Docs and Use Cases | FAQ | Unity Forum | Asset Store link in progress

Flexy.AssetRefs

Load assets on demand without Addressables and Bundles
Almost zero editor setup!
Fast, extendable, production-proven and Open Source!

Want to load assets ondemand but

• don't want to mess around with Addressables
• don't want to use any type of Bundles
• don't want to manage addressable assets separately
• don't want any big system yet (on early stage of project)

Flexy.AssetRefs will help you to Load assets on demand from prototyping stage and add bundles complexity only when game grows up! or Never :)

Flexy.AssetRefs provides an efficient way to indirectly reference assets and scenes, offering cleaner alternative to Unity Addressables.
It focuses solely on asset referencing, allowing full control over how assets are loaded at runtime without enforcing specific bundling or loading methods.

Designed for flexibility, Flexy.AssetRefs is easy to use from the prototyping stage. It is well-suited for small projects where Addressables can create more issues than they solve and easily expand to more complex systems later.

Key Strengths

• It is Open Source :)
• Fast: pure struct based
• ECS-Compatible: because it is struct
• Customisable: load methods can be totally replaced
• GDD Friendly: store asset references directly inside GameDesignData
• Asset Loader can be totally replaced (Bundles, Addressables, Custom, ...)
• Editor-Friendly: works seamlessly in the Editor without extra setup
• SceneRef: allows loading scenes in the editor without adding to Build Settings
• Toggle runtime/editor behavior with simple menu item click
• Clean Inspector: looks like regular asset reference
• Production-Proven: used in released games since 2019
• Minimal Inspector Clutter:
  • Looks like regular reference in inspector
  • Does not clutter GO inspector
  • Only one simple file in project to collect necessary data for runtime

See Docs and Use Cases for usage samples

Flexy.AssetRefs is

Modular and Simple to use: we separate the reference system from complex asset bundles bundling and downloading. Flexy.AssetRefs focuses only on asset references for on-demand loading. Flexy.Bundles adds bundles building and downloading capabilities. This modular approach avoids the complexity of a heavy solution like Addressables

Easily Extendable: asset loading methods is C# extension methods, which means that users have flexibility to define their own loading methods with any indirections, additional checks or better knowing used loading backend

Double Easily Extendable: asset loading done through AssetLoader instance that is backend for loading any ref and can be replaced with your own implementation. It is only 5 virtual methods to implement

Already Used in Games: Sniper League, Animals Happy Run, Cyberstrike In production on platforms: iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, Mac

Roadmap

Auto unloaders: will add few Api's to help auto unload loaded assets
Unity 6 Awaitables: We think about moving Api to Unity 6 Awaitables in asset version 6.x

Technical details

• Ref is struct with 2 fields: Hash128 & Int64
• C# Extensions based load methods
• AssetLoader interface is 5 virtual methods
• Sync loading
• UniTask based async loading
• Native C# Nullability annotations
• C# 10
• Fast Enter Play Mode support

This package uses cropped version of UniTask package under MIT License
See Third-Party Notices.md file in package for details
Full and latest version can be installed alongside this package without issues