Spacebar/Jumping is causing me problems

I have asked this question before, but none of the solutions worked. I've poked around the troubled scripts and some other parts of my game for a week or so, and I've still not found a way to fix the problem. I cannot spot my error or tell why Unity is doing what it is doing.

For starters, I have 3 scripts:

• A tablet/smartphone
• A Camera app
• A flashlight app

The tablet is supposed to store all the applications that I will make for it (i.e. the camera and flashlight) The bug comes in when I actually run the game. I can open and close the tablet and click the buttons on it to trigger the applications, but for some reason, when I bump into certain objects or jump (especially jump) things trigger on and off for no reason at all. For example, if I enable my flashlight with the button in the tablet, I close the tablet, and begin to jump, each jump will turn the flashlight on and off, respectively. Here are the scripts that they are running off of.

The tablet

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3. using UnityEngine.UI;
4.  
5. public class Tablet : MonoBehaviour {
6.  
7.     public Canvas canvas; //Declaring the canvas object
8.     public Image tablet, cameraicon, flashlighticon, messageicon, remindersicon, settingsicon; //Declaring the canvas images
9.     public bool tabletIsEnabled; //Declaring boolean to identify if the tablet is active
10.  
11.     void Start() {
12.         #region disablers
13.         tablet.enabled = false;
14.         cameraicon.enabled = false;
15.         flashlighticon.enabled = false;
16.         messageicon.enabled = false;
17.         remindersicon.enabled = false;
18.         settingsicon.enabled = false;
19.         #endregion //Region to disable the images
20.         tabletIsEnabled = false; //Tablet is not enabled
21.     }
22.  
23.     public void ToggleTablet() {
24.         #region enablers
25.         tablet.enabled = true;
26.         cameraicon.enabled = true;
27.         flashlighticon.enabled = true;
28.         messageicon.enabled = true;
29.         remindersicon.enabled = true;
30.         settingsicon.enabled = true;
31.         #endregion //Region to enable the images
32.         tabletIsEnabled = true; //Tablet is enabled
33.         Time.timeScale = 0.0f; //Pauses the time in-game; Stops frame updating
34.     }
35.  
36.     public void UntoggleTablet() {
37.         #region disablers
38.         tablet.enabled = false;
39.         cameraicon.enabled = false;
40.         flashlighticon.enabled = false;
41.         messageicon.enabled = false;
42.         remindersicon.enabled = false;
43.         settingsicon.enabled = false;
44.         #endregion //Region to disable the images
45.         tabletIsEnabled = false;
46.         Time.timeScale = 1.0f; //Unpauses the time in-game; Turns on frame updating
47.     }
48.  
49.     void Update() {
50.         if (Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && tabletIsEnabled == false) { //Conditional statement to toggle the tablet method
51.             ToggleTablet ();
52.         } else if (Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && tabletIsEnabled == true) { //Other part of the statement untoggling the tablet
53.             UntoggleTablet ();
54.         }
55.     }
56. }
57.  

The camera

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3. using UnityEngine.UI;
4.  
5. public class CameraApp : MonoBehaviour {
6.  
7.     public Image cameraoverlay; //Declaring images on the canvas
8.     public Tablet tabletReference; //Reference to the tablet script
9.     public bool cameraIsEnabled; //Declaring boolean to tell if the camera is on or off
10.  
11.     void Start() {
12.         tabletReference = GameObject.Find ("Tablet (Player)").GetComponent<Tablet> (); //Finding the instance of the tablet
13.         cameraoverlay.enabled = false; //Disabling the overlay
14.         cameraIsEnabled = false; //And the camera is not on
15.     }
16.  
17.     public void ToggleCameraApp() { //Public method for the camera button in-game
18.         if (cameraIsEnabled == false) { //Checks the state of the camera
19.             cameraoverlay.enabled = true; //Turns on the overlay
20.             tabletReference.UntoggleTablet (); //Untoggles the tablet through the Tablet script
21.             cameraIsEnabled = true; //Tells the game the camera is on
22.         }
23.     }
24.  
25.     void Update() {
26.         if (Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && cameraIsEnabled == true) { //Checks for keypress 'I' and if the camera is on...
27.             cameraoverlay.enabled = false; //Turn off the overlay
28.             cameraIsEnabled = false; //Disable the camera
29.         }
30.     }
31. }
32.  

