Official Visibility changes for preview packages in 2020.1

(From the blogpost): "if a preview package is visible in the Package Manager in Unity 2020.1, we plan for it to be verified by the time we reach the Unity 2020 LTS release."

I am confused. Does that mean that a month before an LTS release, we will get close to none new preview packages because they would never make it in time? Although I like the sentiment, this guidepost is extremely unclear to me.

While I'm talking, +1 on "show experimental packages" which should ideally be renamed to "show alpha packages".

 

but but but, you already need to opt in *sigh*

 

So this was the source of all my confusion! This makes absolutely no sense. I thought the collections package disappearing was a bug, but it's intentional? You guys advertised collections and burst for improved 2D bone animation performance in your 2020 showcase; why would you remove it?

The latest version of collections has been bricking empty projects for months, and instead of updating it, you just remove it... nice. Stop advertising 2D bone animation as a feature if it's not going to be production ready for the next 20 years.

 

Hello!
I want to start making multiplayer game and decide to use the new NetCode, I read the guide here: https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.netcode@0.3/manual/getting-started.html and install packages Entities, Hybrid Renderer, NetCode, and Transport.

After installations, I got this compile error:

I tried to comment out the error line but restarting Unity will revert that line back.

is there anyways to get around this?

I'm using Unity 2020.1.5f1

 

From the animation package documentation
"The package has been tested with Burst version 1.3.3 and Collections version 0.9.0-preview.6.“
check if your Burst version and Collections version match or remove the animation package.

 

Hi, thank for the reply.

Burst and Collections packages were indeed missing but I wasn't able to install Collections version 0.9.0-preview.6
I tried install with git URL:

but Unity package resolving appear a bit and disappear, package Collections does not appear in Package Manager (it appears in manifest.json, though)

I installed the latest version of Collections but that does not resolve the previous error.

I think I will remove "2D Animation" package for now and focus on comprehend the NetCode.

also: for anyone who're new to NetCode: code in getting-started page of NetCode is outdated, you should download the sample.

 

FYI, to modify a package, pull it into <project directory>/packages. As you found out, you can't modify the package cache, but you can just embed the package.

 

Uhh... what?

 

Getting the same issue - Unity NetCode 0.4.0-preview.1, released on sept 17 is giving me the following:

Library\PackageCache\com.unity.2d.animation@4.2.5\Runtime\TransformAccessJob.cs(196,62): error CS1061: 'NativeHashMap<int, TransformAccessJob.TransformData>' does not contain a definition for 'Length' and no accessible extension method 'Length' accepting a first argument of type 'NativeHashMap<int, TransformAccessJob.TransformData>' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

Anybody got NetCode working, and if so, what package were they using?

 

I dont understand why this would be the case, what if need to upgrade some package or use some new feature ?

Please dont do this, we worked with some of these packages and need them.

 

This is extremely strange

 

Packages you added to your project are shown in the package manager and can also be updated there.

 

I mean if upgrade the project to 2020 unity

 

The packages will still be there if you upgrade. Only new projects have to manually add the packages.

 

I see, but if i move from 2019 to 2020 and one of packages i have could be updated to more compatible to 2020 version, will now have to be done manually, making the use of all those packages extremely harder and eventually unusable

Because keeping versioning outside the manager and install all new things manually would be crazy harder.

From my understanding is like Unity declare clearly "dont use these packages" and try to make it near impossible in 2020 version to enforce that.

 

Exactly, this is way beyond crazy.

 

No. When you insert a package into the manifest, it is tracked and can be upgraded from inside the manager, unless you embedded it directly into the packages folder.

 

I see, so if package is already there will still show in package manager, only if was not there ont be able to see it.

If so should be ok i guess

 

Yep, this change affects discoverability, rather than subsequent visibility.

 

I personally don't like this change
But if only preview packages that are "near" to be verified appears...

Explain me this:



If Entities are not near to be verified why does even appear Unity NetCode!?

 

That’s a good point

 

Another strange one is Havok physics being visible but Unity physics isn't

 

That's because Havok isn't part of the Unity family, so they can have their own rules. That said, perhaps they 'are' going to adjust in the future and they just want to readjust at their own pace. It still is a moot point, as all these 'improvements' still seem unjustified: being close to no documentation on ECS sure as hell didn't stop me (try and) learning it.

