By name: notification-system description: Decoupled event-driven UI notification badges using NotificationChannel ScriptableObjects.
Notification System
The Notification System is a decoupled, event-driven architecture designed to show UI badges (like "New Item" or "Level Up" dots) without tightly coupling gameplay logic to UI components.
When to use this skill
- When implementing a new feature that requires notifying the player (e.g., gaining an item, unlocking a skill, receiving a quest).
- When building new UI menus that need reactive notification badges on their open/close buttons.
- When fixing bugs related to UI badges not clearing or appearing at the wrong time.
The Decoupled Event Architecture
Instead of gameplay scripts directly calling UI_Badge.Show(), all communication happens through a NotificationChannel (a ScriptableObject).
Gameplay code "Raises" a notification on the channel. UI code listens to the channel and "Shows" or "Hides" itself.
1. NotificationChannel (ScriptableObject)
The central communication hub.
Rule: Create one NotificationChannel per distinct notification domain (e.g., NotificationInventoryChannel, NotificationSkillsChannel, NotificationStatsChannel).
- Gameplay scripts only need a reference to this channel to trigger notifications.
- The UI completely ignores the source of the notification.
2. UI_NotificationBadge (MonoBehaviour)
The reactive UI component attached to the visual badge (e.g., a red circle Image on a Canvas Button).
Rule: Always ensure the badge unsubscribes from the channel on OnDisable to prevent memory leaks. The current UI_NotificationBadge already handles this correctly.
- Supports Auto-Clearing: Can automatically clear the channel when its parent window opens, ensuring the player doesn't see a badge while already looking at the new content.
3. Raising and Clearing
NotificationChannel.Raise(): Called by backend/gameplay logic when an event occurs.NotificationChannel.Clear(): Called by UI logic when the player acknowledges the notification (e.g., by opening the relevant window or clicking the item).- Element-By-Element Clearing (Hover): For granular control, a parent window can disable global auto-clearing. Instead, individual components (like
ItemInstance/UI_ItemSlot) use localizedIsNewlyAddedflags to display small badges, only calling a globalNotificationChannel.Clear()when the user hovers over the final remaining new item.