Unity 2022.2. is disappointingly buggy

I've been very frustrated with the latest Unity version, 2022.2. We've been working on a game project for a couple of years, and since updating to the new version, we have encountered numerous bugs and issues that are making development and also making bug fixes for a released product nigh impossible.

The most recent significant issue I have come across is with the Cloth System, specifically when building for a 64-bit release. When building for the aforementioned architecture the cloth objects disappear, and a message is logged stating that "All scale components must be non-zero", these scale values don't have a value of zero set in the editor and are never changed during gameplay. This issue is making it impossible for us to use the Cloth System in any way, and we have wasted countless hours trying to troubleshoot the problem.

I understand that bugs are an inevitable part of software development, but this level of bugginess is unacceptable, especially for a product as widely used as Unity. I just don't understand how an issue as this one can just fly under the radar.

I urge the Unity development team to prioritize bug fixing and quality control in future releases. As users, we rely on this software to create games and other projects, and it is essential that it is reliable and stable. I hope that the team takes this feedback seriously and works to improve the stability and functionality of Unity and all it has to offer.

Thanks for reading my rant and I hope you'll be more careful with future major updates!

 

While this can be frustrating for sure, I also read from this post that you upgraded your project and had the team work with that before all of the project's systems had been fully tested, and that includes building for every target platform and testing that build until you feel confident that there aren't any major issues. Not doing so is a no-go for a project that needs continued maintenance.

The other thing I want to point out: sometimes, a "bug" may be intentional. Like in this case it could be that 0-scaled objects used to be accepted but it was really an issue that could eventually (even if very rarely) lead to a div-by-zero error of some kind somewhere else. Disallowing such situations is proactively preventing potential crashes.

Such things are usually logged in the changelogs. While it is arduous to go through each versions log, for important projects where you are considering to update it's crucial to go through the logs so you gain an understanding what kind of issues you may be running into (or no longer need to be worked around/avoided).

 

You should not upgrade a live project to a tech stream release. Official recommendation is to use LTS for production.

 

I would never upgrade my teams project from an LTS to a tech stream on a live project. We are reluctant to even update LTS patch releases and test everything in live builds end-to-end whenever we do.

Either reverse what you did via source control, or accept that this is really a case of bad process on your side rather than unitys fault. Tech stream is well known to be buggy until LTS (And even then is often a long time before stable)

 

New LTS is no better than tech stream, it takes 4-6 months to stabilize to a level that's acceptable for our purposes. Tech stream isn't even in consideration, it's just not fit for anything but preproduction, maybe early production assuming .2 is considered and the next LTS is near release.

 

I recommend searching the forums (eg by typing

site:forum.unity.com 2022 problems

into Google) before you make the jump to a new major release. Everything I've read suggests that the 2022 releases are a buggy mess.

I hadn't heard about this particular problem but then the last time I tried the built-in cloth system I was very much underwhelmed and decided to never touch it again. Instead I use and recommend Magica Cloth.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/physics/magica-cloth-160144
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/physics/magica-cloth-2-242307

 

The original poster's frustration with the bugs and issues in the latest version of Unity is understandable, especially when it is impacting their ability to work on a project they have been developing for a couple of years. While it is true that upgrading to a new major release can come with risks, it is important to consider the context in which the upgrade was made.

Developers are often under pressure to keep their projects up-to-date with the latest technology and features, particularly when it comes to external dependencies such as console SDKs. Failure to do so can result in compatibility issues and, in some cases, outright rejection from the platform holders. This means that developers are often forced to upgrade to new versions of game engines, such as Unity, in order to stay current with these dependencies.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that developers are paying for the service provided by Unity. This is not a free hobbyist tool, but rather a professional-grade engine that developers rely on to create games and other projects. As such, it is reasonable for them to expect a certain level of quality and support. While bugs are inevitable in any software development process, it is the responsibility of the engine provider to ensure that these issues are addressed in a timely and effective manner.

Finally, it is important to remember that for some people, game development is not just a hobby, but a profession. This means that delays and issues caused by bugs and other technical problems can have real-world consequences, including missed deadlines, lost revenue, and damage to their reputation. As such, it is critical that game engines like Unity prioritize bug fixing and quality control in order to provide the reliability and stability that professional developers require.

 

Nothing you mentioned negates the fact that perfoming a update on a live project is literally 101 of what not to do.

