Brainstorm: Unity Project Setup for Neighborhood Quarterback

Date: 2026-01-31 Status: Ready for planning Related: soul.md (game design document)

What We're Building

Minimal scaffolding for a Unity project that will become "Neighborhood Quarterback" - a 1v1 real-time capture-the-flag game. This phase establishes:

Unity 6 LTS project with correct settings
Build targets for Android, iOS, and Desktop
Feature-based folder organization
URP 2D rendering pipeline
New Input System configured

Explicitly out of scope: Gameplay code, networking, UI systems, assets. Just the foundation.

Why This Approach

Unity 6 LTS over older versions

Latest LTS with best cross-platform tooling
Improved mobile build times and runtime performance
Active support through 2028

URP 2D over Built-in or 3D

Soul doc describes "backyard baseball meets satellite-map clarity" - 2D aesthetic
URP 2D provides good lighting options for "night time" mood
Better mobile GPU performance than URP 3D
2D Renderer optimized for sprite-based games

New Input System over Legacy

Unified touch/mouse handling critical for mobile + desktop
Action maps allow defining "select unit", "drag route" abstractly
Better support for complex gestures needed for squad command

Feature-based folders over type-based

Game has distinct systems (FogOfWar, Jail, Units, MotionLights) per soul doc
Keeps related code/prefabs/art together
Scales better as features grow

Key Decisions

Decision	Choice	Rationale
Unity Version	6 LTS (6000.0.x)	Latest stable, best mobile support
Render Pipeline	URP 2D	2D game, mobile performance, lighting
Input System	New Input System	Cross-platform touch/mouse
Folder Structure	Feature-based	Matches game's system architecture
Build Targets	Android, iOS, Win/Mac/Linux	Per requirements
Android Config	IL2CPP, ARM64, API 24+	Modern devices, performance
iOS Config	IL2CPP, ARM64, iOS 13+	Modern devices, performance

Open Questions

Netcode package? - Soul doc mentions 1v1 multiplayer, but that's post-scaffolding. Decision deferred.
Unity Gaming Services? - Authentication, matchmaking, analytics. Deferred to gameplay phase.
CI/CD pipeline? - Out of scope for minimal setup. Add when needed.

Folder Structure

neighborhood-quarterback/
├── Assets/
│   ├── Features/           # Feature modules (empty initially)
│   │   └── _Template/      # Copy this for new features
│   ├── Shared/             # Cross-feature resources
│   │   ├── Fonts/
│   │   └── UI/
│   ├── Settings/           # Project settings
│   │   ├── URP/            # Render pipeline assets
│   │   └── Input/          # Input action assets
│   └── Scenes/
│       └── Main.unity      # Entry point
├── Packages/               # Unity package manifest
├── ProjectSettings/        # Unity project settings
└── docs/                   # Design documents
    ├── soul.md
    └── brainstorms/

Next Steps

Run /workflows:plan to generate implementation steps for creating this Unity project scaffold.

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