koobas.hobune.stream
Help with bounce angle and velocity change
Hi, I am trying to write code to cause a ball to bounce off of the walls of an oval shaped arena. I dont want to use the built in physics engine because that dose a bunch of other things that I do not need. I am using the variables of xDirection and zDirection as the values of its x and z speed as well as using the value velocity for it's total speed. I figure I need the program to calculate the normal of the surface I hit and then somehow "flip" my xDirection and zDirection over that. I am not really sure how to proceed though. If anyone can help me to get this work it would be greatly appreciated, my math skills seem to be failing me and I can't seem to find all the proper info online (I must not be looking up the right things).
EDIT: OK so I got something working now. I am at least able to draw the correct lines of where it should go, except that after the first bounce it starts behaving weird, and going bounceing nearly back on itself, can anyone help me figure out why?
var xDirection:float;
var zDirection:float;
var velocity:float;
function Start()
{
print ("start");
zDirection = velocity;
}
function Update ()
{
transform.position.x += xDirection * Time.deltaTime;
transform.position.z += zDirection* Time.deltaTime;
}
function OnCollisionEnter(collision : Collision)
{
if(collision.collider.tag == "wall")
{
// Debug-draw all contact points and normals
for (var contact : ContactPoint in collision.contacts)
{
var reflection = Vector3.Reflect (transform.position, contact.normal);
var reflectionNorm = reflection.normalized;
Debug.DrawRay(contact.point, contact.normal, Color.green, 100);
Debug.DrawRay(contact.point, -transform.position, Color.red, 100);
Debug.DrawRay(contact.point, reflection,Color.blue,100);
print("Contact point: "+contact.point);
print("Cantact normal: "+contact.normal);
print("Reflect: "+reflection);
print("Position: "+transform.position);
print("Normalized Reflection: "+reflectionNorm);
print("Angle: "+ Vector3.Angle((contact.point - transform.position),transform.forward));
xDirection = velocity * reflectionNorm.x;
zDirection = velocity * reflectionNorm.z;
}
}
}
The Vector3.Reflect example in the docs is terrible, the worst possible - this function is intended to reflect vectors, not positions. I would use a Vector3 as the velocity, and always zero its y component to avoid small errors that could accumulate and make the object "escape" from the horizontal plane. I would also use FixedUpdate, because collisions are detected in the physics cycle. My script would be something like this:
var startVel: float = 5; private var velocity: Vector3;
function Start(){ // start going in the z direction velocity = Vector3(0, 0, startVel); }
function FixedUpdate(){ velocity.y = 0; // make sure velocity is strictly horizontal // move the object (velocity is in world space): transform.Translate(velocity * Time.deltaTime, Space.World); }
function OnCollisionEnter(coll: Collision){ if (coll.collider.tag == "wall"){ var hit = coll.contacts[0]; // the first contact is enough hit.normal.y = 0; // keep normal in the horizontal plane Debug.DrawRay(hit.point, hit.normal, Color.green, 0.3); // draw green normal Debug.DrawRay(hit.point, -velocity, Color.red, 0.3); // draw red "in" velocity velocity = Vector3.Reflect(velocity, hit.normal); // reflect the velocity Debug.DrawRay(hit.point, velocity, Color.blue, 0.3); // draw blue "out" velocity } }
Only physical methods (applying forces or changing rigidbody.velocity) do it the right way. A simple version using physics could be something like this:
var startVel: float = 5;
function Start(){ // start going in the z direction rigidbody.velocity = Vector3(0, 0, startVel); rigidbody.constraints = RigidbodyConstraints.FreezePositionY; // avoid changes in Y }
This is old as hell, but just saved my sanity trying to solve a problem similar to this.
@aldonaletto - Seems like where you attempt to provide an example that uses rigidbody.velocity ins$$anonymous$$d of 'translate' got cut off. Any chance you might want to repost it? I know it's been a while - but the topic is still relevant I guess.
Appreciate it!!
@aldonaletto im trying to write script in C# but in your answer, there is a code "var hit = coll.contacts[0]; // the first contact is enough" i dont understand what is that. you havent defined its type,and what is coll.contacts[0] ???
