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Lesson 4.2 - Follow the Player

The player can roll around to its heart’s content… but it has no purpose. In this lesson, we fill that purpose by creating an enemy to challenge the player! First we will give the enemy a texture of your choice, then give it the ability to bounce the player away... potentially knocking them off the cliff. Lastly, we will let the enemy chase the player around the island and spawn in random positions.

A textured and spherical enemy will spawn on the island at start, in a random location determined by a custom function. It will chase the player around the island, bouncing them off the edge if they get too close. 

Our camera rotation and player movement are working like a charm. Next we’re going to set up an enemy and give them some special new physics to bounce the player away! 

 to “Multiply”,  apply it to your player and enemy, then 

Add an enemy and a physics material

The enemy has the power to bounce the player away, but only if the player approaches it. We must tell the enemy to follow the player’s position, chasing them around the island.

, AddForce towards in the direction between the Player and the Enemy

Create enemy script to follow player

The enemy is now rolling towards the player, but our code is a bit messy. Let’s clean up by adding a variable for the new vector.

Vector3 lookDirection = (player.transform.position - transform.position).normalized;

Create a lookDirection variable

Now that the enemy is acting exactly how we want, we’re going to turn it into a prefab so it can be instantiated by a Spawn Manager. 

 into the Prefabs folder to create a new 

Create a Spawn Manager for the enemy

The enemy spawns at start,  but it always appears in the same spot. Using the familiar Random class, we can spawn the enemy in a random position.

 variable with those random X and Z positions

 your project to make sure it’s working

Randomly generate spawn position

The code we use to generate a random spawn position is perfect, and we’re going to be using it a lot. If we want to clean the script and use this code later down the road, we should store it in a custom function.

Make a method return a spawn point

Enemy spawns at random location on the island

In our next lesson, we’ll create ways to fight back against these enemies using Powerups!

Lesson Recap

Control the execution of code with common logic structures 

Level 1 Application Scripting

Joy Horvath

Instructional Designer

CWC_U4.L2.S1_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S6_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S5_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S3_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S4_U6.mp4

CWC_U4.L2.S2_U6.mp4

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Apply Physics Materials to make game objects bouncy

Normalize vectors to point the enemy in the direction of the player

Randomly spawn with Random.Range on two axes

Write more advanced custom functions and variables to make your code clean and professional

Select the appropriate common Unity methods to use, e.g., Awake, Start, Update, FixedUpdate, Collision, and Trigger Events, given a desired feature to code

Achieve a desired result by using Unity API methods, given Unity’s script documentation

Achieve a desired result with different parameters by using various method overloads

Distinguish a correct use of any given Unity API method from an incorrect use

Control or trigger the state of components, such as an Animator Controller, Light, AudioSource, or User Interface element by using appropriate methods

Construct an input listener, given a scenario where a specific type of input is required

Print a message consisting of concatenated strings and variable values to the console by using Unity's Debug.Log method

Compose scripts that utilize various APIs

Deduce the purpose and expected result of a given block of code

Accomplish a specific task by constructing a viable method declaration, given a list of keywords and syntax elements

Structure methods by using void and return

Demonstrate ability to implement a given feature in code by recommending data types and logic flow for a new method

Write code that integrates into an existing system

Reduce redundancy and improve code's readability by correctly naming variables and methods

Unity Version 6.0