ObjectPool

Concept

This is a Unity Package Manager (UPM)-compatible repository for easily managing MonoBehaviour ObjectPools in Unity.

Requirements

• Tested in Unity 2019.4.0f1, should work in anything newer.

Installation

Install it via the Unity Package Manager by:

• Opening your project in Unity
• Open the Package Manager window (Window > Package Manager)
• Click the + button in the top left corner of the window
• Select Add package from git URL...
• Enter the following url, and you'll be up to date: https://github.com/RadialGames/ObjectPool.git

Dependencies

This package requires you also install our Singleton helper: https://github.com/RadialGames/Singleton

Usage

All files in this package are in the Radial.ObjectPool namespace. Access them by adding the following to the top of your files:

using Radial.ObjectPool;

The easiest way to use this package is to simply use the Spawn() and Recycle() overloads that have been added to MonoBehaviour:

public GameObject myPrefab;

void Start()
{
    // Spawn a new instance of myPrefab
    GameObject pooledObject = myPrefab.Spawn();

    // Recycle the instance
    pooledObject.Recycle();
}

This will automatically pull from the pool when instances are available, and expand the pool as necessary if you do not have enough available.

For performance-critical applications, you can pre-emptively specify a pool size:

pooledObject.CreatePool(10); // creates a pool with an initial size of 10.

Don't forget to "reset" the state of your pooled objects in OnEnable; Start and Awake don't get called when an object is pulled from a pool.

There are several other helper functions, such as CountSpawned() for tracking, RecycleAll() for cleanup, GetSpawned() to return a list of all currently active elements, and other related maintenance functions. See the source for more details.

Credits

Special thanks to Chevy Ray Johnston, this script was originally pulled from their (now defunct) website around 2013. The code has been heavily modified several times since.