NetworkMessage

Generic struct that wraps a typed payload for network serialization. Implements Unity Netcode's INetworkSerializable to handle reading and writing the payload to/from network buffers. Supports a fixed set of primitive types, Unity vector types, and any custom INetworkSerializable type.

Definition

Namespace: Paragon.Core.Network Assembly: Paragon.dll

public struct NetworkMessage<TPayload> : INetworkSerializable

Implements: Unity.Netcode.INetworkSerializable

Remarks

NetworkMessage<TPayload> is a thin serialization wrapper — it does not define message routing or handling. The NetworkMessenger creates instances when sending, and NetworkMessageHandler<TMessage> deserializes them when receiving.

Serialization is handled via type-checked branching rather than generic constraints, which means unsupported types will throw NotSupportedException at runtime, not compile time.

Supported Payload Types

Type	Category
string	Primitive
int	Primitive
byte	Primitive
Vector2	Unity Vector
Vector3	Unity Vector
Vector2Int	Unity Vector
Vector3Int	Unity Vector
Any INetworkSerializable	Custom

Quick Lookup

Goal	How
Create a message	new NetworkMessage<int>(42)
Access the payload	message.Payload
Send over network	Pass to NetworkMessenger.SendMessage() (done internally)

Properties

Payload

The typed payload carried by this message. Read-only after construction.

public TPayload Payload { get; }

Constructor

NetworkMessage(TPayload)

Creates a new message wrapping the given payload.

public NetworkMessage(TPayload payload)

Parameter	Type	Description
payload	TPayload	The value to transport over the network

Methods

NetworkSerialize<T>

Serializes or deserializes the payload using Unity Netcode's BufferSerializer. Called automatically by the Netcode transport layer.

public void NetworkSerialize<T>(BufferSerializer<T> serializer) where T : IReaderWriter

Parameter	Type	Description
serializer	BufferSerializer<T>	The Netcode buffer serializer (reader or writer)

Reading: Determines the payload type, reads the appropriate value from the FastBufferReader, and casts it to TPayload.

Writing: Pattern-matches the payload value to determine its type, writes it to the FastBufferWriter.

Type Parameters

Parameter	Constraint	Description
TPayload	(none)	The type of the message payload. Must be one of the supported types (see below).

Common Pitfalls

Unsupported types throw at runtime There is no compile-time constraint on TPayload. If you use an unsupported type (e.g., float, bool, Quaternion), a NotSupportedException is thrown during serialization. Use one of the supported types listed above, or implement INetworkSerializable on your custom type.

INetworkSerializable payloads require a parameterless constructor When reading an INetworkSerializable payload, the deserializer creates an instance via Activator.CreateInstance(). Ensure your custom type has a public parameterless constructor.

Examples

Primitive Payload

// Create and access
var msg = new NetworkMessage<int>(42);
int value = msg.Payload; // 42

Custom INetworkSerializable Payload

public struct ChatMessage : INetworkSerializable
{
    public string sender;
    public string text;

    public void NetworkSerialize<T>(BufferSerializer<T> serializer) where T : IReaderWriter
    {
        serializer.SerializeValue(ref sender);
        serializer.SerializeValue(ref text);
    }
}

var msg = new NetworkMessage<ChatMessage>(new ChatMessage
{
    sender = "Player1",
    text = "Hello!"
});

See Also

• NetworkMessenger — creates and sends NetworkMessage instances

• NetworkMessageHandler — deserializes received messages

• Messenger Subsystem — subsystem overview