chameleon/Assets/Scripts/Components/HunterLaserBeam.cs

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.Rendering;

/// <summary>
/// Momentary world-space laser beam for a hunter's shot. Purely visual (no networking): a LineRenderer drawn
/// from the muzzle to the hit point that fades IN fast then OUT over its lifetime, animating both opacity
/// (via per-vertex colour alpha, read by the Chameleon/Laser shader) and thickness (via widthMultiplier).
/// Self-contained: it builds its own LineRenderer child + an additive material at runtime, so it can be added
/// to a hunter avatar purely in code with no prefab authoring. Call <see cref="Fire"/> to trigger; the beam
/// recycles itself (disables the renderer) once it expires.
/// </summary>
[DisallowMultipleComponent]
public sealed class HunterLaserBeam : MonoBehaviour
{
    [Header("Look")]
    [ColorUsage(true, true)]
    [Tooltip("HDR beam tint. Its alpha is ignored - the animated opacity envelope drives visibility.")]
    [SerializeField] private Color color = new Color(1f, 0.25f, 0.25f, 1f);

    [Tooltip("HDR emission multiplier applied to the tint. >1 pushes the beam past LDR into bloom.")]
    [Min(0f)]
    [SerializeField] private float emission = 6f;

    [Tooltip("Peak beam thickness in world units (the width envelope scales this).")]
    [Min(0f)]
    [SerializeField] private float maxWidth = 0.06f;

    [Tooltip("Optional material override. Empty -> a built-in additive laser material (Chameleon/Laser) is created at runtime.")]
    [SerializeField] private Material materialOverride;

    [Header("Timing")]
    [Tooltip("Total beam lifetime in seconds (fade-in + fade-out).")]
    [Min(0.01f)]
    [SerializeField] private float lifetime = 0.5f;

    [Tooltip("Fraction of the lifetime spent fading IN (the rest fades out).")]
    [Range(0f, 1f)]
    [SerializeField] private float fadeInFraction = 0.2f;

    [Tooltip("Thickness floor as a fraction of maxWidth at the envelope's ends, so the beam never pinches to a dot.")]
    [Range(0f, 1f)]
    [SerializeField] private float minWidthFraction = 0.35f;

    private LineRenderer _line;
    private Material _material;
    private bool _ownsMaterial;
    private float _age;
    private bool _active;

    private static readonly int ColorId = Shader.PropertyToID("_Color");

    private void Awake()
    {
        var go = new GameObject("LaserBeamLine");
        go.transform.SetParent(transform, false);

        _line = go.AddComponent<LineRenderer>();
        _line.useWorldSpace = true;           // endpoints are fixed world points; the beam ignores avatar motion
        _line.positionCount = 2;
        _line.numCapVertices = 2;
        _line.numCornerVertices = 0;
        _line.alignment = LineAlignment.View;
        _line.textureMode = LineTextureMode.Stretch;
        _line.shadowCastingMode = ShadowCastingMode.Off;
        _line.receiveShadows = false;
        _line.lightProbeUsage = LightProbeUsage.Off;
        _line.reflectionProbeUsage = ReflectionProbeUsage.Off;

        if (materialOverride)
        {
            _material = materialOverride;
        }
        else
        {
            _material = new Material(Shader.Find("Chameleon/Laser"));
            _ownsMaterial = true;
        }
        _line.material = _material;
        if (_material && _material.HasProperty(ColorId))
        {
            Color hdr = color * emission;   // push the tint into HDR so bloom picks it up
            hdr.a = 1f;                     // alpha is unused by the additive shader
            _material.SetColor(ColorId, hdr);
        }

        _line.enabled = false;
    }

    /// <summary>Fires a one-shot beam along the given world-space segment; restarts the animation if already running.</summary>
    public void Fire(Vector3 start, Vector3 end)
    {
        if (!_line) return;
        _line.SetPosition(0, start);
        _line.SetPosition(1, end);
        _age = 0f;
        _active = true;
        _line.enabled = true;
        ApplyEnvelope(0f);
    }

    private void Update()
    {
        if (!_active) return;
        _age += Time.deltaTime;
        float t = lifetime > 0f ? _age / lifetime : 1f;
        if (t >= 1f)
        {
            _active = false;
            _line.enabled = false;
            return;
        }
        ApplyEnvelope(t);
    }

    // Maps normalized life t (0..1) to opacity + thickness: rises over fadeInFraction, then eases back down.
    private void ApplyEnvelope(float t)
    {
        float inFrac = Mathf.Clamp01(fadeInFraction);
        float e = t < inFrac
            ? (inFrac > 0f ? t / inFrac : 1f)
            : (inFrac < 1f ? 1f - (t - inFrac) / (1f - inFrac) : 1f);
        e = Mathf.Clamp01(e);
        e = e * e * (3f - 2f * e); // smoothstep for a softer ramp

        _line.widthMultiplier = maxWidth * Mathf.Lerp(minWidthFraction, 1f, e);
        var vc = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, e); // hue from the material _Color; alpha carries the fade envelope
        _line.startColor = vc;
        _line.endColor = vc;
    }

    private void OnDestroy()
    {
        if (_ownsMaterial && _material) Destroy(_material);
    }
}