Why isn't this public variable working? (JS)

Questions & Answers
1

Good day, everyone!

I have a public variable in this JS script that for some reason, doesn’t affect anything when I change it while running the game.
The speedOfLight starts as “1”. It is a multiplier for how fast the sun should rotate around the world. If I set it manually in the script, it works. If I set it in the editor, It has no effect on the speed the light moves.

You can attach the code to a directional light to see what it does, if you’d like.

#pragma strict

public var normalPassageOfTime = true;

//How many degrees the sun rotates per second
private var degreesOfRotation : float = 360f /*degrees*/ / 24f /*hours*/ / 60f /*minutes*/ / 60f /*seconds*/;

//Visible variable to adjust speed of time flow
public var speedOfLight : float = 1f;

//Calculation of time flow speed
private var speedModifier : float = degreesOfRotation * speedOfLight;

//Get Hours, Minutes, and Seconds as a string
public var currentHour = System.DateTime.Now.ToString("HH");
public var currentMin = System.DateTime.Now.ToString("mm");
public var currentSec = System.DateTime.Now.ToString("ss");

//Convert current number of hours/minutes passed since midnight into usable seconds
//Seconds will just equal current as a float
private var hoursInSeconds : float = parseFloat(currentHour) * 60f * 60f;
private var minutesInSeconds : float = parseFloat(currentMin) * 60f;
private var secondsInSeconds : float = parseFloat(currentSec);

function Awake() {
//set position of the sun based on time of day
	transform.Rotate(0,0,degreesOfRotation * (hoursInSeconds + minutesInSeconds + secondsInSeconds));

}

function Start () {
	
	
}

function Update () {
	//rotate the sun based on set speed (Needs Variables adjusted)
	if (normalPassageOfTime == true) {
		transform.Rotate(0,0,speedModifier * Time.deltaTime);
		}
	
}

It’s probably worth noting that if you are watching for the light to move at normal speed, you aren’t going to notice it. I have it set up to move at a real time of day rate.

By the way, I’ll take this moment to pat myself on the back, as this is the first script I’ve ever written, and I did it all with my noodle (except for looking up syntax things about JS). Very proud of myself.
Roll your eyes at the new guy if you must. :wink:

Is it maybe a bug in Unity that is preventing this from being effective?

Thank you, everyone in the community!

2

In uJS leave out the ‘f’. You should add the .0 though.

Dont do this in the globals…

private var speedModifier : float = degreesOfRotation * speedOfLight;

Declare it globally and initialise it in a function.

private var speedModifier : float; 
function Start()
{
    speedModifier = degreesOfRotation * speedOfLight;
}