A* Pathfinding Project  4.2.6
The A* Pathfinding Project for Unity 3D
AILerp Class Reference

Linearly interpolating movement script. More...

Detailed Description

Linearly interpolating movement script.

This movement script will follow the path exactly, it uses linear interpolation to move between the waypoints in the path. This is desirable for some types of games. It also works in 2D.

See also
You can see an example of this script in action in the example scene called Example15_2D.

Configuration

Recommended setup for movement along connections

This depends on what type of movement you are aiming for. If you are aiming for movement where the unit follows the path exactly and move only along the graph connections on a grid/point graph. I recommend that you adjust the StartEndModifier on the Seeker component: set the 'Start Point Snapping' field to 'NodeConnection' and the 'End Point Snapping' field to 'SnapToNode'.

Recommended setup for smooth movement

If you on the other hand want smoother movement I recommend setting 'Start Point Snapping' and 'End Point Snapping' to 'ClosestOnNode' and to add the Simple Smooth Modifier to the GameObject as well. Alternatively you can use the Funnel Modifier which works better on navmesh/recast graphs or the RaycastModifier.

You should not combine the Simple Smooth Modifier or the Funnel Modifier with the NodeConnection snapping mode. This may lead to very odd behavior.

You may also want to tweak the rotationSpeed.

Public Member Functions

void FinalizeMovement (Vector3 nextPosition, Quaternion nextRotation)
 Move the agent. More...
 
virtual void ForceSearchPath ()
 Requests a path to the target. More...
 
virtual Vector3 GetFeetPosition ()
 
void MovementUpdate (float deltaTime, out Vector3 nextPosition, out Quaternion nextRotation)
 Calculate how the character wants to move during this frame. More...
 
void OnDisable ()
 
virtual void OnTargetReached ()
 The end of the path has been reached. More...
 
virtual void SearchPath ()
 Requests a path to the target. More...
 
void SetPath (Path path)
 Make the AI follow the specified path. More...
 
void Teleport (Vector3 position, bool clearPath=true)
 Instantly move the agent to a new position. More...
 

Public Attributes

bool canMove = true
 Enables or disables movement completely. More...
 
bool canSearch = true
 Enables or disables recalculating the path at regular intervals. More...
 
bool enableRotation = true
 If true, the AI will rotate to face the movement direction. More...
 
bool interpolatePathSwitches = true
 If true, some interpolation will be done when a new path has been calculated. More...
 
OrientationMode orientation = OrientationMode.ZAxisForward
 Determines which direction the agent moves in. More...
 
float repathRate = 0.5F
 Determines how often it will search for new paths. More...
 
float rotationSpeed = 10
 How quickly to rotate. More...
 
float speed = 3
 Speed in world units. More...
 
float switchPathInterpolationSpeed = 5
 How quickly to interpolate to the new path. More...
 
bool updatePosition = true
 Determines if the character's position should be coupled to the Transform's position. More...
 
bool updateRotation = true
 Determines if the character's rotation should be coupled to the Transform's rotation. More...
 

Protected Member Functions

 AILerp ()
 
override void Awake ()
 Initializes reference variables. More...
 
virtual Vector3 CalculateNextPosition (out Vector3 direction, float deltaTime)
 Calculate the AI's next position (one frame in the future). More...
 
virtual void ConfigureNewPath ()
 Finds the closest point on the current path and configures the interpolator. More...
 
virtual void ConfigurePathSwitchInterpolation ()
 
virtual void OnEnable ()
 Called when the component is enabled. More...
 
virtual void OnPathComplete (Path _p)
 Called when a requested path has finished calculation. More...
 
override int OnUpgradeSerializedData (int version, bool unityThread)
 Handle serialization backwards compatibility. More...
 
virtual void Start ()
 Starts searching for paths. More...
 
virtual void Update ()
 
- Protected Member Functions inherited from VersionedMonoBehaviour
virtual void Reset ()
 Handle serialization backwards compatibility. More...
 

Protected Attributes

bool canSearchAgain = true
 Only when the previous path has been returned should a search for a new path be done. More...
 
