Question Hello all, issues with finding named tiles in a tilemap

So I have the following script to find and instantiate a unitprefab on a named tile

Code (CSharp):

1. using System.Collections;
2. using System.Collections.Generic;
3. using UnityEngine;
4. using UnityEngine.Tilemaps;
5.  
6. public class SpawnUnitOnTile : MonoBehaviour
7. {
8.     public GameObject unitPrefab; // The prefab of the unit you want to spawn
9.     public Tilemap tilemap; // Reference to the tilemap component
10.  
11.     // Function to spawn a unit on a tile with a specific name
12.     public void SpawnUnitOnNamedTile(string tileName)
13.     {
14.         // Find the position of the named tile
15.         Vector3 targetWorldPosition = FindNamedTilePosition(tileName);
16.  
17.         // Spawn the unit at the target world position
18.         Instantiate(unitPrefab, targetWorldPosition, Quaternion.identity);
19.     }
20.  
21.  
22.     // Find the position of a tile with a specific name
23.     private Vector3 FindNamedTilePosition(string tileName)
24.     {
25.         // Iterate through the tiles in the tilemap
26.         for (int x = tilemap.cellBounds.xMin; x < tilemap.cellBounds.xMax; x++)
27.         {
28.             for (int y = tilemap.cellBounds.yMin; y < tilemap.cellBounds.yMax; y++)
29.             {
30.                 Vector3Int tilePosition = new Vector3Int(x, y, (int)tilemap.transform.position.y);
31.                 TileBase tile = tilemap.GetTile(tilePosition);
32.  
33.                 // Check if the tile's name matches the target name
34.                 if (tile != null && tile.name == tileName)
35.                 {
36.                     // Convert tile coordinates to world position
37.                     return tilemap.CellToWorld(tilePosition);
38.                 }
39.                 else
40.                 {
41.                     Debug.Log("Named tile not found");
42.                 }
43.                 // Print the name of the tile for debugging
44.                 if (tile != null)
45.                 {
46.                     Debug.Log("Tile Name: " + tile.name);
47.                 }
48.                 else
49.                 {
50.                     Debug.Log("No tiles found");
51.                 }
52.  
53.  
54.             }
55.         }
56.  
57.         // Return a default position if the named tile is not found
58.         return Vector3.zero;
59.     }
60.     private void Start()
61.     {
62.         // Spawn the unit on the "usbase" tile
63.         SpawnUnitOnNamedTile("usbase");
64.     }
65. }

But my debug logs show not found for all tiles. I'm certain the tile "usbase" is listed in the tilemap, and named correctly. what am I doing wrong?

 

Then print them all out and find it by hand if you're so sure it is there.

If your map is too huge, make a tiny 3x3 test one and prove that "usbase" is in there.

Remember string comparisons are exact, upper/lowercase must match, and there must be no stray mismatching spaces (whitespace).

In other words, you haven't finished debugging.

Time to start debugging! Here is how you can begin your exciting new debugging adventures:

You must find a way to get the information you need in order to reason about what the problem is.

Once you understand what the problem is, you may begin to reason about a solution to the problem.

What is often happening in these cases is one of the following:

- the code you think is executing is not actually executing at all
- the code is executing far EARLIER or LATER than you think
- the code is executing far LESS OFTEN than you think
- the code is executing far MORE OFTEN than you think
- the code is executing on another GameObject than you think it is
- you're getting an error or warning and you haven't noticed it in the console window

To help gain more insight into your problem, I recommend liberally sprinkling

Debug.Log()

statements through your code to display information in realtime.

Doing this should help you answer these types of questions:

- is this code even running? which parts are running? how often does it run? what order does it run in?
- what are the names of the GameObjects or Components involved?
- what are the values of the variables involved? Are they initialized? Are the values reasonable?
- are you meeting ALL the requirements to receive callbacks such as triggers / colliders (review the documentation)

Knowing this information will help you reason about the behavior you are seeing.

You can also supply a second argument to Debug.Log() and when you click the message, it will highlight the object in scene, such as

Debug.Log("Problem!",this);

If your problem would benefit from in-scene or in-game visualization, Debug.DrawRay() or Debug.DrawLine() can help you visualize things like rays (used in raycasting) or distances.

You can also call Debug.Break() to pause the Editor when certain interesting pieces of code run, and then study the scene manually, looking for all the parts, where they are, what scripts are on them, etc.

You can also call GameObject.CreatePrimitive() to emplace debug-marker-ish objects in the scene at runtime.

You could also just display various important quantities in UI Text elements to watch them change as you play the game.

Visit Google for how to see console output from builds. If you are running a mobile device you can also view the console output. Google for how on your particular mobile target, such as this answer for iOS: https://forum.unity.com/threads/how-to-capturing-device-logs-on-ios.529920/ or this answer for Android: https://forum.unity.com/threads/how-to-capturing-device-logs-on-android.528680/

If you are working in VR, it might be useful to make your on onscreen log output, or integrate one from the asset store, so you can see what is happening as you operate your software.

Another useful approach is to temporarily strip out everything besides what is necessary to prove your issue. This can simplify and isolate compounding effects of other items in your scene or prefab.

If your problem is with OnCollision-type functions, print the name of what is passed in!

Here's an example of putting in a laser-focused Debug.Log() and how that can save you a TON of time wallowing around speculating what might be going wrong:

https://forum.unity.com/threads/coroutine-missing-hint-and-error.1103197/#post-7100494

"When in doubt, print it out!(tm)" - Kurt Dekker (and many others)

Note: the

print()

function is an alias for Debug.Log() provided by the MonoBehaviour class.

Slightly-related: Remember the first rule of GameObject.Find():

Do not use GameObject.Find();

More information: https://starmanta.gitbooks.io/unitytipsredux/content/first-question.html

More information: https://forum.unity.com/threads/why-cant-i-find-the-other-objects.1360192/#post-8581066

In general, DO NOT use Find-like or GetComponent/AddComponent-like methods unless there truly is no other way, eg, dynamic runtime discovery of arbitrary objects. These mechanisms are for extremely-advanced use ONLY.

If something is built into your scene or prefab, make a script and drag the reference(s) in. That will let you experience the highest rate of The Unity Way(tm) success of accessing things in your game.

 

what is the purpose of this line:

Code (CSharp):

1.  Vector3Int tilePosition = new Vector3Int(x, y, (int)tilemap.transform.position.y);

why are you changing the Z component? If you're looking in a single tilemap this one believes that the Z value should be zero.

Perhaps there is a reason, but it's not apparent from the code snippet that you provided.