For example, yes it would be great if it was impossible for a pedestrian to get hit by cars and cities and governments should certainly try and make roads and walkways as safe as possible. That said, if somebody was walking on a safe path and then ran across a road suddenly without checking if cars were coming, where crossings are etc (basic due diligence and safety processes) - then if they got hit it is as much their fault for not following basic safety procedures as the cars they surprised by veering off into the road all of a sudden. The roads and walkways were not intended to be used that way.

The same is for this case. Unity have a lot on their plate and accounting for users not doing their due diligence is definitely not something they should be spending their time on.

So I get it OP, but its still ultimately your fault and you should use source control to reverse this or live with the consequences of an upgrade midway through development. Usually experiencing this pain is the way most of us learnt not to do exactly this. Most of us here are speaking from personal experience having done the same thing at some point in our careers.

Good luck

 

This is a sound point but doesn't 2021 LTS version support latest console SDKs and other platform specific dependencies? Or they are only supported by the 2022 version?

 

You can absolutely develop for latest console etc SDKS on 2021. There is absolutely no reason to go beyond LTS in a real project right now. Every game studio and non-games company I have worked with recently is on LTS, and for good reason. There is nothing "forcing" developers to update other than their own ideas and thoughts right now - the platforms currently have nothing that forces you to use anything beyond LTS.

 

I feel like a lot of these issues and misunderstandings would be solved if the naming of the Unity releases was more appropriate.

Drop Tech and LTS naming, name Tech .1 alpha, .2 beta, and .3 (LTS) the actual release.

Then people wouldn’t get confused by Unity marketing implying their Tech releases are usable.

 

it would be nice if they used anything not called "Other"

 

I'm waiting and waiting for 2022 LTS for the bug fixes that are not going to be repaired in older versions and ECS 1.0.
And now we got 2023.

 

Agreed, Ive been asking for this for a while. The current naming makes no sense and is out of touch with the software industry.

LTS also does not mean LTS here compared to anywhere else. LTS should go through much more stabilizing before it becomes LTS than currently, but I guess thats a topic for another thread.

 

I just feel that they are focusing too much on adding new features instead of stability. Unity versions XXXX.1 and .2 should be labeled as alpha and beta at this point and the .3 versions clearly labeled as recommended. The current alpha and beta versions should be named as tech stacks.

This is the issue I have with Unity right now. Unity 2022.2. should be a lot more stable than 2022.1., but somehow there are function critical bugs still present in it that should've been easily detectable in the previous versions. The QA team (if they even have it) isn't pulling its weight, because all of these issues we've encountered within the week we made the update.

To conclude, I was left disappointed by the overall performance and stability of the latest "stable" version and Unity really needs to reconsider its naming scheme considering the state of things lately.

 

Or just read what Unity are saying: https://unity.com/releases/2022-2


They don't call it "stable", it's Tech Stream. Unity officially recommend using LTS for production since LTS became a thing. None of this is new or a surprise.

 

That... actually seems fine.

Maybe their messaging isn't as "off" as I thought.

 

That's reassuring to me that still use 2020 LTS to avoid some of the issues discussed here
However there are some new features in latest LTS that could be useful and possible bug fixes. How is the stability of the 2021 LTS compared to previous versions? Have you switched to it?

 

It crashes a lot for me, but I think it has to do with the Apple Silicon version. Other than that it's okay. There are some issues that annoy me to no end, but they backported those bugs to 2020 LTS too, so it doesn't have that advantage over 2021 anymore.

 

My latest work project is on Unity 2021.3.15 using the code base of the previous project but with URP instead of HDRP, and the stability issues I've had have been trying to close the editor. Half of the time it will crash. I've never lost anything because everything else including saves works just fine. It just doesn't like closing properly for me.

I'm starting to think I'm one of the only developers on these forums that has had a crash free experience with Apple Silicon. I'm on an M1 w/ 16GB RAM and zero crashes. I'm able to do perform tasks both inside the editor and in bash scripts without any trouble. Creating builds for Windows, macOS, and iOS.

 

2020.3 LTS aka 10x will soon be ending its cycle, it was a good run with very little, massive breaking points.
I cannot say the same for older versions and will just try to forget about that

2021.3 LTS aka 12x is only in 19 versions in so far.
most of the breaking changes already happen in the first few api's during tech release an feel stable now.
however, the editor is sluggish an slow for day-to-day workflow.

