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Polarith AI (Free/Pro) | Movement, Pathfinding, Steering

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by Polarith, Apr 18, 2017.

  1. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315







    Fast and Easy to Use

    Polarith AI offers all you need for achieving state-of-the-art movement AI with just a few clicks. Design complex movement behaviours and create immersive games or astonishing simulations by taking advantage of the sophisticated workflow.




    Create, Prototype and Succeed

    Our Unity plugin allows you to combine behaviours as easy as blending layers like in image manipulation tools. Every shipped AI behaviour can be parametrized easily to achieve completely different effects without even touching the code at all. Besides that, the system allows you to easily script your own behaviours with just a few lines of code.



    The Context Matters

    The major difference of our technology compared to classic steering approaches is that decision-making is based on the contextual information of an agent’s environment instead of simply weighting or prioritizing steering behaviours.

    Much More Natural Decisions

    You will massively reduce your implementation effort by using Polarith AI. Instead of concentrating on getting your character to move at all, you can focus on the design of concrete behaviours for creating an interesting movement that makes your project immersive.


    Features

    Free & Pro
    • Easy to use with one-click setup
    • Design-oriented and reusable
    • Highly performant and scalable
    • Over 20 combinable behaviours
    • Active/passive collision avoidance
    • Dynamic obstacle avoidance
    • Single, crowd and swarm simulation
    • Local decision-making
    • Context steering
    • Line and circle sensors for 2D/3D
    • Extensible C# API

    Pro only
    • Unity pathfinding integration
    • Customizable paths and patrols
    • Collider and visual bounds
    • Aligned and oriented bounding boxes
    • Unity NavMesh integration
    • Fully editable 2D sensor shapes
    • Level of detail AI technology
    • Multithreading with load balancing
    • Prioritized support guaranteed
    • No Polarith logo during app start

    Upcoming
    • Spherical 3D sensors
    • A* Pathfinding Project integration
    • Component master
    • Formations
    • ...


    Get Started with Tutorials and the Documentation



    More Videos...

    Quick Start | Manual | Component Reference | API Reference


    FAQ

    Does the plugin support pathfinding?
    Yes. We support custom path structures (for patrols, racing tracks and so forth), dynamic waypoint following and NavMesh-based pathfinding which is fully integrated with our steering algorithms.

    Is local avoidance supported?
    Yes. The approach we use is called context steering. Based on this technique, local avoidance is achieved implicitly as well as explicitly. If you want to go into detail, please, read the documentation.

    Can I do the AI setup at runtime?
    Yes. Everything that you can do with Polarith AI in the editor (all this handy drag and drop and presetting) can easily be done via the scripting API at runtime, too. The API offers you even more possibilities than the inspector does.

    Can I add custom behaviours?
    Yes. You can add as many custom behaviours as you like via C# code. Hereto, we provide a tutorial in the documentation.

    Does Polarith AI support 2D and 3D applications?

    Yes. Optionally, your game objects can be projected onto a plane for both Unity modes 2D and 3D.

    Do you support context steering with spherical 3D sensors?
    Not yet, but we are currently working hard to integrate full mesh-based 3D sensors.

    How can game object data be provided for the system?
    You can set them directly or take advantage of our perception pipeline, whereby Unity's layer mechanism is supported. By using Unity's layer system, you can easily group different kinds of game objects and improve the overall system performance.


    Made with in Germany
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2021
  2. kns1966

    kns1966

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    This is great that you're now on the forums.

    I do look forward to new tutorials, especially seeing examples of behaviours expressed via both the UI and API.
     
    Polarith likes this.
  3. one_one

    one_one

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    Great! This looks like a well-made and documented asset. Good thing there aren't really any great specialized steering assets so far either.
     
    Polarith likes this.
  4. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Hey, guys. Yeah, it was definitely about time to be here. Feels great! :)

    We are currently planning and working on the next tutorials we are going to release on YouTube. I think there will be a lot of interesting things for you to discover. Formations, flocking, integration into different kinds of game genres and a description on how you can combine our approach with pathfinding very easily. Moreover, we are also working on meaningful demos for platformers, racing and space games. So much to do!

    Thank you @christoph_r. We spent a lot of time in system architecture and design to make the usage as easy as possible while providing the best performance. We are convinced that you guys will love it.

    A big thank you to all supporters and early adopters. You rock :cool:!


    Martin from Polarith
     
    one_one likes this.
  5. kns1966

    kns1966

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    I look forward to the demos, especially any racing scenarios. Then again, any collection of (easily digestible) examples makes for an excellent starting point.
     
  6. Korindian

    Korindian

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    Looking forward to your 3D implementation. There aren't many 3D steering solutions available currently.
     
  7. unicoea

    unicoea

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    I just find this today, and exciting to learn it.
    Great Job!
     
  8. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Hey @unicoea, then let me welcome you to the Polarith family. Nice to have you here.

