A Recast/Detour Navigation Add-on Solution for T3D!
by Kerry Enfinger · 04/14/2012 (8:54 pm) · 12 comments
The current navigation solutions for T3D all lacked certain features that I needed and sometimes had undesirable behavior. I knew that the Recast/Detour code by Mikko Mononen code.google.com/p/recastnavigation was the best navigation solution for T3D but implementing all of its features into T3D looked like a daunting task.
I finally abandoned the idea of using a waypoint grid several months ago and decided that I would devote all of my free time to getting all of the major features of Recast/Detour into a T3D add-on. After many hours of work over the last six months, I present to you a stable and viable navigation solution for T3D -- RecastT3D.
I've also opened a forum at my website to discuss RecastT3D and the Torque Master Server software.
Posting and access to the main forums require registration and admin approval.[b]
www.alteredrealitysoftware.com/forum
[b]Tile NavMesh Without Water Surface or Terrain Underwater
Solo NavMesh Without Water Surface or Terrain Underwater
TempObstacle NavMesh Without Water Surface or Terrain Underwater
Tile NavMesh With Water Surface
Tile NavMesh With Underwater Terrain
Chinatown NavMesh
Burg NavMesh
Deathball Desert NavMesh
Mars NavMesh
The price for the package is $95.00 (Indie or Commercial) and can be purchased at:
www.alteredrealitysoftware.com/catalog.htm
You can also download a demo game from the above link to see the AI in action using the navigation mesh (make sure you have DirectX and Visual C++ 2010 runtimes installed).
I have also reduced the price of my Master Server software to $50.00 (Indie or Commercial) in celebration of the project completion.
I finally abandoned the idea of using a waypoint grid several months ago and decided that I would devote all of my free time to getting all of the major features of Recast/Detour into a T3D add-on. After many hours of work over the last six months, I present to you a stable and viable navigation solution for T3D -- RecastT3D.
I've also opened a forum at my website to discuss RecastT3D and the Torque Master Server software.
Posting and access to the main forums require registration and admin approval.[b]
www.alteredrealitysoftware.com/forum
A video of the AI in action using the navigation mesh:
The obligatory eye-candy:
[b]Tile NavMesh Without Water Surface or Terrain Underwater
Solo NavMesh Without Water Surface or Terrain Underwater
TempObstacle NavMesh Without Water Surface or Terrain Underwater
Tile NavMesh With Water Surface
Tile NavMesh With Underwater Terrain
Chinatown NavMesh
Burg NavMesh
Deathball Desert NavMesh
Mars NavMesh
Here is a list of important features:
- Allows for all three types of Recast/Detour navigation meshes -- Solo, Tile, or TempObstacles.
- Custom geometry parsing for better control and faster loading times.
- Automatic position tracking of all moving game objects.
- Individual tile regeneration for fast navigation mesh updates.
- Allows for automatic updates to static and/or dynamic objects.
- Selectable navigation mesh geometry objects including terrain, water, statics, and dynamics.
- Allow/Disallow underwater terrain.
- Use straight, smooth, or sliced navigation paths.
- Fully customizable with all Recast/Detour parameters.
- Saves generated navigation data to separate files for Solo, Tile, or TempObstacles.
- Recast/Detour added as static library for easier code updates.
- Uses recent Recast/Detour code base.
- Includes project files for Visual Studio 2008 and 2010.
- Fully-illustrated instructions for Visual Studio 2008 and 2010.
- Includes scripts and assets for working demo.
- Free upgrades.
The price for the package is $95.00 (Indie or Commercial) and can be purchased at:
www.alteredrealitysoftware.com/catalog.htm
You can also download a demo game from the above link to see the AI in action using the navigation mesh (make sure you have DirectX and Visual C++ 2010 runtimes installed).
I have also reduced the price of my Master Server software to $50.00 (Indie or Commercial) in celebration of the project completion.
