kraemoloblog

 Found the problem! Here is the error that is thrown regarding the mesh combining. 

At first I thought that perhaps the string length of the GOs was the problem, as many of my frag GOs has very long names, but it turns out that it is the sheer number of GOs that is causing the problem. I exported only a fraction of the # of fragments, and violá, no more error && no more visual abominations when the CombineInstance function executes. While this doesn't necessarily solve the problem--I would still like a lot of fragments as it helps more specifically identify where the shot has landed; in fact, I would prefer even more--but at least now I am aware of the specific cause. 

I could break up the object into multiple prefabs. In this particular instance, 3 prefabs would be ideal--1 for the crossbar and 1 for each support, but that definitely makes the process more cumbersome as it is more GOs to manage, and perhaps more importantly, it doesn't solve the problem; it only sidesteps it. Lacking engineer support it may be a necessary evil.

From the looks of it, there's nothing in the Fragmented Objects scripts that hints at a limited # of fragments, so I suspect it is something native to Unity itself. I wonder if it is something that can be adjusted in the project settings, or if it is hard coded into the engine? I suspect the latter. I could, and still may, do some digging, but I have already spent much more time than intended orienting myself with this package. I guess you get what you pay for :