Pathfinding / Deciding on direction - objective-c

i'm making a simple iPhone game using cocos2d-iphone. I have an array of fiends, the "fiendSet" which has to navigate around a field full of obstacles. I spent the last three nights trying to get my A* pathfinding to work. I found the actual A* implementation here on stackoverflow and it works brilliantly. However, once i try to move my fiends around i run into trouble.
Each of my fiends has a CGPoint called motionTarget which contains the x and y values for where the fiend has to go. If only set the positions x and y to absolute values once a second, it works, like so:
-(void) updateFiendPositions:(ccTime)dt {
for (MSWFiend *currFiend in fiendSet) {
currFiend.position = ccp(currFiend.motionTarget.x,currFiend.motionTarget.y);
}
}
However, this doesn't look very nice, the fiends just "jump" 20px each second instead of animating nicely. I only implemented this as a placeholder method to verify the pathfinding. Now i want smooth animation. This is what i did:
-(void) updatePositions:(ccTime) dt {
for (MSWFiend *currFiend in fiendSet) {
if (currFiend.motionTarget.x != -1 && currFiend.motionTarget.y != -1) {
float x,y;
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.x) < (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.x)) {
x = currFiend.position.x+(currFiend.speed*dt);
}
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.x) > (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.x)) {
x = currFiend.position.x-(currFiend.speed*dt);
}
if (abs((int)floor(currFiend.position.x)-(int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.x)) < 2) {
x = currFiend.motionTarget.x;
}
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.y) < (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.y)) {
y = currFiend.position.y+(currFiend.speed*dt);
}
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.y) > (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.y)) {
y = currFiend.position.y-(currFiend.speed*dt);
}
if (abs((int)floor(currFiend.position.y)-(int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.y)) < 2) {
y = currFiend.motionTarget.y;
}
currFiend.position = ccp(x,y);
}
}
}
This works great for fiends moving in one direction. As soon as a fiend is supposed to go around a bend, trouble starts. Instead of for example first going up, then right, then down; my fiends will combine the up/right motion into one, they are "cutting corners". I only want my fiends to move either north/south OR east/west for each position update, not both. In other words, i don't want to animate changes to x and y simultaneously. I hope this explanation is clear enough..
I'm pretty sure i have a logic error somewhere.. i just havn't been able to figure it out for the last three sleepless nights after work.. Help!

You have to keep track of each node in the path to the target. That way you only animate the motion to the next node. Also you can use a CCMoveTo action instead on doing the animation yourself.

#Aleph thanks for your suggestion. I found that it was the code which determines when to assign a new motionTarget, that was faulty, not the code i posted to begin with. When you mentioned keeping track of each nodes position, i thought of my motionTarget determination code and found the error after 2-3 hours. I ended up doing it like this:
-(void) updatePositions:(ccTime) dt {
for (MSWFiend *currFiend in fiendSet) {
int fiendGX,fiendGY,targetGX,targetGY,dGX,dGY;
float x,y,snappedX,snappedY;
BOOL snappedIntoPosition = FALSE;
fiendGX = (int)round(100.0f*(currFiend.position.x/20));
fiendGY = (int)round(100.0f*(currFiend.position.y/20));
targetGX = (int)round(100.0f*(currFiend.motionTarget.x/20));
targetGY = (int)round(100.0f*(currFiend.motionTarget.y/20));
snappedX = currFiend.position.x;
snappedY = currFiend.position.y;
dGX = abs(fiendGX-targetGX);
dGY = abs(fiendGY-targetGY);
float snappingThreshold; //1 = snap when 0.1 from motionTarget.
snappingThreshold = currFiend.speed/10;
if (dGX < snappingThreshold && dGY < snappingThreshold) {
snappingThreshold = currFiend.motionTarget.x;
snappingThreshold = currFiend.motionTarget.y;
int newPathStep;
newPathStep = currFiend.pathStep + 1;
currFiend.pathStep = newPathStep;
}
int gX,gY;
gX = [[currFiend.path objectAtIndex:currFiend.pathStep] nodeX];
gY = (tileMap.mapSize.height-[[currFiend.path objectAtIndex:currFiend.pathStep] nodeY])-1;
currFiend.motionTarget = ccp(gX*20,gY*20); //Assign motion target to the next A* node. This is later used by the position updater.
if (currFiend.motionTarget.x != -1 && currFiend.motionTarget.y != -1) {
x = currFiend.motionTarget.x;
y = currFiend.motionTarget.y;
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.x) < (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.x)) {
//Move right
x = snappedX+(currFiend.speed*dt);
if (x > currFiend.motionTarget.x) {
x = currFiend.motionTarget.x;
}
y = snappedY;
}
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.x) > (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.x)) {
//Move left
x = snappedX-(currFiend.speed*dt);
if (x < currFiend.motionTarget.x) {
x = currFiend.motionTarget.x;
}
y = snappedY;
}
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.y) < (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.y)) {
//Move up
y = snappedY+(currFiend.speed*dt);
if (y > currFiend.motionTarget.y) {
y = currFiend.motionTarget.y;
}
x = snappedX;
}
if ((int)floor(currFiend.position.y) > (int)floor(currFiend.motionTarget.y)) {
//Move down
y = snappedY-(currFiend.speed*dt);
if (y < currFiend.motionTarget.y) {
y = currFiend.motionTarget.y;
}
x = snappedX;
}
}
currFiend.position = ccp(x,y);
}
}