PathInterpolator interpolator = new PathInterpolator()
 
float lastRepath = -9999
 Time when the last path request was sent. More...
 
ABPath path
 Current path which is followed. More...
 
float pathSwitchInterpolationTime = 0
 Time since the path was replaced by a new path. More...
 
Vector3 previousMovementDirection
 
Vector3 previousMovementOrigin
 When a new path was returned, the AI was moving along this ray. More...
 
Seeker seeker
 Cached Seeker component. More...
 
Transform tr
 Cached Transform component. More...
 

Properties

bool IAstarAI. canMove [get, set]
 Enables or disables movement completely. More...
 
bool IAstarAI. canSearch [get, set]
 Enables or disables recalculating the path at regular intervals. More...
 
Vector3 IAstarAI. desiredVelocity [get]
 
Vector3 destination [get, set]
 
bool hasPath [get]
 True if this agent currently has a path that it follows. More...
 
float IAstarAI. height [get, set]
 Radius of the agent in world units. More...
 
bool isStopped [get, set]
 Gets or sets if the agent should stop moving. More...
 
float IAstarAI. maxSpeed [get, set]
 Max speed in world units per second. More...
 
System.Action onSearchPath [get, set]
 Called when the agent recalculates its path. More...
 
bool pathPending [get]
 True if a path is currently being calculated. More...
 
Vector3 position [get]
 Position of the agent. More...
 
float IAstarAI. radius [get, set]
 Height of the agent in world units. More...
 
bool reachedDestination [get]
 True if the ai has reached the destination. More...
 
bool reachedEndOfPath [get, private set]
 True if the end of the current path has been reached. More...
 
float remainingDistance [get, set]
 Remaining distance along the current path to the end of the path. More...
 
Quaternion rotation [get]
 Rotation of the agent. More...
 
bool rotationIn2D [get, set]
 If true, the forward axis of the character will be along the Y axis instead of the Z axis. More...
 
virtual bool shouldRecalculatePath [get]
 True if the path should be automatically recalculated as soon as possible. More...
 
Vector3 IAstarAI. steeringTarget [get]
 Point on the path which the agent is currently moving towards. More...
 
Transform target [get, set]
 Target to move towards. More...
 
Vector3 IAstarAI. velocity [get]
 
- Properties inherited from IAstarAI
bool canMove [get, set]
 Enables or disables movement completely. More...
 
bool canSearch [get, set]
 Enables or disables recalculating the path at regular intervals. More...
 
Vector3 desiredVelocity [get]
 Velocity that this agent wants to move with. More...
 
Vector3 destination [get, set]
 Position in the world that this agent should move to. More...
 
bool hasPath [get]
 True if this agent currently has a path that it follows. More...
 
float height [get, set]
 Radius of the agent in world units. More...
 
bool isStopped [get, set]
 Gets or sets if the agent should stop moving. More...
 
float maxSpeed [get, set]
 Max speed in world units per second. More...
 
System.Action onSearchPath [get, set]
 Called when the agent recalculates its path. More...
 
bool pathPending [get]
 True if a path is currently being calculated. More...
 
Vector3 position [get]
 Position of the agent. More...
 
float radius [get, set]
 Height of the agent in world units. More...
 
bool reachedDestination [get]
 True if the ai has reached the destination. More...
 
bool reachedEndOfPath [get]
 True if the agent has reached the end of the current path. More...
 
float remainingDistance [get]
 Remaining distance along the current path to the end of the path. More...
 
Quaternion rotation [get]
 Rotation of the agent. More...
 
Vector3 steeringTarget [get]
 Point on the path which the agent is currently moving towards. More...
 
Vector3 velocity [get]
 Actual velocity that the agent is moving with. More...
 

Private Member Functions

void Init ()
 
void IAstarAI. Move (Vector3 deltaPosition)
 Move the agent. More...
 
Quaternion SimulateRotationTowards (Vector3 direction, float deltaTime)
 

Private Attributes

Vector3 previousPosition1
 
Vector3 previousPosition2
 
Vector3 simulatedPosition
 
Quaternion simulatedRotation
 
bool startHasRun = false
 Holds if the Start function has been run. More...
 
