input-system

Unity New Input System

Input Action Asset Setup

Create an Input Action Asset: Assets > Create > Input Actions. This is the central configuration for all input bindings.

Action Map Structure

Organize actions into maps based on context:

PlayerControls.inputactions
  |-- Player (gameplay)
  |     |-- Move (Value, Vector2)
  |     |-- Look (Value, Vector2)
  |     |-- Jump (Button)
  |     |-- Attack (Button)
  |     |-- Interact (Button)
  |
  |-- UI (menu navigation)
  |     |-- Navigate (Value, Vector2)
  |     |-- Submit (Button)
  |     |-- Cancel (Button)
  |
  |-- Menu (pause/settings)
        |-- Pause (Button)

Action Types

• Button: Discrete press/release. Use for jump, attack, interact.
• Value: Continuous value. Use for movement, look, triggers.
• Pass-Through: Like Value but does not perform initial state check. Use for multi-device scenarios.

Generated C# Class Workflow

In the Input Action Asset inspector, check "Generate C# Class" and click Apply. This is the recommended approach.

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.InputSystem;

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
    private PlayerControls _controls;
    private Vector2 _moveInput;

    private void Awake()
    {
        _controls = new PlayerControls();
    }

    private void OnEnable()
    {
        _controls.Player.Enable();

        _controls.Player.Move.performed += OnMove;
        _controls.Player.Move.canceled += OnMove;
        _controls.Player.Jump.performed += OnJump;
        _controls.Player.Attack.performed += OnAttack;
    }

    private void OnDisable()
    {
        _controls.Player.Move.performed -= OnMove;
        _controls.Player.Move.canceled -= OnMove;
        _controls.Player.Jump.performed -= OnJump;
        _controls.Player.Attack.performed -= OnAttack;

        _controls.Player.Disable();
    }

    private void OnMove(InputAction.CallbackContext ctx)
    {
        _moveInput = ctx.ReadValue<Vector2>();
    }

    private void OnJump(InputAction.CallbackContext ctx)
    {
        // Jump logic
    }

    private void OnAttack(InputAction.CallbackContext ctx)
    {
        // Attack logic
    }

    private void Update()
    {
        transform.Translate(new Vector3(_moveInput.x, 0, _moveInput.y) * Time.deltaTime * 5f);
    }
}