roll-the-ball

Little Big Tips > General tips > roll the ball

Feel free to try this behaviour on the playable demonstration / prototype: Goal Dribble.
_{Note: The purpose of this demonstration is to evaluate this gameplay mechanic. The textures and the sprites are free assets from the Asset Store.}

Problem description

In this simple "rolling the ball" mechanic, a.k.a. dribble in this game, how to make the ball rotates around something and on the ground at the same time?

Solution suggestion

We will rotate the ball around a point, in this case the center of the field. Then we will rotate the ball on the Z axis to have the effect of rolling on the ground.

In the hierarchy, create a sphere game object and name it as Player:

Hierarchy:
- Player

Make sure to reset the transform of the Player game object and then, set the scale (X, Y, Z) to 5 and the position (Z) to 3. To have a better look and feel of the effect, try to find a cool texture in the Asset Store to use on the ball.

Create a C# script Player.cs and attach this script to the Player game object:

public class Player : MonoBehaviour
{
    ...

Define the fields:

[SerializeField]
float moveSpeed = 200.0f;

[SerializeField]
float rotationFactor = 0.015f;

float lh;

Let's start our smart dribble making the ball to rotate around something. In this case, the center point of the scene (Vector3.zero):
_{Note: that's why we set the Player game object Z position to 3.}

void Update ()
{
    lh = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");

    transform.RotateAround(Vector3.zero, Vector3.up, lh * Time.deltaTime * moveSpeed);
}

Now, let's roll the ball to have a stylish dribble:

void Update ()
{
    ...

    float rotation = rotationFactor * moveSpeed;
    transform.Rotate(Vector3.forward, -lh * Time.deltaTime * moveSpeed * rotation);
}

Scripts:

Player.cs

Again, feel free to try the behaviour of this Little Big Tip on Goal Dribble.

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