Flatbuffers

Unity Engine
1

Dear Community,

I am considering using FlatBuffers as way to serialize my data. I am new to saving and loading so I am still doing a lot of research but it seems like the 3 big types are: XML, JSON, and somewhat proto. I came across Flatbuffers in my research and it was quite faster than proto. Are their any inherent disadvantages/advantages to choosing Flatbuffers? It was designed specifically for games and since I have to learn serialization of data anyway I wouldn’t mind learning something brand new like that.

Thanks,

Steven Fowler

2

I’ve used both JSON and XML in different projects, but on most of my own projects (including High Frontier), I use GRFON, which is a format designed to be more human-readable and editable.

If it’s just about serializing your own data then this doesn’t really matter, but we also use it for things like mods, and so we want a simple format that doesn’t make people want to claw their eyes out.

I’ll be happy to share my GRFON reading/writing code with anybody who wants it (just PM me).

Best,

  • Joe