while Loop isn't running, or not doing what I expect it to.

Questions & Answers
1

I’ve been wracking my head over this for several hours, I can’t figure out why this won’t work. No matter what I seem to try, this why loop will only go through once. I’m using a platformer-style movement system in just X and Y and I want to add a “dash” functionality so that the player can perform a quick burst forward or backward. If you’ve played the game Rogue Legacy, the dash in that game is exactly what I’m trying to replicate.

Here’s the problem code:

	void Dash(int LeftRight){
		if(canDash){
			float dashStep = Time.time;	//record the current time
			moveDirection.x = 10*LeftRight; //LeftRight is either -1 or 1, -1 for left movement 1 for right movement
			
			while(Time.time-dashStep >= 1.0F){
				Debug.Log("Moved"); //this never fires?
				controller.Move(moveDirection*Time.deltaTime);					
			}
			
			canDash = false;
			dashCooldownTimer = Time.time;			
}

Here’s the full code:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
	
public class Movement2d : MonoBehaviour {
	
    public float speed = 3.0F;
	public float jumpSpeed = 6.0F;
	public float playerGravity = 20.0F;
	public float doubleJumpPowerDamp = 1.0F;

	public float dashCooldown = 5.0F;	
    private Vector3 moveDirection = Vector3.zero;
	private bool doubleJump = false;
	private bool canDash = true;
	private float dashCooldownTimer;
	private CharacterController controller;
	//private int jumpTimer = 0;
	
	void Start () {
		controller = GetComponent<CharacterController>();		
	}
	
	// Update is called once per frame
	void Update () {
		
		if(controller.isGrounded) {
			
			//Left/Right Movement
			moveDirection = new Vector3(Input.GetAxis("Horizontal"), 0, 0);
			moveDirection = transform.TransformDirection(moveDirection);
			moveDirection *= speed;
			
			//Jump
			if(Input.GetKey(KeyCode.W) || Input.GetKey(KeyCode.UpArrow)){
				
				moveDirection.y = jumpSpeed;
			}
			if(moveDirection.y == 0){
				doubleJump = true;
			}
			
			//Dash	
			if(Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.E)){
				Dash (1);	
			}
			
			if(Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Q)){
				Dash (-1);							
			}
			
			//Dash Cooldown Reset
			if(!canDash){
				if(Time.time - dashCooldownTimer >= dashCooldown){
					canDash = true;
				}
			}
			
		}
		
		//Allow movement back and forth mid-air & double jumping
		else if(!controller.isGrounded && Mathf.Abs(moveDirection.x)<jumpSpeed) {
        	moveDirection.x = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal") * (jumpSpeed*0.8F); //Can move left or right in the air at 80% speed
		
			//Double Jump
			if((Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.W) || Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.UpArrow)) && doubleJump==true && !controller.isGrounded){
				moveDirection.y = jumpSpeed-doubleJumpPowerDamp; //Double Jump "strength". 0 makes double jump same as first jump
				doubleJump = false;
			}
				
			//Dash	
			if(Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.E) && !controller.isGrounded){
				Dash (1);					
			}
			
			if(Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Q) && !controller.isGrounded){
				Dash (-1);	
			}
        }
		
		//Rotate left or right based on movement
		if(moveDirection.x > 0)
			transform.localScale =  new Vector3(1, 1, 1);
		else if(moveDirection.x < 0)
			transform.localScale =  new Vector3(-1, 1, 1);
		
		moveDirection.z = 0; //Lock the Z position of the player.
		moveDirection.y -= playerGravity * Time.deltaTime; //Apply gravity to the player
		controller.Move(moveDirection * Time.deltaTime);  //Move the player
	}
		
	void Dash(int LeftRight){
		if(canDash){
			float dashStep = Time.time;	
			moveDirection.x = 10*LeftRight;
			
			while(Time.time-dashStep >= 1.0F){
				Debug.Log("Moved");
				controller.Move(moveDirection*Time.deltaTime);					
			}
			
			canDash = false;
			dashCooldownTimer = Time.time;
		}
	}	
	
}
2

Your while condition is false when it is first called, because dashStep is exactly equal to Time.time. Then canDash is set to false, so the while loop is not called again.

I wonder if While(Time.time-dashStep >= 1.0F) is actually correct? This would only execute after one second has passed. It seems like you actually want it to execute straight away and stop after some time (1 second in this case), which would be: While(Time.time-dashStep <= 1.0F)

3

pure guess, but it seems like while(Time.time-dashStep >= 1.0F) executes immediately and Time.time hasn’t incremented yet, so Time.time = dashStep therefore your while loop will not execute and the code continues to canDash = false;

g.