[MOBILE 2D] Move object relative to finger in x axis

Questions & Answers
1

Hi, I have really low experience with unity, and I’ve been looking everywhere for a solution to this.

How do I make a 2d object move relative to the finger, in smooth and natural way? It sounds like a relatively simple thing to code for me, but I just haven’t gotten it right yet.

I’ve tried my own methods, which were quite bad, and right now I’m using one I found on an old thread over here:

    if (Input.touchCount == 1)
    {
        Touch touch = Input.GetTouch(0);
        if (touch.phase == TouchPhase.Moved && gameStarted)
        {
            transform.Translate(touch.deltaPosition.x/Screen.width * velocityConstant, 0.0f, 0.0f);
            transform.position = new Vector2(Mathf.Clamp(transform.position.x, leftLimit, rightLimit), transform.position.y);
        }
    }

It gets the job done sometimes, but it’s so inconsistent and unpredictable, it really blows the experience of the game I’m trying to make. Sometimes it moves just a small distance, and then the opposite. My first guess was that it was a framerate problem, but FixedUpdate didn’t solve it.

Is there anything in particular I could change to this code to make the movement solid and consistent? Please help!

Your help will be greatly appreciated, Thank you!

2

Well
Store the position on touchphase start, subtract the current position of the position on touchphase move from the started touch position.

		if (Input.touchCount > 0) {
			var touch = Input.GetTouch(0);
			switch (touch.phase) {
				case TouchPhase.Began:
					startPos = touch.position;
					break;
				
				case TouchPhase.Moved:
					distance = touch.position - startPos;
					break;
			}
		}

The distance would then just be applied to the transforms position x.