Articles
Autodesk Middleware Finds the Path with Gameware Navigation
Autodesk Gameware Navigation opens middleware source code to developers, adding 
more natural pathfinding and obstacle avoidance and automating NavMesh generation.
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Gameware Navigation is a further development of Autodesk Kynapse AI middleware, which game developers use to create believable character behaviour for video games. The software has been re-engineered with access to all source code, a more accessible API and remote visual debugging tools. So far, Autodesk’s artificial intelligence middleware has contributed to numerous games as a means to give more compelling behaviour to non-player characters and help improve game play, with a potential to reduce development costs and time to market. |
| A real-time dynamic and user-modifiable NavMesh helps to create AI with reralistic behaviour within complex game events. |
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Gameware Navigation has automatic NavMesh generation functions, pathfinding and path following in complex game environments. It supports character and obstacle avoidance, dynamic NavMesh and swappable sectors, and has extensible, remote visual debugging tools with record/playback capability, which can speed up and improve the quality of AI iteration. Gameware Navigation automatically generates robust, compact NavMesh data, which means game developers can generate NavMeshes quickly for workflows at most levels from multi-sector iteration up to large scale MMOs. NavGraph allows the developer to automatically link multiple NavMeshes together within the game context using climbing and jumps, or objects such as ladders, multi-floor elevators and zip lines, which opens some creative options for level design and improves transitions between parts of a level. Gameware Navigation was also designed to make development more transparent. Developers have full source code access and the API exposes de-coupled functions for flexible implementations. |
| Multi-sector streaming at runtime using previously generated NavMesh data can give more predictable results and use fewer system resources. |
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The system adds support for multithreading and time-slicing. The runtime architecture was updated to increase performance and efficiency by using available power from multiple cores and limiting CPU usage, which may also reduce performance spikes. Multi-sector streaming is used to stitch sectors together at runtime, using data computed during NavMesh Generation. This produces more predictable results without extra CPU overhead, and supports swappable sectors. The user can modify the NavMesh in real-time. For example, game events and obstacles can punch holes in or tag the NavMesh and NavGraph dynamically. Both the NavMesh and NavGraph can be tagged with user-defined blind data, which in turn allows you to use very complex AI behaviours. |
| Gameware Navigation allows AI characters to adapt to highly complex level designs through NavMesh linking techniques. |
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The software’s remote visual debugging tools allow developers to monitor, record, capture and playback game AI behaviour. This system is extensible so that AI programmers can visualize their own AI data in the remote tool, resulting in shorter iterations when integrating, configuring and customizing Gameware Navigation. Gameware Navigation includes a path following module that supports reactive avoidance and moving obstacles with more natural results in complex situations, such as dense crowds or moving obstacles. This module is user-modifiable and can be adapted to the constraints of animation systems. gameware.autodesk.com |
