Hide public field on base class but show it on derived class

Questions & Answers
1

Hey guys, quick question…
I have my base class setup this way:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class PowerUp : MonoBehaviour {
	
    public bool displayIcon = true;
    public Texture2D icon;
    public Vector2 iconPosition = Vector3.zero;
    public int uses = 5;
    public float passiveLifetime = 20;
   
    
    [HideInInspector] public bool isActive = false;
    [HideInInspector] public bool isPassive = false;
    [HideInInspector] public float dieAt = 0;

    // Functions and more below....

}

Now I have my derived class:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
 
public class StickyWheels : PowerUp {

    public Texture2D stickyWheelsIcon;
    
    void Start() {

        // Init stuff...
    }
}

All the public fields show up in the inspector on both classes. But I really don’t need them to be displayed on the base class, since they are different based on the object the scripts are attached too.

Is it possible to force the public fields to be hidden on the base script, and only have them visible on the derived class?

Thanks for your time guys!
Stephane

2

As a result of the rather long discussion in the comments, it turns out there wasn’t actually a need to do precisely what was asked in the question. After clearing up some misunderstandings concerning class derivation, it turns out the problem was related to an unnecessary base class instance somewhere in the scene, and the fact that the base class initializations of derived instances never happened.

So the solution was for each base class to call their associated base.Start() as described below (my original comment copied from the question):

For your information, the “correct” way to do it using object-oriented programming is, you can keep the Start() in your base class. But declare it like this:

protected virtual void Start()

Then, in your derived classes you use this instead:

protected override void Start()

So if the object initializes, the Start() of the “most derived class” will be executed. But not the one from the base class - which probably caused your problem. You need to explicitly call it. So in your derived classes, you would write:

protected override void Start() {
    base.Start(); // initialize base class

    // your regular Start() code here
}

Note you’ll need to do this in every derived class, and it also works if you have multiple derivations, ensuring that all Start()'s of all ancestors are called.

See any OOP tutorials on the web for more info.

NOTE: as @asafsitner pointed out, it isn’t actually mandatory to provide the protected virtual/override modifiers, so you can just use your regular void Start() syntax. The important thing is that each derived class needs to call base.Start() in its Start() call (and similarly for each method of the base class that is overloaded this way, e.g. call base.Update() if both base and derived class have an Update() function, and if both need to be executed.