Properties not serializing properly

Questions & Answers
1

I am having the following problem.

For some reason Unity resets the values of properties in Play Mode or when the gameobject is made into a prefab.

In the example below t1 does not serialize properly whilst t2 does. Any idea what may cause the issue and how to fix it ?

[SerializeField] // this is needed otherwise t1 doesn't show up at all in the inspector
public TargetType t1{get; set; }
public TargetType t2;
3

Unity never supported serialization of properties. Only fields can be serialized. Attributes on auto properties belong to the property only. The implicit private backing field can’t get any attributes. If you want to apply attributes to the backing field you can’t use auto properties. So you have to implement the backing field yourself

[SerializeField]
private TargetType m_T1;
public TargetType t1
{
    get {return m_T1;}
    set {m_T1 = value;}
}

Keep in mind that Unity’s serialization system directly serializes fields. That means when changing a value in the inspector you actually change the field. The setter of the property will not be called. Again, Unity does not serialize properties at all.

2

As far as I know auto-properties don’t get serialized by Unity. You need a backing member for your get-set block. I’d go with:

[SerializeField]
private TargetType t1;
public TargetType T1 {
     get {return t1;}
     set {t1 = value;}
}