Storing and Resetting Player Direction in a 2D Sidescroller Game

Introduction:

In a 2D sidescroller game, it is often necessary to keep track of the direction the player is facing, especially when firing bullets or other projectiles. This can be especially challenging when implementing a "Free Aim" mode, where the player can aim and fire in any direction. In this article, we will explore a method for storing the player's direction before entering "Free Aim" mode, and resetting the direction after the projectile is fired.

Method:

To store the player's direction before entering "Free Aim" mode, we can use a separate variable to store the current eulerAngles of the player. This can be done by adding a new variable to the player script, and then setting this variable to the current eulerAngles of the player before entering "Free Aim" mode.

This is an example of how this could be implemented in code:

// Declare a new variable to store the player's eulerAngles

Vector3 playerEulerAngles;

// In your "Free Aim" mode code, store the current eulerAngles in the playerEulerAngles variable

playerEulerAngles = player.transform.eulerAngles;

To reset the player's direction after the projectile is fired, we can simply set the player's eulerAngles back to the stored value using the following code:

// After the projectile is fired, set the player's eulerAngles back to the stored value

player.transform.eulerAngles = playerEulerAngles;

Conclusion:

By storing the player's direction before entering "Free Aim" mode and resetting the direction after the projectile is fired, we can ensure that the player always faces the correct direction in our 2D sidescroller game. This can be achieved by using a separate variable to store the player's eulerAngles, and setting this value back to the player's eulerAngles after the projectile is fired.