T3D 3.5 and Recast - No Nav mesh in Levels folder
by James Novosel · in Torque 3D Professional · 12/28/2013 (4:40 am) · 6 replies
Not seeing the "Navigation mesh" under the Levels folder.
I created a new project using the 2.1 project manager (included Recast in the Modules-checkbox), opened up the Empty Terrain but see no way to add the Navigation Mesh (option is not there), am I missing something or is this a bug?
So, lets try a recompile and I am getting this:
16> Creating library ../../../game/RecastTest_DEBUG.lib and object ../../../game/RecastTest_DEBUG.exp
16>LINK : fatal error LNK1123: failure during conversion to COFF: file invalid or corrupt
17>------ Rebuild All started: Project: RecastTest, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
17> main.cpp
17>LINK : fatal error LNK1123: failure during conversion to COFF: file invalid or corrupt
Is anyone using this stuff ? :) or have any idea what the root cause is (trying to avoid spending my 20 hour dive into insanity...)
Solved - In case anyone else is getting these types of errors or not seeing the Navigation Mesh, see this link:
stackoverflow.com/questions/10888391/error-link-fatal-error-lnk1123-failure-duri...
Looks like I was running VS2010 RTM, installing the Service Pack 1 and doing a rebuild now has the NavMesh option available. Not sure why auto update never installed SP1 for 2010 on my machine.
Thanks !
I created a new project using the 2.1 project manager (included Recast in the Modules-checkbox), opened up the Empty Terrain but see no way to add the Navigation Mesh (option is not there), am I missing something or is this a bug?
So, lets try a recompile and I am getting this:
16> Creating library ../../../game/RecastTest_DEBUG.lib and object ../../../game/RecastTest_DEBUG.exp
16>LINK : fatal error LNK1123: failure during conversion to COFF: file invalid or corrupt
17>------ Rebuild All started: Project: RecastTest, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
17> main.cpp
17>LINK : fatal error LNK1123: failure during conversion to COFF: file invalid or corrupt
Is anyone using this stuff ? :) or have any idea what the root cause is (trying to avoid spending my 20 hour dive into insanity...)
Solved - In case anyone else is getting these types of errors or not seeing the Navigation Mesh, see this link:
stackoverflow.com/questions/10888391/error-link-fatal-error-lnk1123-failure-duri...
Looks like I was running VS2010 RTM, installing the Service Pack 1 and doing a rebuild now has the NavMesh option available. Not sure why auto update never installed SP1 for 2010 on my machine.
Thanks !
#2
Trying to sort out the difference between Path and NavPath. I integrated the first two steps of Steve Acaster's ChinaTown-Recast resources and right now I'm not sure what the difference between a Path and a NavPath are, the later being undocumented anywhere I can see.
Will be watching for your expansion of the docs on the Wiki,
also - Is Walkabout still a viable product ?
Thanks
Jim
12/28/2013 (10:51 am)
Thanks Daniel, and thanks for this resource.Trying to sort out the difference between Path and NavPath. I integrated the first two steps of Steve Acaster's ChinaTown-Recast resources and right now I'm not sure what the difference between a Path and a NavPath are, the later being undocumented anywhere I can see.
Will be watching for your expansion of the docs on the Wiki,
also - Is Walkabout still a viable product ?
Thanks
Jim
#3
In the scripting section of my tutorial, I'll cover NavPaths :).
If Steve is using Paths as well as NavPaths, he may be doing what I recommend - using a Path to specify 'waypoints', key points in the level that a character should visit, but using NavPaths to actually find an obstacle-free route between Path nodes automatically.
Walkabout is still viable. It has more features than the basic recast stuff in 3.5 (dynamic mesh updates, jump links, cover points, better integration with AIPlayer), as well as a proper editor (whereas there is no editor support for 3.5's basic navigation). It's more of a plug-and-play approach than what I submitted to 3.5: you can open up a level, add the navmesh, build it, and spawn test characters to run around on it instantly, rather than bothering to set up scripts and so on. When you do write scripts, there are more AIPlayer methods to simplify the work you have to do.
And I'm still planning updates for Walkabout... when I have time!
12/28/2013 (5:15 pm)
You create a Path in the world editor by linking up certain points. The engine interpolates between these points to make a curved path, suitable for camera fly-throughs and so on. NavPaths, given and start and end point, will actually perform pathfinding on a navmesh, rather than just interpolating from point to point.In the scripting section of my tutorial, I'll cover NavPaths :).
