Question Flappy if-statement

So I'm trying to make a flappy bird type game. I want my bird to only get points when it is alive since when it dies, sometimes it ragdolls a bit and it gets a point.

So this was my add-point statement originally:

Code (CSharp):

1.  private void OnTriggerEnter2D(Collider2D collision)
2.     {
3.             logic.addScore();
4.     }

So I wanted it to not get points anymore when it dies, so I changed it to this:

Code (CSharp):

1.  private void OnTriggerEnter2D(Collider2D collision)
2.     {
3.         if(neilscrip.birdIsAlive == true)
4.             logic.addScore();
5.     }

It should have fixed the problem, but now my bird isn't getting any points. When I pass through a pipe, instead of getting a point, I get an error code:

"NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
PipeMiddleScript.OnTriggerEnter2D (UnityEngine.Collider2D collision) (at Assets/PipeMiddleScript.cs:24)"

My PipeMiddleScript.cs.24 is:

Code (CSharp):

1. if(neilscrip.birdIsAlive == true)

What can I do to fix this?

 

assign a reference to neilscrip.

 

Thank you so much! I was confused since my pipe isn't actually spawned yet so I'd have to reference it using tags. Thanks!