Just wanted to say this is the best character controller tut that I've seen, and all the character controllers I've made since watching this have been based off of this.
Thanks a lot for this video. It's great! Here's my version of vertical hovering after following along. I researched a bit on spring-damp mechanics and was able to define the behavior using frequency and a damp factor rather than spring strength and damp strength. This way, you set dampFactor to 1 and it will reach equilibrium without over shooting. Set dampFactor to 0 to get a spring that (ideally) never loses energy. dampFrequency defines how fast it reacts. using UnityEngine; public class Hover : MonoBehaviour { public float dampFactor = 1; public float dampFrequency = 15; public float hoverHeight = 1.5f; public float maxDistance = 2; public float castRadius = .5f; public Rigidbody rb; RaycastHit[] hits = new RaycastHit[10]; private void Awake() { if (!rb) { Debug.LogError($"[{nameof(Hover)}] missing field RigidBody."); enabled = false; } } private void FixedUpdate() { ApplyHoverForce(); } void ApplyHoverForce() { if (GroundCast(out RaycastHit hit)) { Vector3 rayDirection = Vector3.down; float springDelta = GetSpringDelta(hit); float springStrength = SpringStrength(rb.mass, dampFrequency); float dampStrength = DampStrength(dampFactor, rb.mass, dampFrequency); float springSpeed = GetRelativeSpeedAlongDirection(rb, hit.rigidbody, rayDirection); Vector3 springForce = GetSpringForce( springDelta, springSpeed, springStrength, dampStrength, rayDirection); springForce -= Physics.gravity; rb.AddForce(springForce); if (hit.rigidbody) hit.rigidbody.AddForceAtPosition(-springForce, hit.point); } } bool GroundCast(out RaycastHit hit) { int hitCount = Physics.SphereCastNonAlloc( transform.position, castRadius, -transform.up, hits, maxDistance); if (hitCount > 0) { for (int i = 0; i < hitCount; i++) { RaycastHit current = hits[i]; if (current.rigidbody == rb) continue; hit = current; return true; } } hit = default; return false; } float GetSpringDelta(RaycastHit hit) { return hit.distance - (hoverHeight - castRadius); } static float GetRelativeSpeedAlongDirection( Rigidbody targetBody, Rigidbody frameBody, Vector3 direction) { Vector3 velocity = targetBody.velocity; Vector3 hitBodyVelocity = frameBody ? frameBody.velocity : default; float rayDirectionSpeed = Vector3.Dot(direction, velocity); float hitBodyRayDirectionSpeed = Vector3.Dot(direction, hitBodyVelocity); return rayDirectionSpeed - hitBodyRayDirectionSpeed; } static float SpringStrength(float mass, float frequency) { return frequency * frequency * mass; } static float DampStrength(float dampFactor, float mass, float frequency) { float criticalDampStrength = 2 * mass * frequency; return dampFactor * criticalDampStrength; } static Vector3 GetSpringForce( float springDelta, float springSpeed, float springStrength, float dampStrength, Vector3 direction) { float tension = springDelta * springStrength; float damp = springSpeed * dampStrength; float forceMagnitude = tension - damp; Vector3 force = direction * forceMagnitude; return force; } }
Thanks for your implementation of vertical hovering. I'm having some problems for movement on slopes. When I go up a slope, the character stays too close to the ground, and when I go down, it stays too high, causing the character to make small falls. My parameter values are: maxDistance = 1.5f hoverHeight = 1.2f dampFrequency = 15f dampFactor = 0.55f
Awesome explanation and solutions, thank you for sharing! I've been developing a similar physics based character controller by trying to combine my favorite parts of a responsive platformer controller and a raycast vehicle controller so this is all super helpful!
I have never thought of using floating capsules... this is so ingenius! I can't believe my solution to rough player controls was this simple. You are amazing sir!
Wow, very impressed. The game I'm working on uses (mostly) hover vehicles, so I was already using a setup similar to yours (floating "characters" with continually calculated strength and dampening forces). But you guys have really taken it to the next level with improvements that I hadn't thought of at all. Thanks!
