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unity-ecs-patterns

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by wshobson · part of wshobson/agents

Master Unity ECS (Entity Component System) with DOTS, Jobs, and Burst for high-performance game development. Use when building data-oriented games, optimizing performance, or working with large entity counts.

🧩 One of 7 skills in the wshobson/agents package — works on its own, and pairs well with its siblings.

This is the playbook your agent receives when the skill activates — you don't need to read it to use the skill, but it's here to audit before installing.

Unity ECS Patterns

Production patterns for Unity's Data-Oriented Technology Stack (DOTS) including Entity Component System, Job System, and Burst Compiler.

When to Use This Skill

  • Building high-performance Unity games
  • Managing thousands of entities efficiently
  • Implementing data-oriented game systems
  • Optimizing CPU-bound game logic
  • Converting OOP game code to ECS
  • Using Jobs and Burst for parallelization

Core Concepts

1. ECS vs OOP

AspectTraditional OOPECS/DOTS
Data layoutObject-orientedData-oriented
MemoryScatteredContiguous
ProcessingPer-objectBatched
ScalingPoor with countLinear scaling
Best forComplex behaviorsMass simulation

2. DOTS Components

Entity: Lightweight ID (no data)
Component: Pure data (no behavior)
System: Logic that processes components
World: Container for entities
Archetype: Unique combination of components
Chunk: Memory block for same-archetype entities

Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

Best Practices

Do's

  • Use ISystem over SystemBase - Better performance
  • Burst compile everything - Massive speedup
  • Batch structural changes - Use ECB
  • Profile with Profiler - Identify bottlenecks
  • Use Aspects - Clean component grouping

Don'ts

  • Don't use managed types - Breaks Burst
  • Don't structural change in jobs - Use ECB
  • Don't over-architect - Start simple
  • Don't ignore chunk utilization - Group similar entities
  • Don't forget disposal - Native collections leak