Unity Layer Mask script only working if set to default

Unity Engine
1

I made a script that lets the player jump only if they are grounded. If I set the layer to default in unity, I can jump but I can jump in air aswell. Here is my code:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEditor.UIElements;
using UnityEngine;

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
    private PlayerControls playerControls;
    [SerializeField] private float PlayerSpeed = 30f;
    [SerializeField] private float jumpHeight = 5f;
    [SerializeField] private LayerMask groundLayer;

    Rigidbody2D rb;
    private Collider2D col;


    private void Awake()
    {
        playerControls = new PlayerControls();
        rb = GetComponent<Rigidbody2D>();
        col = GetComponent<Collider2D>();
    }

    private void OnEnable()
    {
        playerControls.Enable();
    }

    private void OnDisable()
    {
        playerControls.Disable();
    }

    private void Start()
    {
        if (gameObject.tag == "Player1") // Player1: Use WASD
        {
            playerControls.Player1.Jump.performed += _ => Jump();
        }
        else if (gameObject.tag == "Player2") // Player2: Use Arrows
        {

            playerControls.Player2.Jump.performed += _ => Jump();

        }
    }

    private void Jump()
    {
        if (isGrounded())
        {
            rb.AddForce(new Vector2(0, jumpHeight), ForceMode2D.Impulse);
        }
    }

    private bool isGrounded()
    {
        Vector2 topLeftPoint = transform.position;
        topLeftPoint.x -= col.bounds.extents.x;
        topLeftPoint.y += col.bounds.extents.y;

        Vector2 bottomRightPoint = transform.position;
        bottomRightPoint.x += col.bounds.extents.x;
        bottomRightPoint.y -= col.bounds.extents.y;

        return Physics2D.OverlapArea(topLeftPoint, bottomRightPoint, groundLayer);
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void Update()
    {

        float playerInput;

        // Read the movement value
        if (gameObject.tag == "Player1") // Player1: Use WASD
        {
            playerInput = playerControls.Player1.Move.ReadValue<float>();
        }
        else if (gameObject.tag == "Player2") // Player2: Use Arrows
        {
            playerInput = playerControls.Player2.Move.ReadValue<float>();

        }
        else
        {
            playerInput = 0;
        }
        // Move the player
        rb.AddForce(new Vector2(playerInput  , 0) * Time.deltaTime * PlayerSpeed, ForceMode2D.Impulse);
       
    }
}
2

You must find a way to get the information you need in order to reason about what the problem is.

What is often happening in these cases is one of the following:

  • the code you think is executing is not actually executing at all
  • the code is executing far EARLIER or LATER than you think
  • the code is executing far LESS OFTEN than you think
  • the code is executing far MORE OFTEN than you think
  • the code is executing on another GameObject than you think it is

To help gain more insight into your problem, I recommend liberally sprinkling Debug.Log() statements through your code to display information in realtime.

Doing this should help you answer these types of questions:

  • is this code even running? which parts are running? how often does it run? what order does it run in?
  • what are the values of the variables involved? Are they initialized? Are the values reasonable?
  • are you meeting ALL the requirements to receive callbacks such as triggers / colliders (review the documentation)

Knowing this information will help you reason about the behavior you are seeing.

You can also put in Debug.Break() to pause the Editor when certain interesting pieces of code run, and then study the scene

You could also just display various important quantities in UI Text elements to watch them change as you play the game.

If you are running a mobile device you can also view the console output. Google for how on your particular mobile target.

Another useful approach is to temporarily strip out everything besides what is necessary to prove your issue. This can simplify and isolate compounding effects of other items in your scene or prefab.

Here’s an example of putting in a laser-focused Debug.Log() and how that can save you a TON of time wallowing around speculating what might be going wrong:

If you want another example of a basic complete first person controller, this might help you reason about things: