PlayerLoop.SetPlayerLoop

Description

Set a new custom update order for all engine systems in Unity.

Use SetPlayerLoop to specify a custom update order for the Player loop. The PlayerLoopSystem supplied as the loop parameter becomes the new current Player loop returned by GetCurrentPlayerLoop. The new update order does not take effect until the next full Player loop iteration, but the changes are immediately visible in subsequent calls to GetCurrentPlayerLoop.

Only systems included in the new Player loop will run. You can insert custom script entry points in the update order before setting it. For example, this allows you to add a script that runs immediately before physics, or in other places where scripts are not run by default.

The following example inserts a custom Player loop system that runs after the PreLateUpdate system in the Player loop. The custom system's updateDelegate is assigned the CustomUpdate method, which prints a message to the console when it runs.

Additional resources: PlayerLoopSystem.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine.LowLevel;
using UnityEngine.PlayerLoop;
using UnityEngine;

// Insert a custom update at a specified point (after an existing update phase) in the Unity Player Loop.

public class MyCustomUpdate { } // Empty class to use as a type identifier for the custom update

public static class InsertSystem
{
    //Run this method on runtime initialization
    [RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod]
    private static void AppStart()
    {
        // Retrieve the default Player loop system. Get the current loop instead if the default was already modified previously.
        var defaultLoop = PlayerLoop.GetDefaultPlayerLoop();

        // Create a custom update system
        var myCustomUpdate = new PlayerLoopSystem
        {
            subSystemList = null,
            updateDelegate = CustomUpdate,
            type = typeof(MyCustomUpdate)
        };
        // Add the custom update system after the PreLateUpdate phase in the Player Loop
        var loopWithCustomUpdate = InsertSystemAfter<PreLateUpdate>(in defaultLoop, myCustomUpdate);
        PlayerLoop.SetPlayerLoop(loopWithCustomUpdate);
    }

    private static PlayerLoopSystem InsertSystemAfter<T>(in PlayerLoopSystem loopSystem, PlayerLoopSystem newSystem) where T : struct
    {
        // Create a new root PlayerLoopSystem
        PlayerLoopSystem newPlayerLoop = new()
        {
            loopConditionFunction = loopSystem.loopConditionFunction,
            type = loopSystem.type,
            updateDelegate = loopSystem.updateDelegate,
            updateFunction = loopSystem.updateFunction
        };
        // Create a new list to populate with subsystems, including the custom system
        List<PlayerLoopSystem> newSubSystemList = new();

        //Iterate through the subsystems in the existing loop we passed in and add them to the new list
        if (loopSystem.subSystemList != null)
        {
            for (var i = 0; i < loopSystem.subSystemList.Length; i++)
            {
                newSubSystemList.Add(loopSystem.subSystemList[i]);
                // If the previously added subsystem is of the type to add after, add the custom system
                if (loopSystem.subSystemList[i].type == typeof(T))
                {
                    newSubSystemList.Add(newSystem);
                }
            }
        }

        newPlayerLoop.subSystemList = newSubSystemList.ToArray();
        return newPlayerLoop;
    }

    //Custom update function that will be called in the Player Loop
    private static void CustomUpdate()
    {
        Debug.Log("Custom update running!");
    }

}