Transform targetCompatibility
 Required for serialization backward compatibility. More...
 

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

◆ AILerp()

AILerp ( )
protected

Member Function Documentation

◆ Awake()

override void Awake ( )
protectedvirtual

Initializes reference variables.

If you override this function you should in most cases call base.Awake () at the start of it.

Reimplemented from VersionedMonoBehaviour.

◆ CalculateNextPosition()

virtual Vector3 CalculateNextPosition ( out Vector3  direction,
float  deltaTime 
)
protectedvirtual

Calculate the AI's next position (one frame in the future).

Parameters
directionThe tangent of the segment the AI is currently traversing. Not normalized.

◆ ConfigureNewPath()

virtual void ConfigureNewPath ( )
protectedvirtual

Finds the closest point on the current path and configures the interpolator.

◆ ConfigurePathSwitchInterpolation()

virtual void ConfigurePathSwitchInterpolation ( )
protectedvirtual

◆ FinalizeMovement()

void FinalizeMovement ( Vector3  nextPosition,
Quaternion  nextRotation 
)

Move the agent.

To be called as the last step when you are handling movement manually.

The movement will be clamped to the navmesh if applicable (this is done for the RichAI movement script).

See also
MovementUpdate for a code example.

Implements IAstarAI.

◆ ForceSearchPath()

virtual void ForceSearchPath ( )
virtual

Requests a path to the target.

Deprecated:
Use SearchPath instead.

◆ GetFeetPosition()

virtual Vector3 GetFeetPosition ( )
virtual

◆ Init()

void Init ( )
private

◆ Move()

void IAstarAI. Move ( Vector3  deltaPosition)
private

Move the agent.

Parameters
deltaPositionDirection and distance to move the agent in world space.

This is intended for external movement forces such as those applied by wind, conveyor belts, knockbacks etc.

Some movement scripts may ignore this completely (notably the AILerp script) if it does not have any concept of being moved externally.

The agent will not be moved immediately when calling this method. Instead this offset will be stored and then applied the next time the agent runs its movement calculations (which is usually later this frame or the next frame). If you want to move the agent immediately then call:

ai.Move(someVector);
ai.FinalizeMovement(ai.position, ai.rotation);

Implements IAstarAI.

◆ MovementUpdate()

void MovementUpdate ( float  deltaTime,
out Vector3  nextPosition,
out Quaternion  nextRotation 
)

Calculate how the character wants to move during this frame.

Parameters
deltaTimetime to simulate movement for. Usually set to Time.deltaTime.
nextPositionthe position that the agent wants to move to during this frame.
nextRotationthe rotation that the agent wants to rotate to during this frame.

Note that this does not actually move the character. You need to call FinalizeMovement for that. This is called automatically unless canMove is false.

To handle movement yourself you can disable canMove and call this method manually. This code will replicate the normal behavior of the component:

void Update () {
// Disable the AIs own movement code
ai.canMove = false;
Vector3 nextPosition;
Quaternion nextRotation;
// Calculate how the AI wants to move
ai.MovementUpdate(Time.deltaTime, out nextPosition, out nextRotation);
// Modify nextPosition and nextRotation in any way you wish
// Actually move the AI
ai.FinalizeMovement(nextPosition, nextRotation);
}

Implements IAstarAI.

◆ OnDisable()

void OnDisable ( )

◆ OnEnable()

virtual void OnEnable ( )
protectedvirtual

Called when the component is enabled.

◆ OnPathComplete()

virtual void OnPathComplete ( Path  _p)
protectedvirtual

Called when a requested path has finished calculation.

A path is first requested by SearchPath, it is then calculated, probably in the same or the next frame. Finally it is returned to the seeker which forwards it to this function.

◆ OnTargetReached()

virtual void OnTargetReached ( )
virtual

The end of the path has been reached.

If you want custom logic for when the AI has reached it's destination add it here. You can also create a new script which inherits from this one and override the function in that script.

◆ OnUpgradeSerializedData()

override int OnUpgradeSerializedData ( int  version,
bool  unityThread 
)
protectedvirtual

Handle serialization backwards compatibility.

