Question Code assistance/pointers!

I'm moving a bus object with the following code and when it gets to the end of the road object I want it to stop, then reverse to it's starting point. I keep coming up with errors in the code, however. The only way I could think thus far of doing this is using a conditional that tracks the final float z values, then the code to reverse the bus object to it's starting point (with another conditional tracking it's starting point z values and making it stop. The errors come up under the second position property as 'Transform.position cannot be used like a method'. I'm not too familiar with C# so I also don't know if I'm using the correct equals (==. ===) operator. Any help? Thanks! =).

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.  
3. //move bus on z axis
4. transform.Translate(Vector3.forward * busSpeed * Time.deltaTime);
5.  
6.     //grab z end value to make bus stop then reverse to starting z value
7.     if (transform.position == transform.position(0,0,-160.1)) {
8.                     transform.Translate(Vector3.back * busSpeed * Time.deltaTime);                          
9.         }
10.     if (transform.position == transform.position (0,0,-145.82) {
11.                     transform.Translate(Vector3.0,0,0);
12. }

 

transform.position is a vector3 type. You're calling it like a method.

When you're doing transform.position(xxx) it thinks you're trying to call a method called position on the transform class and pass it three values.

Since position is a vector3, you need to assign a vector3 to it. Or, compare to it.

Code (CSharp):

1. if(transform.position == new Vector3(0,0,-160.1))

For example.
Just to note, = is assignment, == is comparison in c#.
I would suggest doing some tutorials over c# as calling a method is pretty important to understand in c#.

 

From the code you provided, it looks like line 4 will always move the bus forward, regardless of the conditional statements below.

How I would recommend doing it is to put the direction vector into a variable, since it's a state that will change periodically. Also it's best to do all the conditionals and math first, then apply that to the transform.

Something like this...

Code (CSharp):

1. using System.Collections;
2. using System.Collections.Generic;
3. using UnityEngine;
4.  
5. public class YourClassNameHere : MonoBehavior
6. {
7.     private Vector3 movementDirection = Vector3.forward;
8.     private float maximumPosition = 160.1f;
9.     private float minimumPosition = 145.82f;
10.     private float busSpeed = 1f;
11.  
12.     void Update
13.     {
14.         if ( transform.position.z >= maximumPosition )
15.             movementDirection = Vector3.back;
16.  
17.         if ( transform.position.z <= minimumPosition )
18.             movementDirection = Vector3.forward;
19.  
20.         Vector3 translationVector = new Vector3( movementDirection * busSpeed * Time.deltaTime );
21.         transform.Translate( translationVector );
22.     }
23. }

Also, you should avoid using == to check the value of a float, because of the inherent inaccuracies of floating point numbers. That's why I used >= and <= to check when it went out of bounds.

 

Doh! Facepalm! You're right! I should've picked up on this from the error message. I'm used to seeing parenthesis in methods/functions that I made Vector3 to be the same! Thanks so much for the C# tip too! =).

 

Humorously when the equality check fails, your bus object would just keeps going.

Cue the "&#@$%, I'm a bus object!!!" meme.