Unity: Input Manager vs Input System

The Input Manager has been the default input handling solution for Unity for a long time. It allowed developers to quickly take in user input with little to no issue.

Until they wanted to map the input of a controller, or handle switching between input devices, or handling local multiplayer. That was until April 23, 2020 when the new Input System was finally released in version 1.0.

This quick article is going to cover the pros and cons of working with the Input Manager vs the Input System

Input Manager

The Good

The Input Manager is a simple place to start when first learning Unity or when prototyping. It is just simply less work to get something that requires very simple inputs to get off the ground using the Input Manager. There are very well documented guides to using the Input Manager and almost everyone who starts with Unity learns the Input Manager first.

The Bad

If you are doing input handling for anything besides a keyboard, then things are going to get very complicated. Mapping the input manager for a controller can be incredibly tedious. Jimmy Vegas has been teaching Unity through YouTube and compiled all the axes used for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 controller and as you can see, it’s not exactly easy…