About the author
Owner of Altered Reality Software -- Bachelors Degree in Game and Simulation Programming -- Masters Degree in Database Management -- Currently working on Ph.D. in Computer Science
#2
04/15/2012 (12:25 am)
Nice work! Supporting rivers is something I haven't yet figured out - respect.
#3
The waterblock, rivers, and forests were the worse part of the geometry parsing. That's why I had to write custom geometry parsers for those objects. Thanks again for your contributions and pushing me away from the waypoint grids. :)
04/15/2012 (12:44 am)
@DanielThe waterblock, rivers, and forests were the worse part of the geometry parsing. That's why I had to write custom geometry parsers for those objects. Thanks again for your contributions and pushing me away from the waypoint grids. :)
#4
Great, this could be *the* navmesh solution to use together with the other ai tools around for T3D. Will buy.
Best regards
Kaj
04/15/2012 (9:48 am)
HelloGreat, this could be *the* navmesh solution to use together with the other ai tools around for T3D. Will buy.
Best regards
Kaj
#5
04/15/2012 (12:02 pm)
Cool stuff! What's the difference between Indie and Commercial licensing?
#6
No difference in licensing. Commercial is for those having a profit of $100,000+. I made separate menu listing on my website just to keep track of the percentages.
04/15/2012 (12:27 pm)
@SteveNo difference in licensing. Commercial is for those having a profit of $100,000+. I made separate menu listing on my website just to keep track of the percentages.
#7
04/15/2012 (9:46 pm)
To the members who have bought the RecastT3D, I would appreciate any feedback on the installation instructions and the ease of installation that you encountered using those instructions. It is my hope that each step of the installation is covered thoroughly and can be easily understood by all.
#8
04/16/2012 (2:04 am)
Wow looks very nice, for now i am dealing with Daniel Buckmasters free resource. Which is very nice but lacks some features that you have solved very well it seems! Will definetly consider swapping from the free resource to this one if my game moves out of prototype state! :)
#9
IMO you should raise the commercial price with 400$ or so.
04/16/2012 (9:27 am)
Why does commercial and indie cost the same amount of money? Shouldn't commercial be more expensive? And what is the downside of choosing one or the other? Wouldn't it always be beneficial to buy the commercial one?IMO you should raise the commercial price with 400$ or so.
#10
Those are some excellent questions and that stance is one that I have taken for years. However, I have come to realize that there are several issues with the idea of indie and commercial licensing.
The first situation would involve a company who has made over $100,000 before buying my product. Maybe, they made that money using a product that is totally unrelated to mine. Should they pay more to use my product than anyone else?
The second situation involves the indie or new commercial customer. How do they know if they will make $100,000 or more using my product? Is my product the only element contributing to this success? Will they pay me the difference once they reach that "commercial" level? And how will I even know if they reach that income level?
These questions and considerations have led me to the belief that it would be better for all if I just charge a flat fee regardless of business status. It's much easier to manage and seems to me to be the fairest deal.
04/16/2012 (12:02 pm)
@ LukasThose are some excellent questions and that stance is one that I have taken for years. However, I have come to realize that there are several issues with the idea of indie and commercial licensing.
The first situation would involve a company who has made over $100,000 before buying my product. Maybe, they made that money using a product that is totally unrelated to mine. Should they pay more to use my product than anyone else?
The second situation involves the indie or new commercial customer. How do they know if they will make $100,000 or more using my product? Is my product the only element contributing to this success? Will they pay me the difference once they reach that "commercial" level? And how will I even know if they reach that income level?
These questions and considerations have led me to the belief that it would be better for all if I just charge a flat fee regardless of business status. It's much easier to manage and seems to me to be the fairest deal.
#11
04/16/2012 (3:29 pm)
Well i don't get why you have 2 payment options then :) Although, the reason indie prices usually are lower, is because then the product is kindda sold like a kickstarter for small business. It's more of a bonus for the indies than it's a punishment for the bigs. 
#12
08/25/2013 (8:51 am)
This looks great!! 
Torque Owner D Fasel
Game 3D