Need a little code help with accessing the transform.position sequentially in array

Unity Engine
1

Hi all,

I’m a little lost with how to get an object’s transform.position, sequentially, from an array. I currently have have an array of checkpoints in my game. As of now, it’s pulling ALL the array’s data.

Array code:

for (int w = 0; w < wayPointLoc.Length; w++)
            {
                var currentWaypoint = wayPointObj[w];
                var wayPointPos = wayPointLoc[w].position;
                var wayPointTransform = transform.position;

                distanceToWayPoint = Vector3.Distance(wayPointPos, wayPointTransform);
                //Debug.Log(currentWaypoint + ">>> Checkpoints Passed: [[[" + checkPointCounter + "]]] Distance: [" + distanceToWayPoint + "]");
                Debug.Log(currentWaypoint + ">>> Checkpoints Passed: [[[" + checkPointCounter + "]]] Distance: [" + wayPointTransform + "]");
            }

What I’d like to happen is once the player passes a checkpoint, it’ll only check for the distance of the next checkpoint in the array.

Collider code:

    void OnTriggerExit(Collider other)
    {

        if (checkPointCounter != wayPointObj.Length)
        {
            /*
             *
             * if checkPointCounter == wayPointObj[a].length
             *    didCompleteLap = true
             *    lapsCompleted++
             *
             *      if lapsCompleted == totalLaps
             *         DONE
             *
             */
            /**********************/
            if (other.gameObject.CompareTag("scoreStage"))
            {

                //increment every a collider passed.
                checkPointCounter++;
                currentWayPoint = checkPointCounter;
                checkpointHit = true;
            }
        }
        else
        {
            lapsCompleted++;
            didCompleteLap = true;
            //Debug.Log("Laps Completed: [" + lapsCompleted + "]");
            checkPointCounter = 0;

            if (lapsCompleted != totalLaps)
            {
                didCompleteLap = false;
            }
            else
            {
                didFinishRace = true; Time.timeScale = 0;
            }

            if (lapsCompleted <= (totalLaps - 1))
            {
                print("Final Lap");
            }
        }
    }

What’s the best way to handle this?

Thanks in advance…

2

There’s like a bazillion waypoint tutorials out there. I’d start with that first (see below).

Usually you would use an integer “cursor” that points to each waypoint and advances to the next one only when your “I have reached this waypoint” criteria occur.

Make sure you prepare to handle things like skipping a waypoint, or hitting the same waypoint twice, without making your game crash.

Tutorials and example code are great, but keep this in mind to maximize your success and minimize your frustration:

How to do tutorials properly, two (2) simple steps to success:

Tutorials are a GREAT idea. Tutorials should be used this way:

Step 1. Follow the tutorial and do every single step of the tutorial 100% precisely the way it is shown. Even the slightest deviation (even a single character!) generally ends in disaster. That’s how software engineering works. Every step must be taken, every single letter must be spelled, capitalized, punctuated and spaced (or not spaced) properly, literally NOTHING can be omitted or skipped.

Fortunately this is the easiest part to get right: Be a robot. Don’t make any mistakes.
BE PERFECT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO HERE!!

If you get any errors, learn how to read the error code and fix your error. Google is your friend here. Do NOT continue until you fix your error. Your error will probably be somewhere near the parenthesis numbers (line and character position) in the file. It is almost CERTAINLY your typo causing the error, so look again and fix it.

Step 2. Go back and work through every part of the tutorial again, and this time explain it to your doggie. See how I am doing that in my avatar picture? If you have no dog, explain it to your house plant. If you are unable to explain any part of it, STOP. DO NOT PROCEED. Now go learn how that part works. Read the documentation on the functions involved. Go back to the tutorial and try to figure out WHY they did that. This is the part that takes a LOT of time when you are new. It might take days or weeks to work through a single 5-minute tutorial. Stick with it. You will learn.

Step 2 is the part everybody seems to miss. Without Step 2 you are simply a code-typing monkey and outside of the specific tutorial you did, you will be completely lost. If you want to learn, you MUST do Step 2.

Of course, all this presupposes no errors in the tutorial. For certain tutorial makers (like Unity, Brackeys, Imphenzia, Sebastian Lague) this is usually the case. For some other less-well-known content creators, this is less true. Read the comments on the video: did anyone have issues like you did? If there’s an error, you will NEVER be the first guy to find it.

Beyond that, Step 3, 4, 5 and 6 become easy because you already understand!

3

@Kurt-Dekker is right, and through tutorials you will also learn things that you weren’t looking for, or didn’t know existed, that can be very usefull!
Although for what you want to archieve, i don’t think a “for” cicle is necessary. Have a integer that functions as a cursor like Kurt said, and simply check distance like this:

distanceToWayPoint = Vector3.Distance(wayPointLoc[counter].position;, wayPointTransform);

Update the counter when needed (passing a checkpoint), without needing any cicles. This works only is if you trigger checkpoints in order, so be sure that happens!
I’m also sure that there are other cooler and/or more efficient ways to make a checkpoint system, so always check those tutorials!