TMPro and Scriptable Object not working.

I'm trying to implement TextMeshPro elements into a scriptable object so I can access them from other classes and not depend on a Singleton "UI Manager" however I have a strange bug.

I've setup my scriptable object like so

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using TMPro;
3.  
4. [CreateAssetMenu(menuName = "Manager Data/HUD")]
5. public class HUDData : ScriptableObject
6. {
7.     [Header("3,2,1 GO! Text Element")]
8.     public TextMeshProUGUI countdownText; //The 3,2,1 GO count down
9.     [Header("Count Down Element")]
10.     public TextMeshProUGUI checkpointTimerText; //Time left until reach next checkpoint
11.     [Header("Lap Timer Elements")]
12.     public TextMeshProUGUI lapTimeText; //Text element that contains the lap time
13.     public TextMeshProUGUI BestLapTime; //Text element that contains the best lap time
14.     [Header("Lap Element")]
15.     public TextMeshProUGUI Laps; //Text element that contains the number of laps completed + Max Laps
16. }

I've setup a blank scene with just my UI and have dragged my UI elements into the asset file.

When I press play however it seems all the references I have made to the TMPro elements in my asset file disappear or destroy themselves on load.

I'm not really sure what to do or perhaps I have setup my scriptable object incorrectly?

Version of Unity I am on is 2019.3.0f6

Any help would be appreciated.

 

TextMeshProUGUI are components of a GameObject, so living in a scene.
A ScriptableObject is an asset, so living in the project.
When starting, unity starts by initializing the project and thus the assets.
The scenes, even the main loaded first, come later.
Thus your references can't survive since they do not exists when the asset is loaded.
You can set a reference to a component in an asset a runtime when they are both loaded, but unloading the scene will also break those references. But you can have them at start.

However, since the asset are loaded first, component can have a reference to them without issue.
You can maybe create a manager gameobject that keeps a reference of the ScriptableObject instance and fill it with your component in it Start or Awake method.