Limiting spawning of an entity to a sphere around the player

[Theronguard]

Hi, as said in the title I want to spawn an entity with a limited radius (sphere/cylinder). I tried doing something like this:

local posCheck = ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos

if posCheck < ply:GetAimVector() * 100 then
pos = ply:GetAimVector()
end
if posCheck > ply:GetAimVector() * 100 then
pos = ply:GetAimVector() * 100
//If you spawn the entity beyond the limiting radius it spawns on the edge of the radius
end

local example = ents.Create("ent_example")

if IsValid(example) then

example:SetPos(pos)
example:SetAngles(ply:GetAimVector():Angle())
example:SetOwner(ply)
example:Spawn()
example:Activate()

end

It doesn't work (is comparing vectors even logical here? )
Does anyone have an idea how to do it?

[Leonovers]

Maybe you need to use
local distCheck = ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos:Distance(ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos)
--Getting distance between TraceHit and Players Eyes

if distCheck < 100 then
pos = ply:GetAimVector()
elseif distCheck > 100 then
pos = ply:GetAimVector() * 100
//If you spawn the entity beyond the limiting radius it spawns on the edge of the radius
end

local example = ents.Create("ent_example")

if IsValid(example) then
example:SetPos(pos)
example:SetAngles(ply:GetAimVector():Angle())
example:SetOwner(ply)
example:Spawn()
example:Activate()
end

[LoweChaser]

ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos:Distance(ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos)
What? It will always return 0.
He also wants to clamp vector values. I'd subtract hitpos vector from player position vector and then change entity spawn position vector, but I don't know if its efficient.

[Leonovers]

Ow, it must be
ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos:Distance(ply:GetEyeTrace().StartPos)
not a
ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos:Distance(ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos)

[MrManiak]

That's because "ply:GetAimVector() * 100" is a local vector to the player. If you want a max distance for spawning an entity, I'd do my own trace. This is my code:
local maxSpawnDistance = 200
local spawnPos = self:EyePos() + self:EyeAngles():Forward() * maxSpawnDistance

local tr = util.TraceLine( {
start = self:EyePos(),
endpos = spawnPos,
filter = {self}
} )

if (tr.HitPos) then
spawnPos = tr.HitPos + (tr.HitNormal * Vector(10,10,10))
end

local spawned = ents.Create("fort_item")
spawned:SetItem({self.PlyInventory[slot][1],1,nil,self.PlyInventory[slot][4],self.PlyInventory[slot][5],self.PlyInventory[slot][6]})
spawned:SetPos(spawnPos)
spawned:Spawn()

self:RemoveItem(slot)

self:EmitSound("fortune/StandardDrop"..math.random( 1, 3 )..".wav")

[WasabiThumbs]

Why not check if the entity is in a FindInSphere?

[RapidFireKing17]

The above examples are better to use than FindInSphere tbh.

[MrManiak]

You should try to avoid FindInSphere at all costs in your code, it's pretty expensive. Also, it's not something you want to use in this context.