References Losing Functionality After Scene Transitions in Unity (Requires Reimporting to Work

Hello,

I’m working on a Unity project where I use ScriptableObject (SO) assets for items (e.g., weapons, armor, consumables). These SO assets are stored in the Resources folder for easy runtime access.

The problem I’m facing is that after transitioning between scenes, the ItemSO references lose their functionality. Specifically, when I switch to a new scene and try to access the ItemSO (for example, when equipping an item), it fails to load correctly, displaying errors such as “Cannot load asset” or “Missing script.” To resolve this, I have to manually reimport the SO assets through Unity’s editor, but this is not a sustainable solution and disrupts my workflow.

Details: I have a complex setup with 90+ references to ItemSO in my code (including weapon and armor systems, inventory, and saving system). Other SO types, like DialogueSO, are working fine because they don’t depend on other SOs. However, WeaponSO and ArmorSO depend on ItemSO, and those are the ones that are causing issues. The problem doesn’t occur for all SO types, but it does consistently affect ItemSO-dependent SOs. I’m hesitant to make significant changes to the current setup, as it would require reworking all my code and could lead to losing SO data or breaking existing functionality (e.g., if(item is WeaponSO) {}). I have not yet tried changing the way I load these SOs, but I’d like to focus on fixing this issue rather than restructuring the entire system, as doing so would likely be time-consuming and risky.

What I’ve tried so far: Reimporting Assets: I manually reimport the SO assets after transitioning scenes to get them to work again, but this is a temporary solution. Ensuring Proper Initialization: I’ve double-checked that all SO assets are initialized properly. Serializing and Deserializing: I’ve verified that the references are correctly serialized in the Inspector and that they are not lost when transitioning scenes. AssetDatabase: I attempted using AssetDatabase.ImportAsset() to update the asset database but the issue persists. My questions: What could be causing ItemSO references to lose functionality during scene transitions in Unity? Is there a reliable way to ensure that ItemSO references persist without needing to reimport assets manually? Are there any best practices for managing ScriptableObject assets that depend on other SOs across scenes?

Edit: the use of the Resources is a must and loading the scene doesn’t even use resources it is important only for the saving system it save the item name and get it later when you load the game which doesn’t Couse that problem I mentioned because it is the same scene it is just changing values

Are you 100% sure that each ScriptableObject type is located in its own C# file and the file name matches the classname? This is a requirement for MonoBehaviours and ScriptableObjects (which from the engine’s perspective are essentially the same thing).

It’s also not clear what you mean by “ItemSO-dependent SOs”. Do you mean a class that is derived from a base ItemSO class? Or do you mean it has some references to other SOs? Having some example code usually helps. Though loading issues are usually related to what I said earlier.

yes, each SO are in its own file Now! when I first made these SOs I made them all in 1 file I made them like itemSO (first and main one) then Weapon : itemSO that use the first structure of the itemSO and then build on it same with the rest when I saw the problem I decided to move each in its own File but I didn’t want to risk losing info so I moved them with exactly the same structure all I did is instead of having 4 SO classes in one file I made each in its own file

what I mean with ItemSO-dependent SOs?
I mean itemSO is the main structure that all other items use like weapon, armor, etc. to make it possible to manage the inventory system by making them all like same thing but when it comes to Equpment slots they start acting differently so yeah itemSO is the main SO and the rest use it like Weapon : itemSO and then add the differences

this is one of the SO I made

using UnityEngine;

[CreateAssetMenu(fileName = "New Weapon", menuName = "Items/Weapons/Weapon")]
public class WeaponSO : ItemSO
{
    public float attackCooldown;
    public bool isLeftHanded;
    public int damage;
    public float range;
    public GameObject weaponPrefab;
    public AudioClip attackSound;
    public AnimationClip attackAnimation;
    public bool IsProjectile;
    public bool IsSpell;
    public int manaCount;
    public GameObject SpawnObject;

}

just to explain the problem exactly how it happens when I open the project for first time all SO lose connection to the SO Script (in the asset they act like corrupted files), I have to reimport to make that works and a just ignored this problem till I start using 2 scenes when I move first scene is the main menu of the game when I start the game (load the other scene) the problem in the first time don’t happen I just get weird look at the game like light is Brocken or something but player have his items fine but when I load again all the SO lose connection again and act like Brocken files (in the asset file it self the SO act like that) which is more weird I just loaded a scene idk what this has to do with the files in the asset file

here is where the load happens

private IEnumerator SceneLoading(bool enableLoad)
{
    AsyncOperation asyncLoad = SceneManager.LoadSceneAsync("Game Scene");

    yield return asyncLoad;

    if (enableLoad)
    {
        saveManager.LoadGame();
    }
}

I noticed you mentioned saving and using the resources folder. Not sure if your trying to use ScriptableObjects to save data but they’re mainly for constant data. You can modify and save changes in the editor but when you build you can’t save them directly. You might also want to look at addressables rather than the resources folder e.g. Limitations and Alternatives section of Unity - Manual: Loading Resources at Runtime

I like using ScriptableObjects to test my save data in the editor but when you make a build it really needs to go into another format like json. One way around this is to make a seralizable container class fort the data like:

public class WeaponSO : ItemSO
{
  [System.Serializable]
  public class Data {
    public int weaponId;
    public float attackCooldown;
    public bool isLeftHanded; 
  }
  public Data data;
}

Also if you are modifying the data from code you’ll probably need to call UnityEditor.EditorUtility.SetDirty(); to make the data persist (only works in the editor).

no sorry for the misunderstood I mean I use recourses just when I save, their name get saved and when loading I just turn that name into the SO that’s all the Resources do for me and btw loading and saving works fine the problem is with loading the scene I mentioned that just incase recourses have any affect on the SO cuz I know unity treat these files differently

That’s really weird, so if I’m not mistaken you’re seeing the following:

  • The resources are correctly linked in the editor. You can view the resources and references in the editor.
  • The resources and references are fine when your run the first scene.
  • The resource references break when you change scenes at runtime. This also break the references when previewing the resource in the editor.
  • The references are still broken when you stop running the game and you have to do a re-import.

The first thing I’d try is deleting the library folder (after making a backup). This sometimes helps when I get odd Unity bugs. If that doesn’t work I’d try making the smallest demo possible that can duplicate the issue. Maybe A refs B with a scene transition, then post that code here. It might also be worth trying the addressables as it’s quite easy to convert to.

Well, if you had some of the SOs all in one file in the past, you may still have some wrong serialized AssetIDs in some places. Unity can have multiple links to assets. When you say the actual SO is loosing his class / script reference, it probably means that the stored GUID may not be correct. It’s hard to tell without digging deep into the actual serialized data. If you have an SO instance where this happens consistently, try switching the inspector into debug mode (context menu of window menu in the upper right corner) and try to “relink” / replace the “script” reference to the actual C# file that contains the correct class. Note: The debug mode of the inspector, at least in the past, can cause some weird effects. So make sure you switch back to normal when you’re done.

TYSM finally fixed the problem sometimes Random things fixes the issue just moved all my code and SO out of unity project then moved the code files only back again and started creating new SOs and it worked the issue is no longer there the only problem that I now have to create all these SOs but since I spent full day trying to fix it ig I will stick with that and try to create all of them again