There are many ways to do this but the solution to this depends on the type of data you want to pass between scenes. Components/Scripts and GameObjects are destroyed when new scene is loaded and even when marked as static.
In this answer you can find
-
- Use the
static keyword
-
- Use
DontDestroyOnLoad
-
- Store the data local
- 3a
PlayerPrefs
- 3b serialize to XML/JSON/Binary and use
FileIO
1. Use the static keyword.
Use this method if the variable to pass to the next scene is not a component, does not inherit from MonoBehaviour and is not a GameObject then make the variable to be static.
Built-in primitive data types such as int, bool, string, float, double. All those variables can be made a static variable.
Example of built-in primitive data types that can be marked as static:
static int counter = 0;
static bool enableAudio = 0;
static float timer = 100;
These should work without problems.
Example of Objects that can be marked as static:
public class MyTestScriptNoMonoBehaviour
{
}
then
static MyTestScriptNoMonoBehaviour testScriptNoMono;
void Start()
{
testScriptNoMono = new MyTestScriptNoMonoBehaviour();
}
Notice that the class does not inherit from MonoBehaviour. This should work.
Example of Objects that cannot be marked as static:
Anything that inherits from Object, Component or GameObject will not work.
1A.Anything that inherits from MonoBehaviour
public class MyTestScript : MonoBehaviour
{
}
then
static MyTestScript testScript;
void Start()
{
testScript = gameObject.AddComponent<MyTestScript>();
}
This will not work because it inherits from MonoBehaviour.
1B.All GameObject:
static GameObject obj;
void Start()
{
obj = new GameObject("My Object");
}
This will not work either because it is a GameObject and GameObject inherit from an Object.
Unity will always destroy its Object even if they are declared with the static keyword.
See #2 for a workaround.
2.Use the DontDestroyOnLoad function.
You only need to use this if the data to keep or pass to the next scene inherits from Object, Component or is a GameObject. This solves the problem described in 1A and 1B.
You can use it to make this GameObject not to destroy when scene unloads:
void Awake()
{
DontDestroyOnLoad(transform.gameObject);
}
You can even use it with the static keyword solve problem from 1A and 1B:
public class MyTestScript : MonoBehaviour
{
}
then
static MyTestScript testScript;
void Awake()
{
DontDestroyOnLoad(transform.gameObject);
}
void Start()
{
testScript = gameObject.AddComponent<MyTestScript>();
}
The testScript variable will now be preserved when new scene loads.
3.Save to local storage then load during next scene.
This method should be used when this is a game data that must be preserved when the game is closed and reopened. Example of this is the player high-score, the game settings such as music volume, objects locations, joystick profile data and so on.
Thare are two ways to save this:
3A.Use the PlayerPrefs API.
Use if you have just few variables to save. Let's say player score:
int playerScore = 80;
And we want to save playerScore:
Save the score in the OnDisable function
void OnDisable()
{
PlayerPrefs.SetInt("score", playerScore);
}
Load it in the OnEnable function
void OnEnable()
{
playerScore = PlayerPrefs.GetInt("score");
}
3B.Serialize the data to json, xml or binaray form then save using one of the C# file API such as File.WriteAllBytes and File.ReadAllBytes to save and load files.
Use this method if there are many variables to save.
General, you need to create a class that does not inherit from MonoBehaviour. This class you should use to hold your game data so that in can be easily serialized or de-serialized.
Example of data to save:
[Serializable]
public class PlayerInfo
{
public List<int> ID = new List<int>();
public List<int> Amounts = new List<int>();
public int life = 0;
public float highScore = 0;
}
Grab the DataSaver class which is a wrapper over File.WriteAllBytes and File.ReadAllBytes that makes saving data easier from this post.
Create new instance:
PlayerInfo saveData = new PlayerInfo();
saveData.life = 99;
saveData.highScore = 40;
Save data from PlayerInfo to a file named "players":
DataSaver.saveData(saveData, "players");
Load data from a file named "players":
PlayerInfo loadedData = DataSaver.loadData<PlayerInfo>("players");
