Unity Custom Editor Tools: Enhancing Your Workflow

February 25, 2025

Tired of wrestling with Unity’s unyielding interface? What if you could slash development time? Custom editor tools are the key. They reshape the editor to fit your specific needs, turning frustrating bottlenecks into streamlined workflows. This article dives into creating and using these tools to unlock peak developer productivity.

Introduction to Unity Editor Scripting

Editor scripting allows you to tailor Unity to your exact workflow.

The Unity Editor API is the foundation. Mastering its capabilities unlocks the creation of custom windows, inspector modifications, and automated task execution.

Editor scripts live within the Unity editor, while runtime scripts power the final game. They operate in distinct environments, so keep their roles separate.

Key editor classes include Editor, EditorWindow, and PropertyDrawer. Editor tweaks component inspectors. EditorWindow births custom windows. PropertyDrawer tailors how properties appear.

To set up your environment, drop editor scripts into an “Editor” folder in your Unity project. This keeps them out of the build, where they don’t belong.

Photograph of a dense forest with dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy, representing a complex environment for level design

Creating Custom Editor Windows

Custom EditorWindows offer specialized interfaces, right where you need them.

To design EditorWindow classes, create a new C# script that inherits from EditorWindow.

Add UI elements like buttons, fields, and sliders using GUILayout and EditorGUILayout. This code demonstrates basic UI elements in a custom editor window using a text field and a toggle.

 public class MyEditorWindow : EditorWindow
 {
 string myString = "Hello World";
 bool groupEnabled;
 bool myBool = true;

 [MenuItem("Window/My Editor Window")]
 public static void ShowWindow()
 {
 GetWindow<MyEditorWindow>("My Editor Window");
 }

 void OnGUI()
 {
 GUILayout.Label("Base Settings", EditorStyles.boldLabel);
 myString = EditorGUILayout.TextField("Text Field", myString);

 groupEnabled = EditorGUILayout.BeginToggleGroup("Optional Settings", groupEnabled);
 myBool = EditorGUILayout.Toggle("Toggle", myBool);
 EditorGUILayout.EndToggleGroup();
 }
 }

Place this code in a new C# script named MyEditorWindow.cs within your project’s “Editor” folder. This code will generate a window with a text field and a toggle group, allowing users to interact with and modify the variables within the editor. Access this window via “Window > My Editor Window” in the Unity menu.

Respond to button clicks and field changes within the OnGUI function by checking for events and updating variables accordingly. Consult the Unity documentation on GUI.Button and GUI.TextField for examples.

Use the MenuItem attribute to seamlessly integrate your window into the Unity editor’s Window menu.

Customizing the Inspector with Property Drawers

PropertyDrawers? Think of them as your personal stylists for the Inspector, letting you bend data presentation to your will.

PropertyDrawers specialize in customizing the look and behavior of specific fields directly in the inspector.

Photograph of a gnarled, ancient tree with exposed roots, symbolizing the intricate details that custom inspectors can help manage

Craft PropertyDrawers by creating a script that inherits from PropertyDrawer. Link it to your chosen data type using the CustomPropertyDrawer attribute. The code below customizes the display of a MyDataType class. Assuming you have a MyDataType class, this will override the default inspector display, allowing you to control how its individual fields (amount, unit, and name) are presented and edited.

 using UnityEngine;
 using UnityEditor;

 [CustomPropertyDrawer(typeof(MyDataType))]
 public class MyDataTypeDrawer : PropertyDrawer
 {
 public override void OnGUI(Rect position, SerializedProperty property, GUIContent label)
 {
 EditorGUI.BeginProperty(position, label, property);

 position = EditorGUI.PrefixLabel(position, GUIUtility.GetControlID(FocusType.Passive), label);

 var indent = EditorGUI.indentLevel;
 EditorGUI.indentLevel = 0;

 Rect amountRect = new Rect(position.x, position.y, 30, position.height);
 Rect unitRect = new Rect(position.x + 35, position.y, 50, position.height);
 Rect nameRect = new Rect(position.x + 90, position.y, position.width - 90, position.height);

 EditorGUI.PropertyField(amountRect, property.FindPropertyRelative("amount"), GUIContent.none);
 EditorGUI.PropertyField(unitRect, property.FindPropertyRelative("unit"), GUIContent.none);
 EditorGUI.PropertyField(nameRect, property.FindPropertyRelative("name"), GUIContent.none);

 EditorGUI.indentLevel = indent;

 EditorGUI.EndProperty();
 }
 }

Create a new C# script in your “Editor” folder called MyDataTypeDrawer.cs. Assuming you have a MyDataType class, this will override the default inspector display, allowing you to control how its individual fields (amount, unit, and name) are presented and edited.