The flashlight

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3.  
4. public class FlashlightApp : MonoBehaviour {
5.  
6.     public Light flashlight;
7.     public Tablet tabletReference;
8.     public bool flashlightIsEnabled;
9.  
10.     void Start() {
11.         tabletReference = GameObject.Find ("Tablet (Player)").GetComponent<Tablet> ();
12.         flashlightIsEnabled = false;
13.         flashlight = GameObject.Find ("Flashlight").GetComponent<Light> ();
14.         flashlight.intensity = 0;
15.     }
16.  
17.     public void ToggleFlashlight() {
18.         if (flashlightIsEnabled == false) {
19.             flashlight.intensity = 1;
20.             tabletReference.UntoggleTablet ();
21.             flashlightIsEnabled = true;
22.         }
23.     }
24.  
25.     void Update() {
26.         if(Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && flashlightIsEnabled == true) {
27.             flashlight.intensity = 0;
28.             flashlightIsEnabled = false;
29.         }
30.     }
31. }
32.  

Note (If any of these matter): I am using the default FPSController for the player. The scripts are all attached to one GameObject, and it is a child of the FirstPersonCharacter, which is a child of the FPSController. The canvas the images are printed on is not a child of anything.

If anyone can help me out even a tiny bit, please let me know. This is really putting a burden on me as I cannot progress on the game until this is fixed. Thanks for reading, and let me know if you find anything.

EDIT: If the commenting on the code makes it too hard to read, let me know and I'll remove it. I'm submitting this project for school and it needs to be commented enough so that an idiot could understand it. I wouldn't normally over-comment it like I did

 

so you thought reposting the thread afresh without making any mention of what you're tried so far so we can go over the same ground as before is going to help?

what scripts on those objects have OnCollision / OnTrigger functions?

you don't appear to be using the input manager's virtual buttons/axis so have you search your project for instance of "Keycode.Space"?

 

The commenting is fine, and other than the difference in opinion on what a toggle is (yours are more "enablers" and "disablers" separately), the only thing I can spot is overlapping state changes all triggered separately by the same event (pressing "I" on the keyboard). You should really just use one input controller for this whole thing and have all of these scripts register as listeners to the various events it generates. That way, you can see logic problems or areas where input will overlap really easy, and deal with them all in one place. In this case, the flashlight/camera turning off at the same time the tablet is made active is likely intentional, but if and when the logic gets any more complicated (for instance, if you put in a delay/animation to activate the light using a coroutine), then this is going to get difficult to manage in different places like this.

I can't see here anything like the problem you're talking about, so either it's an inspector value somewhere, a different script entirely, or I'm just thick (definitely possible!). Hope you figure it out, though.

 

1) The only change recommended was to check for other instances of the flashlight script I didn't know about, which there were none.
2) The collision doesn't matter, it occurs with all colliders in my game
3) Unless the default FirstPerson script uses KeyCode.Space, it doesn't exist. I wouldn't use that in any of my scripts.

 

OK,

A couple things to mention.. You are using the same input methods for all three objects, and generally speaking, creating the same "Structure" for all three objets, just with different terminology.

The best way to do that, is inheritence. You create a base class they derive from, abstract away the variable names so "flashlight.gameObject" becomes "element.gameObject" and usually assign an enum object type for identification.

That said, then you only use the code once.

The problem I see, is you have three different objects, listening to the same keypresses of I. So, if you press I, all three objects could try to open or close at once.

I have a lot of suggestions, structure wise, to keep your code modular and flexible. But, nothing above shows the Space key for jump anywhere.

I'd recommend starting to build your code like this though...

ElementManager > <List>ElementController -> <List>Elements

So, you could have a TabletController -> with { FlashlightElement, WhateverElement }. If that is the heiarchy you want. Or an InventoryController -> { TabletElement, FlashglihtElement, WhateverElement } if you want. But right now, you have three different objects looking for the same input presses that could get very challenging if you go to say 15 tablets, and 100 sub objects down the line ... If the Tablet is in charge of the application, put it in charge. It should then be dictating who is working and when...