    @Korindian: That's great. We definitely want that feature as well. You might be happy to hear that one dev is currently all in programming this. :)


    Martin from Polarith
     
  9. MrJBRPG

    MrJBRPG

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    I remember taking a look at the Unity Steer (open source and free) as well as attempting to implement my own basic understanding of steering behaviors, and this one seems the most promising due to a great deal of interaction through tutorials and answering questions from other users. I am looking forward to toying around with it to find out more about implementing waypoints and such.
     
  10. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Hey @MrJBRPG, nice to have you here.

    When the two patches are released we are currently working on, implementing waypoints will be nothing more than adding and parameterizing a component (either graphically by scene view or via API in-code).

    You guys might be happy to hear that the patch we are going to release next week will make the current Polarith AI plugin become a Pro version (which will be more feature-rich and, hence, more expensive then). All of you which already have Polarith AI will become a Pro owner. Meanwhile, we will upload a second (light) version of the plugin which will be available for free (for all of you who want to test things instead of buying the cat in the bag ;)).

    One week or two weeks later (depending on how fast the UAS admins are), we will release another patch adding a fully customizable path component including full pathfinding integration with NavMesh support to the Pro version. This will bring the best of both worlds together: Global movement solutions by pathfinding combined with local movement solutions by our context steering. So your AI can behave as natural as possible through context steering while being as precise as pathfinding can be.



    If you are definitely interested in the stuff, consider buying the plugin right now as long as it is at its current price. It doesn't get cheaper.


    Martin from Polarith
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
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  11. Cartoon-Mania

    Cartoon-Mania

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    I know this is AI for movement.. but I am wondering.. really it's just AI for movement? Are there any other features besides the movement?
     
  12. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Hey @Cartoon-Mania,

    our plugin is all about multi-criteria optimization (MCO or MOO for multi-objective optimization) which we currently apply on movement directions (and magnitudes). Of course, the underlying framework (API) can be used to optimize any MCO problem where you can obtain objective values for.

    For example, imagine some kind of droid. Now, if you derive your own data structure from our base classes and fill the objectives with values for goals like "maximize battery life", "take no damage", "travel the shortest distance" or "support your allies", our MCO algorithms would find parameterizable good solutions for these criteria in real-time, too. So, our core algorithms are all about general decision-making. Because games are about animated/moving graphics, we decided to utilize these techniques first for realizing natural-appearing movement => AIM (AI for Movement).

    With the support of you guys, it may come the day, we might be able to extend our workflow to support general decision-making as comfortable as the movement (maybe called AID then => AI for Decision-making :D). That always depends on how many developers can be financed by our work.


    Martin from Polarith
     
  13. one_one

    one_one

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    Niiice. Was planning to do that myself, so having both integrated into one asset taking care of AI movement is sweet. I hope there will be fine-tuned control over which solution is going to be active when and how the two will interact.
     
  14. Cartoon-Mania

    Cartoon-Mania

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    AI for Decision-making is great. This is a dilemma I buy it if it is a decent making AI. I hope that day will come soon.
     
  15. Cartoon-Mania

    Cartoon-Mania

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    Is the droid you said possible in the current version?
     
  16. Polarith

    Polarith

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    @christoph_r: Of course, we release new features only when we love them ourselves (so in the end, we are our most annoying customers). o_O Fine-tuning via inspector will be intuitive and easy enough. Code-affine users will be able to control every bit per API as usual. In the case you don't like what we do with the path, then tell us rudely here in this thread. That would dramatically increase the chance that we refactor it in the next patch. :D


    @Cartoon-Mania: Possible: Yes, Comfortable: No. In short: If you only desire general decision-making and in terms of implementation effort, you would be better off with comfortable graphical tools based on fuzzy or utility logic. There are a couple of decent solutions in the store dealing with this task.


    Martin from Polarith
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
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  17. MrJBRPG

    MrJBRPG

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    Woah... Now that is one promising teaser for upcoming features. Even when things come out nice and slowly, I am likely to try to find ways to create more sophisticated versions such as follow formation, waypoint array open and closed (like in racing tracks and such) while you guys are working on providing elegant solutions.

    Also, it is awesome to finally have a all-in-one movement AI devs that are actually responsive.

    Only one question:
    I like to know about Order - if it is a higher number, does it take precedence over lower numbers or is it the other way around because the execution order is not yet clear.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2017
  18. Polarith

    Polarith

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    The higher the number, the later it will be executed within the pipeline of behaviours writing objective values into the context maps.

    @MrJBRPG, thank you for your feedback, we will consider this topic for updating the docs in the next patch.


    Martin from Polarith
     
  19. Space-Odyssey

    Space-Odyssey

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    That explains price increase, I saw this a couple days ago but was looking/trying other assets and waited to today to buy it and notice the price had increased. Oh well at the current price I will have to wait to try it out before getting it.
     
  20. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Hey @Space-Odyssey, well, the Free version currently waits for pending review. It should be online during the next days depending on the Asset Store admins. We will announce this here when it can be downloaded.

