Raycast causes game to crash when shooting up

[Syllith]

Okay, so right now I have a gun script that raycasts directly in front of the camera when the character shoots. Right now, it works fine when I shoot at something, but if I just look up and try to shoot at the sky the game crashes and says “NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object” even though I’ve used the same script several times without a problem. Here’s what I have so far:

var direction = this.transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward);
var RayCastHit : RaycastHit;
if (Physics.Raycast (transform.position, direction, RayCastHit, FireRange)) 
	{
		if (RayCastHit.rigidbody)
		{
			if (Weapon == "G36C")
			{
					RayCastHit.rigidbody.AddForceAtPosition(150 * direction, RayCastHit.point);
			}
		}
	}
	if (RayCastHit.collider.gameObject.tag == "metal") 
		{				
			MetalParticle1.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			MetalParticle2.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			MetalParticle3.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			MetalParticle4.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			MetalParticle5.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			MetalParticle1.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			MetalParticle2.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			MetalParticle3.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			MetalParticle4.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			MetalParticle5.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			MetalParticle1.Emit();
			MetalParticle2.Emit();
			MetalParticle3.Emit();
			MetalParticle4.Emit();
			MetalParticle5.Emit();
			MetalParticle1.audio.Play();
			}
		else if (RayCastHit.collider.gameObject.tag == "concrete")
		{
			ConcreteParticle1.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			ConcreteParticle2.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			ConcreteParticle3.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			ConcreteParticle4.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			ConcreteParticle1.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			ConcreteParticle2.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			ConcreteParticle3.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			ConcreteParticle4.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			ConcreteParticle1.Emit();
			ConcreteParticle2.Emit();
			ConcreteParticle3.Emit();
			ConcreteParticle4.Emit();
			ConcreteParticle1.audio.Play();
		}
		else if (RayCastHit.collider.gameObject.tag == "wood")
		{
			WoodParticle1.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			WoodParticle2.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			WoodParticle3.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			WoodParticle4.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			WoodParticle1.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			WoodParticle2.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			WoodParticle3.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			WoodParticle4.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			WoodParticle1.Emit();
			WoodParticle2.Emit();
			WoodParticle3.Emit();
			WoodParticle4.Emit();
			WoodParticle1.audio.Play();
		}
		else if (RayCastHit.collider.gameObject.tag == "water")
		{
			WaterParticle1.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			WaterParticle2.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			WaterParticle3.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			WaterParticle1.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			WaterParticle2.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			WaterParticle3.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			WaterParticle1.Emit();
			WaterParticle2.Emit();
			WaterParticle3.Emit();
		}	
			else 
		{
			DirtParticle1.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			DirtParticle2.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			DirtParticle3.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
			DirtParticle1.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			DirtParticle2.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			DirtParticle3.transform.rotation = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
			DirtParticle1.Emit();
			DirtParticle2.Emit();
			DirtParticle3.Emit();
			DirtParticle1.audio.Play();
		}

When I double click the debug thing at the bottom, it highlights the line that says “if (RayCastHit.collider.gameObject.tag == “metal”)”.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[aldonaletto]

You may have changed something in this script, because you’re closing the first if before start checking the hit object’s tag, so you’re comparing the tags even if Raycast returns false (what happens when you shot the sky). Move the 3rd closing brace to the end of your script. You can also do a lot of optimization, like below (pay attention to the comments):

var direction = this.transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward); // transform.forward does the same
var RayCastHit : RaycastHit;
if (Physics.Raycast (transform.position, direction, RayCastHit, FireRange)) 
    {
        if (RayCastHit.rigidbody)
        {
            if (Weapon == "G36C")
            {
                    RayCastHit.rigidbody.AddForceAtPosition(150 * direction, RayCastHit.point);
            }
        }
//    }    <- move this brace to the end of your script
//  you can do a lot of optimization caching the rotation and tag:
	var rotNormal = Quaternion.FromToRotation(Vector3.up, RayCastHit.normal);
	var hitTag = RayCastHit.collider.tag;  // you can access tag from the collider reference
    if (hitTag == "metal") // use the cached tag to compare
        {               
            MetalParticle1.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
            MetalParticle2.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
            MetalParticle3.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
            MetalParticle4.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
            MetalParticle5.transform.position = RayCastHit.point;
            MetalParticle1.transform.rotation = rotNormal; // use the calculated rotation
            MetalParticle2.transform.rotation = rotNormal;
            MetalParticle3.transform.rotation = rotNormal;
            MetalParticle4.transform.rotation = rotNormal;
            MetalParticle5.transform.rotation = rotNormal;
            MetalParticle1.Emit();
    ...