Spawn entity where the player is looking.

[Thane17]

I'm trying to spawn an entity where the player is looking, here's what I've got

hook.Add("KeyPress", "test3", function(ply, key)
	if (key == IN_RELOAD) then
		if ply:GetActiveWeapon():IsValid() then
			if ply:GetActiveWeapon():GetClass() == "weapon_crowbar" then
				local ent2 = ents.Create("npc_citizen")
				local ent = ply:GetEyeTrace().Entity
				ent2:SetModel(ply:GetModel())
				ent2:SetPos(ply:EyePos())
			end
		end
	end
end)

the code works perfectly fine although it spawns the entity where the players playermodels eyes are at, if that makes sense. I don't know how to get the position of where the player is looking. I checked the wiki and couldn't find anything. Thanks.

[Rubat]

ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos for the position of where the player is looking at. Where on wiki have you looked for?

[Thane17]

[QUOTE=Robotboy655;50688512]ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos for the position of where the player is looking at. Where on wiki have you looked for?[/QUOTE]

I looked in the Entity and Player Classes and couldn't find anything. I'll try this though, thanks Robotboy.

EDIT: Yeah this worked thanks! One more question, how would I make a timer that despawns the entity after say 5 seconds?

[Rubat]

Is it too much of a bother for you sir to type timer into the search bar on the wiki? Or "timer gmod" into google or the address bar of your web browser?

[Thane17]

[QUOTE=Robotboy655;50688588]Is it too much of a bother for you sir to type timer into the search bar on the wiki? Or "timer gmod" into google or the address bar of your web browser?[/QUOTE]

That part isn't the problem, I don't know how to despawn the entity.

EDIT:
You're right this was dumb I apologize.

[man with hat]

[QUOTE=Thane;50688592]That part isn't the problem, I don't know how to despawn the entity.[/QUOTE]

That, too, can be found via the wiki and google.

[Thane17]

[QUOTE=man with hat;50688661]That, too, can be found via the wiki and google.[/QUOTE]

Well that was easy. Sorry for the dumb questions.

hook.Add("KeyPress", "test3", function(ply, key)
	if (key == IN_RELOAD) then
		if ply:GetActiveWeapon():IsValid() then
			if ply:GetActiveWeapon():GetClass() == "weapon_crowbar" then
				local ent2 = ents.Create("npc_citizen")
				local ent = ply:GetEyeTrace().Entity
				ent2:SetModel(ply:GetModel())
				ent2:SetPos(ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos)
				timer.Simple(5, function () ent2:Remove() end)
				print (ply:GetEyeTrace().HitPos)
			end
		end
	end
end)

[McDunkinY]

I suggest localizing the active weapon and using only 1 if statement, for example.

local Weapon = Player:GetActiveWeapon()

if ( IsValid( Weapon ) and Weapon:GetClass() == "weapon_crowbar" ) then
    ...
end

You should also be using the global function IsValid instead of calling the entity method IsValid, since if the entity is nil, you'll get a Lua error. The global function IsValid basically does this...

return a and a.IsValid and a:IsValid()

Finally, you should check if "ent2" is valid before removing it, once again, to prevent a Lua error. Generally whenever you deal with delayed callbacks, you should check if everything is still valid / as it should be.