My 2D Player isn't dashing forward when I press Q, how do I fix it?

Questions & Answers
1

I added a dash function to my 2D player square a while ago and it worked just fine. However, the next day when working on my game it just stopped working after I put in a lot of code. What I’m trying to do is that when you press the Q key on your keyboard you basically get kicked forward in the direction your going to make it look like a dash. There will be a cooldown of 2 seconds for dashing.

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class PlayerMovement : MonoBehaviour
{
    private float moveHorizontal;
    public float speed = 5f;
    private Rigidbody2D rb;
    public float jumpForce = 5f;
    public float dashForce = 9000f;
    private bool isJumping = false;
    public Collider2D groundCollider;

    private bool canDash = true;
    public float dashCooldown = 2f;
    private float lastDashTime = 0f;
    public GameObject ZRotation;

    void Start()
    {
        rb = GetComponent<Rigidbody2D>();
        groundCollider = GetComponent<Collider2D>();
    }

    void Update()
    {
        ZRotation.transform.rotation = Quaternion.Euler(0f, 0f, 0f);

        moveHorizontal = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");

        Vector2 movement = new Vector2(moveHorizontal, 0f) * speed;
        rb.velocity = new Vector2(movement.x, rb.velocity.y);

        if (Input.GetButtonDown("Jump") && !isJumping)
        {
            rb.AddForce(new Vector2(rb.velocity.x, jumpForce), ForceMode2D.Impulse);
        }

        if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Q) && canDash)
        {
            Dash();
            Debug.Log("Q pressed");
        }

        // Sprinting Check!!!
        if (Input.GetKey(KeyCode.LeftShift) && moveHorizontal != 0)
        {
            speed = 10f;
        }
        else
        {
            speed = 5f;
        }
    }

    private void Dash()
    {
        Debug.Log("Dash Called");
        Vector2 dashForceVector = new Vector2(moveHorizontal * dashForce, 0f);
        rb.AddForce(dashForceVector, ForceMode2D.Impulse);
        lastDashTime = Time.time;
        canDash = false;
        StartCoroutine(DashCooldown());
    }

    IEnumerator DashCooldown()
    {
        yield return new WaitForSeconds(dashCooldown);
        canDash = true;
    }

    private void OnCollisionEnter2D(Collision2D collision)
    {
        if (collision.gameObject.CompareTag("Floor"))
        {
            ContactPoint2D[] contacts = new ContactPoint2D[collision.contactCount];
            collision.GetContacts(contacts);

            foreach (ContactPoint2D contact in contacts)
            {
                Vector2 contactNormal = contact.normal;
                float angle = Vector2.Angle(contactNormal, Vector2.up);
            
                if (angle <= 45f)
                {
                    isJumping = false;
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    private void OnCollisionExit2D(Collision2D collision)
    {
        if (collision.gameObject.CompareTag("Floor"))
        {
            isJumping = true;
        }
    }
}

This is my only script for my player square. It SHOULD be working. The debug logs are triggering and I’m not getting any errors but it’s not doing what I want it to. I have a feeling that it stopped working because I added a material to the square called Slip where it has 0 friction so that the player doesn’t stick to walls, but when I delete Slip the dash still doesn’t work, so I’m not really sure.

2

@CrayZee100 - I apologize for the delay in response, I seem to be the only active moderator these days, and I am trying to keep up, but I have been very busy lately.

Possibility 1: Dash force is not enough

You might want to experiment with your dashForce variable. A higher value might give the desired effect. This could be especially true if your Rigidbody2D’s mass is large.

Possibility 2: Dash input is not properly registered

Consider changing Input.GetKeyDown to Input.GetButtonDown and defining a button for dashing in your Input Manager.

Possibility 3: Effect of friction

The dash might be working but due to high friction, the effect might not be observable. Try to increase your dashForce significantly for testing purposes.

Possibility 4: Ground checks

It’s possible that your ground check logic is interfering with the dash. For instance, if you’re considering the player to be always “on ground”, the dash effect might not be noticeable.

However, without further information or being able to directly debug the code, it is hard to say exactly why the dash isn’t functioning as expected.

Also, I would suggest implementing a Debug.Log statement right after the dashForce is applied to make sure that the function is being executed correctly. For example:

<b>Possibility 1: Dash force is not enough</b>

You might want to experiment with your dashForce variable. A higher value might give the desired effect. This could be especially true if your Rigidbody2D's mass is large.


<b>Possibility 2: Dash input is not properly registered</b>

Consider changing <i>Input.GetKeyDown</i> to <i>Input.GetButtonDown</i> and defining a button for dashing in your Input Manager.


<b>Possibility 3: Effect of friction</b>

The dash might be working but due to high friction, the effect might not be observable. Try to increase your dashForce significantly for testing purposes.


<b>Possibility 4: Ground checks</b>

It's possible that your ground check logic is interfering with the dash. For instance, if you're considering the player to be always "on ground", the dash effect might not be noticeable.


However, without further information or being able to directly debug the code, it is hard to say exactly why the dash isn't functioning as expected.


Also, I would suggest implementing a Debug.Log statement right after the dashForce is applied to make sure that the function is being executed correctly. For example:

This can help you track if the dash is being executed and how much force is being applied each time.