Unity Engine Cheatsheet

Editor Navigation

F

Frame selected object in Scene view.

W / E / R

Move / Rotate / Scale tools.

Q / T

Hand tool / Rect tool.

Shift + F

Lock Scene view to the selected object.

Scenes and Prefabs

File > Save Scene As...

Duplicate a scene without overwriting.

SceneManager.LoadScene("Name")

Load a scene by name (add to Build Settings).

DontDestroyOnLoad(obj)

Persist objects across scenes (use sparingly).

Prefab Mode

Edit prefabs in isolation to avoid scene noise.

Overrides > Apply / Revert

Manage instance overrides cleanly.

Core Scripting

Awake()

Initialize references before Start; called even if disabled.

Start()

Run after Awake, before first Update.

Update()

Frame-by-frame logic (use Time.deltaTime).

FixedUpdate()

Physics updates (use for Rigidbody work).

OnEnable() / OnDisable()

Hook into lifecycle for subscriptions.

Debug.Log()

Console output for debugging.

GameObjects and Components

GetComponent<T>()

Fetch a component on the same GameObject.

TryGetComponent<T>(out var c)

Safer, allocation-free component lookup.

SerializeField

Expose private fields in the Inspector.

[RequireComponent(typeof(Rigidbody))]

Guarantee a component dependency.

Instantiate(prefab)

Spawn objects at runtime (pool when possible).

Destroy(gameObject)

Remove objects (prefer pooling for frequent spawns).

Physics and Collisions

Rigidbody

Use for physics-driven motion and collisions.

OnCollisionEnter()

Called when colliders start touching.

OnTriggerEnter()

Triggered for isTrigger colliders.

Physics.Raycast()

Cast rays for line-of-sight, clicks, or hits.

LayerMask

Filter physics checks and collisions.

UI and Input

Canvas > Screen Space - Overlay

Default for HUD and menus.

RectTransform anchors

Pin UI to corners, edges, or center for responsive layout.

EventSystem

Required for UI interactions.

Input.GetAxis("Horizontal")

Legacy input for movement.

Input System package

Modern input actions and rebinding support.

Animation and Audio

Animator

State machine for character and UI animations.

Animator.SetTrigger("Fire")

Trigger transitions between states.

AnimationEvent

Call functions from within an animation timeline.

AudioSource.Play()

Play a sound clip on the attached source.

AudioMixer

Route volumes and apply effects.

Performance and Profiling

Window > Analysis > Profiler

Find CPU and GPU bottlenecks.

Window > Analysis > Frame Debugger

Inspect draw calls and rendering order.

Object pooling

Reuse objects instead of instantiating every frame.

Batching and atlasing

Reduce draw calls for sprites and UI.

Addressables

Stream content and manage memory efficiently.

Builds and Deployment

File > Build Settings

Add scenes and choose target platform.

Development Build

Enable deep profiling and script debugging.

Player Settings > Scripting Backend

IL2CPP for release, Mono for faster iteration.

Quality Settings

Tune tiers for different platforms.

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