Reimplemented from VersionedMonoBehaviour.

◆ SearchPath()

virtual void SearchPath ( )
virtual

Requests a path to the target.

Implements IAstarAI.

◆ SetPath()

void SetPath ( Path  path)

Make the AI follow the specified path.

In case the path has not been calculated, the script will call seeker.StartPath to calculate it. This means the AI may not actually start to follow the path until in a few frames when the path has been calculated. The pathPending field will as usual return true while the path is being calculated.

In case the path has already been calculated it will immediately replace the current path the AI is following. This is useful if you want to replace how the AI calculates its paths. Note that if you calculate the path using seeker.StartPath then this script will already pick it up because it is listening for all paths that the Seeker finishes calculating. In that case you do not need to call this function.

You can disable the automatic path recalculation by setting the canSearch field to false.

// Disable the automatic path recalculation
ai.canSearch = false;
var pointToAvoid = enemy.position;
// Make the AI flee from the enemy.
// The path will be about 20 world units long (the default cost of moving 1 world unit is 1000).
var path = FleePath.Construct(ai.position, pointToAvoid, 1000 * 20);
ai.SetPath(path);

Implements IAstarAI.

◆ SimulateRotationTowards()

Quaternion SimulateRotationTowards ( Vector3  direction,
float  deltaTime 
)
private

◆ Start()

virtual void Start ( )
protectedvirtual

Starts searching for paths.

If you override this function you should in most cases call base.Start () at the start of it.

See also
Init
#RepeatTrySearchPath

◆ Teleport()

void Teleport ( Vector3  newPosition,
bool  clearPath = true 
)

Instantly move the agent to a new position.

This will trigger a path recalculation (if clearPath is true, which is the default) so if you want to teleport the agent and change its destination it is recommended that you set the destination before calling this method.

The current path will be cleared by default.

See also
Works similarly to Unity's NavmeshAgent.Warp.
SearchPath

Implements IAstarAI.

◆ Update()

virtual void Update ( )
protectedvirtual

Member Data Documentation

◆ canMove

bool canMove = true

Enables or disables movement completely.

If you want the agent to stand still, but still react to local avoidance and use gravity: use isStopped instead.

This is also useful if you want to have full control over when the movement calculations run. Take a look at MovementUpdate

See also
canSearch
isStopped

◆ canSearch

bool canSearch = true

Enables or disables recalculating the path at regular intervals.

Setting this to false does not stop any active path requests from being calculated or stop it from continuing to follow the current path.

Note that this only disables automatic path recalculations. If you call the SearchPath() method a path will still be calculated.

See also
canMove
isStopped

◆ canSearchAgain

bool canSearchAgain = true
protected

Only when the previous path has been returned should a search for a new path be done.

◆ enableRotation

bool enableRotation = true

If true, the AI will rotate to face the movement direction.

See also
orientation

◆ interpolatePathSwitches

bool interpolatePathSwitches = true

If true, some interpolation will be done when a new path has been calculated.

This is used to avoid short distance teleportation.

◆ interpolator

PathInterpolator interpolator = new PathInterpolator()
protected

◆ lastRepath

float lastRepath = -9999
protected

Time when the last path request was sent.

◆ orientation

Determines which direction the agent moves in.

For 3D games you most likely want the ZAxisIsForward option as that is the convention for 3D games. For 2D games you most likely want the YAxisIsForward option as that is the convention for 2D games.

Using the YAxisForward option will also allow the agent to assume that the movement will happen in the 2D (XY) plane instead of the XZ plane if it does not know. This is important only for the point graph which does not have a well defined up direction. The other built-in graphs (e.g the grid graph) will all tell the agent which movement plane it is supposed to use.

◆ path

ABPath path
protected

Current path which is followed.

◆ pathSwitchInterpolationTime

float pathSwitchInterpolationTime = 0
protected

Time since the path was replaced by a new path.

See also
interpolatePathSwitches

◆ previousMovementDirection

Vector3 previousMovementDirection
protected

◆ previousMovementOrigin

Vector3 previousMovementOrigin
protected

When a new path was returned, the AI was moving along this ray.

