Should I use singleton or object persistence?

Question

I have a situation where I have levels in my game and a start screen. For the levels, there is a persistent empty GameObject. My code for setting the game over and level complete canvases active (Also button initializations eg. restart, quit, next level...)is attached to that empty game object. Further, the canvases mentioned are attached to the persistent object.

Would converting my persistence script into a singleton script be the best way to manage the behavior so that the canvases don't land up on the start screen (and unnecessarily slow the game) when I quit a level? I am planning on putting the persistent object in every level to test each level specifically.

As of right now this is what I'm planning on doing unless there are better patterns or suggestions. Any help would be appreciated!

     if (instance == null || (SceneManager.GetActiveScene().name != "StartScreen"))
    {
        instance = this;
        DontDestroyOnLoad(gameObject);
    }
    else
    {
        Destroy(gameObject);
    }

Answer 1

I would stick with what you have. If it works, it works. Only make changes if you notice a problem or something that is making development in other areas difficult.

You mentioned you are worried about performance. Did you measure it? Is there actually an issue? Did you confirm that the issue is coming from this system? Only worry about performance when those 3 things have already been determined.

Now to get back to your original question. I think your proposed solution looks fine. For a small or medium sized game that’s probably all you need. If you need to massively scale up your game, I would look into using additive scene loading. And keep a persistent scene around in the background with all the persistent objects/UI on them. That way you only load them once and know they’ll always be there.

But. Like I said. Only look into this if you start seeing problems with your initial approach. As the commenters said. Better to finish a game then to have a well designed unfinished game.