Navigation Mesh

LightshipNavMesh is a Lightship feature which dynamically updates the navigation mesh as the player moves through the real world. This allows AR creatures to move through space more naturally, letting them walk around obstructions (such as tables or chairs) or jump on top of them.

Prerequisites

To use LightshipNavMesh, enable Meshing first.

What's new?

In ARDK 3.0, LightshipNavMesh grants access to the underlying tile structure of the navigation mesh, giving developers more flexibility when customizing creature navigation. It also allows developers to create custom renders for both the board's surface and the agents' paths.

Lightship's sample agent now also stands on the mesh height (when available), making creatures' feet align better with the ground. ARDK 3.0 also includes a sample shader that will make the navigation mesh invisible but receive shadows for increased realism when a character moves.

Configuring LightshipNavMesh

LightshipNavMesh comes with a variety of settings and scripts that allow developers to finely tune the navigation mesh.

LightshipNavMeshManager

LightshipNavMeshManager lets developers tweak variables to change how LightshipNavMesh detects walkable space. It also contains settings for changing the balance of performance vs quality as well as the interval and range of meshing scans.

Useful Scripts

LightshipNavMesh also comes with three default scripts that allow for a variety of tests and basic implementations: LightshipNavMeshRenderer, LightshipNavMeshAgent, and LightshipNavMeshAgentPathRenderer.

LightshipNavMeshRenderer lets developers render the navigation mesh in the editor to create custom visualizations.

LightshipNavMeshAgent is a default agent implementation that interpolates an agent from its current location to a set destination. It serves as a starting point for implementing complex creature movement.

LightshipNavMeshAgentPathRenderer provides a sample path renderer to show where an agent will go.