Need help deciding how to save

[Veyterex]

So, im making a game currently about trying to get through a level as quickly as possible and need help deciding how to save and load the best times for each individual level

I have used PlayerPrefs in some of my other games that is similar to this one, but after looking into saving into Json files, im not sure which one to use.

Im confident using PlayerPrefs to save data however I do want to try saving in Json files just to try it out.

I want to know what would be better for this kind of thing. Because I want to release the game im making currently as a prototype for people to try

[Kurt-Dekker]

Load/Save steps:

Save system questions

Saving/Loading is never simple. There’s tons of tutorials out there on Youtube to give you an idea of the process. Basically step 1 is identify what needs to be saved. Might just be a single digit, as in “what level am I on?” Might be a lot more: GameObjects, inventories, internal states of running scripts, positions, rotations, etc. Keep in mind the more you save the more debugging and painstaking engineering you’re going to need to do. And it gets really hairy. Step 2 - design a data stru…

An excellent discussion of loading/saving in Unity3D by Xarbrough:

Save system

If you have no experience, it might be best to first use a prebuilt solution like something from the Asset Store, just to learn those concepts and see the limitations in action. Then you can always write your own. At the same time, you can follow a few tutorials. Just a random one that I remember doing: Persisting Objects But, don’t just take any single thing for an answer. Look at multiple approaches, make your own experiments and then apply what you’ve learned to your own project. Maybe at t…

And another excellent set of notes and considerations by karliss_coldwild:

Saving levels in an in-game level editor

Two advices. Keep your code modular. Just because your objects have some unique scripts and runtime behavior, it doesn’t mean that the data you need to serialize is different. For example you might have a bunch of different button like objects: a button on a wall, pressure button on floor, switch requiring a key. They might each have different scripts attached for handling the activation of them (using keyboard, stepping on, using interact button while having a key). But they all have a common…

Loading/Saving ScriptableObjects by a proxy identifier such as name:

Use the JSON serilization for ScriptableObject with asset fields in Editor and Build

We trivially work around this as follows: we recognize that ScriptableObjects cannot be serialized. we put ALL ScriptableObjects of a given type in a single directory to enforce name uniqueness we make a Repository object to retrieve these ScriptableObjects by name we modify our serializable structures so they: ----> don’t serialize the SO itself ----> they serialize the name of the SO ----> they load the SO as a reference and look it up You cannot use Unity’s “lite” JSON imple…

When loading, you can never re-create a MonoBehaviour or ScriptableObject instance directly from JSON. Save data needs to be all entirely plain C# data with no Unity objects in it.

The reason is they are hybrid C# and native engine objects, and when the JSON package calls new to make one, it cannot make the native engine portion of the object, so you end up with a defective “dead” Unity object.

Instead you must first create the MonoBehaviour using AddComponent() on a GameObject instance, or use ScriptableObject.CreateInstance() to make your SO, then use the appropriate JSON “populate object” call to fill in its public fields.

If you want to use PlayerPrefs to save your game, it’s always better to use a JSON-based wrapper such as this one I forked from a fellow named Brett M Johnson on github:

https://gist.github.com/kurtdekker/7db0500da01c3eb2a7ac8040198ce7f6

Do not use the binary formatter/serializer: it is insecure, it cannot be made secure, and it makes debugging very difficult, plus it actually will NOT prevent people from modifying your save data on their computers.

Deserialization risks in use of BinaryFormatter and related types - .NET

A good summary / survey of the problem space:

Loading And Saving

[spiney199]

@Veyterex

I have used PlayerPrefs in some of my other games that is similar to this one, but after looking into saving into Json files, im not sure which one to use.

Json is just a text format. A Json serializer is what converts data into a json string to be written to disk.

Unity has a simple one by the name of JsonUtility built in. Then there’s the Newtonsoft.Json package, or Unity’s own serialization package: Introduction to Unity Serialization | Serialization | 3.1.2

And then there’s plenty of alternate serializers like the Odin serializer.

If you’re just starting, then probably easiest to just use the built in JsonUtility serializer, and be aware of its limitations.