【Unity】Unity Project Organization - Scene and Folder Structure Basics

Overview

As Unity game development progresses, various asset types (files) multiply—scripts, 3D models, textures, materials, Prefabs. As projects grow, leaving these assets unorganized makes it impossible to find anything, severely reducing development efficiency.

This article covers the "Scene" concept fundamental to Unity project organization, plus best practices for "folder structures" that make asset management easier. Good organization not only increases individual development efficiency but is also an essential skill for smooth team development.

What Is a Scene?

A Scene in Unity is a unit comprising a game "scene" or "level." For example, each of these would be created as individual scenes:

Title screen
Game Stage 1
Game Stage 2
Game Over screen
Settings screen

Each scene file (.unity extension) stores all GameObjects, lights, cameras, UI hierarchy structure, and component settings for that scene. Implementing scene transitions—switching from current scene to next stage scene when a player clears a stage—makes the game progress.

Creating and Managing Scenes

Create: Right-click in Project window, select Create > Scene for new scenes.
Save: Save changes to the current open scene with File > Save or Ctrl + S.
Switch: Double-click scene files in Project window to switch editing scenes.

To switch scenes during gameplay, use the SceneManager class. This is covered in detail in another article.

Project Folder Structure

Placing all assets directly in the project root (Assets folder) is the worst practice. Organizing assets by type into folders lets you quickly find target files. This is the de facto standard practice adopted by Unity developers worldwide.

Basic Folder Structure Example

Here's a common, easy-to-understand basic folder structure:

Assets
├── Scenes          # Scene files (.unity)
├── Scripts         # C# scripts (.cs)
├── Materials       # Materials (.mat)
├── Prefabs         # Prefabs (.prefab)
├── Textures        # Texture images (PNG, JPG, etc.)
├── Models          # 3D models (FBX, OBJ, etc.)
├── Audio           # Audio files (WAV, MP3, etc.)
│   ├── BGM         # Background music
│   └── SFX         # Sound effects
└── Shaders         # Custom shaders (.shader)

Why This Structure Works

Intuitive and clear: Folder names match asset types, making it obvious where everything is at a glance.
High searchability: Want to modify a script? Check Scripts folder. Change a material color? Check Materials folder. Reduces search time.
Team-friendly: When all team members follow the same folder rules, finding files created by others becomes easy, enabling smooth collaboration.

Feature-Based Folder Structure (Medium-Large Projects)

As projects grow larger, asset-type-only organization may become difficult. For example, hundreds of scripts flat in Scripts folder makes finding related scripts hard.

In such cases, creating feature-based subfolders within type-based folders is effective:

Assets
└── Features
    ├── Player
    │   ├── Scripts
    │   ├── Prefabs
    │   └── Materials
    ├── Enemy
    │   ├── Scripts
    │   ├── Prefabs
    │   └── Models
    └── TitleScreen
        ├── Scripts
        ├── Scenes
        └── Textures

This approach groups "everything related to Player in Features/Player folder." Related assets stay close together, making feature modifications and additions very efficient.

Which structure is better depends on project scale and team culture, but start with basic asset-type organization first.

Best Practices and Tips

Organize from the start: "I'll organize later" never happens. Make a habit of moving assets to correct folders immediately when importing or creating them.
Clear naming conventions: Folder and file names matter too. For player-related scripts, using prefixes like PlayerController, PlayerHealth improves visibility.
Using _ (underscore): Prefixing folder names with underscores like _ThirdParty or _Sandbox places them at the top alphabetically—useful for distinguishing externally imported assets or temporary experimental folders.

Summary

Proper project management is the foundation of clean, efficient development. Scenes and folder structure are the first step.

Scenes: Units managing game "scenes" and "levels."
Folder Structure: Organize assets by type into folders as the basic approach.
Make it Habit: Starting organization early helps your future self and team.

Clean projects make bug discovery easier and accelerate new feature development. Start today and become an "organization master."

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