This is so exciting! I am pumped for the game, and thanks for talking in depth about your physics based movement and even showing code. I will for sure give this a go in my next game!
I still don't get completely all of it but this has definitely helped me get a firmer grasp on what makes a good 3D character controller. Really insightful video.
Hey, just created this Git repository with the assets I've created based on your tutorial. Just wanted to say thanks as this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.
I feel so lucky that this video exists since I've been struggling on implementing a physics based first person controller and this tutorial explains almost all the issues I've faced. Thank you so much!!
I've been looking for an explanation, a hint on physics based movement for the past 3 months. This has really helped figure out how to do it, at least gave me a starting point. Thanks for the explanation!
Thanks for your tutorials! I implemented a first person controller with this approach and it feels great, can walk over any terrain including other rigid bodies, even moving platforms! When landing a jump it crouches slightly due to the spring which feels realistic and satisfying. Got your game on Switch, looking forward to play it with friends this weekend :)
The hovering capsule mechanic is really clever. Finally found something that works for my project. Thanks for sharing. Amazing video. Great Explanation !!!
I got pretty much all of the controller stuff working except the jump force working. Because the character's on a spring and could be moving up or down at the time of the jump, I guess I need to do the "neededAccel" calculation to achieve a consistent starting jump velocity. And then also support the jump-hold to bring it up to a maximum velocity.
This is very cool! Ironic that I found this because I've been building a similar physics based controller but for the opposite. Realistic physics based movement XD Best of luck on your game!
Hey guys, thanks for this video! I just completed our first full playthrough with my family. We all love this game, so thank you so much for your hardwork! 🙏 In this breakdown, you get goalvel by multiplying the normalized relative input vector by the maxspeed and speedfactor. Can you briefly explain what speedfactor is and why you need it? To everyone else reading this, if you haven't purchased this game yet, I encourage you to do so! Let's support game devs who do great work and care about their craft!
My guess is that speedFactor is just used so they can apply movement effects (slow down and speed up) based on game mechanics. So its not really important to the system as a whole.
really not gonna lie, im gonna use this method of applying torque to remain upright. It's super fun to mess around with the spring strength and damper values to get wacky reactions! I can get some really wobbly bois that way. Thank you so much for the video!
Some things maybe a little over-complicated but considering this is a console game, everything had to be just right, console ppl are pretty strict I really liked how you made this (maybe you guys, this game and controller is way too good for one person) I also like making physics based systems since they basically handel everything themselves if you make it right, but everyone either mixes rb based movement with normal movement or just go with normal movement Earned a sub!
Hi! Great video and blog! I was looking at the Character Animation blog post and I'm really confused about the "use an animation curve that defined how to move between single frame poses." I get the idea that you're blending between the poses, but I'm not sure how you can apply the animation curve to a pose.
Genuinely a fantastic and informative video. I ended up using some of the methods shown in my own game! I'm absolutely going to buy this game as a thanks (and also because the game looks great :P)
Thanks so much for sharing, this is a very interesting approach! Would reeeeeally love to see your vehicle configuration! It looks like you're using Unity's vehicle/wheel physics, but it's more responsive and snappy than any controller using those Ive ever seen
I don't really get the spring math. I wrote exactly what you have for the float mechanic and the capsule either plops to the ground, or starts bouncing infinitely high. What are the values you have set for the rigidbody weight, what are the values for the spring force and damper? they are just off screen and you don't explain how to play around with the values to get this right.