Related

Best way to do object collision?

I'm trying to do wall collision for objects and I've followed a tutorial that offers one method of doing collision.
This is the tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZU1QJJdxgs
Currently, if the object detects a wall, instead of moving it's full distance, it moves pixel by pixel until it's against the wall. This worked well until I started trying to rotate the object with image_rotate, because it caused objects to get stuck in walls by either sliding against them or if they rotated into them.
I fixed this by using draw_sprite_ext instead and changing the rotation of the sprite itself and not the mask, which worked for about 20 minutes until it started causing more problems.
///obj_player Step
//Initialise Variables
hor_speed = 0;
ver_speed = 0;
accelerationspeed = 0.2;
decelerationspeed = 0.2;
maxspeed = 3;
pointdirection = 0;
//Get player's input
key_right = keyboard_check(ord("D"))
key_left = -keyboard_check(ord("A"))
key_up = -keyboard_check(ord("W"))
key_down = keyboard_check(ord("S"))
pointdirection = point_direction(x,y,mouse_x,mouse_y) + 270
hor_movement = key_left + key_right;
ver_movement = key_up + key_down;
//horizontal acceleration
if !(abs(hor_speed) >= maxspeed) {
hor_speed += hor_movement * accelerationspeed;
}
//horizontal deceleration
if (hor_movement = 0) {
if !(hor_speed = 0) {
hor_speed -= (sign(hor_speed) * decelerationspeed)
}
}
//vertical acceleration
if !(abs(ver_speed) >= maxspeed) {
ver_speed += ver_movement * accelerationspeed;
}
//vertical deceleration
if (ver_movement = 0) {
if !(ver_speed = 0) {
ver_speed -= (sign(ver_speed) * decelerationspeed)
}
}
//horizontal collision
if (place_meeting(x+hor_speed,y,obj_wall)) {
while(!place_meeting(x+sign(hor_speed),y,obj_wall)) {
x += sign(hor_speed);
}
hor_speed = 0;
}
//vertical collision
if (place_meeting(x,y+ver_speed,obj_wall)) {
while(!place_meeting(x,y+sign(ver_speed),obj_wall)) {
y += sign(ver_speed);
}
ver_speed = 0;
}
//move the player
x += hor_speed;
y += ver_speed;
///obj_player Draw
//rotate to look at cursor
draw_sprite_ext(spr_player, 0, x,y,image_xscale,image_yscale, pointdirection, image_blend, image_alpha);
I think the best way to rotate objects is through image_rotate, and I'd like to do it without getting stuff stuck in walls. Can my current method of collision be adapted to do this, or should I attempt to do it in a different way?
Your code looks fine, but if you're going to be rotating objects then you would also need to consider having a "knock back mechanic." Reason being is the player could be sitting next to this wall and if you rotate the object over them so they cant move, its not a fun time being stuck.
So you 'could' have the object that's rotating do a check before rotating and if objects are in the way then either stop it or push them back so they cant be within range.

