Weird Material null thing | Official Unity Discord | Page 1

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:23 PM

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I can't follow the replies because of so many replies, going to start a thread

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:23 PM

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Fair

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:23 PM

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👍

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:23 PM

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Try this:
Let's log the ID in the following places:

On startup, on particlePrefab
On the objects that are initialized from ParticlePrefab the first time they are spawned
When Preload is called
When Use is called

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:23 PM

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okay "So, where do you actually call Instantiate on the ParticlePrefab?" let me track this down

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:23 PM

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daring perch Try this: Let's log the ID in the following places: 1. On startup, on `particleP...

Will do

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I just renamed all particlePrefabs into particleInstances because that is what the component is and its confusing me that I named them differently

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the five preloaded particles do not match the use ID

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but the game object the use is being run on, is one of those five

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:30 PM

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So, Preload is 3 Use is 4 I'm assuming On Startup is 1. What are the results of 2?

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When they're first instantiated

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:31 PM

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"On the objects that are initialized from ParticlePrefab the first time they are spawned"

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:31 PM

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When the five objects are first created

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Unless they're in the scene at start?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:31 PM

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My brain is getting rigid, I'm struggling to understand that

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they are spawned by the pool at start

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the five preloads are they

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this never gets called though for some reason

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or wait it is, once, at the end

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it should be being called 5 times I think?

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Im going to set it to not make 5 but I was getting even weirder behaviour when I did that before

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which was only making it harder to dialognose

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there is only a single one in the entire scene

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sceratch that there's two for some reason

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let me see if I can see why

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I think its because my pool is only 1 big, and it always tries to have extras when being used

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so that it never has nothing to spawn from the pool

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okay

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I removed the code that widens the pool

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there is only one instance of the particle

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@daring perch

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the reason i asked if different components can have different IDs

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is because when I click the error ID, it takes me to this component

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which is a component separate from the particle instance, but on the same game object

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aw fuck maybe this is a Reference vs Value problem

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im getting it from my global game manager

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I want to instantiate unique ones though

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could that be whats wrong??

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:41 PM

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Sorry, I had to step away for a bit. I'll read through this real quick

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:42 PM

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drowsy wharf or wait it is, once, at the end

Start is called at the beginning of the first Update loop this object is enabled for. If you enable it, then do a bunch of stuff to it in that same function, it'll all run before start

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:43 PM

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drowsy wharf

Is this genericDamageParticle a Prefab or an object in the scene?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:43 PM

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its a prefab in project

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:43 PM

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Okay, so, somewhere you're calling Instantiate on that, right?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:43 PM

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Yes

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:43 PM

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Can you show that snippet?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:44 PM

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    private void Start()
    {
        InitializePool(itemPoolCount);
        ParticlePoolInstanceManager.Instance.CreateDamageInstance(1, genericDamageParticle); //temp just one instance. 
    }

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global game manager's start

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right, sorry

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the global game manager is making the POOL manager, who then makes the instances within the pool

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let me find that part

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:44 PM

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Yeah, the actual call to Unity's Instantiate

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We're gonna work our way outward

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:45 PM

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    public ParticlePool CreateInstance(int poolsize, ParticleInstance particleInstance)
    {
        if (FindInstance(particleInstance) == null)
        {
            ParticlePool thisInstance = Pool.ExpandPool(this.transform, instanceList, basePrefab); // make one instance of the list.
            thisInstance.gameObject.SetActive(true);
            thisInstance.Initialize(poolsize, particleInstance);
            return thisInstance;
        }
        else
        {
            Debug.LogWarning("Attempted to create particle pool and failed. Did you forget to set a particle instance?");
            return null;
        }
    }

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I wish the thread screen wasnt so narrow, making it hard to read code

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:45 PM

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You can click the thread on the left side in the channel index to open it in the main window

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:45 PM

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Oh, thanks, that worked

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:45 PM

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I still don't see an Instantiate there

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:46 PM

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oh sorry you're right I was misreading initialize