looking at the project now, the player's rigid body is average human sized (~2 units tall), and the mass is 10. the Ride Spring Strength is 2000, Ride Spring Damper is 100. Upright (torque) spring strength is also 2000, damper on that one is 30. Ride height is 1, but the raycast length is 1.5 (so 0.5 buffer)
I don't quite understand how the sticky to slope is implemented. My character, when walking upwards on an inclined surface, sticks too much to the surface, and when it descends, it stays too high, causing the character to make small falls. This is my code that implements the ground hover: public void GroundHover(float hoverHeight, float frequency, float dampFactor) { Vector3 origin = transform.TransformPoint(_capsuleCollider.center); bool rayDidHit = Physics.Raycast(origin, Vector3.down, out RaycastHit hit, Data.rayLength); if (rayDidHit) { float mass = _rigidbody.mass; Vector3 vel = _rigidbody.velocity; Vector3 rayDir = transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.down);
float springDelta = hit.distance - hoverHeight; float springStrength = frequency * frequency * mass; float dampStrength = 2 * mass * frequency * dampFactor;
// spring speed Vector3 otherVel = Vector3.zero; Rigidbody hitBody = hit.rigidbody; if (hitBody) { otherVel = hitBody.velocity; }
the force when the character reach the top reduce to 0, then the gravity will push it down again, making the character just bobbing up and down. what did I miss ? turn gravity off wont do, cause the character then will just float around and other funky sh1 t.
do you, or anybody else have tutorials explaining this for sort of beginners. I still don’t understand the basic code of sending a line trace from the character to the ground to see how far they are from the ground. I need to understand that concept and how it goes into Code. Can you please help with that or refer me
![🎤 จับฉลากร้องเพลง x P’ #XXSIVK [EP.1] (2/2) เพื่อนจับได้คำไหน..ต้องร้องคำนั้น เริ่ม! 💓🎶 #MXFRUIT](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1bJvMJXmeS4/mqdefault.jpg)
This video is perfect! Thank you so much for sharing the knowledge!! Love it, super well explained and fun to watch!!
Just wanted to say this is the best character controller tut that I've seen, and all the character controllers I've made since watching this have been based off of this.
Thanks a lot for this video. It's great! Here's my version of vertical hovering after following along. I researched a bit on spring-damp mechanics and was able to define the behavior using frequency and a damp factor rather than spring strength and damp strength. This way, you set dampFactor to 1 and it will reach equilibrium without over shooting. Set dampFactor to 0 to get a spring that (ideally) never loses energy. dampFrequency defines how fast it reacts.
using UnityEngine;
public class Hover : MonoBehaviour
{
public float dampFactor = 1;
public float dampFrequency = 15;
public float hoverHeight = 1.5f;
public float maxDistance = 2;
public float castRadius = .5f;
public Rigidbody rb;
RaycastHit[] hits = new RaycastHit[10];
private void Awake()
{
if (!rb)
{
Debug.LogError($"[{nameof(Hover)}] missing field RigidBody.");
enabled = false;
}
}
private void FixedUpdate()
{
ApplyHoverForce();
}
void ApplyHoverForce()
{
if (GroundCast(out RaycastHit hit))
{
Vector3 rayDirection = Vector3.down;
float springDelta = GetSpringDelta(hit);
float springStrength = SpringStrength(rb.mass, dampFrequency);
float dampStrength = DampStrength(dampFactor, rb.mass, dampFrequency);
float springSpeed = GetRelativeSpeedAlongDirection(rb, hit.rigidbody, rayDirection);
Vector3 springForce = GetSpringForce(
springDelta,
springSpeed,
springStrength,
dampStrength,
rayDirection);
springForce -= Physics.gravity;
rb.AddForce(springForce);
if (hit.rigidbody) hit.rigidbody.AddForceAtPosition(-springForce, hit.point);
}
}
bool GroundCast(out RaycastHit hit)
{
int hitCount = Physics.SphereCastNonAlloc(
transform.position,
castRadius,
-transform.up,
hits,
maxDistance);
if (hitCount > 0)
{
for (int i = 0; i < hitCount; i++)
{
RaycastHit current = hits[i];
if (current.rigidbody == rb) continue;
hit = current;
return true;
}
}
hit = default;
return false;
}
float GetSpringDelta(RaycastHit hit)
{
return hit.distance - (hoverHeight - castRadius);
}
static float GetRelativeSpeedAlongDirection(
Rigidbody targetBody,
Rigidbody frameBody,
Vector3 direction)
{
Vector3 velocity = targetBody.velocity;
Vector3 hitBodyVelocity = frameBody ? frameBody.velocity : default;
float rayDirectionSpeed = Vector3.Dot(direction, velocity);
float hitBodyRayDirectionSpeed = Vector3.Dot(direction, hitBodyVelocity);
return rayDirectionSpeed - hitBodyRayDirectionSpeed;
}
static float SpringStrength(float mass, float frequency)
{
return frequency * frequency * mass;
}
static float DampStrength(float dampFactor, float mass, float frequency)
{
float criticalDampStrength = 2 * mass * frequency;
return dampFactor * criticalDampStrength;
}
static Vector3 GetSpringForce(
float springDelta,
float springSpeed,
float springStrength,
float dampStrength,
Vector3 direction)
{
float tension = springDelta * springStrength;
float damp = springSpeed * dampStrength;
float forceMagnitude = tension - damp;
Vector3 force = direction * forceMagnitude;
return force;
}
}
Thanks for your implementation of vertical hovering. I'm having some problems for movement on slopes. When I go up a slope, the character stays too close to the ground, and when I go down, it stays too high, causing the character to make small falls.