Optimizing code to generate static

I am learning p5.js and wanted to generate a "static/noise texture" like so:
This is the code:
for (let y = 0; y < height; y++) {
for (let x = 0; x < width; x++) {
noiseVal = random(0,1);
stroke(255, noiseVal*255);
point(x,y);
}
}
This produces the desired outcome but it's obviously pretty slow since it has to iterate over every single pixel. What would be a more efficient way of doing this?
Your code is really not the best way to do with p5.js.
Take a look to the p5's pixels array.
When I run the following code, the function that use the pixels array run 100 times faster.
function setup() {
createCanvas(50, 50);
background(255);
let start, time;
start = performance.now();
noise_1();
time = performance.now() - start;
print("noise_1 : " + time);
start = performance.now();
noise_2();
time = performance.now() -start;
print("noise_2 : " + time);
}
// Your code
function noise_1() {
for (let y = 0; y < height; y++) {
for (let x = 0; x < width; x++) {
noiseVal = random(0,1);
stroke(noiseVal*255);
point(x,y);
}
}
}
// same with pixels array
function noise_2() {
loadPixels();
for (let i=0; i < pixels.length; i+=4){
noiseVal = random(0, 255);
pixels[i] = pixels[i+1] = pixels[i+2] = noiseVal;
}
updatePixels();
}
output :
noise_1 : 495.1
noise_2 : 5.92
To generate a single frame of static, you're going to have to iterate over each pixel. You could make your blocks larger than a single pixel, but that will only reduce the problem, not get rid of it completely.
Instead, you can probably get away with pre-computing a few images of static (let's say 10 or so). Save these as a file or to an off-screen buffer (the createGraphics() function is your friend), and then draw those images instead of drawing each pixel every frame.

Sprite Smooth movement and facing position according to movement

i'm trying to make this interaction with keyboard for movement using some sprites and i got stuck with two situations.
1) The character movement is not going acording to the animation itself (it only begin moving after one second or so while it's already being animated). What i really want it to do is, to move without a "initial acceleration feeling" that i get because of this problem
2) I can't think of a way to make the character face the position it should be facing when the key is released. I'll post the code here, but since it need images to work correctly and is not so small i made a skecth available at this link if you want to check it out: https://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/439572
PImage[] reverseRun = new PImage [16];
PImage[] zeroArray = new PImage [16];
void setup(){
size(800,600);
//Right Facing
for(int i = 0; i < zeroArray.length; i++){
zeroArray[i] = loadImage (i + ".png");
zeroArray[i].resize(155,155);
}
//Left Facing
for( int z = 0; z < reverseRun.length; z++){
reverseRun[z] = loadImage ( "mirror" + z + ".png");
reverseRun[z].resize(155,155);
}
}
void draw(){
frameRate(15);
background(255);
imageMode(CENTER);
if(x > width+10){
x = 0;
} else if (x < - 10){
x = width;}
if (i >= zeroArray.length){
i = 3;} //looping to generate constant motiion
if ( z >= reverseRun.length){
z = 3;} //looping to generate constant motiion
if (isRight) {
image(zeroArray[i], x, 300);
i++;
} //going through the images at the array
else if (isLeft) {
image(reverseRun[z],x,300);
z++;
} going through the images at the array
else if(!isRight){
image(zeroArray[i], x, 300);
i = 0; } //"stoped" sprite
}
}
//movement
float x = 300;
float y = 300;
float i = 0;
float z = 0;
float speed = 25;
boolean isLeft, isRight, isUp, isDown;
void keyPressed() {
setMove(keyCode, true);
if (isLeft ){
x -= speed;
}
if(isRight){
x += speed;
}
}
void keyReleased() {
setMove(keyCode, false);
}
boolean setMove(int k, boolean b) {
switch (k) {
case UP:
return isUp = b;
case DOWN:
return isDown = b;
case LEFT:
return isLeft = b;
case RIGHT:
return isRight = b;
default:
return b; }
}
The movement problem is caused by your operating system setting a delay between key presses. Try this out by going to a text editor and holding down a key. You'll notice that a character shows up immediately, followed by a delay, followed by the character repeating until you release the key.
That delay is also happening between calls to the keyPressed() function. And since you're moving the character (by modifying the x variable) inside the keyPressed() function, you're seeing a delay in the movement.
The solution to this problem is to check which key is pressed instead of relying solely on the keyPressed() function. You could use the keyCode variable inside the draw() function, or you could keep track of which key is pressed using a set of boolean variables.
Note that you're actually already doing that with the isLeft and isRight variables. But you're only checking them in the keyPressed() function, which defeats the purpose of them because of the problem I outlined above.
In other words, move this block from the keyPressed() function so it's inside the draw() function instead:
if (isLeft ){
x -= speed;
}
if(isRight){
x += speed;
}
As for knowing which way to face when the character is not moving, you could do that using another boolean value that keeps track of which direction you're facing.
Side note: you should really try to properly indent your code, as right now it's pretty hard to read.
Shameless self-promotion: I wrote a tutorial on user input in Processing available here.

