Unity Value Assigned in Inspector Throws Null in Code

Question

I'm a beginner at Unity with a problem for which I've not been able to find an answer on any of the boards. Creating a very basic Unity C# script, I have the following lines of code in my Awake() function:

Assert.IsNotNull(sfxJump);
Assert.IsNotNull(sfxDeath);
Assert.IsNotNull(sfxCoin);

The third assertion " Assert.IsNotNull(sfxCoin) throws as null , even though the coin AudioClip is set in the Inspector:

Inspector script values:

However -- and this is the part that has me baffled -- for some reason sfxCoin is not null when invoked in the same script from an OnCollisionEnter() routine

So it appears Unity does register the object with the code -- eventually -- but the assertions fail with the initial Awake() , Start() , and Update() methods.

And this only is happening with sfxCoin . sfxJump and sfxDeath do not have this issue.

Any help would be appreciated

Entire script is below:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.Assertions;

public class Player : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private float jumpForce = 100f;
    [SerializeField] private float forwardMomentum = 5f;
    [SerializeField] private AudioClip sfxJump;
    [SerializeField] private AudioClip sfxDeath;
    [SerializeField] private AudioClip sfxCoin; 

    private Animator anim;
    private Rigidbody Rigidbody;
    private bool jump = false;
    private AudioSource audioSource;  

    private void Awake()
    {
        Assert.IsNotNull(sfxJump);
        Assert.IsNotNull(sfxDeath);
        Assert.IsNotNull(sfxCoin);
    }

    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        anim = GetComponent<Animator>();
        Rigidbody = GetComponent<Rigidbody>();
        audioSource = GetComponent<AudioSource>();        
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update()
    {
        if (!GameManager.instance.GameOver() && GameManager.instance.GameStarted())
        { 
            if (Input.GetMouseButton(0))
            {
                GameManager.instance.PlayerStartedGame();

                anim.Play("Jump");
                audioSource.PlayOneShot(sfxJump);
                Rigidbody.useGravity = true;
                jump = true;
            }
        }
    }

    private void FixedUpdate()
    {
        if (jump)
        {
            jump = false;
            Rigidbody.velocity = new Vector2(0, 0);
            Rigidbody.AddForce(new Vector2(forwardMomentum, jumpForce), ForceMode.Impulse);
        }
    }

    private void OnCollisionEnter(Collision collision)
    {
        switch (collision.gameObject.tag)
        {
            case "obstacle":
                Rigidbody.AddForce(new Vector2(-50, 20), ForceMode.Impulse);
                Rigidbody.detectCollisions = false;
                audioSource.PlayOneShot(sfxDeath);
                GameManager.instance.PlayerCollided();
                break;
            case "coin":

                audioSource.PlayOneShot(sfxCoin);
                GameManager.instance.Score(1);
                print("GOT COIN");
                break;

        }
    }
}

Answer 1

sorry, I found out what the problem was.

There was a second instance of a game object that was also using the same script that did not have sfxCoin set. It was hidden under a node in the hierarchy so I didn't see it.

Like I said, I'm a beginner at this.