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here we go

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    public static T ExpandPool<T>(Transform parent, List<T> pool, T poolObject) where T : UnityEngine.Component
    {
        T instance = Instantiate(poolObject, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);
        instance.gameObject.SetActive(false);
        instance.transform.SetParent(parent);
        pool.Add(instance);
        return instance;
    }

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actually come to think of it I think you helped me write this function originally

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like a few months ago, when I was learning about <T>

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:47 PM

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Okay, so, this is the single most core bit of code. The closest to Unity's nervous system. Let's start here. Add this right before the return statement:

Debug.Log($"Spawing a copy of {nameof(T)} prefab {poolObject.GetInstanceID()} as new instance {instance.GetInstanceID()}");

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Oh, hang on

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Let's make this more useful. Editing.

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:48 PM

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Okay 👍

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:48 PM

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I think that'll print out what type T is

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so we can see what class it's instantiating as

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:49 PM

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run it after instantiate?

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:49 PM

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Yeah, that'll do

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:49 PM

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... why does that ID not match the other ones 🤔

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:50 PM

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drowsy wharf

Dang. It didn't give us the actual type. Well, we can still see the values. Is this the only place that line runs in your console?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:50 PM

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oh right ExpandPool has overload methods

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:50 PM

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It might be a wholly different pool object. I was hoping nameof(T) would get us what T actually was, but I don't know the syntax for that

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:50 PM

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Ill add it to the overload thats probably getting used

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    public static void ExpandPool<T>(Transform parent, List<T> pool, T poolObject, int size) where T : UnityEngine.Component
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
        {
            T instance = Instantiate(poolObject, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);
            Debug.Log($"Spawing a copy of {nameof(T)} prefab {poolObject.GetInstanceID()} as new instance {instance.GetInstanceID()}");
            instance.gameObject.SetActive(false);
            instance.transform.SetParent(parent);           
            pool.Add(instance);
        }
    }

    public static T ExpandPool<T>(Transform parent, List<T> pool, T poolObject) where T : UnityEngine.Component
    {
        T instance = Instantiate(poolObject, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);
        Debug.Log($"Spawing a copy of {nameof(T)} prefab {poolObject.GetInstanceID()} as new instance {instance.GetInstanceID()}");
        instance.gameObject.SetActive(false);
        instance.transform.SetParent(parent);
        pool.Add(instance);
        return instance;
    }

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I dont remember why the overload exists

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hm it appears to return a value and takes different arguments

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thats probably a stupid mistake on my part ill make a note to make it not two functions

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or at least clarify why the same thing is there mostly twice

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:52 PM

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It looks like one is for expanding it by many, which is fair, but you should probably just call the second overload inside the loop of the first

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:52 PM

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oh right one is a single

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Riiiiiight its all coming back now

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the lower one makes the single Pool

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the upper one makes all the Pool's child instances

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Ill make a note to clarify that

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Ah yeah I see what you mean, run the lower one within the loop of the upper one

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yeah that is smart

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Ill do it right now

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well it looks slightly non-trivial so I wont

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    public static void ExpandPool<T>(Transform parent, List<T> pool, T poolObject, int size) where T : UnityEngine.Component
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
        {
            T instance = Instantiate(poolObject, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);
            Debug.Log($"Spawing a copy of {nameof(T)} prefab {poolObject.GetInstanceID()} as new instance {instance.GetInstanceID()}");
            instance.gameObject.SetActive(false);
            instance.transform.SetParent(parent);           
            pool.Add(instance);
        }
    }

    public static T ExpandPool<T>(Transform parent, List<T> pool, T poolObject) where T : UnityEngine.Component
    {
        T instance = Instantiate(poolObject, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity);
        Debug.Log($"Spawing a copy of {nameof(T)} prefab {poolObject.GetInstanceID()} as new instance {instance.GetInstanceID()}");
        instance.gameObject.SetActive(false);
        instance.transform.SetParent(parent);
        pool.Add(instance);
        return instance;
    }

running this those logs

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I dont understand why the ID's dont match

