Converting from Mirror

Keep in mind that both PurrNet and Mirror are systems which are constantly evolving and could be prone to change.

Converting from Mirror to PurrNet is fairly simple given that both systems have similar logic for developers.

It is recommended to do the conversion in a separate project in order to use the "old" project for comparison.

Make sure your project is backed up prior to beginning any conversion!

Converting individual parts (& differences)

Network Manager

Both Mirror and PurrNet rely on a NetworkManager to handle network operations, but their implementations differ. This is somewhat what a setup on a gameobject with both systems looks like: Mirror:

• Network Manager

• Transport

• A list of Spawnable Prefabs

• Built-in callbacks for connection management & registering

PurrNet:

• Network Manager

• Transport

To easily setup your Network Manager in just seconds, please have a look at the Getting Started guide.

PurrNet Network Identity vs Mirror Network Identity

In both systems, everything that needs to act on the network, must have a Network Identity attached. The difference being that Mirror's network identity acts as a full gameobject networking component. PurrNet's Network identity is what every networked component inherits from, and isn't a component of its own. This is meant to give the ultimate flexibility for the developer(s).

Comparison

Mirror:

❌ No support for nested networked prefabs.

❌ Single ownership per GameObject.

❌ No runtime un-parenting of transforms.

PurrNet:

✔️ Supports nested prefabs.

✔️ Allows different ownership per component on a GameObject

✔️ Enables dynamic transform management at runtime.

Spawning & Despawning

Handling new objects or removing existing networked objects is a bit different between the systems. In Mirror, you'd need to instantiate the object and spawn the attached NetworkIdentity component. And if you'd want to spawn with ownership, it would be added as a parameter to the spawn call. That would look like this: Mirror:

GameObject go = Instantiate(myPrefab);
NetworkServer.Spawn(go, connectionToClient);
NetworkServer.Destroy(go);

PurrNet handles spawning & despawning automatically, however, if you want to modify something relative to the identity, you can do that at the same time as spawning it, and it will arrive in the same packet. PurrNet:

var identity = Instantiate(myIdentityPrefab);
identity.GiveOwnership(ownerPlayer);
Destroy(identity.gameObject);

RPC's

Working with RPC's from Mirror to PurrNet is pretty easy, as the naming conventions change, but functionality remains. However, there are some key differences in terms of usage. This will depend on your Network Rules so make sure to read up on those. If you are running with a rule set similar to the default "ServerStrict" rules, then the usage will be the same. But if you're running with a rule set similar to the "Unsafe" rules, then you can send any RPC directly from any client!

Mirror	PurrNet
[Command]	[ServerRpc]
[ClientRpc]	[ObserversRpc]
[TargetRpc]	[TargetRpc]

SyncTypes

Synchronizing is a bit different between the systems. It's similar in naming and nature. Both systems are meant to automatically sync for you, however, the setup and usage slightly varies. Other than that, PurrNet also allows for fully owner authorized SyncTypes, making them instantly responsive to it's controller. Read more on this in the individual SyncType guides. Setting up a SyncVar and changing value in Mirror:

[SyncVar]
private string mySyncName;

private void MyMethod(string newName) {
    mySyncName = newName;
}

Setting up a SyncVar and changing value in PurrNet:

private SyncVar<string> mySyncName = new();

private void MyMethod(string newName) {
    mySyncName.value = newName;
}

Subscribing to changes with synchronized variables is also a bit different, but easy with both systems

Mirror:

[SyncVar(hook = nameof(OnNameChange))]
private string mySyncName;

private void OnNameChange(string oldName, string newName) {
    
}

PurrNet

private SyncVar<string> mySyncName = new();

private void Awake() {
    mySyncName.onChanged += OnNameChange;
}

private void OnNameChange(string newName) {
    
}