My parameter values are:
maxDistance = 1.5f
hoverHeight = 1.2f
dampFrequency = 15f
dampFactor = 0.55f
Awesome explanation and solutions, thank you for sharing! I've been developing a similar physics based character controller by trying to combine my favorite parts of a responsive platformer controller and a raycast vehicle controller so this is all super helpful!
Upload now bro
man, this is such a hidden gem. i dont know why i dont know your channel earlier
This was very intelligently designed and explained. So many subtle changes that really bring it all together to near perfection, I love it
You guys have a great set of tutorials here. Glad to find another floating capsule user, it really is the way to go.
I have never thought of using floating capsules... this is so ingenius! I can't believe my solution to rough player controls was this simple. You are amazing sir!
Nice video. The code is well written and although I had seen this approach in other tutorials none could explain it as well as you did.
Can't stress enough how grateful I am for this video, there really isn't enough explanations on physics based character controllers like that.
i like how technical explanations are and art style is so cheerful and fun to watch ! good job !
Wow, very impressed. The game I'm working on uses (mostly) hover vehicles, so I was already using a setup similar to yours (floating "characters" with continually calculated strength and dampening forces). But you guys have really taken it to the next level with improvements that I hadn't thought of at all. Thanks!
this is one of the smartest custom controllers I've ever seen, so impressed with yall's work on this
I combined this with ground normals movement (ground raycast hit normals plane projection ) and it turned out amazing! thanks again.
could you please explain that in lamen's terms 😅
This is so exciting! I am pumped for the game, and thanks for talking in depth about your physics based movement and even showing code. I will for sure give this a go in my next game!
i was so lucky this studio exists cause i keep coming back to this as refrence for my own game.
I still don't get completely all of it but this has definitely helped me get a firmer grasp on what makes a good 3D character controller. Really insightful video.
Hey, just created this Git repository with the assets I've created based on your tutorial.
Just wanted to say thanks as this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.
Ahhh whereeee is the repo please?
I feel so lucky that this video exists since I've been struggling on implementing a physics based first person controller and this tutorial explains almost all the issues I've faced. Thank you so much!!
I've been looking for an explanation, a hint on physics based movement for the past 3 months. This has really helped figure out how to do it, at least gave me a starting point. Thanks for the explanation!
Great visualizations! Looking forward to implementing something similar!
Really interesting. Release it on PC and I'll get myself a copy :)
Thanks for your tutorials!
I implemented a first person controller with this approach and it feels great, can walk over any terrain including other rigid bodies, even moving platforms! When landing a jump it crouches slightly due to the spring which feels realistic and satisfying.
Got your game on Switch, looking forward to play it with friends this weekend :)
im struggling to implement this for fps, could you give any pointers? ty
@@patrickbateman4641 well I think this video explains it pretty well, what are you having issues with?
The hovering capsule mechanic is really clever. Finally found something that works for my project.
Thanks for sharing.
Amazing video. Great Explanation !!!
