Trying to visual the distance between to spheres

Help and Feedback Scripting Support
#1

the problem is that it works but only on one side, its kind of confusing for me to explain so heres a video of it

code

local earth = workspace.earth
local sun = workspace.sun


local part = Instance.new("Part")
part.Anchored = true
part.BrickColor = BrickColor.new("Bright blue")

game:GetService("RunService").Heartbeat:Connect(function(dt)
local distance = sun.Position - earth.Position

	
	part.Size = Vector3.new(.5,.5,distance.Z)
	part.CFrame = CFrame.new(earth.Position + distance / 2, sun.Position)

	part.Parent = workspace
end)
#2 
part.Size = Vector3.new(.5,.5,distance.Z)

Try changing this to:

part.Size = Vector3.new(.5, .5, math.abs(distance.Z))

I think your Z-component in your distance vector might end up being negative in some cases. You can’t have a negative part size.

#3

yeah that is true man, thanks but how did you come to this conlcusion though what exactly does math.abs do wait doesnt it change a positive into a positive and a negative to a positive?

#4

That’s right, it takes the ‘absolute value’ of a number. This indeed means that a positive stays positive and a negative gets multiplied by -1.

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#5

it does work on the other side but it still does this weird looking thin

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#6

Use Vector.Magnitude instead of the Z component

game:GetService("RunService").Heartbeat:Connect(function(dt)
	local distance = (sun.Position - earth.Position).Magnitude
	
	part.Size = Vector3.new(.5,.5,distance)
	part.CFrame = CFrame.new(earth.Position, sun.Position) * CFrame.new(0, 0, -distance / 2)
	
	part.Parent = workspace
end)
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#7

Another easy way to get the distance between two objects is like this:

local distance = (earth.Position - sun.Position).magnitude
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#8

Oh alright let me try that real quick

@XandertjeKnal and @rokoblox5 thanks ill try that quick

It worked thanks both of you

#9

If you want the distance to be correct in any axis, not just their distance on the Z axis, use magnitude:

local distance = (sun.Position - eart.Position).magnitude

magnitude is a property of Vector3 that is the length of a line drawn from the Origin, (0,0,0) to wherever the Vector is (X,Y,Z). It is equivalent to math.sqrt(vec3.X^2 + vec3.Y^2 + vec3.Z^2), which is just the pythagorean theorem.

1 Like
#10

@adark @rokoblox5 @XandertjeKnal

thanks all alot guys I shouldve known to use magnitude, it worked!

#11

For a better explanation of my answer, Vector.Magnitude returns the distance of the Vector.
At the part.CFrame = CFrame.new... part, I’m placing the part at the earth’s position, looking at the sun’s position then pushing it towards it by half the distance.

I used -distance since -Z = front and +Z = back (Yes it’s inverted.)

1 Like
#12

Yeah i get magnitude its the distance between two vectors

or like the legnth of the vector

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