Take command of how fields are displayed and edited, overriding the default behavior to make the inspector more intuitive.

Implement advanced features like conditional fields that show or hide based on other values. Also consider custom editors for collections like lists and arrays, making them easier to manage. If you are looking for more ways to boost the performance of your Unity projects, it is important to understand Unity UI Best Practices for Performance

Extending Existing Components with Custom Editors

Custom Editors redefine the appearance and functionality of existing components, injecting new life into them.

Kickstart custom Editors by creating a script inheriting from Editor. Use the CustomEditor attribute to bind it to your target component type.

Infuse new controls and functions into the component’s inspector, supercharging its capabilities.

Tame complex inspectors by reorganizing them for enhanced usability, cutting through the clutter.

To ensure your custom editor properly reflects changes and remains compatible with future Unity versions, always call serializedObject.Update() before reading properties and serializedObject.ApplyModifiedProperties() after modifying them. But what if you need to automate tasks directly within the scene? That’s where custom tools for scene manipulation come in handy, offering solutions for repetitive tasks.

Creating Custom Tools for Scene Manipulation

These tools streamline repetitive tasks, significantly improving your scene editing workflow.

Write scripts that automate object placement, renaming, or property tweaks, saving you hours of manual labor.

Photograph of a winding river carving through a canyon, illustrating how custom tools can shape and manipulate the environment

Implement custom snapping and alignment tools for pinpoint object placement. This will give you unparalleled precision.

Craft tools that conjure environments or objects within the editor, unleashing procedural content generation. For instance, you could use the editor to quickly populate a scene with a Low Poly Fantasy Village.

Leverage Handles (from UnityEditor) for interactive scene editing. This will allow for intuitive object manipulation.

Photograph of a serene mountain range at sunset, showcasing the vastness of a landscape that could be procedurally generated

Best Practices for Editor Tool Development

Adhere to these guidelines for tools that are robust and maintainable.

Clean, well-commented code is crucial for maintainability and collaboration. Make sure to add descriptions of what the code is doing, especially as your tools evolve.

Profile your editor scripts and optimize for performance. A sluggish tool is worse than no tool at all.

Employ Undo.RecordObject to enable undo/redo functionality. Implementing undo/redo functionality ensures a professional user experience.

Implement proper error handling and provide user feedback. A silent failure is a frustrating experience.

Thoroughly test your tools across different Unity versions to avoid unexpected breakages.

Examples of Useful Custom Editor Tools

Photograph of a vibrant coral reef teeming with life, exemplifying the complexity and beauty that can be achieved with well-managed assets.

Level Design Tools: Custom grid systems snap objects precisely, reducing level design time. Object placement tools quickly populate scenes. Pathfinding visualizers ensure effective AI navigation.

Animation Tools: Custom animation clip editors for fine-grained animation control and state machine visualizers for understanding complex animation logic.

Asset Management Tools: Automated asset importers to streamline asset integration and duplicate asset finders to maintain project cleanliness.

Build Pipeline Tools: Automated build processes for multi-platform builds and platform-specific settings managers for easy configuration.

Sharing and Distributing Custom Editor Tools

Creating Unity packages streamlines distribution. In Unity, select the assets and scripts for your tool, then go to “Assets > Export Package.” This creates a .unitypackage file that others can easily import.

Use Git for collaborative development, with platforms like GitHub or GitLab. Imagine you’re collaborating on a tool. Before starting work, use git fetch to check for remote changes without merging them. Then, use git pull to integrate those changes into your local branch. After making your changes, use git commit -m "Your message" to save them locally with a descriptive message. Finally, use git push to upload your commits to the shared repository.

Documentation is vital. Create clear, concise guides that explain how to install, use, and customize your tools. This will empower other users to get the most out of your creations.

Consider licensing options, such as MIT or Apache, or explore commercial distribution to protect your work and potentially generate revenue. By sharing your custom tools, you contribute to the Unity community and empower other developers to enhance their workflows. If you have a great idea for a custom editor tool, but need help getting started, Nextframe can help with its game idea generator and AI assistant features.