summary

Since starting working in Unity, I’ve wanted accelerate the setup of new projects.

I’ve written a few helper scripts that do this, and made them available on GitHub. These scripts are bundled into a Unity Template, and run from the Unity Editor.

Included in the Template are some GitHub Action files, which set up builds of Unity on GitHub via GitHub Actions.

Project Template Features

  • Instantly deploy a new Packages manifest, which automatically installs a number of key packages: URP, VFX Graph, Shader Graph, the new Input System, and more.
  • Add new default scene, with a standardised GameObject hierarchy.
  • Add a standard directory hierarchy to the Assets directory.
  • Setup basic URP rendering and, and configure lighting to realtime by default.
  • Add a basic spinning cube to check your build works.

GitHub Build Actions

  • Trigger a ‘Build Unity Project’ action to build your project for multiple different platforms.
  • Overnight scheduling which runs builds overnight if there are changes in your repo.
  • Trigger a ‘Publish to Itch’ action to use Butler to push your builds to an Itch page.
  • Trigger a ‘Notify Discord’ action to notify a Discord channel that a new Itch build is available.

Conclusion

This project has helped me lock down my standard development process for new prototypes. It enables me to get started quickly, without losing focus on what I want to achieve.

The Spinning Cube project (built in a day) is a great example of the template in action.

The GitHub Actions are used for all my project builds, and connect to my Discord for notifications.