Objects are deleted with PluginHost.SetGameState()

Sascha · August 2021

Hi,
I am creating a server plugin with which I can save objects created with PUN via PhotonNetwork.Instantiate() when closing the room, so that they can be reloaded when opening the room again.

To do this, I save the GameState before the room is closed to a json file.

public override void OnCreateGame(ICreateGameCallInfo _info)
		{
			using (StreamReader file = File.OpenText(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + @"\test.json"))
			{
				JsonSerializer serializer = new JsonSerializer();
				SerializableGameState state = (SerializableGameState)serializer.Deserialize(file, typeof(SerializableGameState));
				PluginHost.SetGameState(state);
			}

			_info.Continue();
		}

Then when a room is opened I deserialize the json file and load the GameStates.

public override void BeforeCloseGame(IBeforeCloseGameCallInfo _info)
		{

			SerializableGameState state = PluginHost.GetSerializableGameState();
			using (StreamWriter file = File.CreateText(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + @"\test.json"))
			{
				JsonSerializer serializer = new JsonSerializer();
				serializer.Serialize(file, state);
			}

			_info.Continue();
		}

For testing I create a room with PUN, join it and spawn a simple cube with PhotonNetwork.Instantiate(). The previously spawned cube is also briefly displayed, but then strangely automatically deleted.
How can I prevent that the cube is deleted again or what could be the reason?

My used RoomOptions when creating a room:

roomOptions.PlayerTtl = -1;
roomOptions.EmptyRoomTtl = 0;
roomOptions.PublishUserId = true;
roomOptions.CleanupCacheOnLeave = false;
roomOptions.IsVisible = true;
roomOptions.IsOpen = true;

The json file that is created when the room is closed:

{
    "ActorCounter": 1,
    "ActorList": [
        {
            "ActorNr": 1,
            "UserId": "70a9be8b-c141-419a-b44e-7aa21627d05d",
            "Nickname": "Sascha",
            "IsActive": null,
            "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAFi/3MABlNhc2NoYQ==",
            "DeactivationTime": "2021-08-13T12:17:13.2366268+02:00",
            "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                "1": {
                    "255": "Sascha"
                }
            }
        }
    ],
    "Binary": {
        "19": "RGl6AAEAAAAAAAF6AANpAAAAAWLKaAAEYgZpc1ZCJmIHaQAAA+liAWNWAAw/gAAAP4AAAD+AAABiAHMABEN1YmU=",
        "18": "RAAAAANi+nkAAXMAA3B3aHMAA3B3aHMAMERabkJ1cmRxenNveVFLMzRDMTFwdFlIT3JITlF5dUhLSXg5ZERWdFpkSEp5SDUzcXMABmN1clNjbnMAB3hyX3Jvb20="
    },
    "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
    "CustomProperties": {
    },
    "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
    "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
    "IsOpen": true,
    "IsVisible": true,
    "LobbyId": null,
    "LobbyType": 0,
    "LobbyProperties": [
       
    ],
    "MaxPlayers": 0,
    "PlayerTTL": -1,
    "SuppressRoomEvents": false,
    "Slice": 0,
    "DebugInfo": {
        "DEBUG_PROPERTIES_18": {
            "250": [
                
            ],
        },
        "DEBUG_EVENTS_19": {
            "0": [
                [
                    1,
                    202,
                    {
                        "6": 1935032870,
                        "7": 1001,
                        "1": {
                            "Code": 86,
                            "Data": "P4AAAD+AAAA/gAAA"
                        },
                        "0": "Cube"
                    }
                ]
            ]
        }
    },
    "ExcludedActors": [],
    "PublishUserId": false,
    "ExpectedUsers": []
}

What I also noticed is that with repeated joining of the room, there are more and more Actors even though I do nothing:

{
    "ActorCounter": 2,
    "ActorList": [
        {
            "ActorNr": 1,
            "UserId": "70a9be8b-c141-419a-b44e-7aa21627d05d",
            "Nickname": "Sascha",
            "IsActive": null,
            "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAFi/3MABlNhc2NoYQ==",
            "DeactivationTime": "2021-08-13T12:17:13.2366268+02:00",
            "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                "1": {
                    "255": "Sascha"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "ActorNr": 2,
            "UserId": "dc908d36-acda-44b7-91a5-aa31c1d689a8",
            "Nickname": "Sascha",
            "IsActive": null,
            "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAFi/3MABlNhc2NoYQ==",
            "DeactivationTime": "2021-08-13T12:19:05.6159675+02:00",
            "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                "1": {
                    "255": "Sascha"
                }
            }
        }
    ],
    "Binary": {
        "19": "RGl6AAEAAAAAAAF6AANpAAAAAWLKaAAEYgZpc1ZCJmIAcwAEQ3ViZWIBY1YADD+AAAA/gAAAP4AAAGIHaQAAA+k=",
        "18": "RAAAAANi+nkAAXMAA3B3aHMAA3B3aHMAMERabkJ1cmRxenNveVFLMzRDMTFwdFlIT3JITlF5dUhLSXg5ZERWdFpkSEp5SDUzcXMABmN1clNjbnMAB3hyX3Jvb20="
    },
    "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
    "CustomProperties": {
    },
    "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
    "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
    "IsOpen": true,
    "IsVisible": true,
    "LobbyId": null,
    "LobbyType": 0,
    "LobbyProperties": [
    ],
    "MaxPlayers": 0,
    "PlayerTTL": -1,
    "SuppressRoomEvents": false,
    "Slice": 0,
    "DebugInfo": {
        "DEBUG_PROPERTIES_18": {
            "250": [
            ],
        },
        "DEBUG_EVENTS_19": {
            "0": [
                [
                    1,
                    202,
                    {
                        "6": 1935032870,
                        "0": "Cube",
                        "1": {
                            "Code": 86,
                            "Data": "P4AAAD+AAAA/gAAA"
                        },
                        "7": 1001
                    }
                ]
            ]
        }
    },
    "ExcludedActors": [],
    "PublishUserId": false,
    "ExpectedUsers": []
}

Thanks for the help

chvetsov · August 2021

Hi, @Sascha

from serialization/deserialization point of view everything looks fine

that amount of actors is growing because you do something wrong during rejoin. Can not say anything about your 'Cube'

best,
ilya

JohnTube · August 2021

Hi @Sasha,

Thank you for choosing Photon!

There are three (3) different points worth mentioning:

1. game objects disappearing or being destroyed, this is probably a PUN issue not related to plugins
2. instantiated network objects are saved in the room state as cached events, so they are inside "Binary":{19:"here_in_this_base64_encoded_binary_serialized_string"
3. you need to use the same UserId per player and call RejoinRoom when you want to rejoin a room. See Room Persistence Guide.

Also you need to be aware that persisting room state and loading it may not restitute PUN's state completely.

Sascha · August 2021

Thank you very much for the help. After I fixed the rejoining, the objects are no longer destroyed.

Now I noticed that the last transform data (position, rotation, scale) are not saved in the SerializableGameState. Is that correct?

Is there a way to get this data with the server SDK when closing a room so that I can also save them?

chvetsov · August 2021

hi, @Sascha
we do not save all created objects in game state. we save only events in cache. So, if operation that you send to change position was not cached it will not be saved

best,
ilya

Sascha · August 2021

Is there another way to get the transform information of the spawned objects on the server?

Objects are deleted with PluginHost.SetGameState()

Answers