Move and rotate X or Z axis but not diagonally!

Question

Hello guys I'm new to programming and I have the following issue:

My player is a tank and I want this tank to be able to move and rotate to the direction is moving and keep that rotation till the player changes direction on the X an Z axis but not diagonally! The inspiration for this movement comes from an old SNES game named Battle City . My script looks as follows:

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour { public float speed = 2f; public GameObject bulletPrefab; public Transform fireBullet; bool isReadyToInstantiate;

 // Start is called before the first frame update
 void Start()
 {
     isReadyToInstantiate = true;
 }

 // Update is called once per frame
 void Update()
 {
     float horizontalInput = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
     float verticalInput = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");

     Vector3 moveDirection = new Vector3(horizontalInput, 0, verticalInput);
     moveDirection.Normalize();

     transform.Translate(moveDirection * speed * Time.deltaTime, Space.World);

     if(moveDirection != Vector3.zero)
     {
        transform.forward = moveDirection;
     }

     if (isReadyToInstantiate && Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space))
     {
          StartCoroutine(PreventSpam());
          Instantiate(bulletPrefab, fireBullet.position, fireBullet.rotation);
     }
 }

 IEnumerator PreventSpam() 
 {
     isReadyToInstantiate = false;
     yield return new WaitForSeconds(1);
     isReadyToInstantiate = true;
 }

Answer 1

I've finally got a solution for my problem with the following modifications :

void Start() { isReadyToInstantiate = true; }

 // Update is called once per frame
 void Update()
 {
     float horizontalInput = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
     float verticalInput = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");

     Vector3 moveDirection = new Vector3(horizontalInput, 0, 0);
     Vector3 moveDirection2 = new Vector3(0, 0, verticalInput);
     

     moveDirection.Normalize();



     if (moveDirection != Vector3.zero)
     {
         transform.forward = moveDirection;
         transform.Translate(moveDirection * speed * Time.deltaTime, Space.World);


     }
     else if (moveDirection2 != Vector3.zero)
     {
         transform.forward = moveDirection2;
         transform.Translate(moveDirection2 * speed * Time.deltaTime, Space.World);

     }
   
     if (isReadyToInstantiate && Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space))
     {
          StartCoroutine(PreventSpam());
          Instantiate(bulletPrefab, fireBullet.position, fireBullet.rotation);
     }


 }

 IEnumerator PreventSpam() 
 {
     isReadyToInstantiate = false;
     yield return new WaitForSeconds(1);
     isReadyToInstantiate = true;
 }

Answer 2

Answer by CmdrZin · Jan 13 at 05:43 PM

You should review this tutorial. https://learn.unity.com/project/tanks-tutorial
But basically, you want to use Vector3.forward to move in the direction your tank is pointing.
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Transform-forward.html shows you how and shows how to rotate also.
Have fun.

Add comment · Show 1 · Share

kems932000 · Jan 13 at 08:33 PM 0

Share

I think is a bit tricky what I try to accomplish I tried to implement a solution based on the documentation you mentioned for Transform.forward but its rotating my object in place and I have to apply the movement with the up arrow key . But what I want exactly to achieve is when I use a direction key the player object must rotate to exactly 90 degrees in that direction and with the same key to keep that direction when moving. I think it needs some math calculation but I'm yet a beginner and my mind cant grasp the concept on how to achieve this... Sorry for this big comment sir!

Answer 3

Answer by djexstas9 · Jan 13 at 05:56 PM

first thing that came to mind:

         float horizontalInput = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
         float verticalInput = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");
         Vector3 moveDirection = Mathf.Abs(horizontalInput) > Mathf.Abs(verticalInput) ? Vector3.right * horizontalInput : Vector3.forward * verticalInput;

         // Or more readable

         if (Mathf.Abs(horizontalInput) > Mathf.Abs(verticalInput))
         {
             moveDirection = Vector3.right * horizontalInput;
         }
         else
         {
             moveDirection = Vector3.forward * verticalInput;
         }

Add comment · Show 1 · Share

kems932000 · Jan 13 at 08:02 PM 0

Share

I used the mentioned code, I chose the more readable version but after playing the scene the player is not moving at all and I have no errors on the console. Maybe I did something wrong?

Move and rotate X or Z axis but not diagonally!

3 Replies

Your answer

Welcome to Unity Answers

Follow this Question

Related Questions