Used to smoothly interpolate between the previous movement and the movement along the new path. The speed is equal to movement direction.

◆ previousPosition1

Vector3 previousPosition1
private

◆ previousPosition2

Vector3 previousPosition2
private

◆ repathRate

float repathRate = 0.5F

Determines how often it will search for new paths.

If you have fast moving targets or AIs, you might want to set it to a lower value. The value is in seconds between path requests.

◆ rotationSpeed

float rotationSpeed = 10

How quickly to rotate.

◆ seeker

Seeker seeker
protected

Cached Seeker component.

◆ simulatedPosition

Vector3 simulatedPosition
private

◆ simulatedRotation

Quaternion simulatedRotation
private

◆ speed

float speed = 3

Speed in world units.

◆ startHasRun

bool startHasRun = false
private

Holds if the Start function has been run.

Used to test if coroutines should be started in OnEnable to prevent calculating paths in the awake stage (or rather before start on frame 0).

◆ switchPathInterpolationSpeed

float switchPathInterpolationSpeed = 5

How quickly to interpolate to the new path.

◆ targetCompatibility

Transform targetCompatibility
private

Required for serialization backward compatibility.

◆ tr

Transform tr
protected

Cached Transform component.

◆ updatePosition

bool updatePosition = true

Determines if the character's position should be coupled to the Transform's position.

If false then all movement calculations will happen as usual, but the object that this component is attached to will not move instead only the position property will change.

See also
canMove which in contrast to this field will disable all movement calculations.
updateRotation

◆ updateRotation

bool updateRotation = true

Determines if the character's rotation should be coupled to the Transform's rotation.

If false then all movement calculations will happen as usual, but the object that this component is attached to will not rotate instead only the rotation property will change.

See also
updatePosition

Property Documentation

◆ canMove

bool IAstarAI. canMove
getsetprivate

Enables or disables movement completely.

If you want the agent to stand still, but still react to local avoidance and use gravity: use isStopped instead.

This is also useful if you want to have full control over when the movement calculations run. Take a look at MovementUpdate

See also
canSearch
isStopped

◆ canSearch

bool IAstarAI. canSearch
getsetprivate

Enables or disables recalculating the path at regular intervals.

Setting this to false does not stop any active path requests from being calculated or stop it from continuing to follow the current path.

Note that this only disables automatic path recalculations. If you call the SearchPath() method a path will still be calculated.

See also
canMove
isStopped

◆ desiredVelocity

Vector3 IAstarAI. desiredVelocity
getprivate

◆ destination

Vector3 destination
getset

◆ hasPath

bool hasPath
get

True if this agent currently has a path that it follows.

◆ height

float IAstarAI. height
getsetprivate

Radius of the agent in world units.

This is visualized in the scene view as a yellow cylinder around the character.

Note
The Pathfinding.AILerp script doesn't really have any use of knowing the radius or the height of the character, so this property will always return 0 in that script.

◆ isStopped

bool isStopped
getset

Gets or sets if the agent should stop moving.

If this is set to true the agent will immediately start to slow down as quickly as it can to come to a full stop. The agent will still react to local avoidance and gravity (if applicable), but it will not try to move in any particular direction.

The current path of the agent will not be cleared, so when this is set to false again the agent will continue moving along the previous path.

This is a purely user-controlled parameter, so for example it is not set automatically when the agent stops moving because it has reached the target. Use reachedEndOfPath for that.

If this property is set to true while the agent is traversing an off-mesh link (RichAI script only), then the agent will continue traversing the link and stop once it has completed it.

Note
This is not the same as the canMove setting which some movement scripts have. The canMove setting disables movement calculations completely (which among other things makes it not be affected by local avoidance or gravity). For the AILerp movement script which doesn't use gravity or local avoidance anyway changing this property is very similar to changing canMove.

The steeringTarget property will continue to indicate the point which the agent would move towards if it would not be stopped.

◆ maxSpeed

float IAstarAI. maxSpeed
getsetprivate

Max speed in world units per second.

◆ onSearchPath

System.Action onSearchPath
getset

Called when the agent recalculates its path.

