Difference between revisions of "Overview of pathfinding"

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{{Pathfinding Nav}}
#REDIRECT [[Pathfinding in Second Life]]
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At a high level, pathfinding provides tools and functions to enable smoother and smarter movement behavior for non-avatar entities in Second Life (for example, monsters in a game, rats in a haunted house, wisps in a fantasy forest).  We refer to these entities as ''characters''; in gaming terminology, they are sometimes called ''NPCs'' (non-player characters) or ''mobs'' (mobile objects).
 
Up till now, content creators had to use resource-intensive scripting workarounds to emulate intelligent character movement.  With the addition of pathfinding, content creators will have a much easier and better performing way of creating characters that can move around in the world. Characters can use LSL functions to avoid obstacles, move around corners, climb inclines, and move across region boundaries: things that are very difficult or even impossible before. Pathfinding will also enable new gameplay mechanics, such as creating food that attracts monsters.
 
{{KBnote|Pathfinding is not an animation system.  It does not provide a way to animate a biped or quadruped in conjunction with the new movement functionality.  You must use existing methods to animate characters. Nevertheless, pathfinding enables more dynamic movement and provides a better system for controlling character movement than was previously possible.  For more information on creating animations, see [[Animation]].}}
 
The pathfinding LSL functions enable you to create characters that dynamically avoid obstacles while performing typical behaviors you might want in a game or other virtual experience, including:
* '''Evade''' - run away from a specified object or avatar.  See [[llEvade]].
* '''Flee''' - Attempt to get a specified distance from a specified location.  See [[llFleeFrom]].
* '''Navigate''' - Move to a specific location. See [[llNavigateTo]].
* '''Patrol''' - Move through a path defined by a set of "patrol points." See [[llPatrolPoints]].
* '''Pursue''' - Chase a specified object or avatar. See [[llPursue]].
* '''Wander''' - Randomly move around a specified distance from a specified central point.  See [[llWanderWithin]].
 
 
[[Category:Pathfinding]]

Latest revision as of 15:35, 2 March 2012