 

I'll try this and see if it fixes the problem, thanks

 

Ok, so I moved EVERYTHING to just one script and now it looks like this:

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3. using UnityEngine.UI;
4.  
5. public class Tablet : MonoBehaviour {
6.  
7.     public Canvas canvas; //Declaring the canvas object
8.     public Image tablet, cameraicon, flashlighticon, messageicon, remindersicon, settingsicon, cameraoverlay; //Declaring the canvas images
9.     public bool tabletIsEnabled, cameraIsEnabled, flashlightIsEnabled; //Declaring boolean to identify if certain apps are active
10.     public Light flashlight; //Declaring the light variable
11.  
12.     void Start() {
13.         #region disablers
14.         tablet.enabled = false;
15.         cameraicon.enabled = false;
16.         flashlighticon.enabled = false;
17.         messageicon.enabled = false;
18.         remindersicon.enabled = false;
19.         settingsicon.enabled = false;
20.         cameraoverlay.enabled = false;
21.         #endregion //Region to disable the images
22.         tabletIsEnabled = false; //Tablet is not enabled
23.         cameraIsEnabled = false;
24.         flashlightIsEnabled = false;
25.         flashlight = GameObject.Find ("Flashlight").GetComponent<Light> (); //Sets the flashlight to the light instance in-game
26.         flashlight.intensity = 0; //Turns off the flashlight
27.     }
28.  
29.     public void ToggleTablet() {
30.         #region enablers
31.         tablet.enabled = true;
32.         cameraicon.enabled = true;
33.         flashlighticon.enabled = true;
34.         messageicon.enabled = true;
35.         remindersicon.enabled = true;
36.         settingsicon.enabled = true;
37.         #endregion //Region to enable the images
38.         tabletIsEnabled = true; //Tablet is enabled
39.         Time.timeScale = 0.0f; //Pauses the time in-game; Stops frame updating
40.     }
41.  
42.     public void UntoggleTablet() {
43.         #region disablers
44.         tablet.enabled = false;
45.         cameraicon.enabled = false;
46.         flashlighticon.enabled = false;
47.         messageicon.enabled = false;
48.         remindersicon.enabled = false;
49.         settingsicon.enabled = false;
50.         #endregion //Region to disable the images
51.         tabletIsEnabled = false;
52.         Time.timeScale = 1.0f; //Unpauses the time in-game; Turns on frame updating
53.     }
54.  
55.     public void ToggleCamera() { //Public method for the camera button in-game
56.         if (cameraIsEnabled == false) { //Checks the state of the camera
57.             cameraoverlay.enabled = true; //Turns on the overlay
58.             UntoggleTablet (); //Untoggles the tablet through the Tablet script
59.             cameraIsEnabled = true; //Tells the game the camera is on
60.         }
61.     }
62.  
63.     public void ToggleFlashlight() { //Public method for the flashlight button in-game
64.         if (flashlightIsEnabled == false) { //Checks for the flashlight state
65.             flashlight.intensity = 1; //Turns the flashlight on
66.             UntoggleTablet ();
67.             flashlightIsEnabled = true; //Tells the game the flashlight is on
68.         }
69.     }
70.  
71.     void Update() {
72.         if (Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && tabletIsEnabled == false) { //Conditional statement to toggle the tablet method
73.             ToggleTablet ();
74.         } else if (Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && tabletIsEnabled == true) { //Other part of the statement untoggling the tablet
75.             UntoggleTablet ();
76.         }
77.         if (Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && cameraIsEnabled == true) { //Checks for keypress 'I' and if the camera is on...
78.             cameraoverlay.enabled = false; //Turn off the overlay
79.             cameraIsEnabled = false; //Disable the camera
80.         }
81.         if(Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.I) && flashlightIsEnabled == true) {
82.             flashlight.intensity = 0; //Turn off the flashlight
83.             flashlightIsEnabled = false; //Disable the flashlight
84.         }
85.     }
86. }
87.  

Here's what I can tell you after I've done all this:

• I haven't been able to replicate the glitch where colliding with other objects triggers the camera overlay or light.
• I have been able to replicate the jump glitch

I have not 100% confirmed the pattern I think I am seeing, but it appears that:

• The last selected button that I choose is the one that is triggered when I jump
• The booleans for isCameraEnabled and isFlashlightEnabled trigger to 'true' when I jump, respectively enabling depending on what one was last selected
  
• It only occurs once, then it stops until another button is selected, and it repeats.

If you couldn't tell, I really need this fixed, so I would be willing to provide whatever evidence/footage you may need to help me solve this problem. Let me know what else you guys see, thanks!

 

What a mess. With everything public it must be a nightmare to debug. I suggest making private everything related to your flashlight and see which part of code will raise an exception.

 

Also mono/vs debugging is your friend, you really need to find out who's changing your public fields. Also need to spy on every method capable of changing those fields.

 

Ok, I'll poke around Mono's debugging tools and see what I can find. Other than that, the only things I believe I can change in terms of the publicity of the variables/methods are the ToggleTablet/UntoggleTablet, as the other ones need to be accessed by a button.