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:55 PM

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Ah, I figured out something, instead of nameof(T) do typeof(T).FullName

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That'll let us know what object these are the IDs of

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:56 PM

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pool, then instance

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 8:56 PM

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drowsy wharf

Okay, and ParticleInstance is the offending class, right?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 8:56 PM

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wait so how is a particle instance running on awake, let me move to a scene with NOTHING in it

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:00 PM

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daring perch Okay, and ParticleInstance is the offending class, right?

okay here is starting the scene, and then prompting the error

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the selected log is where scene-start ends

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let me change the code that is returning 18832 to output the name

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:02 PM

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Okay, a few things leap out at me:

I have no idea why none of those match -131854
18832 is still the same even on a new scene. I'm pretty sure that means this is not in the scene

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I think you're calling Use on a prefab somewhere

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:02 PM

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I don't know how to update your code

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it was based on T before

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    public void Use(Texture texture)
    {
        //Debug.Log("Use Instance ID is " + this.gameObject.GetInstanceID());
        Debug.Log($"Use Function called on {nameof(T)} prefab");

        internalMat.SetTexture("_MainTex", texture);
    }

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:03 PM

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drowsy wharf

You wouldn't need to do that bit. That was just to tell us what T was. In this case, we know what type it is since it's in a script with a name

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So we could see what class it was instantiating

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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okay

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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You'd want Use Function Called on {this.GetInstanceID()}

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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I didn't actually make a new scene, I just cleaned out the existing scene and made a copy of the old scene

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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Which, now that I think about it, we were calling that on the gameObject, right?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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so I will try to make an actual new scene?

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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Maybe that's why the numbers don't match

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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daring perch Which, now that I think about it, we were calling that on the _gameObject_, righ...

I think so maybe?

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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No, try running it with that new updated string

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:04 PM

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Okay

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:05 PM

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Change out that one debug, and change the other one to use this. instead of gameObject.

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:05 PM

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Run what with what updated string, Use?

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Gotcha

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:05 PM

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Change both the use and Preload, then run it

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:06 PM

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it changed, but it still doesnt match anything

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    public void PreloadMaterials()
    {
        internalMat = new Material(matTemplate);
        for (int i = 0; i < systems.Length; i++)
        {
            systems[i].material = internalMat;
        }
        Debug.Log("Preload Instance ID is " + this.GetInstanceID());
    }

    public void Use(Texture texture)
    {
        //Debug.Log("Use Instance ID is " + this.gameObject.GetInstanceID());
        Debug.Log("Use Instance ID is " + this.GetInstanceID());

        //Debug.Log($"Spawing a copy of {typeof(T).FullName} prefab {poolObject.GetInstanceID()} as new instance {instance.GetInstanceID()}");


        internalMat.SetTexture("_MainTex", texture);
    }

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:06 PM

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So, where are you calling Use again?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:07 PM

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from it's parent Pool

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which is in turn being called from..

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:07 PM

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Show the snippet

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:07 PM

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okay

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    public static void InstantiateDamageEffect(ITargetable target, DynamicParticleDamageSprite particle, int ammount)
    {
        InstantiateEffect(target, particle.myInstance, ammount);
        if (particle != null && target.gameObject.TryGetComponent(out ItemComponent itemComponent))
        {
            Texture2D tex = Utils.textureFromSprite(itemComponent.sprite.sprite);
            particle.Use(tex);
        }
    }```

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    public static void InstantiateEffect(ITargetable target, ParticleInstance particle, int ammount)
    {
        if (particle != null)
        {
            //REFACTOR: create already runs findInstance inside of itself. 
            ParticlePool pool = ParticlePoolInstanceManager.Instance.FindInstance(particle);
            if (pool == null)
            {
                pool = ParticlePoolInstanceManager.Instance.CreateInstance(ammount, particle); // MAGIC NUMBER: 5 is random arbitary atm. 
            }
            pool.InstantiateEffect(target);
        }
    }```

