Just curious, assigning a clone multiple times, how does it work internally?

Questions & Answers
1

So I am just curious how the following works internally in Unity:

For example, if I want to make multiple clones I can do the following:

prefabClone = Instantiate(prefab, new Vector2(2f, 3f), Quaternion.identity)
prefabClone.RunSomeMethod();

prefabClone = Instantiate(prefab, new Vector2(3f, 4f), Quaternion.identity)
prefabClone.RunSomeOtherMethod();

prefabClone = Instantiate(prefab, new Vector2(4f, 5f), Quaternion.identity)
prefabClone.RunYetAnotherMethod();

and this will work, Unity will produce 3 unique clones each with their own abilities. The part that I cannot wrap my head around is using the same prefabClone 3 times. Shouldn’t assigning prefabClone a second and third time negate the previous assignment? (from an objected oriented perspective?)

I hope I’m making sense and maybe I’m just making an elementary mistake, but anyway, I would love an explanation.

Thanks!

2

Hello,

Yes, you are overriding the previous assigment, if that was not the behaviour you would be calling RunSomeMethod in the object 1 3 times, in object 2 2 times, and in object 1 3 times. I think your question is more like

" If I override prefabClone, shouldnt the gameobject destroy?"

and no, thats not the case.
Instantiate creates a gameobject, and you later save the reference in a variable, thats why simply

Instantiate(prefab, new Vector2(2f, 3f), Quaternion.identity)

works and creates a gameobject.

You are correct in one part, the garbage collector when detects that one object is “lost” and there is no longer a reference to it, “destroys it”. But gameobjects no, all gameobjects exist and are reference by the engine itself, the GameObject exits in the “list of gameobjects of unity” so if yoou lose the reference of it in the script, it will not get destroyed. think about this code:

 prefabClone = Instantiate(prefab, new Vector2(2f, 3f), Quaternion.identity)
 prefabClone.RunSomeMethod();
 
 prefabClone = Instantiate(prefab, new Vector2(3f, 4f), Quaternion.identity)
 prefabClone.RunSomeOtherMethod();
 
 prefabClone = Instantiate(prefab, new Vector2(4f, 5f), Quaternion.identity)
 prefabClone.RunYetAnotherMethod();

GameObject go = GameObject.Find("YourObject Clone");// you can find the first gameobject again