 

I looked around the debugging, and it appears that there are no errors in any of my code. I also don't believe that any of the methods I have are changing during the runtime process. All I know is that I haven't made progress on fixing the problem. If anyone knows anything about debugging that I could use effectively, or if anyone knows of something I could do to fix the problem I am having, let me know. I'll check back in the morning as I'm off to bed shortly.

 

You have to give me a few minutes, its taking a long time to rework the all the code ...

 

So, don't be disheartened. There is a lot to learn, and even more to do it "right".

First, I just want to add, this code has NO jumping in it. Nothing what so ever, and we can't fix the problem without getting all the code. Because, to be honest, I don't know what you are using for a jump button / where it is being called, or any of those details. But the problem, technically, isn't the code above.

However ... here is a way of simplifing your code:

Code (CSharp):

1. using System;
2. using UnityEngine;
3. using System.Collections.Generic;
4. using UnityEngine.UI;
5.  
6. public class Tablet : MonoBehaviour
7. {
8.  
9.     public Canvas canvas; //Declaring the canvas object
10.  
11.     [SerializeField]
12.     public List<Image> CanvasImages = new List<Image>(); //Declaring the canvas images
13.     public Image cameraoverlay;
14.     public Light flashlight; //Declaring the light variable
15.  
16.     public enum ActiveStates
17.     {
18.         Tablet,
19.         Flashlight,
20.         Camera,
21.         None
22.     }
23.  
24.     public ActiveStates ActiveState = ActiveStates.None;
25.  
26.     void Start()
27.     {
28.         foreach (var image in CanvasImages)
29.             image.enabled = false;
30.  
31.         cameraoverlay.enabled = false;
32.  
33.         flashlight = GameObject.Find("Flashlight").GetComponent<Light>(); //Sets the flashlight to the light instance in-game
34.         flashlight.intensity = 0; //Turns off the flashlight
35.     }
36.  
37.     public void ToggleTablet(bool state)
38.     {
39.         foreach (var image in CanvasImages)
40.             image.enabled = state;
41.  
42.         if (state)
43.             Time.timeScale = 0.0f;
44.         else
45.             Time.timeScale = 1.0f;
46.     }
47.  
48.     public void ToggleCamera(bool state)
49.     {
50.             cameraoverlay.enabled = state;
51.     }
52.  
53.     public void ToggleFlashlight(bool state)
54.     {
55.         if (state)
56.             flashlight.intensity = 1;
57.         else
58.             flashlight.intensity = 0;
59.     }
60.  
61.     void Update()
62.     {
63.         if (!Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.I))
64.             return;
65.  
66.         switch (ActiveState)
67.         {
68.             case ActiveStates.Tablet:
69.                 // turn off tablet
70.                 ToggleTablet(false);
71.                 break;
72.             case ActiveStates.Flashlight:
73.                 ToggleFlashlight(false);
74.                 // turn off flashlight
75.                 break;
76.             case ActiveStates.Camera:
77.                 // turn off camera
78.                 ToggleCamera(false);
79.                 break;
80.             case ActiveStates.None:            
81.                 ToggleTablet(true);
82.                 break;
83.         }
84.     }
85. }
86.  
87.  

However, that isn't really enough

When I mentioned earlier, you should be using inheritance, this is what I mean ...

An element register, so all your inventory "Registers" somewhere you can access it.

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3. using System.Collections.Generic;
4. using System.Linq;
5.  
6. /// <summary>
7. /// You can use this to get access to any elements you've registered in your scene (and check any value you've stored in ItemElement class)
8. /// </summary>
9. public static class ItemRegistry
10. {
11.  
12.     private static List<ItemElement> _itemElements = new List<ItemElement>();
13.  
14.     /// <summary>
15.     /// Add an element to the registry
16.     /// </summary>
17.     /// <param name="element"></param>
18.     public static void RegisterElement(ItemElement element)
19.     {
20.         if (!_itemElements.Contains(element))
21.         {
22.             _itemElements.Add(element);
23.             Debug.Log("ItemRegistry:RegisterElement > Adding " + element.ElementType.ToString());
24.         }
25.     }
26.  
27.     /// <summary>
28.     /// Remove an element to the registry
29.     /// </summary>
30.     /// <param name="element"></param>
31.     public static void UnRegisterElement(ItemElement element)
32.     {
33.         if (_itemElements.Contains(element))
34.         {
35.             _itemElements.Remove(element);
36.             Debug.Log("ItemRegistry:UnRegisterElement > Removing " + element.ElementType.ToString());
37.         }
38.     }
39.  
40.     /// <summary>
41.     /// Get element from the registry, may be null
42.     /// </summary>
43.     /// <param name="element"></param>
44.     public static ItemElement GetElement(ItemElement.ElementTypes ElementType)
45.     {
46.         var element = _itemElements.FirstOrDefault(x => x.ElementType == ElementType);
47.         return element;
48.     }
49.  
50.     /// <summary>
51.     /// Print all elements in the registry
52.     /// </summary>
53.     public static void PrintElements()
54.     {
55.         foreach (var element in _itemElements)
56.             Debug.Log("ItemRegistry::PrintElements > " + element.ElementType.ToString());
57.     }
58. }
59.  

