Version: 2022.3
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Physics.SphereCast

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Declaration

public static bool SphereCast(Vector3 origin, float radius, Vector3 direction, out RaycastHit hitInfo, float maxDistance = Mathf.Infinity, int layerMask = DefaultRaycastLayers, QueryTriggerInteraction queryTriggerInteraction = QueryTriggerInteraction.UseGlobal);

Parameters

origin The center of the sphere at the start of the sweep.
radius The radius of the sphere.
direction The direction into which to sweep the sphere.
hitInfo If true is returned, hitInfo will contain more information about where the collider was hit. (Additional resources: RaycastHit).
maxDistance The max length of the cast.
layerMask A Layer mask that is used to selectively ignore colliders when casting a capsule.
queryTriggerInteraction Specifies whether this query should hit Triggers.

Returns

bool True when the sphere sweep intersects any collider, otherwise false.

Description

Casts a sphere along a ray and returns detailed information on what was hit.

This is useful when a Raycast does not give enough precision, because you want to find out if an object of a specific size, such as a character, will be able to move somewhere without colliding with anything on the way. Think of the sphere cast like a thick raycast. In this case the ray is specified by a start vector and a direction.

Notes: SphereCast will not detect colliders for which the sphere overlaps the collider. Passing a zero radius results in undefined output and doesn't always behave the same as Physics.Raycast.

Additional resources: Physics.SphereCastAll, Physics.CapsuleCast, Physics.Raycast, Rigidbody.SweepTest.

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour { CharacterController charCtrl;

void Start() { charCtrl = GetComponent<CharacterController>(); }

void Update() { RaycastHit hit;

Vector3 p1 = transform.position + charCtrl.center; float distanceToObstacle = 0;

// Cast a sphere wrapping character controller 10 meters forward // to see if it is about to hit anything. if (Physics.SphereCast(p1, charCtrl.height / 2, transform.forward, out hit, 10)) { distanceToObstacle = hit.distance; } } }

Declaration

public static bool SphereCast(Ray ray, float radius, float maxDistance = Mathf.Infinity, int layerMask = DefaultRaycastLayers, QueryTriggerInteraction queryTriggerInteraction = QueryTriggerInteraction.UseGlobal);

Parameters

ray The starting point and direction of the ray into which the sphere sweep is cast.
radius The radius of the sphere.
maxDistance The max length of the cast.
layerMask A Layer mask that is used to selectively ignore colliders when casting a capsule.
queryTriggerInteraction Specifies whether this query should hit Triggers.

Returns

bool True when the sphere sweep intersects any collider, otherwise false.

Description

Casts a sphere along a ray and returns detailed information on what was hit.

This is useful when a Raycast does not give enough precision, because you want to find out if an object of a specific size, such as a character, will be able to move somewhere without colliding with anything on the way. Think of the sphere cast like a thick raycast.

Additional resources: Physics.SphereCastAll, Physics.CapsuleCast, Physics.Raycast, Rigidbody.SweepTest.


Declaration

public static bool SphereCast(Ray ray, float radius, out RaycastHit hitInfo, float maxDistance = Mathf.Infinity, int layerMask = DefaultRaycastLayers, QueryTriggerInteraction queryTriggerInteraction = QueryTriggerInteraction.UseGlobal);

Parameters

ray The starting point and direction of the ray into which the sphere sweep is cast.
radius The radius of the sphere.
hitInfo If true is returned, hitInfo will contain more information about where the collider was hit. (Additional resources: RaycastHit).
maxDistance The max length of the cast.
layerMask A Layer mask that is used to selectively ignore colliders when casting a capsule.
queryTriggerInteraction Specifies whether this query should hit Triggers.

Description