Pathfinding Beginner

[Kenn Nilsson]

So I've taken a rather long break from scripting in SL and have come back with an interest in creating some pathfinding scripts.  My first attempt, I thought, was rather simple.

1 - I created a prim 4m wide, 4m tall, 8m long

2 - I decided to make it navigate from point A to point B using the following script:

integer ipos = 0;
vector vpos;

list stations = ["<28.0, 228.0, 53.0>", "<28.0, 28.0, 53.0>", "<228.0, 28.0, 53.0>", "<228.0, 228.0, 53.0>"];

default
{
    state_entry()
    {
        llCreateCharacter([CHARACTER_DESIRED_SPEED, 30.0,
                           CHARACTER_MAX_SPEED, 40.0,
                           CHARACTER_RADIUS, 5.0]);
    }

    touch_start(integer total_number)
    {
        if(ipos > 3) ipos = 0;
        vpos = (vector)llList2String(stations, ipos);
        llOwnerSay((string)vpos);
        llNavigateTo(vpos, [FORCE_DIRECT_PATH, FALSE]);
        ipos += 1;
    }
}

 3 - I touched the object.  Nothing happened.

As far as I understand, the above script SHOULD have worked ... the z position of 53.0m is 0.5 meters above ground level.

[Qie Niangao]

It's very difficult to recreate the test conditions in order to know what's going wrong, but a couple of suggestions.

First, it's a good idea to slip in llDeleteCharacter() before llCreateCharacter() so you know you're starting with a clean slate.

Second, what follows is a bit of code that helps identify why pathfinding isn't doing what you expect. (I stole it from a jira entry from way back, but I'd guess it gets used a lot.)

list PFE_REPORTS = [    PU_SLOWDOWN_DISTANCE_REACHED,            "Near the Goal (SLOWDOWN_DISTANCE_REACHED)",    PU_GOAL_REACHED,                         "Goal Reached (GOAL_REACHED)",    PU_FAILURE_INVALID_START,                "Fail: Can't Start (INVALID_START)",    PU_FAILURE_INVALID_GOAL,                 "Fail: Wrong Goal (INVALID_GOAL)",    PU_FAILURE_UNREACHABLE,                  "Fail: Lost Goal (UNREACHABLE)",    PU_FAILURE_TARGET_GONE,                  "Fail: Goal is Gone (TARGET_GONE)",    PU_FAILURE_NO_VALID_DESTINATION,         "Fail: Path is Gone (NO_VALID_DESTINATION)",    PU_EVADE_HIDDEN,                         "Evade: Now Hiding (HIDDEN)",    PU_EVADE_SPOTTED,                        "Evade: Now Running (SPOTTED)",    PU_FAILURE_NO_NAVMESH,                   "Fail: Missing Navmesh (NO_NAVMESH)",    PU_FAILURE_DYNAMIC_PATHFINDING_DISABLED, "Fail: Can't Navigate Here (DYNAMIC_PATHFINDING_DISABLED)",    PU_FAILURE_PARCEL_UNREACHABLE,           "Fail: Can't Navigate to Goal (PARCEL_UNREACHABLE)"    ];    reportPFEvent(integer value) {    value = llListFindList(PFE_REPORTS, [value]);    if (value < 0) {        llSay(0, "Unknown Event ("+(string)value+")");    }    else {        llSay(0, llList2String(PFE_REPORTS, value+1));    }}

 and then an event handler in the script body:

    path_update(integer update, list reserved)    {        reportPFEvent(update);    }

 My hunch is that it will fuss with "Fail: Lost Goal (UNREACHABLE)" because there's something amiss with the geometry of the character and the navigable mesh in the environment, but that's just a guess.

[ETA: I meant to mention... although I expect you have much more elaborate plans for your pathfinding character, it occurs to me that if you've been away from LSL for a while, you might be interested in llSetKeyframedMotion(); if the objective is to move stuff around a predefined course, it will save tons of sim time (and some land impact) compared to a pathfinding equivalent.]

[Kenn Nilsson]

Thank you Qie, your help is greatly appreciated ... both the profiling script and the llSetKeyframedMotion() suggestion.  You're right, I do have a more complex idea for the pathfinding, but I do also have needs for a pre-defined course and would like to get away from the llSetTarget() + llMoveTo()/llApplyImpulse() setup.

 

It turns out that the error given is "INVALID START" ... so now I just have to figure out what that exactly means.