Spawn sprites on action - unity3d

Question

I'm trying to make a Pinata GameObject, that when clicked bursts and gives a variable number of Gift GameObjects with various images and behaviors in them.
I'm also not sure what the unity vocabulary for this is so as to look this up in unity docs.
Can anyone please lend me a hand here? Thanks!

Answer 1

There are several ways to handle this.
The simple way is to use Object.Instantiate, Object Instantiation is the vocab you're after.
This will create a copy of a predefined Unity object, this can be a gameobject or any other object derived from UnityEngine.Object, check the docs for more info https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Object.Instantiate.html.
In your case, your Pinata would have an array, or list, of prefabs. These prefabs are created by you with a certain behaviour and sprite for each one. When the Pinata bursts, you instantiate random prefabs at random positions surrounding the Pinata, up to you how to position these objects.
Something along these lines should do the trick:
class Pinata : Monobehaviour
{
public GameObject[] pickupPrefabs;
public int numberOfItemsToSpawn; //This can be random
//any other variables that influence spawning
//Other methods
public void Burst()
{
for(int i = 0; i < numberOfItemsToSpawn; i++)
{
//Length - 1 because the range is inclusive, may return
//the length of the array otherwise, and throw exceptions
int randomItem = Random.Range(0, pickupPrefabs.Length - 1);
GameObject pickup = (GameObject)Instantiate(pickupPrefabs[randomItem]);
pickup.transform.position = transform.position;
//the position can be randomised, you can also do other cool effects like apply an explosive force or something
}
}
}
Bare in mind, if you want the game to be consistent, then each behaviour prefab would have there own predefined sprite, this would not be randomised. The only thing randomised would be the spawning and positioning.
If you did want to randomise the sprites for the behaviours then you'd have to add this to the Pinata class:
public class Pinata : Monobehaviour
{
//An array of all possible sprites
public Sprite[] objectSprites;
public void Burst()
{
//the stuff I mentioned earlier
int randomSprite = Random.Range(0, objectSprites.Length - 1);
SpriteRenderer renderer = pickup.GetComponent<SpriteRenderer>();
//Set the sprite of the renderer to a random one
renderer.sprite = objectSprites[randomSprite];
float flip = Random.value;
//not essential, but can make it more random
if(flip > 0.5)
{
renderer.flipX = true;
}
}
}
You can use Unity random for all your random needs, https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Random.html
Hopefully this'll lead you in the right direction.