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:08 PM

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Where do you call InstantiateDamageEffect?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:08 PM

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    private static void DoExecuteAction(ScriptableActionPackage package)
    {
        bool succeeded = package.action.ExecuteAction(package.target, package.activator);
        if (succeeded)
        {
            ParticlePool.InstantiateEffect(package.target, package.action.OnActionVFX, package.action.OnActionPoolCount);
        }
        else if (!succeeded && package.target != null && package.target.gameObject.TryGetComponent(out Actor actor) && package.activator.gameObject.TryGetComponent(out ItemComponent itemComponent))
        {
            ParticlePool.InstantiateDamageEffect(package.target, GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle, 5);
            actor.TakeDamage(itemComponent.useAction.damage);
        }
    }```

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:09 PM

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There!

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ParticlePool.InstantiateDamageEffect(package.target, GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle, 5);

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That second parameter

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:09 PM

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I should probably rename Instantiate because it's not actually instantiating it

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:09 PM

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That's a prefab

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You showed that earlier

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:09 PM

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its just using from the pool

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:09 PM

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No, it's using the prefab

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:09 PM

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uhh

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So I take it "GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle" was afuckup, because of some unity internal reason I failed to grasp

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:10 PM

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Follow the thread, let's swap in the values in the code:

 public static void InstantiateDamageEffect(ITargetable target, DynamicParticleDamageSprite particle, int ammount)
    {
        InstantiateEffect(package.target, GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle.myInstance, ammount);
        if (GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle!= null && target.gameObject.TryGetComponent(out ItemComponent itemComponent))
        {
            Texture2D tex = Utils.textureFromSprite(itemComponent.sprite.sprite);
            GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle.Use(tex);
        }
    }

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See how in InstantiateEffect you're getting GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle.myInstance

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but you're calling Use directly on GameGlobalManager.Instance.genericDamageParticle?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:11 PM

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which is a prefab in project, and not in the scene

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shit

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:11 PM

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Yep

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:11 PM

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why did I do that, what did I think I was doing

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I think what I thought I was doing was looking in the pool for that prefab, and if its not present, make more of it

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:12 PM

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Oh wait this is a thread not a DM I should probably remove that gif

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:12 PM

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hhrmm okay so why did that not work, but the copy paste version does work

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haha

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so this entire mess happened because I couldnt use my existing method

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because I needed to run code in the thing

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that line is the line I copied over

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which does work (maybe?)

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and that thing is using "package.action.OnActionVFX"

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which is just a reference to a prefab in the project

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so why is my reference to a prefab now not working but that one is working

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right you sent me a code snippet let me look at that

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:14 PM

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drowsy wharf right you sent me a code snippet let me look at that

I just dropped in your actual variables for the parameters

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to demonstrate what was happening

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I think you just need to change particle.use to particle.myInstance.use

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:16 PM

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Im getting lost now

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drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:16 PM

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daring perch Follow the thread, let's swap in the values in the code: ```cs public static vo...

L:ets rewind to here

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:16 PM

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What type is myInstance?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:16 PM

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What is that block of code

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:16 PM

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daring perch What type is `myInstance`?

ParticleInstance

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ParticleInstance doesnt run Use

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:16 PM

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drowsy wharf What is that block of code

That block of code is the InstantiateDamageEffect code, but with the values you passed to it instead of the parameter name

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:16 PM

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drowsy wharf ParticleInstance doesnt run Use

What does?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:17 PM

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DynamicParticleDamageSprite, which is a component on the instantiated ParticleInstance prefab

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:17 PM

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So, you might need to do another getcomponent

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:17 PM

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they arent the same component because I dont want this code to exist on every single particle instance

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:17 PM

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particle.myInstance.GetComponent<DynamicParticleDamageSprite>().Use

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:18 PM

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I'm getting really confused now

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particle is already a DynamicParticleDamageSprite

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why would I have to get itself?

