In this lesson, you will learn how to structure your project directories to simplify the process of grouping assets into Asset Bundles for efficient loading and memory management.
The "Bundle-Friendly" Directory
When you start thinking about Asset Bundles, the biggest mistake is scattering dependencies across your project. If you have a Player prefab in one folder and its required Materials, AudioClips, and Animations spread across five different folders, the bundle generation process becomes a nightmare of accidental dependencies.
To optimize, organize your project using a "Feature-Centric" approach. Instead of organizing by asset type (e.g., keeping all textures together), organize by the object that uses them. Create a dedicated folder for each major system or archetype, such as Assets/Game/Enemies/Goblin. Inside that folder, keep the Goblin.prefab along with its specific materials and data assets.
Managing Dependencies
Asset Bundles rely on a "manifest" to know what to load. If your Goblin prefab references a Shared_Metal material stored in a common Materials folder, Unity includes that common material in the bundle. This leads to duplicate assets if multiple bundles reference that same shared material.
To keep things clean, isolate shared assets:
Assets/
Shared/ <-- Bundle A: Common assets used everywhere
Prefabs/
Characters/
Goblin/ <-- Bundle B: Prefab + unique Goblin textures
Orc/ <-- Bundle C: Prefab + unique Orc textures
By keeping the unique dependencies local to the Prefab and moving strictly global assets (like UI fonts or generic ground textures) into a single "Shared" folder, you ensure that your bundles are lean. When it comes time to mark assets for bundling, you simply select the Goblin folder rather than hunting down individual files across your entire project. This structure drastically reduces the overhead of tracking cross-bundle dependencies and makes updating your game’s content much faster.
Key Takeaway: Group assets by their "usage context" rather than file type to ensure that your Prefabs and their direct dependencies remain bundled together, preventing unnecessary memory bloat and simplify your loading pipeline.