Pathfinding in Roblox

Roblox Pathfinding: Moving Characters Along Logical Paths

• Pathfinding is the process of moving a character along a logical path to reach a destination, avoiding obstacles and hazardous materials or defined regions.
• Studio can render a navigation mesh to assist with pathfinding layout and debugging.
• Pathfinding is initiated through PathfindingService and its CreatePath() function, which accepts an optional table of parameters to fine-tune how the character moves along the path.
• The agent can climb TrussParts during pathfinding assuming AgentCanClimb = true when creating the path and nothing blocks the agent from the truss climbing path.
• After creating a valid path with CreatePath(), it must be computed by calling Path:ComputeAsync() with a Vector3 for both the starting point and destination.
• Once the Path is computed, it will contain a series of waypoints that trace the path from start to end, which can be gathered with the Path:GetWaypoints() function.
• Each waypoint consists of both a Position (Vector3) and Action (Enum.PathWaypointAction)|PathWaypointAction.
• To move a character containing a Humanoid, like a typical Roblox character, the easiest way is to call Humanoid:MoveTo() from waypoint to waypoint, using the MoveToFinished event to detect when the character reaches each waypoint.
• To handle blocked paths, you can connect the Path.Blocked event and re-compute the path around whatever blocked it.
• Pathfinding modifiers can be implemented to compute smarter paths across various materials, around defined regions, or through obstacles.
• You can include a Costs table within CreatePath() to make certain materials more traversable than others when working with Terrain and BasePart materials.
• PathfindingLink objects can be used to find a path across a space that cannot be normally traversed, such as across a chasm, and perform a custom action to reach the next waypoint.