Unity Property Serialization System

A Unity system for separating static game content from dynamic player state.

Project Structure

Core Concepts

Entry Blueprint - A ScriptableObject that defines game content (abilities, items, quests). Designers build these in the Inspector by adding Properties.

Runtime Entry - An instance created from a Blueprint. Handles deserialization, runtime modifications, and re-serialization. The Blueprint itself is never modified.

Property - A small data structure that stores a specific type of game data. Properties are added to Blueprints to compose functionality.

Data Lifecycle

1. Design - Designer creates an Entry Blueprint and adds Properties in the Inspector
2. Runtime - Game creates a Runtime Entry from the Blueprint
3. Gameplay - Properties are modified during play
4. Save - Modified properties are serialized to storage
5. Load - Saved data is deserialized and applied to a fresh Runtime Entry created from the Blueprint

Static vs Dynamic Properties

Some properties should always load from the Blueprint (static), others should save/load with user data (dynamic).

Static Properties - Visual assets, audio clips, base stats. Marked with [AlwaysFromBlueprint] attribute. Never saved to user files. Updates automatically when you patch the game.

Dynamic Properties - Current health, unlocked skins, progress. Serialized to user save files.

Example static property:

[Serializable]
public class VisualsProperty : EntryProperty
{
    [AlwaysFromBlueprint] public GameObject ModelPrefab;
    [AlwaysFromBlueprint] public AudioClip UnsheatheSound;
    
    public override object Clone() { /* ... */ }
}

Example dynamic property:

[Serializable]
public class SkinProperty : EntryProperty
{
    public string CurrentSkinId;
    public List<string> UnlockedSkins;
    
    public override object Clone() { /* ... */ }
}

Usage Example

// Create from Blueprint
Entry fireball = new Entry(fireballBlueprint);

// Modify at runtime
var skin = fireball.GetProperty<SkinProperty>();
skin.CurrentSkinId = "Inferno_V2";

// Save
fireball.OnBeforeSerialize();
string saveData = JsonUtility.ToJson(fireball);

// Load
Entry loaded = new Entry(fireballBlueprint);
JsonUtility.FromJsonOverwrite(saveData, loaded);
loaded.OnAfterDeserialize(); // Enforces [AlwaysFromBlueprint] rules

Serialization

The system includes an ISerializer interface for swapping storage backends:

public interface ISerializer 
{
    string Serialize(object data);
    void DeserializeOverwrite(string data, object target);
}

Implementations:

• UnityJsonSerializer - Standard Unity JSON for local saves
• MockCloudSerializer - Example cloud storage implementation

Swap serializers without changing game logic:

ISerializer serializer = new UnityJsonSerializer();
// or
ISerializer serializer = new MockCloudSerializer();