Serialization

Serialization (and deserialization) is a very important concept in computer science. It encompasses varying methodologies for communication and storage of data between disparate systems. Put simply, it can be defined as a method of turning your objects/data into zeroes and ones so that it may be sent across the network, and then turning them back into useable objects/data on the receiving end.

There are many different ways to serialize and deserialize data, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. For the needs of real-time networked games, the process of serializing and deserializing must be both quick and compact.

By default, MassiveNet provides serialization and deserialization of the following types:

bool
byte
short
ushort
int
uint
long
float
double
string
Vector2
Vector3
Quaternion

This is not the end of supported types, however. MassiveNet allows the use of custom (de)serializers, which are simply separate methods for both serialization and deserialization of a custom type.

For example, lets say there is a class called PlayerData. Here’s what it might look like:

public class PlayerData {

  string name;
  int hp;
  Vector3 position;

  public static void SerializePlayerData(NetStream stream, object instance) {
    PlayerData data = (PlayerData)instance;
    stream.WriteString(data.name);
    stream.WriteInt(data.hp);
    stream.WriteVector3(data.position);
  }

  public static object DeserializePlayerData(NetStream stream) {
    PlayerData data = new PlayerData();
    data.name = stream.ReadString();
    data.hp = stream.ReadInt();
    data.position = stream.ReadVector3();
    return data;
  }

}

Now, all that is needed is to register the static methods responsible for serializing and deserializing PlayerData. To do this, all you must do is call the following from anywhere:

NetSerializer.Add<PlayerData>(PlayerData.SerializePlayerData, PlayerData.DeserializePlayerData);