56 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
56 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
id: prefabs
|
|
icon: file.prefab
|
|
group: scenes
|
|
title: Prefabs
|
|
order: 1
|
|
---
|
|
# Prefabs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A prefab is a reusable piece of a scene stored in an `.aeprefab` file. Every copy in a scene is an instance: it shows the prefab and keeps its own changes, the overrides. When the prefab changes, every instance follows it, and its overrides stay.
|
|
|
|
## Create and place
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Drag a node from the Hierarchy onto a folder in Assets, or use Hierarchy → Prefab → Create Prefab. The node becomes an instance of the new prefab and keeps its node ids, so references to it keep working.
|
|
- Drag an `.aeprefab` into the Hierarchy or the Scene View, or use Instantiate in Scene from its context menu.
|
|
- Open a prefab with a double click or Prefab → Open Prefab. Saving it updates every open instance in one step that can be undone from any of those scenes.
|
|
|
|
## Overrides
|
|
|
|
Any change to an instance is an override: a property, an added or removed component, an added or removed node, the order of children. The position, rotation and scale of the instance root are always the instance's own.
|
|
|
|
- The Hierarchy marks instance roots with the prefab icon and nodes you added with a plus.
|
|
- The Inspector marks overridden properties with a bar on the left and added components with an `added` badge. The Prefab card on top has Apply All, Revert All and Open.
|
|
- Right click a property, a component or a node to apply it to the prefab or revert it.
|
|
|
|
Nodes that come from a prefab keep their parent inside an instance. Unpack the instance to move them.
|
|
|
|
## Nested prefabs and variants
|
|
|
|
A prefab can contain instances of other prefabs. When you apply a change made inside a nested instance, choose where it goes: the nested prefab itself, or the outer prefab as an override of its nested instance.
|
|
|
|
A variant is a prefab whose root is an instance of another prefab: Prefab → Create Variant. It changes what it overrides and follows its base everywhere else.
|
|
|
|
## Unused overrides
|
|
|
|
When a prefab loses a node or a component that an instance overrides, the override is kept and listed under Unused overrides in the Prefab card. It does nothing until you remove it. Problems shows it as PFB002.
|
|
|
|
## Missing prefabs
|
|
|
|
If the prefab file is gone, the instance loads as an empty node named after it and is saved back unchanged. Problems shows PFB001. Play is not blocked.
|
|
|
|
## Unpack
|
|
|
|
- Unpack turns the instance into plain nodes; prefabs nested in it become instances of their own.
|
|
- Unpack Completely turns everything into plain nodes.
|
|
|
|
## Scripts
|
|
|
|
`scene.Instantiate(prefab, parent)` creates a copy at runtime. The copy has fresh node ids, and references inside it point into the copy.
|
|
|
|
`node.IsPrefabInstance()` reports whether a node is a prefab copy or lies inside one. `node.PrefabRoot()` returns the root of that copy.
|