Really frustrating problem where Inspector doesn't seem to lock properly

AndrewD · February 6, 2019, 8:42pm

I genuinely feel like putting my fist through my monitor.

I am at the part of the lecture where I am trying to copy the waypoint objects from the paths prefab to the enemy prefab

The problem is that I can’t seem to keep the inspector window open on the enemy prefab while I open the paths folder. I use the lock button and also the lock dropdown option but as soon as I click on that path prefab it goes away.

I have posted a (poor quality) youtube video of the issue.

Would really appreciate some help. I am loving the course and it’s frustrating to be held back by a UI quirk.

AwkwardPenguin · January 14, 2019, 1:58am

Also running into the same problem at the moment.
The biggest problem is that unlike pictures, it doesn’t have the little arrow to open it up from the icon so I am forced to double click to open the prefab but it changes the inspector view (even though it was locked) to the prefab for Path(0)

I am not sure if it is just a difference in versions, or a setting I can change, but a lot of things are popping up in different places, but it hasn’t really been an issue until now.

Rob · January 14, 2019, 2:28am

Hi,

The course was created using Unity 2018.2, you are using Unity 2018.3, the workflow for prefabs was dramatically changed.

Hope this helps

See also;

Unity : Prefab Workflow
Unity - Blogs : Introducing Unity 2018.3
Unity - Blogs : Introducing new Prefab workflows

AwkwardPenguin · January 15, 2019, 6:03am

Thanks, Rob! I will check this out!

Rob · January 15, 2019, 7:33am

You’re very welcome

Barrie_Bulin · January 21, 2019, 7:21pm

I’m still having trouble with the Prefab workflow in 2018.3
Is there a way to link from one prefab to another?
Not sure how to get the pathing into the enemy prefab.

Rob · July 17, 2019, 6:57am

Hi Barrie,

I’ve cobbled a quick video together for you to demonstrate how to write up prefabs to prefabs using Unity 2018.3.

In the above I’ve created a new scene called Prefabs. I then;

create a Cube and drag it into the Assets folder, thus creating a Cube prefab
open the prefab in order to edit it, you can do this using the button in the Inspector, or, clicking on the arrow next to the prefab instance in the Hierarchy

Whilst editing the prefab I;

add a new script component
give it a single private field of type GameObject which I then apply the [SerializeField] attribute to in order to expose it in the Inspector

Closing the prefab editor I;

remove the prefab instance from the Hierarchy (just to make it a little clearer as to what we’re doing)
create a sphere and drag that to the Assets folder to create another prefab
again, I remove the instance from the Hierarchy

Dragging the Cube prefab back to the Hierarchy I;

create a prefab instance
open it to edit it
drag the Sphere prefab into the exposed field in the Example.cs script component attached to the Cube prefab

Exiting the prefab edit mode I;

delete the prefab instance in the Hierarchy

Finally, I drag the Cube prefab to the Hierarchy and, as you can see, it has the reference to the Sphere prefab in the Inspector.

Hope this helps

Chris_Schlude · January 26, 2019, 10:17am

Hey Rob,

unfortunately not. Because the Sphere doen’t have childrens like the waypoints in the Path prefab!
There is just no way I found to “open” the Path prefab in the Assets to show the Waypoints and drag them over into the inspector…

Unfortunately it also doensn’t work if one tries to drag the waypoints from the Prefab-Mode into the inspector…

Rob · January 27, 2019, 12:08am

Hi Chris,

Currently, no, in 2018.3 there isn’t a way to reference the child GameObjects of a prefab to another prefab, primarily I believe because of the new interface, e.g. it doesn’t matter which tabs you lock, selecting a different prefab requires you to open it and then that changes the prefab you are editing

What you could do however is this;

Update the script which you were dragging the waypoint GameObjects into, in your case, EnemyWaypoints.cs to take a single GameObject instead of a list of Transforms.
Prefab your Paths
Drag the Path (0) prefab from Assets to the exposed field within EnemyWaypoints.cs

Instead of then iterating through the List<Transform>, iterate through the child Transforms of the GameObject you’ve referenced, for example;

[SerializedField]
private GameObject waypoints;    // this replaces the list

private void Example()
{
    foreach(Transform child in waypoints.transform)
    {
        // do stuff
        Debug.Log(child.position);
    }
}

Hope this helps

AndrewD · January 28, 2019, 1:56am

I’m currently in hospital and away from my PC but if I recall correctly the simplest workaround was to create an instance of the enemy game object from the prefab (by dragging the prefab onto the scene).

I was then able to apply the pathing prefab to the enemy game object in the Inspector and then applied those changes back to the enemy prefab (or maybe I simply saved it as a new prefab, can’t remember for sure)

Seemed to work fine and required no scripting changes.

That said, it’s a really odd UI change by Unity. The ability to keep separate inspector windows open for two different prefabs is pretty much an obvious feature to preserve.

DobriiGoblin · January 28, 2019, 5:29pm

I’ve also ran into this problem.
I’ve fixed it by serializing path game object, not individual waypoints (wich is more logical, in my opinion). Then, I add it’s childs to a list in for().
Code:
code
Then just drag the prefab and apply overrides

Rob · January 28, 2019, 6:42pm

Hi,

Take a look at the AddRange method of List, you can save your iteration, for example;

private void AddPath()
{
    pathWaypoints.AddRange(path.GetComponentsInChildren<Transform>());
}

Please note, it’s better to copy/paste your code and apply the code fencing characters, rather than using screenshots. Screenshots are ideal for displaying specific details from within a game engine editor or even error messages, but for code, they tend to be less readable, especially on mobile devices which can require extensive zooming and scrolling.

You also prevent those that may offer to help you the ability to copy/paste part of your code back to you with suggestions and/or corrections, meaning that they would need to type a potentially lengthy response. You will often find that people are more likely to respond to your questions if you make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

Hope this helps