[Comment] Alternative autofire architecture

Unity Courses Talk
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#1

Hi there,

I decided to setup my autofire system in a slightly different way to Rick by using a lock (like a basic semaphore, if you prefer - StackOverflow - What is a semaphore?) that limits when the co-routine can fire, rather than just toggling constant firing on and off.

So I’ve got the following in my class properties:

[SerializeField] float shotsPerSecond = 10.0f;
float shotDelaySeconds;
bool shotTimerExpired = true;

Then in Start() we set the shotDelaySeconds (a bit more human-friendly than specifying fractions of a second) as:
shotDelaySeconds = 1.0f / shotsPerSecond;

In the Update() method we check whether we should fire and then whether we can fire with:

// While any 'fire' key is being held...
if (Input.GetButton("Fire1"))
{
    // If we are able to shoot...
    if (shotTimerExpired)
    {
        // ...call our ShootLaser co-routine which allows us to fire a laser, but
        // then 'sets the lock' until the shot timer expires and we can shoot again.
        firingCoroutine = StartCoroutine(ShootLaser());
    }
}

And finally the co-routine itself is then:

IEnumerator ShootLaser()
{
    // If the shot timer has expired then we can fire...
    if (shotTimerExpired)
    {
        // Lock the co-routine and fire
        shotTimerExpired = false;
        GameObject laser = Instantiate(laserPrefab, this.transform.position, Quaternion.identity) as GameObject;
        laser.GetComponent<Rigidbody2D>().velocity = new Vector2(0.0f, projectileSpeed);
    }

    // Do the code below after a short period of time
    yield return new WaitForSeconds(shotDelaySeconds);

    // Unlock the co-routine after the above delay so we can fire again
    shotTimerExpired = true;
}

Just thought I’d post this here in-case it might be of use to anyone!

Cheers!

P.S. Loving the course, Rick! =D

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