Start() sequence

Unity Engine
1

i have a structure consisting of a couple of hierarchically arranged game objects. Like so:

Base
   TriggerA
   TriggerB
   UI
   Lines

etc.

Now the “Base” object holds the main variables and functions of the whole construct, so i want to reference it occationally in the child-objects and vice versa.

For example I’d do this on a child:

private var baseScriptRef;

function Start() {
    baseScriptRef = transform.parent.GetComponent("baseScript");
}

function OnGUI () {
    print(baseScriptRef.foo);
}

Problem now is, that i cannot predict the sequence by which these Object’s “Start()” get invoked… which means i get a lot of “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” when i access a variable in “baseScript” that gets “setup” by the Start() function in that “baseScript”. So far the only workaround is a “complicated” checking routine in Update()… but i’m sure there is another way to control the sequence objects are loaded, or i’m missing something obvious…

Any ideas?

2

In cases like that, instead of relying on Start(), I use a Startup() function instead that doesn’t run automatically, but is called manually by a manager object. Depending on the situation, you may be able to use Awake (which always runs before Start).

–Eric