Vector3.Lerp how it works? c#

Questions & Answers
1

Hi everyone,

I have one problem with Vector3.Lerp.

I have, in the scene, 3 spawning points and one exit point.
I instantiate a sphere randomly in one of this 3 spawning points every 3 seconds. With Vector3.Lerp the sphere generated goes to exitPoint.

the first sphere generated works well.
Here below the script attached to the sphere prefab.:

void Update(){
float speed = Mathf.Repeat(Time.time / 10.0f, 1.0f);
transform.position = Vector3.Lerp (spawnPosition.position, targetPosition.position, speed);
}

But the second sphere generated don’t start to lerp from spawn position, but start at the current position of the first sphere generated, idem the third ecc. ecc.

How can I fix it?
Every sphere must start from spawning point where is generated, with the same script attached.

Sorry for my English, I’m trying to learn it by myself.

2

The last parameter (t) in Lerp should range between 0 and 1. When it’s 0 it returns the first position, when it’s 1 it returns the last position, and when it’s between 0 and 1 it returns a position in between. t can be considered a percentage - as in “give me a position that’s t% between the first and second position”. So 0.5 gives you a position halfway between, 0.25 is 25% between, and so on.

With that in mind, how does your speed variable act as a percentage? The call to Repeat makes it loop between 0 and 1, which is good. However when you spawn a new entity it’s going to start wherever speed happens to be in at that time.

So instead of using Time.time, create a float variable that starts at 0 when the object spawns, and in update add Time.deltaTime to it each frame. Plug that into your Mathf.Repeat function. This way each object gets its own timer that starts at 0 when the object is spawned.