state-machine

Structuring Unity enemy AI with a finite state machine organizes patrol and chase behaviors into typed state contracts, lifecycle callbacks, and explicit transition rules. This approach replaces tangled conditional logic with maintainable, isolated C# implementations.

A hierarchical state machine nests sub-states within parent states to organize complex gameplay behaviors. You need it when player controllers or enemy AI require layered behaviors, allowing event-driven transitions without duplicating logic across independent states.

Build a testable state machine by using plain C# implementations with typed state contracts and reusable state instances. Isolating state logic from Unity dependencies enables robust unit testing of player movement states and explicit transition management.

Yes, you can use ScriptableObject-driven configuration to define explicit transition rules and state behaviors. This allows designers to manage event-driven transitions and gameplay flows directly from the Unity Inspector without modifying code.

Yes, this state machine approach works for Unity menu and pause flows by organizing game-flow behavior into maintainable states. Typed state contracts and lifecycle callbacks manage UI transitions and pause logic cleanly, avoiding nested boolean flags.

You should avoid a finite state machine for simple Unity gameplay behaviors that require only a few conditional checks. Overhead from typed state contracts and lifecycle callbacks is unnecessary unless managing complex player movement, enemy AI, or hierarchical behaviors.