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How can I offset a raycast along the transform's local x/z axis?

What I am trying to achieve:

alt text

If I need to shoot say 3 raycasts (C#): 1 from transform.position (blue line), 1 to the left of this by an offset of lets say 2 units (left yellow line), and 1 to the right by the same offset (right yellow line), how can I do this? I imagine it could be something like:

transform.position + publicVariable (and)

transform.position - publicVariable

Here is my script:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class EnemyAI3 : MonoBehaviour {
    public Transform target;
    public int raycastLength = 1;
    public float leftRaycast = 2f;

public float rightRaycast = -2f;

    public bool raycastHitting = false;
    public bool raycastHittingL = false;
    public float turnSpeed = 5;

    private Transform myTransform;

    void Awake() {
       myTransform = transform;
    }

    // Use this for initialization
    void Start () {
       GameObject go = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player");
       target = go.transform;
       leftRaycast.x -= 2;
       rightRaycast.x += 2;
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void FixedUpdate () {

       //Start Raycast forward
       if(Physics.Raycast(myTransform.position, myTransform.forward, raycastLength)){
         Debug.DrawLine(myTransform.position, myTransform.forward, Color.blue);
         myTransform.Rotate(Vector3.up, -90 * turnSpeed * Time.smoothDeltaTime);
         raycastHitting = true;

       }
       if(!Physics.Raycast(myTransform.position, myTransform.forward, raycastLength)){
         raycastHitting = false;  
       }
       //End Raycast



        //Start Raycast Left
       if(Physics.Raycast(myTransform.position, myTransform.right * leftRaycast, raycastLength)){
         Debug.DrawLine(myTransform.position, myTransform.right * leftRaycast, Color.yellow);
         myTransform.Rotate(Vector3.up, 90 * turnSpeed * Time.smoothDeltaTime);
         raycastHittingL = true;

       }
       if(!Physics.Raycast(myTransform.position, myTransform.right * leftRaycast, raycastLength)){
         raycastHittingL = false; 
       }
       //End Raycast
    }
}

What is the best way to do this?

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asked Mar 07 '12 at 06:38 AM

Hamesh81 gravatar image

Hamesh81
602 12 20 27

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1 answer: sort oldest
  • The class Transform don't have an x property, but a position, which is a Vector3 and have an x property.
  • You them any. If I understand correctly, you want to cast three parallele rays from position with an offset on x. In that case, declare two public float offset1, offset2, then your three rays' origines will be

transform.position + transform.right * offset1; // for instance, offset1 = -2
transform.position + transform.right;
transform.position + transform.right * offset2; // for instance, offset2 = 2

  • If you need the case where the ray don't hit anything, do not cast it again with !, use else instead.
  • By using the same bool for all the rays (raycastHitting), it's will always take the last value, hiding the other. Just in case you need that bool, which you don't in the ewample above.
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answered Mar 07 '12 at 07:03 AM

Berenger gravatar image

Berenger
11k 12 19 53

Thanks for your help. I threw in a diagram up top to better show what I'm trying to do. The blue line is the first raycast (mytransform.position) in the script and the left yellow line is the left raycast (myTransform.position, myTransform.right * leftRaycast). I've changed the second raycast to as you suggested but it changes the angle of the raycast it doesn't actually offset it. Or have I done it wrong?

Mar 07 '12 at 09:49 AM Hamesh81

Keep in mind that a ray is composed of two things, an origin and a direction. Saying "the first raycast (mytransform.position)" makes no sens if you don't add the direction (I suppose you imply it's forward there).

So you want to cast a ray forward, to the right and to the left, with an offset on the origine : the the three lines of codes in my answer. the direction don't need to be multiplied, unless you want to invert it. In your case, and respectively with the origines I gave you, directions are transform.left, transform.forward and transform.right.

Mar 07 '12 at 03:36 PM Berenger

Thanks for trying to help Berenger, but I couldn't get your solution to work. I ended up using a Vector3 variable to determine the direction which allowed me to set a ".x" offset for the other raycasts. All is gd now :D

Mar 09 '12 at 03:22 PM Hamesh81
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asked: Mar 07 '12 at 06:38 AM

Seen: 655 times

Last Updated: Mar 09 '12 at 03:23 PM