2022.2 aka 14x is still in tech cycle.
In URP have a number of bug reports confirmed and tracking mostly related to GI issues introduced from the new cluster reflection systems. HDRP 14x is good for me and a joy to work in

2023.1 aka 15x is in beta
so far not too many changes different from 14x
URP bugs from 14x are still open in 15x
HDRP no problems yet


overall URP vs HDRP
HDRP is a lot more stable than URP an change's that do role out feel well organized.
URP is still undergoing heavy changes; a lot of systems are not fully integrated to the Unity core unlike HDRP for the same systems.

 

I will add that the 2022.2.x Unity engine has massive issues with its Editor UI that slows it down and throws a bunch of GUI error now and then. About 5% of the selection in the editor/scene results in the Inspector's GUI to only load the default UI and not display the actual content. (For example, components frames are visible in the Inspector window, but there is nothing in it. Like having a "Transform" panel in the Inspector that has no Position/Rotation/Scale entry fields.)
This is what it looks like :



There's clearly something broken in the cache/memory of 2022.2.x because the content stored by the engine in the Library folder makes no sense. A project with 254KB of files in its assets folder generate, initially, 1.54GB of files in the Library folder. After 2 hours of working with that project without importing anything new, but only by editing the codes and modifying the exposed variables in the Inspector of said code, the Library folder is now over 1.72GB in size and the compilation time for any changes in the code takes ~18 secs and play-testing the scene takes around ~24s to starts. That's a >30s of wait time per test attempt for minor codes changes. If each test takes about 30s to complete, that's a over 30min lost per hour in time from compilation over a project with less than 1MB of assets/codes/audio/content.

If that was a persistent problem, I wouldn't make such a point about it, but closing the project's editor, then cleaning the Library folder and reopening the project in the editor and recompiling the project temporary fixes the wait time back to less than 1 sec until, about 2 hours later of minor edits in codes, the compilation time returns to its slow crawling speed.

I agree that using the LTS version is a good way of preventing issues such as this, but there comes the problem where, at this point, the difference between the LTS and the Tech Stream is basically like day & night and quite a few of the fixes requested during the LTS version are only available in the Tech Stream version and might never be in the LTS version.

For example, the LTS 2021 version are still using the experimental package of the AI package (which fixes a lot of the issues with the NavMeshAgent) while the 2022.2 version has the latest version that is not in experimental stage anymore. It's the same with Cinemachine which, in 2022.2, had quite a few changes from the latest version available in the LTS 2021 version and Cinemachine 3.0 is supposedly just around the corner with massive internal fixes and less clunkiness. Do you think that Cinemachine 3.0 will come to the LTS 2021 when it's released in the 2022.2 or whatever version it will be at that point? Not likely.

 

From my experience, over the last year, the editor version of 2021 LTS went from buggy but performant to barely usable.
Now other devs are saying that after upgrading to 2022.2, their games started crashing for some users.

I haven't seen such a downgrade in quality since the 2019 release cycle. Though I'm not surprised, the company fired one team that could potentially test the editor in depth.

 

Meanwhile due to seeing no advantage to downloading the latest patch release I'm getting good performance.

 

I am working with 2022.2.x for my game. I agree with you that something in the default project has issues as I sometimes get internal unity errors that won't get in 2021 LTS.

 

I believe I read recently that you can only submit for the Xbox with DX12, which is not available in 2021LTS, only 2022.

 

Anything concerning the consoles that isn't from an official source should be completely disregarded. If they knew for certain they would have learned about it through one and in that case they would be blocked from discussing it by the NDA.

 

Is the LTS version more stable? I’ve been using 2022.2 and its honestly unusable. Crashes constantly, prefabs are broken and missing for no reason when I launch unity, anytime I click something in the editor I have to wait for a loading bar that sometimes hangs for 20-30 mins and crashes…My favorite is when the engine crashes and deletes the scene that was open! Really awesome…anyways is the LTS any better lol

 

I still haven't heard anything positive about 2022 aside from an instance where they finally fixed some graphical resource leaks that had been happening the entire release cycle up until last month.

https://forum.unity.com/threads/profiling-and-managing-vram-in-urp.1499435/#post-9380114

 

Both Versions of Unity LTS 2021 & 2022 are Unstable both crash constantly both have huge issues with content and HDRP displaying particles correctly among other files, most of this is a scam isn't it i'm pretty sure because most of it doesn't work compared to Unreal Engine, the only issues i had was with bridge compatibility which has resolved in the past few versions.
Using content in Unity is expensive, time consuming for no reason because you're fixing content that should work out of the box in any pipeline for the current version if it's sold on marketplace, The only thing i like about unity is the Bridge to my other studio content but due to horrendous problems just trying to get Unity purchased market assets to work i find it difficult to move forward into any serious development with Unity as most my time is spent fixing Content that is supposed to work in HDRP but doesn't show correctly even tho you have spent time setting up everything in project settings and pipeline options.