If Steve is using Paths as well as NavPaths, he may be doing what I recommend - using a Path to specify 'waypoints', key points in the level that a character should visit, but using NavPaths to actually find an obstacle-free route between Path nodes automatically.
Walkabout is still viable. It has more features than the basic recast stuff in 3.5 (dynamic mesh updates, jump links, cover points, better integration with AIPlayer), as well as a proper editor (whereas there is no editor support for 3.5's basic navigation). It's more of a plug-and-play approach than what I submitted to 3.5: you can open up a level, add the navmesh, build it, and spawn test characters to run around on it instantly, rather than bothering to set up scripts and so on. When you do write scripts, there are more AIPlayer methods to simplify the work you have to do.
And I'm still planning updates for Walkabout... when I have time!
#4
I thought this was related to the VS2010 error I was receiving, however, after correcting this build error (the COFF thing) whenever I create a new project with project manager 2.1, the Navigation Mesh option is not available. I have to open the project (2010 in my case) and do a rebuild before the option appears. So, it looks like whatever creates the .exe to begin with (project manager 2.1) is not including it or it is somehow not in the build (what does project manager use to create the project exe anyways?).
In any event, a rebuild solves the problem and the problem does not appear to be related to the COFF error and RTM version of 2010.
12/29/2013 (6:22 am)
Update on the Navigation Mesh not appearingI thought this was related to the VS2010 error I was receiving, however, after correcting this build error (the COFF thing) whenever I create a new project with project manager 2.1, the Navigation Mesh option is not available. I have to open the project (2010 in my case) and do a rebuild before the option appears. So, it looks like whatever creates the .exe to begin with (project manager 2.1) is not including it or it is somehow not in the build (what does project manager use to create the project exe anyways?).
In any event, a rebuild solves the problem and the problem does not appear to be related to the COFF error and RTM version of 2010.
#5
Really looking forward to you completing the docs on this stuff.
I am attempting to work in UAISK with this and need to get a firm understanding of how Recast is working, and this is being muddied by several things:
The ChinaTown-Recast resources (Excellent stuff) - which are not using Recast as built into T3D 3.5 - the first two resources kind of work with 3.5 but there are differences (plan vs replan etc)
The confusion with Paths and NavPaths and their usage - hope you will be covering how to use Paths (multiple waypoints) vs NavPath (start and end points with multiple recast calculated waypoints inferred)
The multiple other Recast resources in various posts on the site
All in all this stuff is great just getting it implemented is a little tough
12/29/2013 (6:34 am)
Daniel:Really looking forward to you completing the docs on this stuff.
I am attempting to work in UAISK with this and need to get a firm understanding of how Recast is working, and this is being muddied by several things:
The ChinaTown-Recast resources (Excellent stuff) - which are not using Recast as built into T3D 3.5 - the first two resources kind of work with 3.5 but there are differences (plan vs replan etc)
The confusion with Paths and NavPaths and their usage - hope you will be covering how to use Paths (multiple waypoints) vs NavPath (start and end points with multiple recast calculated waypoints inferred)
The multiple other Recast resources in various posts on the site
All in all this stuff is great just getting it implemented is a little tough
#6
Anyway, I'll make a forum post in the UAISK forum soon with integration code.
I'll remember to include a section about Paths and NavPaths. It's even possible to use a Path when planning a NavPath, but I won't go into that here, because it's slightly complex :P.
EDIT: Huh, I thought the project manager didn't create any binaries at all! Well, if it does, then it's just copy/pasting from the Templates folders, and those binaries don't have recast included. So having to recompile is, unfortunately, expected behaviour.
12/29/2013 (4:46 pm)
Yeah, I forgot about writing up something about UAISK compatibility! That will be really easy, actually, as I already went through the process once when writing docs for integrating Walkabout and UAISK. But from what I remember, it only involves modifying one method, which all the UAISK's movement goes through. Maybe just grep the code for setMoveDestination, and you'll find where it is.Anyway, I'll make a forum post in the UAISK forum soon with integration code.
I'll remember to include a section about Paths and NavPaths. It's even possible to use a Path when planning a NavPath, but I won't go into that here, because it's slightly complex :P.
EDIT: Huh, I thought the project manager didn't create any binaries at all! Well, if it does, then it's just copy/pasting from the Templates folders, and those binaries don't have recast included. So having to recompile is, unfortunately, expected behaviour.
Torque Owner Daniel Buckmaster
T3D Steering Committee