How To Attach Floating Text to Game Objects when Destroyed

Question

I've attached the following script to a Game Object named "floatingText"

This works but I want to activate the floating text only when an object is destroyed. I have another Destroy script attached to a sphere/bullet that is fired by pressing a button on screen to destroy a Cylinder object.

My question is how to get the floating text to show only when the Cylinder is destroyed by the bullet at the location of the impact.

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;

public class Float : MonoBehaviour 
{
    Text text;
    public float fadeDuration = 2.0f;
    public float speed = 2.0f;

    // Use this for initialization
    void Start ()
    {
        text = this.GetComponent<Text>();
        StartCoroutine(Fade());
    }

    public IEnumerator Fade ()
    {
        float fadespeed = (float)1.0 / fadeDuration;
        Color c = text.color;

        for (float t = 0.0f; t < 1.0f; t += Time.deltaTime * fadespeed)
        {
            c.a = Mathf.Lerp(1, 0, t);
            text.color = c;
            yield return true;
        }

        Destroy(this.gameObject);
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update ()
    {
        this.transform.Translate(Vector3.up * Time.deltaTime * speed);  
    }
}

The script that controls the destroying of the object:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;

public class Destroy : MonoBehaviour 
{
    public ParticleSystem effect;
    public AudioSource explosion;
    public Text scoreText;
    public GameObject floatingText; 

    void OnCollisionExit(Collision col)
    {          
        if (col.gameObject.tag == "Cylinder")
        { 
            effect.Play();
            explosion.Play();
            Destroy(col.gameObject);  
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Simply disable the object in Start and enable it later:

public class Float : MonoBehaviour 
{
    Text text;
    public float fadeDuration = 2.0f;
    public float speed = 2.0f;

    // Use this for initialization
    void Start ()
    {
        text = this.GetComponent<Text>();
        // Hide object
        gameObject.SetActive(false);
    }

    public ShowTextAndFade(Vector3 initialPosition)
    {
        StartCoroutine (Fade(initialPosition));
    }

    private IEnumerator Fade (Vector3 initialPosition)
    {
        // Show object
        gameObject.SetActive(true);

        // Set position
        transform.position = initialPosition;

        float fadespeed = (float)1.0 / fadeDuration;
        Color c = text.color;

        for (float t = 0.0f; t < 1.0f; t += Time.deltaTime * fadespeed)
        {
            c.a = Mathf.Lerp(1, 0, t);
            text.color = c;
            yield return true;
        }

        Destroy(this.gameObject);
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update ()
    {
        this.transform.Translate(Vector3.up * Time.deltaTime * speed);  
    }
}

and call it in the Destroy script. I asume you want to reuse that so I'ld use a prefab:

• Make the float object a prefab (drag it to the assets)
• remove it from the scene
• and reference the created prefab in floatPrefab of the Destroy component(s)

In Destroy:

// Reference the prefab in the inspector
public Float floatPrefab;

//...

effect.Play();
explosion.Play();
var position = col.transform.position;
Destroy(col.gameObject);

// Spawn the float text
var float = Instantiate(floatPrefab); 
// And start fading
float.ShowTextAndFade(position);

You can also skip the prefab part

• reference the actual object from your scene

• delete the Instantiate but instead use

  public Float float;
  
  //...
  float.ShowTextAndFade(position); 
  

Answer 2

The floating text should be made into a prefab so that it can be instantiated when the cylinder is destroyed using the OnDestroy event. Once instantiated, you can pass information from your cylinder to the instantiated floating text through the floatingText GameObject.

Cylinder

...

public string textToShow = "Floating text you want to show";
public Vector3 pointOfCollision = gameObject.transform.position; // set on impact

void OnDestroy()
{
    GameObject floatingText = Instantiate(floatingTextPrefab, pointOfCollision, floatingTextPrefab.transform.localRotation);
    floatingText.Text.text = textToShow;

    StartCoroutine(floatingText.GetComponent<Float>().Fade());
}