scene-authoring

Scene Authoring

Procedural guide for building and modifying Unity scenes efficiently. Covers hierarchy conventions, programmatic scene setup via editor scripts, and how to use Hades graph queries to understand scene structure before making changes.

When to Apply

Activate when the task involves:

• Creating a new scene from scratch or populating an empty scene
• Restructuring an existing scene hierarchy (grouping, renaming, reparenting)
• Adding and configuring components on GameObjects en masse
• Setting up lighting, cameras, or environment in a scene
• Writing an editor utility to automate repetitive scene setup
• Migrating or duplicating scene structure across multiple scenes

Do NOT activate for architecture decisions about what the scene should contain — use hades:unity-architect and hades:scene-architecture first, then return here to execute.

Project Context Check

Before touching any scene:

1. Understand the current scene state:

   • Call get_scene_summary("<scene_path>") to retrieve the existing hierarchy, root GameObjects, component counts, and lighting setup — never assume what is already there
   • Call get_project_summary() to identify render pipeline (URP/HDRP/Built-in), Unity version, and project scale; render pipeline determines which components and shader variants are valid
   • Call recall_memory("scene authoring conventions") to surface documented naming rules, hierarchy grouping standards, or team agreements about scene organisation

2. Adapt work based on findings:

   • If get_scene_summary shows an existing structure → match its naming and grouping conventions exactly
   • If get_project_summary shows URP → use URP Volume and URP Light components; avoid legacy post-processing stack
   • If memory documents a convention (e.g. "all scenes must have a --- Managers --- group") → follow it; if the convention is missing from the new scene, add it

Decision Framework

Should I edit the scene file directly or use an editor script?