 

Just stumbled upon this and I find it so monumentally stupid that you are trying to justify having us use a list of URLs in a forum post like it's 1995 or something. I think most developers understand that "Preview" might also mean "use at your own risk" (and if they don't, that should be on them) but if you MUST separate them, make a new category in the package manager (Experimental, Unstable, whatever). DOTS/ECS is heavily promoted by Unity but it's an absolute garbage experience getting started with it in 2020.
Instead of just downloading the package and getting started with code examples, I have to find a semi-outdated YouTube video telling me the "Enable Preview Packages" checkbox has moved, then discover that this checkbox actually does nothing at all for DOTS/ECS packages, then find a blog post that makes it sound like the packages are deprecated, get confused, finally find this thread, then get infuriated.
What is even the point of having an integrated package manager if I have to use external resources to discover packages and copy paste text to download them? How many layers of protection are you going to put up to stop PROGRAMMERS from finding the features that YOU are promoting?

 

Yeah, this seems like a major step backwards. Does Unity think developers don't understand what "preview" means?

Judging from the huge amount of negative responses and the fact that the blog post is closed for comments, it seems like they made this decision without consulting users at all about it.

 

I doubt anyone at Unity will read this, and let me say I hate forums, the only way I ever end up here is if a google search send me here, but tonight after few hours trying to figure out the state of com.unity.ai.planner I find myself here:

So I have haven't used Unity for a few years, come back a few weeks ago and looking to play around, a little hobby game development for fun, maybe work on that VR game again. Check out what's new.

I learn you have a package manager, wonderful, finally, since you know every other tech stack I use has been doing this for a decade or more (cargo, npm, pip, nuget). Yours its a bit basic but hey, it works and its clearly the best strategy anyone has figured out to automates the process of installing and upgrading dependencies.

Then I find this thread after wandering why com.unity.ai.planner wasn't in the list like your docs say, and the idea your removing them is real WTF moment because people playing with experimental things. The version number itself should tell most people as to the status, but to just remove is beyond stupid, if anything improve your PM, build a indexing service like crates.io or npmjs.com for open source packages to improve discoverability and get more people contributing and working together to build amazing things.

 

I have just had the exact same experience.

 

For some reason the Disabling annoying warning on toolbar script is not working in 2020.2.0b7

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
DisablePreviewPackageWarning.Init () (at Assets/DisablePreviewPackageWarning.cs:18)

Any tips how to fix this?

 

Like others, just wasted a few hours wondering why the heck Unity Physics and Entities packages would not show up in the Package Manager..... Ughhhhh

 

Updated the scripts to 2020.2 beta

Showing extra packages in PackageManager:

Code (CSharp):

