Instantiate returns null

Scripting
1

I have a GameObject named “CharacterCatalog”. It’s children are GameObject prefabs that I tag (“Player”) to represent Characters. The code I have below used to work until I disabled a Mesh Renderer within my characters. The Instantiate call is now returning null as if my Prefabs are corrupted or something. Any ideas?

I get an array of these characters with this:

maAvatarGameObjects = GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag("Player");

And I Instantiate a copy of the character with this:

public GameObject CreateAvatar (string sCurrentAvatar)
{
	foreach (GameObject go in maAvatarGameObjects)
	{
		Debug.Log("Comparing " + go.name + " to " + sCurrentAvatar);
		if (go.name.Equals(sCurrentAvatar))
			return (GameObject)Instantiate(go);
	}
		
	return null;
}
2

I have more information:

If I create a public variable in my script and drag a prefab onto that variable, it looks fine in the inspector. When I hit play, it disappears from that variable. If I set the value from the dropdown while playing, it’s able to instantiate. If I set the value from the dropdown while NOT playing, I get the same problem (it’s empty when playing, and of course, Instantiate returns null).

By the way, if I dump my array from FindGameObjectsWithTag, they are all valid GameObject objects.

Something is fishy about this.

3

I solved the problem by:

  1. Deleting the prefabs in the project (but not the ones in my Scene).
  2. Created new empty prefabs in my project.
  3. Dragged the instances in my Scene back onto the blank prefabs.

It seems that I was right that the prefabs were corrupted because the instances in my Scene were the same objects essentially. In other words, I did not change the settings of any of the Scene objects.

4

I had the same problem, here you are the solution ^^