📝 Article: Enhancing Fantasy RPG AI Navigation

Introduction

Welcome to Part Two of our Fantasy RPG ai Tutorial. In the previous section, we focused on rigging up the character to work with AI. Now, we will explore an equally important aspect - ensuring that the character can navigate and interact with the Game environment effectively.

Setting up the Environment

To begin, we have imported art assets from one of our own games. These assets include a level consisting of an arena scene. We will focus on the skeleton character for now and mark it as an obstacle. Additionally, we will tag the player character and the ground as "ground".

Tagging Characters and Objects

By assigning appropriate tags to characters and objects, we can enable the AI system to distinguish between walkable areas and obstacles. We will set the character and ground tags as "ground" using Unity's tag system. The other pieces in the environment will be marked as obstacles. Although using mesh colliders may not provide optimal results, we will use them for the purpose of this Tutorial.

Generating the Navigational Mesh

In order to determine where the characters can walk, we need to create a navigational mesh. This mesh will subdivide itself and create smaller waypoints for the AI pathfinding. We will use the "Navigational Mesh" prefab provided in the Fantasy AI folder. By simply dragging and dropping this prefab onto the scene, we can observe the mesh subdividing itself and automatically adjusting to avoid collisions with obstacles.

Baking the Waypoints

To ensure that the AI characters know the relative distances between waypoints, we need to "bake" the waypoints. This process creates a spider-like GRID, where each waypoint is aware of its neighboring waypoints. By selecting the navigational mesh and choosing the "Bake Waypoints" option, we generate the necessary connections.

Testing the AI Navigation

With the waypoints baked, we can now test the AI navigation. As the player moves, the skeleton character follows, drawing lines towards the waypoints. We can observe in the game view that the skeleton character navigates around obstacles without getting stuck, thanks to the AI system and the generated pathfinding.

Benefits of the AI System

The AI system we have implemented offers various advantages. Firstly, it enables characters to navigate complex environments with ease, even over large terrains. Additionally, it allows for flexible and adaptable pathfinding, ensuring that characters always know Where To go. The AI system also enhances gameplay by creating realistic movement and reducing instances of characters getting stuck or behaving unpredictably.

Pros:

Efficient and flexible navigation for characters
Realistic movement and pathfinding
Reduces instances of characters getting stuck

Cons:

Mesh colliders may not provide optimal results

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we explored the crucial process of enhancing AI navigation in a fantasy RPG game. By setting up the environment, tagging characters and objects, generating the navigational mesh, and baking the waypoints, we created an efficient AI system that enables characters to navigate the game world seamlessly. The benefits of this system include realistic movement, reduced instances of characters getting stuck, and adaptable pathfinding. Implementing AI navigation greatly enhances the overall player experience and immersion in the game.

🌟 Highlights

Enhancing AI navigation in a fantasy RPG game
Setting up the environment and tagging characters
Generating a navigational mesh and baking waypoints
Testing and analyzing AI navigation behavior
Benefits and limitations of the AI system

🙋‍♀️ FAQ

Q: Can the AI system handle large terrains? A: Yes, the AI system is designed to handle large terrains efficiently.

Q: What happens if there are obstacles in the character's path? A: The AI system will automatically adjust the path by finding alternative routes, ensuring that the character can navigate around obstacles.

Q: Can the AI system be used for both player characters and non-player characters? A: Yes, the AI system is versatile and can be applied to both player and non-player characters in the game.

Q: Is there a recommended alternative to using mesh colliders for obstacles? A: While box colliders may provide better results, for simplicity purposes, we have used mesh colliders in this tutorial.

🔗 Resources