1. using System;
2. using System.Collections.Generic;
3. using System.Linq;
4. using System.Reflection;
5. using System.Text;
6. using System.Threading.Tasks;
7. using UnityEditor;
8. using UnityEditor.PackageManager;
9. using UnityEditor.PackageManager.Requests;
10. using UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI;
11. using Object = UnityEngine.Object;
12. using PackageInfo = UnityEditor.PackageManager.PackageInfo;
13.  
14. public static class DiscoverExtraPackages
15. {
16.     static string[] m_extraPackages = new string[]
17.     {
18.         "com.ptc.vuforia.engine",
19.         "com.unity.2d.entities",
20.         "com.unity.ai.planner",
21.         "com.unity.aovrecorder",
22.         "com.unity.assetbundlebrowser",
23.         "com.unity.assetgraph",
24.         "com.unity.barracuda",
25.         "com.unity.barracuda.burst",
26.         "com.unity.build-report-inspector",
27.         "com.unity.cloud.userreporting",
28.         "com.unity.collections",
29.         "com.unity.connect.share",
30.         "com.unity.dots.editor",
31.         "com.unity.entities",
32.         "com.unity.film-tv.toolbox",
33.         "com.unity.google.resonance.audio",
34.         "com.unity.immediate-window",
35.         "com.unity.mathematics",
36.         "com.unity.meshsync",
37.         "com.unity.multiplayer-hlapi",
38.         "com.unity.package-manager-doctools",
39.         "com.unity.package-manager-ui",
40.         "com.unity.package-validation-suite",
41.         "com.unity.physics",
42.         "com.unity.platforms",
43.         "com.unity.platforms.android",
44.         "com.unity.platforms.linux",
45.         "com.unity.platforms.macos",
46.         "com.unity.platforms.web",
47.         "com.unity.platforms.windows",
48.         "com.unity.playablegraph-visualizer",
49.         "com.unity.render-pipelines.lightweight",
50.         "com.unity.rendering.hybrid",
51.         "com.unity.renderstreaming",
52.         "com.unity.scene-template",
53.         "com.unity.simulation.client",
54.         "com.unity.simulation.core",
55.         "com.unity.simulation.capture",
56.         "com.unity.simulation.games",
57.         "com.unity.standardevents",
58.         "com.unity.streaming-image-sequence",
59.         "com.unity.test-framework.performance",
60.         "com.unity.tiny.all",
61.         "com.unity.transport",
62.         "com.unity.upm.develop",
63.         "com.unity.vectorgraphics",
64.         "com.unity.webrtc",
65.         "com.unity.xr.googlevr.android",
66.         "com.unity.xr.googlevr.ios",
67.         "com.unity.xr.legacyinputhelpers",
68.         "com.unity.xr.oculus.android",
69.         "com.unity.xr.oculus.standalone",
70.         "com.unity.xr.openvr.standalone",
71.         "com.unity.xr.arsubsystems",
72.         "com.unity.xr.interactionsubsystems",
73.         "com.unity.xr.windowsmr.metro",
74.     };
75.  
76.     static Type serviceContainerType = typeof(PackageManagerExtensions).Assembly.GetType("UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI.ServicesContainer");
77.     static object serviceContainer = serviceContainerType.BaseType.GetProperty("instance", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static).GetValue(null);
78.  
79.     static Type m_cacheType = typeof(PackageManagerExtensions).Assembly.GetType("UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI.UpmCache");
80.     static Type m_operationType = typeof(PackageManagerExtensions).Assembly.GetType("UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI.IOperation");
81.     static PropertyInfo m_getPackageInfos = m_cacheType.GetProperty("searchPackageInfos");
82.     static MethodInfo m_setPackageInfos = m_cacheType.GetMethod("SetSearchPackageInfos");
83.     static PropertyInfo m_operationInProgress = m_operationType.GetProperty("isInProgress");
84.  
85.     static EditorApplication.CallbackFunction m_callback = OnProgress;
86.     static List<SearchRequest> m_requests = new List<SearchRequest>(32);
87.     static object m_searchAllOperation;
88.  
89.     [InitializeOnLoadMethod]
90.     static void Init()
91.     {
92.         // Hook package manager SearchAll operation
93.         var clientType = typeof(PackageManagerExtensions).Assembly.GetType("UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI.UpmClient");
94.         var instance = serviceContainerType.GetMethod("Resolve").MakeGenericMethod(clientType).Invoke(serviceContainer, null);
95.        
96.         var evnt = instance.GetType().GetEvent("onSearchAllOperation");
97.         evnt.AddEventHandler(instance, Delegate.CreateDelegate(evnt.EventHandlerType, new Action<object>(OnSearchAll).Method));
98.     }
99.  
100.     static void OnSearchAll(object operation)
101.     {
102.         m_searchAllOperation = operation;
103.  
104.         // Clear requests, in case any searches are running, they will finish without doing anything
105.         m_requests.Clear();
106.  
107.         // Kick off searching
108.         foreach (var id in m_extraPackages)
109.         {
110.             m_requests.Add(Client.Search(id));
111.         }
112.  
113.         // Re-register update callback
114.         EditorApplication.update -= m_callback;
115.         EditorApplication.update += m_callback;
116.     }
117.  
118.     private static void OnProgress()
119.     {
120.         // Wait for all requests to complete and for SearchAll opeartion to finish
121.         if (m_requests.All(s => s.IsCompleted) && !(bool)m_operationInProgress.GetValue(m_searchAllOperation))
122.         {
123.             // Then add results
124.             var instance = serviceContainerType.GetMethod("Resolve").MakeGenericMethod(m_cacheType).Invoke(serviceContainer, null);
125.             var packages = ((IEnumerable<PackageInfo>)m_getPackageInfos.GetValue(instance, null));
126.             var everything = m_requests.Where(s => s.Status == StatusCode.Success).SelectMany(s => s.Result).Union(packages);
127.             m_setPackageInfos.Invoke(instance, new object[] { everything });
128.  
129.             EditorApplication.update -= m_callback;
130.             m_requests.Clear();
131.             m_searchAllOperation = null;
132.         }
133.     }
134. }

Disabling annoying button on toolbar:

Code (CSharp):

1. using System;
2. using System.Collections.Generic;
3. using System.Linq;
4. using System.Reflection;
5. using System.Text;
6. using System.Threading.Tasks;
7. using UnityEditor;
8. using UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI;
9. using UnityEngine;
10. using Object = UnityEngine.Object;
11.  
12. public static class DisablePreviewPackageWarning
13. {
14.     [InitializeOnLoadMethod]
15.     static void Init()
16.     {
17.         var prefsType = typeof(PackageManagerExtensions).Assembly.GetType("UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI.PackageManagerPrefs");
18.         var serviceContainerType = typeof(PackageManagerExtensions).Assembly.GetType("UnityEditor.PackageManager.UI.ServicesContainer");
19.         var serviceContainer = serviceContainerType.BaseType.GetProperty("instance", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static).GetValue(null);
20.         var prefsInstance = serviceContainerType.GetMethod("Resolve").MakeGenericMethod(prefsType).Invoke(serviceContainer, null);
21.         var property = prefsInstance.GetType().GetProperty("dismissPreviewPackagesInUse", BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
22.         property.SetValue(prefsInstance, true);  
23.     }
24. }

 

These are great, thanks for doing this.

