In Unity can I make the instantiate function accept custom coordinates instead of Vector3 or Transform?

Question

I want to instantiate GameObjects(specifically hexagonal tiles) at the hexagonalCoodinates(hexcoordinates). For this I wrote a custom coordinate system. But I found out that unity doesn't accept anything other than Vector3 or transform. How do I make it do that? Or is there a easier way to do this?

This is the method to generate the gameObjects

private void TouchCell(Vector3 point)//This method instantiates cubes
    {
        point = transform.InverseTransformPoint(point);
         HexCoordinates coordinates = HexCoordinates.FromPosition(point);
        
        Instantiate(cubes, coordinates, Quaternion.identity);//<-The coordinate variable here is a hex coordinate.
        Debug.Log("Touched at:" + coordinates);
    }

And This is the Hex coordinate generator:

public struct HexCoordinates
{
    public int X { get; private set; }
    public int Z { get; private set; }
    public int Y { get
        {
            return -X - Z;
        } }
    public HexCoordinates(int x,int z)
    {
        X = x;
        Z = z;
    }
    public static HexCoordinates FromOffsetCoordinates(int x,int z)
    {
        return new HexCoordinates(x-z/2, z);
    }
    public override string ToString()
    {
        return "("+X.ToString()+","+Y.ToString()+","+Z.ToString()+")";
    }
    public string ToStringOnSeperateLines()
    {
        return X.ToString() + "\n" +Y.ToString()+ "\n" + Z.ToString();
    }

    public static HexCoordinates FromPosition(Vector3 point)//This converts the Vector3 to Hex coords
    {
       float x = point.x / (HexMetrics.InnerRadius * 2f);
        float y = -x;
        float offset = point.z / (HexMetrics.OuterRadius * 3f);
        x -= offset;
        y -= offset;
        int iX = Mathf.RoundToInt(x);
        int iY = Mathf.RoundToInt(y);
        int iZ = Mathf.RoundToInt(-x - y);
        if (iX + iY + iZ != 0)
        {
            float dX = Mathf.Abs(x-iX);
            float dY = Mathf.Abs(y - iY);
            float dZ = Mathf.Abs(-x-y-iZ);
            if(dX>dY&&dX>dZ)
            {
                iX = -iY - iZ;
            }
            else if(dZ>dY)
            {
                iZ = -iX - iY;
            }
        }
       return new HexCoordinates(iX,iZ);
   }
}

@Ruzihm I need to place the object at the center of the face of the generated hexagon(like minecraft but with hexagon). So using that Vector3 point doesn't solve the purpose. — user14553320
– user14553320, Commented Apr 25, 2021 at 7:15

Nickeodash · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-25 07:50:48Z

0

Just convert from your HexCoordinates to Vector3 using any way:

create method for HexCoordinates, something like public Vector3 ToVector3() {...}
create implicit operator for implicit cast to Vector3

public struct HexCoordinates
{
    public int X { get; private set; }
    public int Z { get; private set; }
    public int Y => -X - Z;

    public HexCoordinates(int x,int z)
    {
        X = x;
        Z = z;
    }
    
    ...

    public static implicit operator Vector3(HexCoordinates coords)
    {
        Vector3 result = // convert to Vector3
        // Vector3 result = ToVector3() -- or like this for code reuse
        return result;
    }

    public Vector3 ToVector3()
    {
        Vector3 result = //convert to Vector3
        return result;
    }
}

And then you can extend Unity's Object class and add overloading for Instantiate() method that will accept HexCoordinates, convert to Vector3 and call Instantiate()

public static class ObjectExtension
{
    public static void Instantiate(this Object obj, Object origin, HexCoordinates coords, Quaternion q)
    {
        Vector3 position = coords.ToVector3();
        obj.Instantiate(origin, position, q);
    }
}

Also if you create implicit cast for your HexCoordinates to Vector3 you don't need to create overloading for Instantiate() method because converting will be implicitly

edited Apr 25, 2021 at 7:50

answered Apr 25, 2021 at 7:46

Nickeodash

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1 Comment

Ruzihm Over a year ago

While correct, this isn't super helpful... very much a "step 1 draw a circle step 2 draw the rest of the owl`

Ruzihm · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-25 15:41:58Z

0

You are using using catlike coding's code. (This would have been helpful to mention in the question ;) ). In part 3 of the tutorial featuring this hex coordinate system, you can see how they would do something like below, accessing a hex inside of an array by calculating an index:

    public HexCell GetCell (Vector3 position) {
        position = transform.InverseTransformPoint(position);
        HexCoordinates coordinates = HexCoordinates.FromPosition(position);
        int index = coordinates.X + coordinates.Z * width + coordinates.Z / 2;
        return cells[index];
    }

So, since a HexCell has a transform.position, you can use that to get its center (making sure you don't access out of bounds):

    private void TouchCell(Vector3 point)
    {
        point = transform.InverseTransformPoint(point);
        HexCoordinates coordinates = HexCoordinates.FromPosition(point);
        int index = coordinates.X + coordinates.Z * width + coordinates.Z / 2;

        if (index >=0 && index < cells.Length)
        {
            Vector3 worldPos = cells[index].transform.position;        
            Instantiate(cubes, worldPos, Quaternion.identity);

            Debug.Log("Touched at:" + coordinates);
        }
    }

Better yet, it may be worthwhile to make a method to retrieve this index, for the sake of code reuse:

    private bool IsValidCellIndex(Vector3 point, out int index)
    {
        point = transform.InverseTransformPoint(point);
        HexCoordinates coordinates = HexCoordinates.FromPosition(point);
        index = coordinates.X + coordinates.Z * width + coordinates.Z / 2;

        return index >=0 && index < cells.Length;
    }

    private void TouchCell(Vector3 point)
    {
        if (IsValidCellIndex(point, out int index))
        {
            Vector3 worldPos = cells[index].transform.position;        
            Instantiate(cubes, worldPos, Quaternion.identity);

            Debug.Log("Touched at:" + worldPos);
        }
    }

Or, just use GetCell as the tutorial does :)

edited Apr 25, 2021 at 15:41

answered Apr 25, 2021 at 8:19

Ruzihm

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2 Comments

user14553320 Over a year ago

Thanks :).I did figure it out. and that is exactly how I did it

Ruzihm Over a year ago

@LionCatDevStudio Was there something that turned out to be bad about this answer? I just got notified it lost accepted status. I can edit it to improve it if so.

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