How to Make Your Unity CharacterController Move with Rotation

Discover how to ensure your player character in Unity moves in the correct direction based on its rotation using CharacterController.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/66803824/ asked by the user 'David' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/14133138/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/66804788/ provided by the user 'Simonster' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13951963/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Understanding the Problem

If you’re working with a player character in Unity, you may encounter a frustrating issue: the character always moves in the same direction, no matter how it’s rotated. When you use methods like transform.Translate(Vector3.forward * Time.deltaTime), your character will follow the expected path since it moves relative to the world’s coordinates.

However, when you switch to using CharacterController.Move, the character stubbornly continues to move in the same initial direction regardless of rotation. This can lead to a confusing gameplay experience, as your character appears to navigate freely but is actually constrained by its first movement direction. So, how can we ensure that your character moves in the direction it is facing?

Solution to the Movement Dilemma

To solve the issue of character movement direction, we must adjust how we define "forward." Here are a couple of effective methods you can use to align movement with your player's rotation.

1. Using transform.forward

The first and simplest method is to adjust your movement code to harness the transform.forward vector. Unlike Vector3.forward, which always points in the same global direction, transform.forward dynamically follows the player’s orientation.

Here’s an example of how to modify your movement code:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Benefits:

Directly correlates movement to the character's current rotation.

Simplifies code and increases clarity, ensuring your character will always move in the direction it's facing.

2. Using transform.rotation * Vector3.forward

Another approach involves explicitly applying the rotation of the character to the movement. This method utilizes quaternion rotations to adjust the global forward vector relative to the player's rotation.

You can implement this method as follows:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Benefits:

This method gives you more flexibility if you want to include other transforms later.

It works seamlessly with various other rotations and physics manipulations.

Conclusion

In summary, if your character in Unity isn't moving as expected according to its rotation, simply switching from using Vector3.forward to transform.forward or using transform.rotation * Vector3.forward will allow your character to enjoy more intuitive movement. By adjusting how you define the movement direction, you can create a more immersive gaming experience where players can navigate their environment naturally.

Remember:

Use transform.forward for most cases of player movement.

For advanced scenarios, consider the mathematical approach with transform.rotation * Vector3.forward.

Make sure to test both methods in your Unity projects and choose the one that best fits your game's movement requirements!