Bidirectional path tracing

I'm making a bidirectional path tracer and I have some troubles.
To be clear :
1) One point light
2) All objects are diffuse
3) All objects are spheres, even walls (they are very large)
4) NO MIS WEIGHTING
The light emission is a 3D vector. The BRDF of a sphere is a 3D vector. Hard coded.
In the main function below I generate EyePath and LightPath then I connect them. At least I try.
In this post I will talking about the main function then EyePath then LightPath. The talking about connecting function will appear once EyePath and Light are good.
First questions :
Does the generation of the first light point is good ?
Do I need to compute this point according to the emission of the light source? or is it just the emission ? The line is commented where i'm filling the Vertices structure.
Do I need to translate fromlight ? In order to put it on the sphere
The code below is sampled in the main function. Above it there is two for loops going through all pixels. Camera.o is the eye. CameraRayDir is the direction to the current pixel.
//The path light starting point is at the same position as the light
Ray fromLight(Vec(0, 24.3, 0), Vec());
Sphere light = spheres[7];
#define PDF 0.15915494309 // 1 / (2 * PI)
for(int i = 0; i < samps; ++i)
{
std::vector<Vertices> PathEye;
std::vector<Vertices> PathLight;
Vec cameraRayDir = cx * (double(x) / w - .5) + cy * (double(y) / h - .5) + camera.d;
Ray rayEye(camera.o, cameraRayDir.norm());
// Hemisphere oriented towards the top
fromLight.d = generateRayInHemisphere(fromLight.o,Vec(0,1,0)).d;
double f = clamp(n.dot(fromLight.d.norm()));
Vertices vert;
vert.d = fromLight.d;
vert.x = fromLight.o;
vert.id = 7;
vert.cos = f;
vert.n = Vec(0,1,0).norm();
// this one ?
//vert.couleur = spheres[7].e * f / PDF;
// Or this one ?
vert.couleur = spheres[7].e;
PathLight.push_back(vert);
int sizeEye = generateEyePath(PathEye, rayEye, maxDepth);
int sizeLight = generateLightPath(PathLight, fromLight, maxDepth);
for (int s = 0; s < sizeLight; ++s)
{
for (int t = 1; t < sizeEye; ++t)
{
int depth = t + s - 1;
if ((s == 0 && t == 0) || depth < 0 || depth > maxDepth)
continue;
pixelValue = pixelValue + connectPaths(PathEye, PathLight, s, t);
}
}
}
For the EyePath I intersect the geometry then I compute the illumination according to the distance with the light. The colour is black if the point is in the shadow.
Second question : For the eye path and the direct illumination, is the computation good ? I've seen in many code, people use the pdf even in direct illumination. But I'm only using point light and spheres.
int generateEyePath(std::vector<Vertices>& v, Ray eye, int maxDepth)
{
double t;
int id = 0;
Vertices vert;
int RussianRoulette;
while(v.size() <= maxDepth)
{
if(distribRREye(generatorRREye) < 10)
break;
// Intersect all the geometry
// id is the id of the intersected geometry in an array
intersect(eye, t, id);
const Sphere& obj = spheres[id];
// Intersection point
Vec x = eye.o + eye.d * t;
// normal
Vec n = (x - obj.p).norm();
Vec direction = light.p - x;
// Shadow ray
Ray RaytoLight = Ray(x, direction.norm());
const float distance = direction.length();
// shadow
const bool visibility = intersect(RaytoLight, t, id);
const Sphere &lumiere = spheres[id];
float degree = clamp(n.dot((lumiere.p - x).norm()));
// If the intersected geometry is not a light, then in shadow
if(lumiere.e.x == 0)
{
vert.couleur = Vec();
}
else // else we compute the colour
// obj.c is the brdf, lumiere.e is the emission
vert.couleur = (obj.c).mult(lumiere.e / (distance * distance)) * degree;
vert.x = x;
vert.id = id;
vert.n = n;
vert.d = eye.d.normn();
vert.cos = degree;
v.push_back(vert);
eye = generateRayInHemisphere(x,n);
}
return v.size();
}
For the LightPath, for a given point, I compute it according to the previous one and the values at this point. Like in a common path tracing.\n
Third question: Is the colour computation good ?
int generateLightPath(std::vector<Vertices>& v, Ray fromLight, int maxDepth)
{
double t;
int id = 0;
Vertices vert;
Vec previous;
while(v.size() <= maxDepth)
{
if(distribRRLight(generatorRRLight) < 10)
break;
previous = v.back().couleur;
intersect(fromLight, t, id);
// intersected geometry
const Sphere& obj = spheres[id];
// Intersection point
Vec x = fromLight.o + fromLight.d * t;
// normal
Vec n = (x - obj.p).norm();
double f = clamp(n.dot(fromLight.d.norm()));
// obj.c is the brdf
vert.couleur = previous.mult(((obj.c / M_PI) * f) / PDF);
vert.x = x;
vert.id = id;
vert.n = n;
vert.d = fromLight.d.norm();
vert.cos = f;
v.push_back(vert);
fromLight = generateRayInHemisphere(x,n);
}
return v.size();
}
For the moment I get this result.
enter image description here
The connecting function will come once EyePath and LightPath are good.
Thank you all
Try the spherical reference scene mentioned in this paper. I think then you can work out most of your questions by yourself since it has an analytical solution.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221546261_Testing_Monte-Carlo_Global_Illumination_Methods_with_Analytically_Computable_Scenes
It would save your time to implement and verify your understanding with path tracing and light tracing first, then try to combine them with weights.