Fact is every time i use Unity a different fault occurs, i'm more fault finding & fixing then actually developing my own content, Lets face it Unreal has the better product, more stable has less issues with materials in render, it shares material files rather then using copious amounts of the same texture taking up less caching than Unity.
You buy a product from Unreal marketplace store all you have to do is wait for shaders to compile after adding it to you're project and loading the map in viewer.
Dealing with materials in Unreal is easier than Unity with way less fuss, simulating clothing & animating is easier in Ureal, Painting meshes is easier in Unreal, you can easily rig any skeleton to Unreal's mannequin for animations and make adjustments to the bone structure quickly.

Best thing of all is Blueprint in Unreal this allows you to manage core code better in widgets, you can easily add or change needed meta data in blueprint once you get used to it.

Unity has a good layout and is fairly easy to understand but way too complex to fix simple graphic issues and get models & meshes displaying correctly compared to Unreal which save you so much hassle on so many levels, fact is Unreal is cheaper for Australian developers to use while Unity charges GST tax on all items plus charges USD which on the exchange rate is dismal right now that along with you're slogged with a foreign transaction free which is like 3% on any transaction making Unreal way cheaper for those in the south Pacific region.

 

Wtf happened to this engine I dont get what to do about it. I literally start up the engine some days and scenes or prefabs are corrupt and I lose at the very least a days worth of work that I backed up. I have to backup the project every time I work its insane.

 

First of all, when you experience issues like these and you suspect Unity is at fault it is downright masochistic NOT to try a newer Unity version that may or may not have fixed these, or any attempt at analyzing and narrowing down the cause of these severe (!) issues. I question your workflow more than Unity at this point. Case in point: you ask a question that ends with „lol“.

Analyzing issues like these should be the very first thing you do when they occur frequently and cause a significant loss of work, rather than sitting it out until frustration reaches a boiling point. You will have the same experience with any other game engine if that‘s your modus operandi.

Note that such issues can have numerous causes, including an unstable system, faulty hardware, both malware and anti-malware scanners, the usual „delete your Library folder and see if the odd issue goes away“ and rather commonly editor scripts that are either badly programmed or not fully compatible with the current editor version.

 

Ok so going back remaking the project over and over again fixing faults to a point you just delete the project and start a fresh one with a new approach to how you install and manage each file, i have to scrutinise every file i add into Unity now and can't rely on good programming and technology to help me make things easier for my human brain who can only think so fast with physical limitations on data handling when A.I could sort of all this out if programmed right and save me a bunch of time.
No instead i find my time is spent fixing basic meshes & textures just to display in the formats Unity runs, you would think current technology would of made this a much easier process as with other editors & the functions they have seem superior to Unities handling of materials for the renders it produces.

Not being an expert in Unity yes my workflow is probably complete S*** but i have to start somewhere don't i, that's if i want to learn anything.
I don't find reading tech manuals easy reading and only necessary to the task at hand. I don't read every technical manual in the world in the hopes I'll know everything. So while you may have spent 6 years in some university training on boring programs to get to this point you probably have a better work flow and should have some idea how industry works in a real business sense where people like me are just learning a product offered over the internet much like any other application, service or course offered online.

Please list the required workflow here because i don't think there is a standard in the I.T industry with it's vast array of languages & programming code, being in the I.T industry is very much on the same level of the medical profession as you are required to keep upto date with current forms of technology much like a Doctor keeps upto date with new therapies & treatments.

Most people at this point would know something about computer hardware and issues that arise from it's continual use so that's no excuse not knowing you need certain technology to make full use of newer software formats, example drivers for video cards and updating them should be something so basic most users can understand at our current tech level.

This isn't the 1980s when i grew up we had Apple 2 E''s with MONOCROME VGA screens on VACCUM TUBE technology, i think i have progressed when i now have 256GB Mainboard running 10 physical processors at the core with the video cards extra processing power, liquid cooled with solid state drive, NO SPINNING DISC's in my machine, i have seen everything been developed since the days of COLLECO VISION! so i keep upto date with tech but i still don't know every new format or how to get it working correctly with out good help.