Then a base class for all your elements to derive from, specify an icon for toggling them on and off, and follow a common input method...

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using UnityEngine.UI;
3.  
4. public class ItemElement : MonoBehaviour {
5.  
6.     public enum ElementTypes
7.     {
8.         Tablet,
9.         Flashlight,
10.         Camera,
11.         None
12.     }
13.  
14.     // What element are we?
15.     public ElementTypes ElementType = ElementTypes.None;
16.     //Where is our icon?
17.     public Image ElementIcon;
18.     // Where is the canvas?
19.     public Canvas ElementCanvas;
20.     // What keycode do we need?
21.     public KeyCode ActivationCode = KeyCode.I;
22.     // Is this item enabled?
23.     public bool IsElementActive = false;
24.     // Is there a dependency on a parent object being active?
25.     public ItemElement Dependency;
26.  
27.     // Setup our canvas
28.     public virtual void Start()
29.     {
30.         // Is the canvas null?  It is faster to assign this through the Editor.
31.         if (ElementCanvas == null) // Then lets hunt down a replacement
32.             ElementCanvas = FindObjectOfType<Canvas>();
33.     }
34.  
35.     public virtual void OnEnable()
36.     {
37.         // Register ourselves
38.         ItemRegistry.RegisterElement(this);
39.     }
40.  
41.     public virtual void OnDisable()
42.     {
43.         // Unregister ourselves
44.         ItemRegistry.UnRegisterElement(this);
45.     }
46.  
47.     public virtual void Update()
48.     {
49.         if (Input.GetKeyDown(ActivationCode))
50.             ElementSelected();
51.     }
52.  
53.     // Check if the dependency is met or not required, and toggle the state
54.     public virtual void ElementSelected()
55.     {
56.         if (Dependency != null && !Dependency.IsElementActive)
57.             return;
58.  
59.         ToggleState();
60.         ElementChanged();
61.     }
62.  
63.     /// <summary>
64.     /// Toggles the input
65.     /// </summary>
66.     private void ToggleState()
67.     {
68.         IsElementActive = !IsElementActive;
69.  
70.         if (ElementIcon != null)
71.             ElementIcon.enabled = IsElementActive;
72.     }
73.  
74.     #region Called by Parent Class
75.     // Do we require a dependency?  Must be called by parent class
76.     public void CheckAddDependency(ElementTypes type)
77.     {
78.         if (Dependency == null)
79.             Dependency = ItemRegistry.GetElement(type);
80.     }
81.  
82.     /// <summary>
83.     /// The state changed.  Must be called by parent class
84.     /// </summary>
85.     public virtual void ElementChanged()
86.     {
87.  
88.     }
89.  
90.     #endregion
91. }
92.  

Then finally, you can create a simple way of adding and removing objects just by extending the class...

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3. using UnityEngine.UI;
4.  
5. public class ItemCamera : ItemElement
6. {
7.     public new ElementTypes ElementType = ElementTypes.Camera;
8.  
9.     public Image CameraOverlay;
10.  
11.     // If the element is selected, take a moment to check the depdency
12.     public override void ElementSelected()
13.     {
14.         CheckAddDependency(ElementTypes.Tablet); // <-- this means the item "won't work" unless the tablet is open
15.         base.ElementSelected();
16.     }
17.  
18.     public override void ElementChanged()
19.     {
20.         // OK, so the dependency check passed, and the object state has changed.
21.         CameraOverlay.enabled = IsElementActive;
22.     }
23. }
24.  

So now, to add anything new in the future, you just have to add a couple of lines...

Anyway, I digress, but the code you shared, doesn't contain the problem directly, just points to a greater set of issues that you will have a hard time debugging.

 

Understandable, I'll look into make a more efficient way of making what I want. If the problem still persists for some reason, I'll report back in a new question, as it'll take me a while to soak in all this new information. Thank you all for the help