Making sense of a list of GPS values in an iOS application

I have a web service that interfaces with the google maps API to generate a polygon on a google map. The service takes the GPS values and stores them for retrieval.
The problem is that when I try and use these values on my iPhone app the MKPolyline is just either a mess or a bunch of zig-zag lines.
Is there a way to make sense of these values so I can reconstruct the polygon?
My current code looks like this
private void GenerateMap()
{
var latCoord = new List<double>();
var longCoord = new List<double>();
var pad = AppDelegate.Self.db.GetPaddockFromCrop(crop);
mapMapView.MapType = MKMapType.Standard;
mapMapView.ZoomEnabled = true;
mapMapView.ScrollEnabled = false;
mapMapView.OverlayRenderer = (m, o) =>
{
if (o.GetType() == typeof(MKPolyline))
{
var p = new MKPolylineRenderer((MKPolyline)o);
p.LineWidth = 2.0f;
p.StrokeColor = UIColor.Green;
return p;
}
else
return null;
};
scMapType.ValueChanged += (s, e) =>
{
switch (scMapType.SelectedSegment)
{
case 0:
mapMapView.MapType = MKMapType.Standard;
break;
case 1:
mapMapView.MapType = MKMapType.Satellite;
break;
case 2:
mapMapView.MapType = MKMapType.Hybrid;
break;
}
};
if (pad.Boundaries != null)
{
var bounds = pad.Boundaries.OrderBy(t => t.latitude).ThenBy(t => t.longitude).ToList();
foreach (var l in bounds)
{
double lat = l.latitude;
double lon = l.longitude;
latCoord.Add(lat);
longCoord.Add(lon);
}
if (latCoord.Count != 0)
{
if (latCoord.Count > 0)
{
var coord = new List<CLLocationCoordinate2D>();
for (int i = 0; i < latCoord.Count; ++i)
{
var c = new CLLocationCoordinate2D();
c.Latitude = latCoord[i];
c.Longitude = longCoord[i];
coord.Add(c);
}
var line = MKPolyline.FromCoordinates(coord.ToArray());
mapMapView.AddOverlay(line);
mapMapView.SetVisibleMapRect(line.BoundingMapRect, true);
}
}
}
}
MKPolygon / MKPolygonRenderer gives the same sort of random line mess. The OrderBy LINQ makes no difference other than to make the random lines a zig-zag going up or down the view.
Since you don't know the order the points were captured in, you can't trace the actual path traveled around the perimeter of the paddock; this is why your polylines are turning into silly-walks all over the map. Lacking that information, you can at best make an educated guess.
Some possible heuristics you might want to try:
Take the average of all the points to get a "somewhere in the middle" point, then order by atan2(l.latitude - middle.latitude, l.longitude - middle.longitude). (Be careful, atan2 is undefined at (0, 0)!)
Take the convex hull of the points captured: for a relatively small number of points you can get away with the simple quadratic time Jarvis's march. This has the approximate effect of wrapping a notional rubber band around the outside of the map push-pins by discarding points that would form concavities, and should also give you the order of the remaining points.