May I suggest perhaps starting a new thread in this forum to post these scripts in, though also keep this thread updated with any changes. Having a dedicated thread would be better for future updates and discoverability.

 

So that's why I wasted an hour trying to find Unity.Mathematics in the package manager during a game jam. Great.

 

Updated script to support both 2020.1 and 2020.2, started new thread:
https://forum.unity.com/threads/package-manager-showing-hidden-packages-script.995506/

 

Unity Fail..... WTF... because all Unity developers are too stupid to understand what a preview package is ??

 

Like others wasted time wondering why I can't find DOTS in 2020.1... found this via Google and WTF! Unity is really turning into a cluster f**k and I've been using it since the beginning, so a bit dismayed.

Cheers.

 

It's funny indeed. In 2019 NetCode was announced to be ready in 2020. In 2020 it's 2021.

How NetCode has expected release date and Entities don't?

 

This is beyond dumb.

There are packages in there are have dependencies that aren't available...

Now all of the DOTS guides are out of date. Meanwhile, here is an up to date guide - https://medium.com/@jeffreymlynch/where-are-the-missing-preview-packages-in-unity-2020-3ad0935e4193

 

Hi @LeonhardP I am currently in Unity 2021.1.0a4.949 and in the package manager there is no Terrain Tools even though I have "Enable Pre-release Packages" activated and I cannot find it in the list of the first post to be able to download it from git

Any help on how can I find TerrainTools?
Cheers

 

I just wanted to create a new project for a bug report ... I must admit this decision was incredibly stupid and I simply can't find any point to support this decision.

However, thanks to @OndrejP who fixes, what should not require fixing....

 

I do wonder if the issue isn't the decision itself, it's more the fact that there's some doublespeak coming from Unity themselves.

I suspect what they actually mean is "all these projects have pretty much been cancelled. We wish we'd never given the impression they were officially blessed in the first place. To avoid the possible outcry that will result from this decision we're going to put them in a sort of limbo".

I don't think this is the full picture - but it's definitely true of some of the affected packages.

I wish there was a clearer distinction between "yeah - these are pretty much abandonded" packages and others that might have a slightly brighter future.

 

Just coming back to Unity during my vacation to learn more about DOTS and go through some tutorials and got stuck wasting a bunch of time trying to find out what step I was missing from every video showing to add these packages that don't exist.

This seems so backwards from every single package manager (NuGet, NPM, etc.). Making me second guess if I should be coming back to Unity, so many things seem like they are in half baked states with lack of unified vision

 

How do you downgrade a package now? I'm trying to refer to an older version of entities. If I click the older version in package manager and hit update, nothing happens. If I remove it, and type in the com.unity.entities, then it just installs the latest. How do I install a specific version?

 

In File Explorer, navigate to your project and find Packages > manifest.json. It should be pretty self-explanatory from there, just type in package name and version number. Don't forget the "quotation marks" and the comma,

 

terrible idea, its gonna make Unreal wins the battle , good

 

What a mess... Best way to discourage people to try to learn Unity ECS/DOTS. Who is the stupid that doesn't understand that a preview package isn't production ready? I mean, you add pain to all your enthusiast community for some guys that should not be coding?

I tried to guess the package name(com.unity.entities) and add, nothing. No errors, no confirmation, no new package. What's the point of doing so much unity conference about dots if you try to prevents developer of testing it?

 

Fill this survey https://forum.unity.com/threads/unity-packages-survey.1015492/ and type to reverse this change

 

Finally, some progress... but another survey? At this point we just want a button to show ALL packages again so we can find the darned things to install them without jumping through a million hoops.

 

I too am a bit confused why some preview packages do not appear in the list even when "Enable Preview Packages" is checked. Are these not official packages anymore? com.unity.vectorgraphics for example received an update in january, so while there does not seem to be a ton of development going on, I'd still consider this a lifesign?

 

Hi AzurySimon, com.unity.vectorgraphics is a good example of a package that got released as "preview" but should have been "experimental" as there is no team is actively supporting it.
This is the reason why we now make it distinct for -exp and -pre packages. The -pre packages have a commitment of shipping in the same version or year (major).

 

I may have already stated this in the thread, but vectorgraphics package really helped me out of a bind in a client project last year, so to learn of its removal was very disappointing. Even more disappointing to hear such a useful package has no team assigned to it and that presumably it will never get out of 'experimental' and will not be visible to developers.

I didn't run into any problems with it and although it could be improved I felt it was a pretty mature package to begin with.