How can I keep track of score without each new basketball shot reseting my points?

Questions & Answers
1

I feel like I’m either using the wrong collision code, or that there’s an easier way to execute this scoring system. I made a quick 3D torus loop (for a simple basketball rim) in 3ds Max, imported it into Unity, gave it a mesh collider, then duplicated it, and named them Hoop2 and Hoop3, with the idea that Hoop2 is scaled larger and will give the player 2 points, whereas Hoop3 is scaled smaller and will give the player 3 points for making the better shot. For now the player just has to physically hit the rim to score, but that’s okay. Then I made a cube and called it Bullet, and then made it a prefab object.

Here’s the code for Shooting.js:

var preBullet:Transform;
var shootForce:float;

function Update () 
{
    if(Input.GetButtonDown("Jump"))
    {
       var instanceBullet = Instantiate(preBullet, transform.position, Quaternion.identity);
       instanceBullet.rigidbody.AddForce(transform.forward * shootForce);
    }
}

Here’s the code for my Scoring.js:

var BasketballPoints:int = 0;
var Scoreboard:GUIText; // Screen GUI Score Counter

    function OnCollisionEnter(theCollision:Collision){

        if(theCollision.gameObject.name == "Hoop2"){
            BasketballPoints += 2;  
            //GetComponent(GUIText).text = "Score: " + BasketballPoints;           
        }    
        else if(theCollision.gameObject.name == "Hoop3"){
            BasketballPoints += 3;
            //GetComponent(GUIText).text = "Score: " + BasketballPoints;
        }
        Scoreboard.text = "Score: " + BasketballPoints;
    }

I put the Shooting script on the Main Camera and assigned the Bullet object to Shooting’s preBullet transform slot in the Inspector viewport (am I saying that right?), and then added the Scoring script (and rigidbody) on the Bullet object, and then made a new GUIText object called ScoreText and dragged that into Scoring’s GUIText selector slot in Bullet’s Inspector menu.

It runs, but here are the problems.

  1. Because the collision is on the bullet, every time you hit one of the hoops, the score resets to 0 and then gives you 2 or 3 points. I tried doing the Scoring.js through the bullet prefab object, but when I do that it won’t let me drag a GUIText onto its selector, so it won’t work. Instead of asking when a current object (that a script is attached to) hits some other object, is there a code that lets me ask if object 1 collides with object 2, that I can use to put on my camera (which is neither object 1 or 2) so it won’t reset the score each shot? What’s the best way to solve this?

  2. How can I make it that one bullet projectile can only score points once no matter what, so that bobbling/bouncing shots don’t trigger multiple scores (before resetting one shot later). Would I make a boolean variable and then only accept a score if it’s turned on, and then turn it off?

  3. Also, if I was stubborn and wanted to do it another way, and I had a variable in the Shooting script, is it possible to make a GUIText object in the scene hierarchy and give it a new script that can access the public variables that were created in Shooting.js? How could I get a variable or string from inside one script and display it on screen through a separate script?

  4. In the interest of learning how exactly Unity works internally, when I create a GUIText through code (like my second line of Scoring.js), why do I need to make a GUIText object in the hierarchy and link to it in the first place? Obviously it works, but why can’t/doesn’t it just make it on its own through code?

Many thanks. I’m new to object oriented programming, so I feel like I’m getting close to learning the knack for how different scripts can talk and interact with each other. I appreciate your help greatly!

2

var PointValue : int = 2;

    //This object would be a 3d text or even an empty game object 
    //for now that has your TotalScore.js attached to it
    var ScoringObject : GameObject

    // This is how you can access other variables in other scripts
    var Score = TotalScore;
    TotalScore = ScoringObject.GetComponent(TotalScore);



    
    function OnCollisionEnter(Collider:Collision){
    
if(Collider.tag == BasketBall){

// Adds your points to GameScore variable in the script = TotalScore;
Score.GameScore += PointValue;  


//Creates a new (INACTIVE) ball and destroys your current ball so it cannot score again
Instantiate(BallObj,Collider.transform.position,Collider.transform.rotation);
    Destroy(Collider);
    
    }    
        
    }

The reason GetComponent doesnt work as you suspect is because GetComponent does not MAKE components… it just makes a reference to the ones already there.

Hope this works for you!