I got pretty much all of the controller stuff working except the jump force working. Because the character's on a spring and could be moving up or down at the time of the jump, I guess I need to do the "neededAccel" calculation to achieve a consistent starting jump velocity. And then also support the jump-hold to bring it up to a maximum velocity.
+1 sub for being the only correct character controller I've ever seen talked about.
Great video, great explanations.
Saved me a whole lot of headache, but I'm still having problems with the whole applying torque part.
This is very cool! Ironic that I found this because I've been building a similar physics based controller but for the opposite. Realistic physics based movement XD
Best of luck on your game!
I fought so hard to get the best character controller... Your knowledge is the path to fulfillment
Hey guys, thanks for this video! I just completed our first full playthrough with my family. We all love this game, so thank you so much for your hardwork! 🙏
In this breakdown, you get goalvel by multiplying the normalized relative input vector by the maxspeed and speedfactor. Can you briefly explain what speedfactor is and why you need it?
To everyone else reading this, if you haven't purchased this game yet, I encourage you to do so! Let's support game devs who do great work and care about their craft!
My guess is that speedFactor is just used so they can apply movement effects (slow down and speed up) based on game mechanics. So its not really important to the system as a whole.
That Guy Thanks, I will look into it later.
I'm so confident, yeah, I'm unstoppable today
really not gonna lie, im gonna use this method of applying torque to remain upright. It's super fun to mess around with the spring strength and damper values to get wacky reactions! I can get some really wobbly bois that way. Thank you so much for the video!
this is very cool! Ironic I'm looking from 2 days
.
but u missed active ragdoll to make it more cool and realistic it will be more interesting!
Thank you. I was having trouble figuring out how to make my Rigidbody controller more responsive. This has made it much better.
Making this work for VR was a bit weird, but worth it. Thank you.
5 seconds before you said thats a bit boring I was like dude thats sick
I just tried this method and it really works perfectly for me. Thank you.
What a legend only one ad in the beginning . Your so damn underrated
The most structured and detailed tutorial i ca across until now. Thank you very much!
This is exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks for sharing !
Some things maybe a little over-complicated but considering this is a console game, everything had to be just right, console ppl are pretty strict
I really liked how you made this (maybe you guys, this game and controller is way too good for one person) I also like making physics based systems since they basically handel everything themselves if you make it right, but everyone either mixes rb based movement with normal movement or just go with normal movement
Earned a sub!
Nice, Good luck with your release!
You train so well! It's like you comprehend my tempo...
This is absolutely fantastic
Hi! Great video and blog! I was looking at the Character Animation blog post and I'm really confused about the "use an animation curve that defined how to move between single frame poses." I get the idea that you're blending between the poses, but I'm not sure how you can apply the animation curve to a pose.
Oh my glob, this is freaking incredible, thank you for sharing this!!!!
YOOOOOO THANKS MAN EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!! THANKS!!!
Genuinely a fantastic and informative video. I ended up using some of the methods shown in my own game! I'm absolutely going to buy this game as a thanks (and also because the game looks great :P)
Thanks so much for sharing, this is a very interesting approach! Would reeeeeally love to see your vehicle configuration! It looks like you're using Unity's vehicle/wheel physics, but it's more responsive and snappy than any controller using those Ive ever seen
This is epic!
Floating character controller is pretty original decision! Never seen this before)
Thanx!
Very neat take on a CharacterController! Thank you for sharing - subscribed!
Amazing overview and good explanation, thank you looking forward to playing the game.
Damn bro top tier content, I'm sure you had to visit multiple countries to produce a masterpiece like this
I don't really get the spring math. I wrote exactly what you have for the float mechanic and the capsule either plops to the ground, or starts bouncing infinitely high. What are the values you have set for the rigidbody weight, what are the values for the spring force and damper? they are just off screen and you don't explain how to play around with the values to get this right.
looking at the project now, the player's rigid body is average human sized (~2 units tall), and the mass is 10. the Ride Spring Strength is 2000, Ride Spring Damper is 100. Upright (torque) spring strength is also 2000, damper on that one is 30. Ride height is 1, but the raycast length is 1.5 (so 0.5 buffer)
Wow, this is excellent! Straight to the point and very informative.
congratulations fam!!!
