Object.Instantiate

Parameters

Returns

Object A clone of the original object.

Description

Returns a copy of the object original.

This function makes a clone of an object in a similar way to the Duplicate command in the editor. If you are cloning a GameObject, or something attached to a GameObject, then you can also optionally specify its position and rotation.

If you are cloning a Component, then the GameObject it is attached to will also be cloned.

When you clone a GameObject or Component, all child objects and components will also be cloned, along with their properties. However, the parent property of the cloned object will be null, so it will not be part of the object hierarchy of the original. However, you can still set the parent using the overloaded methods or explicitly.

The active status of a GameObject at the time of cloning will be passed, so if the original is inactive then the clone will be created in an inactive state too.

For an in-depth tutorial of Instantiate and its uses, visit: In depth Prefab Instantiate discussion.

In this example, we instantiate 10 copies of a prefab object in a line along the x axis.

#pragma strict
public class InstantiateExample extends MonoBehaviour {
	public var prefab: GameObject;
	function Start() {
		for (var i: int = 0; i < 10; i++)
			Instantiate(prefab, new Vector3(i * 2.0f, 0, 0), Quaternion.identity);
	}
}

using UnityEngine;

public class InstantiateExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject prefab;

    void Start()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
            Instantiate(prefab, new Vector3(i * 2.0f, 0, 0), Quaternion.identity);
    }
}

Instantiate can also clone script instances directly. The game object hierarchy will be cloned and the cloned script instance will be returned.

After cloning an object you can also use GetComponent to set properties on a specific component attached to the cloned object.

#pragma strict
public class InstantiateComponentExample extends MonoBehaviour {
	public var missilePrefab: Missile;
	function Start() {
		// Instantiate the missile at the position and rotation of this object's transform
		var clone: Missile = MissileInstantiate(missilePrefab, transform.position, transform.rotation);
	}
}

using UnityEngine;

public class InstantiateComponentExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    // Instantiate a prefab with an attached Missile script
    public Missile missilePrefab;

    void Start()
    {
        // Instantiate the missile at the position and rotation of this object's transform
        Missile clone = (Missile)Instantiate(missilePrefab, transform.position, transform.rotation);
    }
}

Parameters

Returns

T Object of type T.

Description

You can also use Generics to instantiate objects. See the Generic Functions page for more details.

In this example, we instantiate our Missile object again, but by using Generics we don't need to cast the result:

#pragma strict
public class InstantiateGenericsExample extends MonoBehaviour {
	public var missile: Missile;
	function Start() {
		var missileCopy: Missile = Instantiate.<Missile>(missile);
	}
}

using UnityEngine;

public class InstantiateGenericsExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    public Missile missile;

    void Start ()
    {
        Missile missileCopy = Instantiate<Missile>(missile);
    }
}