Architecture AI Pathing Project: Selecting Spawn and Target Positions from Objects in the Model

November 23, 2020

Spawning and Pathing System

Architecture AI Project


Updated Spawning System to Use Objects within Model as List of Options

We wanted to update the spawning system so that instead of being arbitrary points, both the spawn location and target location were tied to objects that could be found throughout the entire model. The system is already creating a list of all the objects within the model for applying colliders and various other components, so that could be accessed for this purpose as well. This list of objects was then put into a UI dropdown for selecting both the spawn position and the target position. The transform of the selected object was then used for that respective part of the pathing.

Highlighting the Spawn and Target Locations

I wanted to highlight both the spawn and target objects to make it more apparent where the agents would be aiming to path. The first implementation I went with for now changes the material of the object. The spawn object becomes an orange color, and the target object becomes a green color. This however is not very clear with many objects, because some such as windows and doors are within the walls, which are hard to see from the angle we are using currently. I will be exploring better options such as spawning an extra object or UI element around the area to make it more apparent.

Example Images Showing a Few Paths with Varied Spawn and Target Positions

Next Step

We want to determine how we want to narrow down the list of options to select as spawn and target locations since we generally will not need access to every single object. We have to decide how flexible the options need to be, as the more rigid it will be the more we can automate it and narrow the options down to a select few.

via Blogger http://stevelilleyschool.blogspot.com/2020/11/architecture-ai-pathing-project_23.html