Changed the GameObjects in a Scene but previous GameObjects load in Play Mode

Questions & Answers
1

This is probably a bug in Unity and I just want to see if there’s a quick way to get around it.

I’m using Unity 5.3.6f1.

My “GameScene” had some GameObjects in the Hierarchy window, say “Hierarchy A”.

I changed some of these GameObjects in the same scene and saved it, e.g. rename GameObjects, add GameObjects, add scripts to GameObjects etc. So, now I have “Hierarchy B” in the same scene.

When I start Play mode in the editor the “GameScene” now contains “Hierarchy A”!
After I stop Play mode the “GameScene” now contains “Hierarchy B”!

This is very weird! I don’t even know where Unity finds the OLD data for “Hierarchy A”, since it’s been completely overwritten by “Hierarchy B” in the same scene, named “GameScene”.

I fixed the problem temporarily, by exporting all the assets to a .unitypackage, and re-importing in a new empty project.

All was well for 5-6 times, i.e. “Hierarchy B” remained active in Play mode too. However, the problem is back again.

Is there a way to delete the OLD “Hierarchy A” data, so it doesn’t load in Play mode, or maybe something else I can do?

EDIT: I just discovered that what breaks the quick fix of importing all assets in a new empty project, is changing Project Settings. i.e. whenever the ProjectSettings.asset file changes, the undesirable behaviour comes back. So, if I edit any of the PlayerSettings, such as change the company name, a change in ProjectSettings.asset is triggered, and I get the undesirable behaviour. If I then delete this ProjectSettings.asset file, and restart Unity to re-generate a fresh one, normal behaviour is restored.

2

I found a permanent fix:

  1. Create a new scene, and delete its default GameObjects (Main Camera, Directional Light)
  2. Right-click the old corrupted scene asset, and select Open Scene Additive
  3. Select all GameObjects in the Hierarchy of the old corrupted scene
  4. Do a Ctrl-D to duplicate all the selected GameObjects
  5. Drag and Drop the duplicates in the new empty scene
  6. Save both scenes
  7. The parent GameObjects in the new scene can now be renamed to remove the (1), which were added during the duplication
  8. Replace the old scene with the new scene in Build Settings

This fixes the problem, and it is no longer a problem to change the Project Settings.