Can I arbitrarily move a dynamic Rigidbody 2D?

Questions & Answers
1

Hi I´m really new here.

I want to make some 2D objects that are affected by gravity. Think air-filled balloons that you can bat up to the ceiling and then they gently float down again.

But I also want them to be affected by variable winds that might blow them left or right, random events that might kickstart them into moving somewhere else, and later, on a touch screen, user gestures moving them somewhere else and etc., etc.

If I want gravity, I should use dynamic Rigidbody 2D. But the documentation says:

"Do not use the Transform component to
 set the position or rotation of a
Dynamic Rigidbody 2D. The simulation
 repositions a Dynamic Rigidbody 2D
 according to its velocity; you can
 change this directly via forces
 applied to it by scripts, or
 indirectly via collisions and
 gravity."

So does that mean I should only affect them via velocity, that I can´t timewarp them to a different position?

2

No, as far as I understood it, it only means, that you call “Rigidbody2D.MovePosition(Vector2 newPosition)” instead of “Transform.position = Vector2 newPosition” (Unity - Scripting API: Rigidbody2D.MovePosition)
and the same goes for rotation, simply use the method of the rigidbody instead of manipulating the transform directly.
Hope that helps