Navmesh

[WastelandLoner]

When it comes to navmesh, i was curious about the size/number of triangles. For example, in a big square empty room, the whole floor space could be covered by 2 big triangles, or lots of smaller ones, does this make a difference? is there a so called 'good practice' when it comes to navmeshing?

Thanks

[prensa]

WastelandLoner - Hello!

 

Generally the less triangles the better.

 

More triangles = more complex navmesh = more resources used when NPC's AI caculates where to walk.

 

Obviously you have to use more triangles if there's furniture/immovable objects on the floor space you're navmeshing.

 

You don't often get the chance to have two triangles for a large room due to it containing furniture that must be navmeshed around.

 

You often also notice more triangles being created when you use "Create Cover Edges" as part of the normal final stages of a navmesh.

 

That's because that stores info for NPC's to use parts of the room for cover & expands the navmesh to take this into account.

 

The "Balance for Optimization" button on the navmesh bar (B) will automatically calculate the simplest coverage for a navmesh that you've created.

 

This can be a handy way to cut down on triangles but also tends to get rid of finer details. Best used early on in your navmesh to tidy up before you add complex ins & outs.

 

It is also good to use it just to get an idea of how efficient you are with navmeshing, the more experienced you get the less you'll need to use it,

 

Hope this helps!

 

Prensa