 

This sounds more like you're dealing with local filesystem corruption issues than something on Unity's end.

 

Skip straight to Unity 2023. That's basically what I was doing prior to the fiasco.

 

It's not the same as "corrupt" but certain 2022 versions did change prefab GUIDs randomly which made things a lot of fun: https://forum.unity.com/threads/uni...prefabs-and-gos-guid-because-why-not.1421048/

 

Stuff like this happens a lot with particles in any version of Unity then i'm forced to make quick fixes but not the correct ones like this.

This is about the best i can fix particle issues but i have to use a different method near every time for a variety of package files.

The HDRP Wizard doesn't correct particles so setting to unlit is a constant issue in both 2021 & 2022 LTS branches.

Rarely do i find particles are packaged correctly for Unity to read in HDRP.

 

Except you're saying things like "Unity is crashing all the time" and having to remake the project over and over. This sounds less like a Unity issue and more like something is wrong with your computer. Hell, in your own screenshots, we see more indications that something's wrong on your end because your own log is showing that something's throwing up null reference exceptions.

HDRP particle issues are an annoyance, but other things you've brought up speak to a broader issue that seems to be on your end.

 

Like I said elsewhere I think it's asset incompatibility. Just looking at that last screenshot I see two major assets related to shaders and I can't find any evidence online that they're compatible.

 

You can't reasonably expect to import a ton of random assets and have everything magically work. At the very least you need to be able to update any assets that were created for older releases of the pipelines like that desert one.

https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/c...0/manual/Upgrading-from-2021.1-to-2021.2.html

 

Yeah i can it's called Unreal Engine.

 

Go use it then.

 

I use both editors but i can point out Unity's flaws which it has many, i would also like to use Unity as well as it does have some benefits plus i own content and the bridge into Unity actually works alright probably because it's not made by half the douche bags selling bad products on Unity market.

Really you're going to point me to updates and say that's the issue, i wish you developers would keep your content upto date so it works.

The file shown here is most recent for the version.

Next you'll say my videocard drivers are out of date, hell maybe i need to re arrange my BIOS right! lol.

 

You're free to point out the ones that are legit but this is just PEBKAC.

 

Yeah I opted with 2023 for my latest long-term project to make use of some of the newer 2d features, and it's been pretty smooth all things considered. Not perfect - it is a preview version - but I haven't had any showstoppers. I get the odd crash when deleting scripts, but haven't lost any project progress in the process.

People selling shoddy stuff on the Marketplace isn't really a fault of Unity or relevant to a specific version of Unity being buggy. It's going to happen on any marketplace. It sucks, sure. But you should just apply for a refund and move on.

Or make your own content so you don't run into these issues.

 

Yeah that's right it's not Unity's fault when it comes to bad products that fail to keep updated with current versions but i have been using Unity over quite a few versions and can safely say sometimes it's just a bad Unity version too.

I expect crashes when pushing the limits not on ordinary stuff like looking at the material folder & scrolling to quickly for Unity to crash, none of my other editors do this when looking at content because they are stable and they hold just as much if not more content, i have had projects in Unreal over 700gb with zero issues.
I have proven the power of my rig in certain editors some versions just fall over regardless of computer power and when it comes to bad products or so called templates that work well most of you can't code for S*** when you have such poor quality work being sold in the market, i mean not one of these developers can give us a blueprint to work with it's all bits of this and bits of that, try and put it together like a Frankenstein monster kit.

I can port over all my own assets as i know they work but i would like some other artists in my projects, if you choose to sell me crap content then i just can't use you in further project and you'll lose money not me.

 

I have dozens of Unity projects of various sizes, using multiple different pipelines, across multiple different versions. This is not expected behaviour in this editor either. Something is happening that is specific to you. I can go so far as to say that I haven ever had Unity crash at all when looking at materials.

This is why you're getting pushback. This is clearly outside the norm.

 

You are member of Unity forum since 2010 and still not using Version Control?
Because you would have saved most of your frustration.

 

I just wish Version Control was more obvious/visible and not hidden away somewhere.
It's the most un-used "thing" in the whole of Unity and the "instructions" are nearly invisible and certainly not friendly or intuitive to many of us. Sure you serious Devs always use it but many of us don't really understand how bloody important it is. Hint: Make it easier to understand and use.

 

Unity's version control is F***ing garbage anyway. There's more reasons than just inertia that people use Git.