Trying to use Sprite Renderer to swap between 2 sprites

Questions & Answers
1

I’m trying to get a sprite to toggle between its on and off sprite (a ball that shoots a laser and a ball that doesn’t shoot a laser) at random intervals.

The problem is I don’t know how to get past sprite renderer. The problem is in my fixedupdate code.

var interval: float = 0.5f;  //random time to turn off and on each laser generated   
var rotationSpeed: float = 0.0f; //makes lasers rotate
var isLaserOn: boolean = true;  //tests if our laser is on  
var timeUntilNextToggle: float; //time to toggle to the next on/off state

function Start () 
{
	timeUntilNextToggle = interval; //will set the time until the laser will toggle its state for the first time
}

//function Update () 


function FixedUpdate () 
{
    //Decreases time until next toggle
    timeUntilNextToggle -= Time.fixedDeltaTime;
 
    //If time is 0 or less then the laser will toggle states 
    if (timeUntilNextToggle <= 0) 
    {
 
        //sets the correct state of the laser
        isLaserOn = !isLaserOn;
 
        //if our laser is on the collider is activated, if it is off then there is no collider to interfere with the player
        collider2D.enabled = isLaserOn;
 
        //will switch between our two sprite images
       // SpriteRenderer.sprite = ((SpriteRenderer)this.renderer);
       var newSprite : Sprite;
     	GetComponent(SpriteRenderer).sprite = newSprite;
     
        if (isLaserOn)
            spriteRenderer.sprite = laserOnSprite;
        else
            spriteRenderer.sprite = laserOffSprite;
 
        //resets time until next toggle variable since it has just been toggled
        timeUntilNextToggle = interval;
    }
 
    //rotates our lasers around the z axis (set rotationspeed to 0 to disable in the inspector)
    transform.RotateAround(transform.position, Vector3.forward, rotationSpeed * Time. fixedDeltaTime);
}
2

I suspect it to be a very simple fix, not changing your code too much:

     // This isn't doing anything, but it's the right idea.
     //GetComponent(SpriteRenderer).sprite = newSprite;
  
     if (isLaserOn)
         GetComponent(SpriteRenderer).sprite = laserOnSprite;
     else
         GetComponent(SpriteRenderer).sprite = laserOffSprite;

That said, I could be wrong, since “I don’t know how to get past sprite renderer” isn’t a great way to describe the issue. In the future, try to describe the problem such that we can duplicate or observe it ourselves… “this code won’t compile”, “the sprite doesn’t change”, “the computer explodes in my face”.