This is called both for automatic path recalculations (see canSearch) and manual ones (see SearchPath).

See also
Take a look at the Pathfinding.AIDestinationSetter source code for an example of how it can be used.

◆ pathPending

bool pathPending
get

True if a path is currently being calculated.

◆ position

Vector3 position
get

Position of the agent.

In world space.

See also
rotation

◆ radius

float IAstarAI. radius
getsetprivate

Height of the agent in world units.

This is visualized in the scene view as a yellow cylinder around the character.

This value is currently only used if an RVOController is attached to the same GameObject, otherwise it is only used for drawing nice gizmos in the scene view. However since the height value is used for some things, the radius field is always visible for consistency and easier visualization of the character. That said, it may be used for something in a future release.

Note
The Pathfinding.AILerp script doesn't really have any use of knowing the radius or the height of the character, so this property will always return 0 in that script.

◆ reachedDestination

bool reachedDestination
get

True if the ai has reached the destination.

This is a best effort calculation to see if the destination has been reached. For the AIPath/RichAI scripts, this is when the character is within endReachedDistance world units from the destination. For the AILerp script it is when the character is at the destination (±a very small margin).

This value will be updated immediately when the destination is changed (in contrast to reachedEndOfPath), however since path requests are asynchronous it will use an approximation until it sees the real path result. What this property does is to check the distance to the end of the current path, and add to that the distance from the end of the path to the destination (i.e. is assumes it is possible to move in a straight line between the end of the current path to the destination) and then checks if that total distance is less than #endReachedDistance. This property is therefore only a best effort, but it will work well for almost all use cases.

Furthermore it will not report that the destination is reached if the destination is above the head of the character or more than half the height of the character below its feet (so if you have a multilevel building, it is important that you configure the height of the character correctly).

The cases which could be problematic are if an agent is standing next to a very thin wall and the destination suddenly changes to the other side of that thin wall. During the time that it takes for the path to be calculated the agent may see itself as alredy having reached the destination because the destination only moved a very small distance (the wall was thin), even though it may actually be quite a long way around the wall to the other side.

In contrast to reachedEndOfPath, this property is immediately updated when the destination is changed.

See also
#AIPath.endReachedDistance
remainingDistance
reachedEndOfPath

◆ reachedEndOfPath

bool reachedEndOfPath
getprivate set

True if the end of the current path has been reached.

◆ remainingDistance

float remainingDistance
getset

Remaining distance along the current path to the end of the path.

For the RichAI movement script this may not always be precisely known, especially when far away from the destination. In those cases an approximate distance will be returned.

If the agent does not currently have a path, then positive infinity will be returned.

Note
This is the distance to the end of the path, which may or may not be at the destination. If the character cannot reach the destination it will try to move as close as possible to it.
Warning
Since path requests are asynchronous, there is a small delay between a path request being sent and this value being updated with the new calculated path.
See also
reachedDestination
reachedEndOfPath

◆ rotation

Quaternion rotation
get

Rotation of the agent.

In world space.

See also
position

◆ rotationIn2D

bool rotationIn2D
getset

If true, the forward axis of the character will be along the Y axis instead of the Z axis.

Deprecated:
Use orientation instead

◆ shouldRecalculatePath

virtual bool shouldRecalculatePath
getprotected

True if the path should be automatically recalculated as soon as possible.

◆ steeringTarget

Vector3 IAstarAI. steeringTarget
getprivate

Point on the path which the agent is currently moving towards.

This is usually a point a small distance ahead of the agent or the end of the path.

If the agent does not have a path at the moment, then the agent's current position will be returned.

◆ target

Transform target
getset

Target to move towards.

The AI will try to follow/move towards this target. It can be a point on the ground where the player has clicked in an RTS for example, or it can be the player object in a zombie game.

Deprecated:
In 4.0 this will automatically add a AIDestinationSetter component and set the target on that component. Try instead to use the destination property which does not require a transform to be created as the target or use the AIDestinationSetter component directly.

◆ velocity

Vector3 IAstarAI. velocity
getprivate

The documentation for this class was generated from the following file: