How to make Vector3s communicate with Floats?

Questions & Answers
1

I have slingshot function in my game (think Angry Birds) and I have set it up so that the character in the slingshot can only be pulled back a certain distance. However, the launch function that adds force to the character on launch follows the position of the mouse. In other words, when I click on the character and pull it back, I can pull it to a set distance away from it’s starting point. But I can continue moving the mouse further away from the starting point, adding even more force, so when I release, the character flies much farther than they should. The launch code is using Vector3s to get the position, but Clamp.Magnitude uses the radius variable which is a float. Here’s the code I have so far:

    function Update()
    {
        //Raycast checks to see if squirrel is clicked on
        		var ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition);
        		var hit : RaycastHit;
        	
        		if(Physics.Raycast (ray, hit, 100))
        		{
        			if(hit.transform.tag == "squirrel")
        			{
        				//gets mouse point in world space
        				var pos = Camera.main.ScreenToWorldPoint(Input.mousePosition);
        				pos.z = 0; //makes sure Z = 0
        		
        				//drag squirrel while button pressed
        				if(drag)
        				{
        					//Positions squirrel at the mouse's location
        					transform.position = pos;
        				}
        		
        				if(Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0))
        				{
        					drag = true;
        					startPos = pos; //save initial position
                            wasClicked = true;
        				}
        		     }//Closes if(hit.transform.tag == "squirrel")
    		}//Closes if(Physics.Raycast...)
        
        				if(Input.GetMouseButtonUp(0) && wasClicked)
        				{
        					drag = false;
        					var dir = startPos - pos; //calculate direction and intensity
        			
        					moveDirection = dir * launchForce; //launches with force input
        					Debug.Log(dir);
        			
        					isLoaded = false; //frees squirrel from launch zone clamps
        			
        					isLaunching = true; //allows squirrel to pass through the 
        								//launchPoint triggerzone without being stopped
        			
        					squirrelActive = true;//allows squirrel to begin moving freely
        			
        					squirrelDirection = true; //tells squirrel to start moving right 
        									  //since they are always moving left
        									  //after returning to the launch tree
                            wasClicked = false;
        				}
        
                //Clamps squirrel to specified radius around launchPoint
        		var movement = new Vector3(Input.GetAxis("Horizontal"), 0, Input.GetAxis("Vertical"));
        		var newPos = transform.position + movement;
        		var offset = newPos - centerPt;
        		transform.position = centerPt + Vector3.ClampMagnitude(offset,radius);
    }// Closes function Update

Thanks for any help!

3

Your issue is with the order you do things in this code. You correct/limit the distance the squirrel is from the start point in Lines 49 - 53. But you calculate ‘moveDirection’ on line 32 before you’ve corrected the position. That is on line 17 you set the squirrel position to the mouse position, so your launch code is using the mouse position for the launch (not the limited position). A fix is to move your correction/limiting code into the ‘if (drag)’ statement on line 14…or at least move it above the ‘if (Input.GetMouseButtonUp(0))’ on line 27.

2

I think what you need is get the vector direction between the starting and the actual position of the mouse.
Get the magnitude.
Define a max magnitude.
If the current vector magnitude is smaller than the max magnitude, then draw the current vector, if it is greater then draw the max vector using the current direction.

Vector3 direction = GetDirectionFromMousePosition();
if(direction.magnitude < maxMagnitude)
{
    // Use direction
}
else
{
    Vector3 shooting = direction.normalized * maxMagnitude;
}