You are doing a wonderful job by giving Knowledge many thanks
BROTHER, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! You oooh really helped me!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!This is cool, well done!
bro thanks so much. dis video is tiless 3 years ltr n still great
It's so simple yet so complicated, it's perfect lmao
Still helping after 2 years
Thank you so much for all these tutorials bro. So much valuable knowledge
I feel you!
Great Game! I Downloaded It In My Nintendo Switch But In DEMO Version
OMG, it really worked. Thank you so much!!
You catch on really fast, it seems complex but once you learn the basics it pretty much branches into experintation
Beautiful man, you're the only one who helped me
I don't quite understand how the sticky to slope is implemented. My character, when walking upwards on an inclined surface, sticks too much to the surface, and when it descends, it stays too high, causing the character to make small falls. This is my code that implements the ground hover:
public void GroundHover(float hoverHeight, float frequency, float dampFactor)
{
Vector3 origin = transform.TransformPoint(_capsuleCollider.center);
bool rayDidHit = Physics.Raycast(origin, Vector3.down, out RaycastHit hit, Data.rayLength);
if (rayDidHit)
{
float mass = _rigidbody.mass;
Vector3 vel = _rigidbody.velocity;
Vector3 rayDir = transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.down);
float springDelta = hit.distance - hoverHeight;
float springStrength = frequency * frequency * mass;
float dampStrength = 2 * mass * frequency * dampFactor;
// spring speed
Vector3 otherVel = Vector3.zero;
Rigidbody hitBody = hit.rigidbody;
if (hitBody)
{
otherVel = hitBody.velocity;
}
float rayDirVel = Vector3.Dot(rayDir, vel);
float otherDirVel = Vector3.Dot(rayDir, otherVel);
float relVel = rayDirVel - otherDirVel;
// add force
float tension = springDelta * springStrength;
float damp = relVel * dampStrength;
float springForce = tension - damp;
_rigidbody.AddForce(rayDir * springForce, ForceMode.Force);
if (hitBody)
{
hitBody.AddForceAtPosition(rayDir * -springForce, hit.point, ForceMode.Force);
}
}
}
My parameter values are:
- hoverHeight = 1.2f
- frequency = 15f
- dampFactor = 0.55f
thank you straight to the point
This was just awesome! Thanks a lot!
what a hearty video for all beginners!
This is an amazing video, i just want to ask, what is the first definition for m_GoalVel?
it's just the desired movement velocity of the player, coming from the controller input and the movement speed (and translated into world space)
It's working thanks my friend
Awesome, thanks for sharing :D
This is gold!
This method works perfectly .. thanks for sharing ;)
Sounds perfect!!!
the force when the character reach the top reduce to 0, then the gravity will push it down again, making the character just bobbing up and down. what did I miss ? turn gravity off wont do, cause the character then will just float around and other funky sh1 t.
Tysm, did everything as described
a very great system and carefully explained, thanks !
Oh my god so good explained thank you!!!!
Wow, great video! Thanks for sharing!
Can you elaborate a bit more about how you calculate jumping force?
It would help me a lot. Thanks
For jumping we just set the velocity directly when the jump starts, no need for a force at all.
that was so use full! !
damn the quality of video editing
Looks really cute
you explained. Thank you so much.
So informative, thanks a lot!
This is gold ! thanks for sharing
do you, or anybody else have tutorials explaining this for sort of beginners. I still don’t understand the basic code of sending a line trace from the character to the ground to see how far they are from the ground. I need to understand that concept and how it goes into Code. Can you please help with that or refer me
Super excellent! Thanks a million
Very helpful, thank you
This was a great tutorial, thanks a lot!
Thanks for the tutorial
Thank you In the setup
Thank you so much it was very helpful
This is amazing, sharing with my students :)
Cheers man!
You guys are saints for sharing this knowledge