Craig J. Ferril (cccraig++at++grover.atc.missouri.edu)
Fri, 3 Apr 1998 13:37:23 -0600 (CST)
I haven't tried to do what you're doing, but in thinking about it I might have
come up with some suggestions.
Perhaps if you try using a terrain following algorithm to keep you above the
terrain, and separate that from anything else that's going on, you could use
an A* algorithm. A* algorithms are pretty good for finding shortest paths from
point A to point B. All you would have to do then is think in 2-D, without
worrying about your height, since height above terrain would be taken care of
separately.
This was just a thought. Hope this suggestion might lead to something useful
for you.
Cheers,
Craig
On Mon, 23 Mar 1998, Jeremy Townsend wrote:
> Hi, we are developing a 3D "game" of sorts using Performer that relies
> heavily on pathfinding (i.e. finding the shortest route between point A and
> point B on the surface of our terrain geometry). In 2D this is an easy
> problem, but the 3D terrain in question is extremely varied and intricate.
>
> One approach we tried was to create a list of spheres over the entire
> terrain and link them in a logical order (i.e. to get to specific
> coordinate in sphere Z from coordinates in sphere X, proceed through
> spheres X->Y->Z then move to specified coordinates in Z.) While efficient,
> the set up is a hassle (100s of spheres, drawn and linked by hand), and it
> tends to crash when we use more than 20 spheres.
>
> Another approach was to break down everything into a standard 2D array, but
> the arrays would be so large as to be completely unmanageable.
>
> Anyway, my question is: Has anyone tried to do accurate 3D pathfinding?
> Could you send some ideas our way please?
>
> Thank you!
>
> Jeremy Townsend
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Craig Ferril | cccraig++at++atc.missouri.edu
Advanced Technology Center | http://www.atc.missouri.edu
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"The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the
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Peter DeVries
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