Odometer for a racing game

Questions & Answers
1

Hello! I’m working on a racing game with a long distance explore/campain mode. I have a speedometer with a working needle, but I think it will add a touch of realism to have a GUIText odometer underneath it. I have a GUIText object created, but no code to go with it.

My car does have a rigidbody attached. I’m not sure if I can use rigidbody.position or a similar method to display the mileage in a GUIText form.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any sample code, being relatively new to racing games! Thank you in advance for any answers/comments/suggestions you may have!

Edit: I’m sorry for referring to the odometer as “kilometer” before and for any confusion it may have caused!

2

Well, is the car traveling in a straight line? If so, you just need to calculate the distance between your starting location and wherever you’re at, now.

private var startPosition : Vector3;

function Start() {
	startPosition = transform.position;
}

function Update() {
    float distance = Vector3.Distance(startPosition, transform.position);
}

On the other hand, what if your car’s path is twisting and turning constantly? Well, in that case you could estimate the distance it travels during each frame.

private var totalDistance : float;
private var lastPosition : Vector3;

function Start() {
	lastPosition = transform.position;
}

function Update() {
	float frameDistance = Vector3.Distance(lastPosition, transform.position);
	totalDistance += frameDistance;
	lastPosition = transform.position;
}
3

Another option is to integrate velocity each frame.

TotalDistance += rigidbody.velocity.magnitude * Time.deltaTime;