Pathfinding in Unity

Let's review the basics of pathfinding.   Graphs are a set of interconnected nodes, which are joined by edges.  We will apply this data structure to a physical map, allowing us to solve for a path through a maze.

Each graph is made of nodes.  Let's define a class for our most basic object, the Node.

In this lesson, we define a MapData class, designed to read the level data into the Graph.

We will create a Graph class to manage the various nodes which will comprise our level.

Our nodes will be connected by proximity.  In this lesson, we define a set of compass directions and establish how nodes and their neighbors are connected.

Let's use the MVC (Model View Controller) design pattern to create some new components.  We will make an interface class called the NodeView specifically designed for displaying a Node onscreen.

Let's create another user interface class, the GraphView, for managing all of our NodeViews.

In this lesson, we review creating level data as a Text Asset, allowing us to store our map as a simple set of ASCII characters on disk.

In this lesson, we create the MakeMap method in the MapData class, allowing us to read the 1's and 0's from our ASCII Text Asset.  Now we have a much easier means of generating our level maps!

We can use the Resources command to help organize our project folders.  Setting up the default Resources folder allows us to look for map data without needing to browse for files explicitly in the Inspector! 

If using a text editor to create your level map is too cumbersome, let's use our favorite image editor to create a level!  Using a one-pixel brush we can save our maze in a super small image file.  This is a super interactive way to create new levels!

We have a minor bug in our MapData class.  Let's examine how Script Execution Order can affect the behavior of our components and apply a simple fix.

In this lesson, we tweak our Pathfinder search routine to implement A* search!

A small correction to the graph search.  Oops!

In this case study, we show you a simple example of how you might use pathfinding in your Unity application. 

Here we show a clone of Monument Valley.  The click-to-move controller relies on a pathfinder to decide how the player can reach a certain part of the level.

Check out the link in the Resources to the published article.

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