10 Unity WebGL Best Practices

Unity WebGL is a technology that allows developers to create interactive 3D content for the web. It is a powerful tool for creating immersive experiences that can be enjoyed by users on any device with a web browser. With Unity WebGL, developers can create interactive 3D games, simulations, and other interactive content that can be accessed from any device with a web browser.

In this article, we will discuss 10 best practices for developing with Unity WebGL. We will cover topics such as optimizing performance, creating cross-platform experiences, and more. By following these best practices, developers can create engaging and immersive experiences for their users.

1. Utilize the WebGL 2.0 API for improved performance

The WebGL 2.0 API is a major upgrade from the original WebGL 1.0, and it provides several performance improvements that can be leveraged in Unity WebGL projects. The most notable of these are improved shader support, increased texture size limits, and better rendering capabilities.

Shader support has been greatly enhanced with WebGL 2.0, allowing for more complex shaders to be used in Unity WebGL projects. This means developers can create more detailed visuals without sacrificing performance. Additionally, the maximum texture size limit has been increased from 2048×2048 to 8192×8192, which allows for larger textures to be used in games and other applications. Lastly, WebGL 2.0 also supports advanced rendering techniques such as instanced drawing, multiple render targets, and transform feedback, all of which can help improve performance.

To take advantage of the WebGL 2.0 API, developers must first enable it in their project settings. Once enabled, they can then use the new features available in the API to optimize their game or application. For example, they can use instanced drawing to draw multiple objects at once instead of one at a time, or they can use multiple render targets to render different parts of the scene simultaneously. By utilizing the WebGL 2.0 API, developers can significantly improve the performance of their Unity WebGL projects.

2. Leverage Unity’s new Burst Compiler to optimize code

Burst Compiler is a high-performance, low-level C# compiler that can be used to optimize code for WebGL builds. It uses advanced techniques such as vectorization and loop unrolling to generate highly optimized machine code. This helps reduce the amount of time it takes for Unity WebGL builds to compile, resulting in faster loading times and improved performance. Additionally, Burst Compiler also offers support for SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) instructions, which allow multiple operations to be performed simultaneously on different data sets. This further improves the speed and efficiency of compiled code. To use Burst Compiler, developers simply need to enable the “Optimize Code” option in the Player Settings window when building their project.

3. Use Asset Bundles to reduce loading times

Asset Bundles are collections of assets that can be loaded on demand, allowing for faster loading times and better performance. By using Asset Bundles, developers can reduce the size of their WebGL builds by only including the necessary assets in each bundle. This reduces the amount of data that needs to be downloaded when a user visits a website or game built with Unity WebGL. Additionally, Asset Bundles allow developers to update content without having to re-download the entire build, which further improves loading times. To use Asset Bundles, developers must first create them in the Unity Editor, then upload them to a web server. Once uploaded, they can be referenced from within the code of the project, allowing developers to dynamically load the bundles as needed.

4. Implement a custom audio compression format for better streaming performance

The main reason for using a custom audio compression format is to reduce the size of audio files. This helps with streaming performance because it reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred over the network, which in turn reduces latency and improves loading times. Additionally, smaller audio files can also help improve memory usage on the client side, as they take up less space in RAM.

When implementing a custom audio compression format, there are several options available. One option is to use an open source library such as libvorbis or Opus. These libraries provide high-quality audio encoding and decoding capabilities, while still being relatively lightweight. Alternatively, developers can create their own custom audio codecs from scratch, although this requires more time and effort.

Once the desired audio compression format has been chosen, the next step is to integrate it into Unity WebGL. This can be done by creating a custom script that handles the encoding and decoding of audio files. The script should also include logic for handling errors and ensuring that the audio files are properly decoded before playback. Once the script is complete, it can then be integrated into the game’s codebase and used whenever audio files need to be streamed.

5. Utilize WebAssembly for faster execution of C# code

WebAssembly is a low-level binary format that can be used to compile C# code into a compact, efficient and secure form. This allows for faster execution of the code as it does not need to be interpreted or compiled on the fly. Additionally, WebAssembly provides better memory management than JavaScript, which helps reduce memory usage and improve performance. Furthermore, WebAssembly has built-in support for multithreading, allowing multiple threads to run in parallel, further improving performance.

