Driftmoon path editor

07.11.2009

Here's something for anyone interested in making maps for Driftmoon. It's the editor interface for AI paths. Some of you may remember that Driftmoon's predecessor Notrium didn't have any path finding abilities, and as such the AI was really idiotic in closed areas. In Driftmoon the map maker can define paths that the AI can take if it wants to get from one room to another. The reason we need to have a good pathfinding system is not just enemies, but also your companions. They need to be able to follow you intelligently, and not get stuck somewhere.

My original pathfinding system was based on a very thick grid, and the game would check which points were accessible from which. Unfortunately that wasn't good for open areas, as there could be up to hundreds of points within a very short path, and it wasn't good for dungeons, as the automatic points tended to be too sparse for thin corridors - the game thought they were solid rock. So now we have to place the points manually, and the paths between the points are made automatically. It only takes a few minutes time, and the AI behaves much better, so I think it's worth the time spent.