Implemented string deduplication for serializer

Every unique string will now be serialized only once.
Reduces save size by ~20%

lib/serializer/BinaryDeserializer.h

@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ public:
 	bool reverseEndianness; //if source has different endianness than us, we reverse bytes
 	Version version;
 
+	std::vector<std::string> loadedStrings;
 	std::map<ui32, void*> loadedPointers;
 	std::map<const void*, std::shared_ptr<void>> loadedSharedPointers;
 	IGameCallback * cb = nullptr;
@@ -450,11 +451,35 @@ public:
 		}
 	}
 	void load(std::string &data)
+	{
+		if (hasFeature(Version::COMPACT_STRING_SERIALIZATION))
+		{
+			int32_t length;
+			load(length);
+
+			if (length < 0)
+			{
+				int32_t stringID = -length - 1; // -1, -2 ... -> 0, 1 ...
+				data = loadedStrings[stringID];
+			}
+			if (length == 0)
+			{
+				data = {};
+			}
+			if (length > 0)
+			{
+				data.resize(length);
+				this->read(static_cast<void *>(data.data()), length, false);
+				loadedStrings.push_back(data);
+			}
+		}
+		else
 		{
 			ui32 length = readAndCheckLength();
 			data.resize(length);
 			this->read(static_cast<void *>(data.data()), length, false);
 		}
+	}
 
 	template<typename... TN>
 	void load(std::variant<TN...> & data)

lib/serializer/BinarySerializer.h

@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ class DLL_LINKAGE BinarySerializer : public CSaverBase
 public:
 	using Version = ESerializationVersion;
 
+	std::map<std::string, uint32_t> savedStrings;
 	std::map<const void*, ui32> savedPointers;
 
 	const Version version = Version::CURRENT;
@@ -322,11 +323,42 @@ public:
 		for(auto i = d.begin(); i != d.end(); i++)
 			save(*i);
 	}
+
 	void save(const std::string &data)
+	{
+		if (hasFeature(Version::COMPACT_STRING_SERIALIZATION))
+		{
+			if (data.empty())
+			{
+				save(ui32(0));
+				return;
+			}
+
+			auto it = savedStrings.find(data);
+
+			if (it == savedStrings.end())
+			{
+				save(ui32(data.length()));
+				this->write(static_cast<const void *>(data.data()), data.size());
+
+				// -1, -2...
+				int32_t newStringID = -1 - savedStrings.size();
+
+				savedStrings[data] = newStringID;
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				int32_t index = it->second;
+				save(index);
+			}
+		}
+		else
 		{
 			save(ui32(data.length()));
 			this->write(static_cast<const void *>(data.data()), data.size());
 		}
+	}
+
 	template <typename T1, typename T2>
 	void save(const std::pair<T1,T2> &data)
 	{

lib/serializer/Connection.cpp

@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ void CConnection::sendPack(const CPack * pack)
 	boost::mutex::scoped_lock lock(writeMutex);
 
 	auto connectionPtr = networkConnection.lock();
+	serializer->savedStrings.clear();
 
 	if (!connectionPtr)
 		throw std::runtime_error("Attempt to send packet on a closed connection!");
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ CPack * CConnection::retrievePack(const std::vector<std::byte> & data)
 
 	packReader->buffer = &data;
 	packReader->position = 0;
+	deserializer->loadedStrings.clear();
 
 	*deserializer & result;
 

lib/serializer/ESerializationVersion.h

@@ -44,5 +44,7 @@ enum class ESerializationVersion : int32_t
 
 	RELEASE_150 = ARTIFACT_COSTUMES, // for convenience
 
-	CURRENT = ARTIFACT_COSTUMES
+	COMPACT_STRING_SERIALIZATION,
+
+	CURRENT = COMPACT_STRING_SERIALIZATION
 };