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oh wait because its not itself, its the prefab from project?

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:19 PM

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drowsy wharf why would I have to get itself?

You aren't. Unless myInstance is just a reference to itself

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If it is, then your problems go very deep

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:19 PM

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    public static void InstantiateDamageEffect(ITargetable target, DynamicParticleDamageSprite particle, int ammount)
    {
        InstantiateEffect(target, particle.myInstance, ammount);
        if (particle != null && target.gameObject.TryGetComponent(out ItemComponent itemComponent))
        {
            Texture2D tex = Utils.textureFromSprite(itemComponent.sprite.sprite);
            particle.Use(tex);
        }
    }

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particle is "DynamicParticleDamageSprite particle"

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thats how Im able to run use on it

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:19 PM

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Basically, right now, particle is the exact instance you have in GameGlobalManager

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You want it to be one of the pooled thingies spawned from it

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:20 PM

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Yes 🤔

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I am utterly lost as to why this is happening but doesnt happen every other time I do the exact same thing

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:21 PM

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Well, you seem to be doing something right in InstantiateEffect

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which uses the myInstance property of the thing in GameGlobalManager

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Hence why I suggested using that for this one instead

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Let me see InstantiateEffect again?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:21 PM

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I only made the GlobalGameManager thing as a hack

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the instance that is

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because i didnt know how to tell it THIS PREFAB

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let me get that code for you

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    public void InstantiateEffect(ITargetable target) // wont do effect without target.
    {
        if (target != null)
        {
            ParticleInstance thing = Pool.Use(effectPool); // pool.use is the culprit for weird clone issue. 
            thing.transform.position = target.gameObject.transform.position;
        }
        
        if (effectPool.Count == 0)
        {
            Pool.ExpandPool(this.transform, effectPool, particleInstance, poolIteration);
            poolIteration += 1;
            for (int i = 0; i < effectPool.Count; i++)
            {
                effectPool[i].parentPool = this;
            }
        }        
    }

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:23 PM

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Do you have an overload for that with 3 arguments?

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:23 PM

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oh, yes

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   public static void InstantiateEffect(ITargetable target, ParticleInstance particle, int ammount)
    {
        if (particle != null)
        {
            //REFACTOR: create already runs findInstance inside of itself. 
            ParticlePool pool = ParticlePoolInstanceManager.Instance.FindInstance(particle);
            if (pool == null)
            {
                pool = ParticlePoolInstanceManager.Instance.CreateInstance(ammount, particle); // MAGIC NUMBER: 5 is random arbitary atm. 
            }
            pool.InstantiateEffect(target);
        }
    }

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:23 PM

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Aha, I see

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ParticlePool pool = ParticlePoolInstanceManager.Instance.FindInstance(particle);

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Right here, particle is the prefab in the game manager

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And you're getting an instance of it from the pool

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:24 PM

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👀

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:24 PM

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But you're not doing that step in InstantiateDamageEffect before calling Use

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You need to make an instance of particle like you did here, and call Use on that

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:24 PM

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okay so...

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Im calling the working one, and then I tried to run the extra new code after it

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but.. right

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right the working one is changing what "Particle" when it does its thing

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but the code outside of that is still using the prefab and not the instance

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I think I understand it but I would never have solved this on my own

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You have been invaluable 💦

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right it stops using particle and starts using pool

daring perch Oct 20, 2021, 9:27 PM

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Pools are tricky to keep straight. You really want to make sure you have a good system in place before using it ever, retroactively adding one to code that already exists is a fine tightrope act

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You run into weird edge cases like this one

drowsy wharf Oct 20, 2021, 9:27 PM

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Yeah up until this moment the pool was ship shape, it only broke because I tried to expand on it for a SPECIFIC edge case

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and also didnt understand how it worked obviously

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or I did once, and forgort

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Okay so the fix is particle.Use(tex); needs to be run on ParticlePoolInstanceManager.Instance.FindInstance(particle); finding an instance matching that prefab

#Weird Material null thing