To utilize WebAssembly for faster execution of C# code in Unity WebGL, developers must first install the WebAssembly compiler (Emscripten) and then use it to compile their C# code into WebAssembly bytecode. Once this is done, they can then include the generated .wasm file in their project and reference it from within their scripts. This will allow them to access the compiled functions directly from their code, resulting in improved performance.

6. Optimize shaders and textures for web delivery

Shaders are the programs that run on the GPU to determine how a 3D object is rendered. When using Unity WebGL, shaders must be optimized for web delivery in order to ensure smooth performance and reduce loading times. This can be done by reducing shader complexity, removing unnecessary features, and optimizing code.

Textures also need to be optimized for web delivery when using Unity WebGL. Textures should be compressed as much as possible without sacrificing quality, and their resolution should be reduced if necessary. Additionally, textures should be combined into atlases whenever possible to reduce draw calls and improve performance.

7. Minimize memory usage with efficient object pooling

Object pooling is a technique used to reduce the overhead of creating and destroying objects. Instead of instantiating new objects, an object pool stores pre-instantiated objects that can be reused when needed. This reduces memory usage by avoiding unnecessary allocations and deallocations, which can cause performance issues in WebGL builds. Additionally, it helps avoid garbage collection pauses, as there are fewer objects to collect. To implement efficient object pooling, developers should create a pool manager class that handles allocating and releasing objects from the pool. The pool manager should also keep track of how many objects are currently available for reuse. When an object is requested, the pool manager will check if any objects are available in the pool and return one if so. If not, then a new object will be created and added to the pool. By using this approach, developers can ensure that their Unity WebGL projects use minimal memory while still providing a smooth user experience.

8. Employ adaptive streaming techniques for video assets

Adaptive streaming is a technique that allows video content to be delivered in the most efficient way possible, by automatically adjusting the quality of the stream based on the user’s connection speed. This ensures that users with slower connections can still access the video without experiencing buffering or other issues.

Adaptive streaming also helps reduce bandwidth costs for developers, as it only serves up the highest-quality version of the video when necessary. By using adaptive streaming techniques, Unity WebGL applications can deliver high-quality video experiences while minimizing the amount of data transferred over the network.

To implement adaptive streaming in Unity WebGL, developers should use the VideoPlayer component and set its AdaptiveSourceSize property to true. This will enable the player to adjust the resolution of the video depending on the user’s connection speed. Additionally, developers should ensure that their videos are encoded in multiple resolutions so that the player can switch between them seamlessly.

9. Take advantage of browser caching techniques

Browser caching is a way of storing web page resources in the browser’s cache, so that when a user visits the same page again, the browser can quickly access and load the cached resources instead of downloading them from the server. This reduces the amount of data transferred between the client and the server, resulting in faster loading times for subsequent visits to the same page.

To take advantage of browser caching techniques with Unity WebGL, developers should use HTTP headers such as Cache-Control and Expires to specify how long certain files should be stored in the browser’s cache. Additionally, they should also leverage versioning by adding a query string parameter to the file URL (e.g. “?v=1.0”) whenever there are changes to the file. This ensures that the latest version of the file is always downloaded from the server, while older versions are served from the browser’s cache.

10. Make use of preloading techniques to reduce load times

Preloading is the process of loading assets before they are needed, so that when the user requests them, they can be served immediately. This reduces load times and improves performance by eliminating the need to wait for assets to download from a server. Preloading also helps reduce memory usage, as it allows Unity WebGL to cache assets in memory instead of having to reload them each time they are requested. To preload assets, developers can use the Resources folder in their project or make use of AssetBundles. The Resources folder contains all the assets used in the game, which can then be loaded into memory using the Resources.Load() method. AssetBundles allow developers to package up multiple assets into one file, which can then be downloaded and cached on the client side. This makes it easier to manage large amounts of data, as well as reducing the amount of data that needs to be sent over the network. By utilizing preloading techniques, developers can ensure that their Unity WebGL games run smoothly and quickly, providing users with an enjoyable experience.