Somblog

Design Pattern / Game Programming

[Game Programming] Type Object Pattern

A pattern that models object types as data rather than classes so that extension can be handled by adding new data.

1 min read Read in Korean
  • Design Pattern
  • Game Programming
Contents

One-line pattern summary

A pattern that models object types as data rather than classes so that extension can be handled by adding new data.

Typical Unity use cases

  • When increasing weapon or monster types without modifying code.
  • When balancing values are managed as planning data.

Parts (roles)

  • Type Data: ScriptableObject / table
  • Runtime Instance: object that references the type
  • Registry: type lookup

Unity example (C#)

The code below is a simplified Unity example based on the scenario described above.

using UnityEngine;

[CreateAssetMenu(menuName = "Game/Weapon Type Data")]
public sealed class WeaponTypeData : ScriptableObject
{
    public string weaponId;
    public int attackPower;
    public float cooldownSeconds;
}

public sealed class WeaponRuntime
{
    private readonly WeaponTypeData weaponTypeData;

    public WeaponRuntime(WeaponTypeData weaponTypeData)
    {
        this.weaponTypeData = weaponTypeData;
    }

    public int AttackPower => weaponTypeData.attackPower;
}

Advantages

  • New types can be added through data such as ScriptableObjects without changing code.
  • Planning and balancing work can be separated from code deployment, which improves iteration speed.

Things to watch out for

  • If the data schema changes frequently, migration and compatibility costs can grow quickly.
  • Missing runtime references may stay quiet in the editor but break in actual builds.

Interaction diagram

This shows the flow where an instance references type data to decide its behavior.

flowchart LR

  instance["Weapon Instance"]
  type_data["WeaponTypeData (SO)"]
  calculator["Damage Calculator"]
  context["Runtime Context"]
  result["Final Damage"]

  instance -->|typeId| type_data
  instance -->|durability / level| context
  type_data -->|base stats| calculator
  context -->|runtime modifiers| calculator
  calculator --> result
  result -->|apply| instance

Comments