Should I use Raycast for my game?

Questions & Answers
1

I wanted to make a game where the player is able to shoot in the direction they are pointing (in this case, with the mouse). The game I’m working on is similar to Bit Trip Runner but will allow players to shoot all around them to destroy enemies in their path. The mechanic should work similar to most dual stick shooters and over-the-top shooters, where the bullets follow a straight line based on where the player is pointing.

I’ve heard of Raycast, but I’m not sure if that’s the exact method I want to use. The last time I used Raycast in a game was to make projectiles instantly appear at the spot where I pointed, not travel to that spot. Most of the tutorials I’ve looked up (usually based around FPSs) also show this off, so I’m sort of convinced it’s mainly used for this method.

Is this a viable method I should use for my game, or should I use another method?

2

Raycast isn’t how objects are spawned in any way.

Raycast is simply to tell if something hit

it’s an invisible laser that returns information about what it hits alongs a given path

it’s collision detection not object translation or instantiation.

it’s useful for you if you don’t want a bullet to be an actual thing

if you just want to toss up a little particle effect for the bullet instead of spawning an actual bullet and dealing with it you just throw out a particle cast a ray and use that to know if the bullet had hit anything had it been a real bullet.