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+ <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2026-02-18T11:16:10+00:00" /><meta property="og:title" content="Creating Units" />
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+<meta property="og:description" content="Overview: There are two distinct concepts you need to keep in mind: Unit prefab: a.unit resource stored in your project that describes a Unit hierarchy and all its components and properties., Unit instance: a concrete instance of that prefab that exists in a running World.. Yo..." />
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+<meta name="description" content="Overview: There are two distinct concepts you need to keep in mind: Unit prefab: a.unit resource stored in your project that describes a Unit hierarchy and all its components and properties., Unit instance: a concrete instance of that prefab that exists in a running World.. Yo..." />
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+
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+ <section id="creating-units">
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+<h1>Creating Units<a class="headerlink" href="#creating-units" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
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+<section id="overview">
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+<h2>Overview<a class="headerlink" href="#overview" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
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+<p>There are two distinct concepts you need to keep in mind:</p>
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+<ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>Unit <strong>prefab</strong>: a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.unit</span></code> resource stored in your project that describes
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+a Unit hierarchy and all its components and properties.</p></li>
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+<li><p>Unit <strong>instance</strong>: a concrete instance of that prefab that exists in a
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+running World.</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+<p>You author and edit prefabs in the tools (Level Editor, Unit Editor and
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+importers). At runtime you instantiate prefabs from Lua and manipulate the
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+resulting Unit instances.</p>
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+<p>You do <em>not</em> write <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.unit</span></code> files from Lua, and you do <em>not</em> author prefabs
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+directly from gameplay code.</p>
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+</section>
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+<section id="from-the-level-editor">
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+<h2>From the Level Editor<a class="headerlink" href="#from-the-level-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
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+<p>Prefabs can be created in a number of ways. Arguably the simplest way to
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+create new Units is to use the <a class="reference internal" href="../level_editor/level_editor.html#level-editor"><span class="std std-ref">Level Editor</span></a> and then
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+save what you have built as a prefab.</p>
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+<ol class="arabic simple">
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+<li><dl class="simple">
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+<dt><strong>Open or create a Level</strong></dt><dd><ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>Open an existing Level from the <a class="reference internal" href="../level_editor/project_browser.html"><span class="doc">Project Browser</span></a>, or</p></li>
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+<li><p>create a new one with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">File</span></code> -> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">New</span> <span class="pre">Level</span></code>.</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+</dd>
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+</dl>
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+</li>
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+<li><dl class="simple">
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+<dt><strong>Place a Unit in the Level</strong></dt><dd><ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>Place a new unit with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Spawn</span></code> -> <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Primitives</span></code>, or drag an existing
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+Unit prefab from the Project Browser into
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+the <a class="reference internal" href="../level_editor/level_viewport.html"><span class="doc">Level Viewport</span></a></p></li>
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+<li><p>Use the <a class="reference internal" href="../level_editor/inspector.html"><span class="doc">Inspector</span></a> to add or remove components and
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+to fine‑tune their properties</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+</dd>
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+</dl>
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+</li>
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+<li><dl class="simple">
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+<dt><strong>Save the Unit as prefab</strong></dt><dd><ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>In the <a class="reference internal" href="../level_editor/level_tree.html"><span class="doc">Level Tree</span></a>, right‑click the Unit you want
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+to turn into a prefab</p></li>
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+<li><p>Choose <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Save</span> <span class="pre">as</span> <span class="pre">Prefab...</span></code></p></li>
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+<li><p>In the file dialog, pick a target folder and a unique name, then click
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+<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Save</span></code></p></li>
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+</ul>
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+</dd>
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+</dl>
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+</li>
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+</ol>
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+<p>The editor will:</p>
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+<ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>create a new <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.unit</span></code> resource at the chosen location</p></li>
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+<li><p>automatically replace the Unit in the Level with an instance of the newly
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+created prefab</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+<p>From now on:</p>
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+<ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>editing the prefab will update all instances that use it unless they
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+explicitly override properties or children</p></li>
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+<li><p>editing the instance in the Level will create per‑instance overrides</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+</section>
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+<section id="from-the-project-browser">
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+<h2>From the Project Browser<a class="headerlink" href="#from-the-project-browser" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
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+<p>Sometimes you want to start from a blank prefab instead of capturing an
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+existing Unit from a Level. You can do this directly from the
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+<a class="reference internal" href="../level_editor/project_browser.html"><span class="doc">Project Browser</span></a>:</p>
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+<ol class="arabic simple">
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+<li><p>Right‑click the folder where you want to create the prefab</p></li>
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+<li><p>Choose <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">New</span> <span class="pre">Unit...</span></code></p></li>
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+<li><p>Enter a name for the prefab and confirm</p></li>
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+</ol>
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+<p>This creates an empty <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.unit</span></code> resource that you can then edit:</p>
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+<ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>by opening it in the Unit Editor, or</p></li>
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+<li><p>by selecting any instance that uses the prefab in a Level and clicking
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+<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Open</span> <span class="pre">Prefab</span></code> in the <a class="reference internal" href="../level_editor/inspector.html"><span class="doc">Inspector</span></a>.</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+</section>
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+<section id="from-imported-resources">
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+<h2>From imported resources<a class="headerlink" href="#from-imported-resources" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
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+<p>Some importers generate Units automatically as part of their workflow:</p>
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+<ul class="simple">
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+<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="../importing_resources/importing_scenes.html"><span class="doc">Importing Scenes</span></a> generates Units for each
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+geometry, light and camera in a FBX file.</p></li>
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+<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="../importing_resources/importing_sprites.html"><span class="doc">Importing Sprites</span></a> generates a Unit prefab,
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+materials and other resources from a spritesheet.</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+<p>These generated Units appear in the Project Browser like any other <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.unit</span></code>
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+resource and can be:</p>
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+<ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>placed in Levels</p></li>
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+<li><p>opened and modified in the Unit Editor</p></li>
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+<li><p>used as base prefabs for derived units</p></li>
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+</ul>
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+</section>
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+<section id="spawning-units">
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+<h2>Spawning Units<a class="headerlink" href="#spawning-units" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
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+<p>Lua gameplay code never creates new <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.unit</span></code> resources. Instead, it creates
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+instances of existing prefabs inside a World. The act of creating unit
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+instances at runtime is called <strong>spawning</strong>.</p>
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+<div class="highlight-lua notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">player</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">World</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="n">spawn_unit</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">world</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"units/player/player"</span><span class="p">)</span>
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+</pre></div>
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+</div>
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+<p>This:</p>
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+<ul class="simple">
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+<li><p>instantiates the unit <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">units/player/player</span></code> into the specified <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">world</span></code></p></li>
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+<li><p>returns a Unit handle you can store and use from Lua</p></li>
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+</ul>
|
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+<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="../gameplay/unit_interaction.html"><span class="doc">Interacting with Units</span></a> for a detailed walkthrough of unit
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+handles, Script Component and callbacks.</p>
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+</section>
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+</section>
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+
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+ <span class="lastupdated">Last updated on Feb 18, 2026.
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