Is this the correct way to have a GUIText in a prefab?

[Sisso]

Hi,

I am trying to find a way better to have a prefab with a GUIText. Because GUIText transform are relative to screen and must always be in absolute coordinates, I need to force its position every frame. Is it correct?

Test code:

function Update() {
  var pos = Camera.main.WorldToScreenPoint(transform.Find("TextPosition").transform.position);
  var gui = FindComponentInChildren(GUIText);
  gui.transform.position = Vector3.zero;
  gui.pixelOffset = pos;
}

---

[Edited]

Another option is dynamically create the GuiText in absolute coordinades:

var gui : GUIText;

function Awake() {
  var obj = new GameObject("GuiText"+gameObject.name);
  gui = obj.AddComponent("GUIText");
}

function Update() {
 var pos = Camera.main.WorldToScreenPoint(transform.position);
 gui.pixelOffset = pos;
}

[aldonaletto]

You should not child GUIText or GUITexture to any 3D world object, due to the reason you’ve mentioned in your question - these elements use viewport coordinates in the position property. If you want a label to follow a 3D object, you must set its position each frame in Update. Usually the GUIText is a prefab and have a reference to the target object, like this:

var target: Transform; // drag the 3D object here
var offset: float = 1.5; // label offset in world space

function Update(){
  var pos = target.position; // get the object position...
  pos.y += offset; // calculate the position above the object...
  // and set the GUIText position
  transform.position = Camera.main.WorldToViewportPoint(pos);
}

On the other hand, if you want the GUIText to be part of the object prefab, reverse the logic: place a reference to the GUIText in some object script:

var label: GUIText; // drag the GUIText here from the Hierarchy view
var offset: float = 1.5; // label offset in world space

function Update(){
  var pos = transform.position; // get the object position...
  pos.y += offset; // calculate a position above the object...
  // and set the GUIText position
  label.position = Camera.main.WorldToViewportPoint(pos);
}