What's new in version 1.0

Summary of changes in Entities Graphics package version 1.0.

The main updates in this release include:

Added

  • Added support for OpenGL ES 3.1 on Android.
  • New RegisterMesh and RegisterMaterial APIs.
  • Added efficient Mesh and Material switching at runtime using MaterialMeshInfo.

New RegisterMesh and RegisterMaterial APIs

In Entities Graphics 1.0, you can directly register your own meshes and materials to use for rendering. To do this, call the new EntitiesGraphicsSystem.RegisterMaterial and EntitiesGraphicsSystem.RegisterMesh APIs to get Burst-compatible IDs that can be placed in a MaterialMeshInfo component.

Efficient Mesh and Material switching at runtime using MaterialMeshInfo

Entities Graphics 1.0 uses the new MaterialMeshInfo component to specify the mesh and material for entities. MaterialMeshInfo is a normal IComponentData, and you can change its value efficiently, unlike a shared component. This makes it possible to efficiently change the mesh and material that Unity uses to render an entity.

To use the new MaterialMeshInfo component, you either need to manually register materials and meshes using the new RegisterMaterial and RegisterMesh APIs, or you can also use array indices to select the corresponding mesh and material from the RenderMeshArray shared component, if the entity has one.

Entities that use manually registered IDs don't need to have a RenderMeshArray component, while entities that use array indices must have one. Entities Graphics 1.0 entity baking uses RenderMeshArray.

Updated

  • Updated the name of the package from Hybrid Renderer to Entities Graphics.
  • Updated Scene view entity picking to use BatchRendererGroup.
  • Rework sub-mesh handling for MeshRenderer components.

Rework sub-mesh handling

In previous versions, Entities Graphics generated one entity per sub-mesh on a MeshRenderer. Those entities were mostly duplicates, wasted a lot of memory, and negatively impacted performance.

To avoid this behavior, add a scripting define to your project. Go to Edit > Project Settings > Player > Scripting Define Symbols and add the define ENABLE_MESH_RENDERER_SUBMESH_DATA_SHARING to the list.

The duplicated entities will no longer be created to handle sub-meshes except when using SkinnedMeshRenderer. If your project relies on this behavior, then you might need to manually create one entity per sub-mesh yourself, because Entities Graphics won't do so anymore.

Removed

  • Removed the HLOD component.

For a full list of changes and updates in this version, refer to the Entities Graphics package changelog.