    Martin from Polarith
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2017
  21. Novack

    Novack

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    Heya people, this looks great, a couple of questions:

    1) After reading a bit in the store and here, is still unclear to me if this works for agent movement in 3D spaces (as in, air, water, space).

    2) Have you consider determinism? As in: would your framework be adaptable to a multiplayer game?

    Thanks!
     
  22. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Hey @Novack, you're welcome.

    1) The AI is currently suitable for movement based on some kind of ground (also in 3D worlds). This is due to the planar shape of the sensors. As you might have seen already in the store, we are currently all in integrating real mesh-based 3D sensors for the Pro version. I guess that feature will be released in autumn this year. Then, our AI can be utilized for any degree of freedom in 3D.

    2) Of course, we thought about this. At the moment, we are working together with a studio requiring determinism by all means. We plan to release a smaller patch adding this feature after the pathfinding patch (which is going to be released during the next 3 weeks).

    Thank you very much for your feedback.


    Martin from Polarith
     
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  23. Novack

    Novack

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    Thank you! I will be definitively tunned on this progress.
     
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  24. Polarith

    Polarith

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    You're welcome! If there comes the day that you have further questions of any kind, we'll be here. :cool:


    Martin from Polarith
     
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  25. MrJBRPG

    MrJBRPG

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    I am amazed on what this thing can do so far, but I somehow encounter some sort of behavior problem that I do not understand. When I attempted to do this physics controller 2d onto the Agent seek with default torque and slightly lowered speed, it does not really turn as fast and inevitably lost focus on the objective. I plan to use physics 2d on the AI, and can any of you guys give suggestions on how I can better use steering behaviors with Physics controller (3d or 2d) applied so that they can turn smoothly?

    It would be great if anyone can answer.

    You can try this problem in the Seek/Flee Demo by adding the physics controller 2d and rigid body 2d and that behavior problem should occur.

    [Edit]
    I see the documentation and realized that the recommended numbers seems to be a good starting point. However, maybe show the recommended numbers for linear drag and angular drag on the tooltip for the torque and speed on the physics controller.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2017
  26. Polarith

    Polarith

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    We're glad that you managed to figure it out. The character controllers we ship with Polarith AI are very basic because, in our opinion, this is the part where in most cases AI ends and the individual game begins. The more complex a game, the stronger the need for individual controllers which match the individual application best. That's why we decided to put the source code of all example controllers into the plugin package.

    Nevertheless, you're definitely right. This should absolutely be part of the tooltip. As far as I'm aware of this source code, this should actually be the case since version 1.0. The fact that it didn't show up for you means that we have to recheck the editor code concerning this classes for the next patch.

    Here is the affected part of the source code in the AIMPhysicsController2D:
    Code (CSharp):
    1. [Tooltip("Determines the base value of the applied force for rotating the character towards the decided " +
    2.     "direction. The default value of 0.05 is suitable for a rigidbody (2D) angular drag of 10, whereby the " +
    3.     "mass = 1 and a default 'PhysicsMaterial2D' should be used.")]
    4. public float Torque = 0.05f;
    5.  
    6. [Tooltip("Determines the base value specifying how fast the character moves. This value is highly dependent " +
    7.     "on the 'Rigidbody2D.drag', 'Rigidbody2D.mass' and the 'PhysicsMaterial2D' used by the involved collider " +
    8.     "instances.\n\nFor the default value, you may use a 2D rigidbody configuration with mass = 1, drag = 5 " +
    9.     "and a default collider material.")]
    10. public float Speed = 10f;

    Another solution to this issue might be that we set up a rigidbody automatically with the correct start values when controller components are added, but this might piss off other guys who set up their rigidbodies already. Anyways, one thing is clear to us now. We are going to make video tutorials on this topic since it is requested more frequently.

    Thank you @MrJBRPG, your feedback is very much appreciated.


    Martin from Polarith
     
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  27. MrJBRPG

    MrJBRPG

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    I also have a question for AIM Physics Controller 2D in regards to using an objective for speed when AIM context is used: What determines the speed multiplier for the source moving agent from the objective? When I applied it onto the target object, I have not noticed a difference in the overall speed of the source moving agent.

    However, I will also take you advice on individual tweaking since your overall goal is to provide enough tools modular enough that the individual user can make as many tweaks as they please.

    P.S. I wonder how things are going along with the Path Structure and Behavior component for the AI? It looks very promising based on the screenshot alone.

    Link to that feature build: https://github.com/Polarith/AI/issues/10
     
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  28. Polarith

    Polarith

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    What exactly do you mean with speed multiplier?

    Let's have a look at the bottom of this documentation picture:


    We're confronted with Speed or Objective As Speed. Now, when you set Objective As Speed to an integer representing an actual objective of the context, then the applied force for moving the agent is obtained via the objective value corresponding to the direction of the made decision; i.e. the speed is then dependent on how close or how far interest/danger objects are located with respect to your character. In this case, the setting for Speed is ignored. As against, if Objective As Speed is smaller than 0, the set Speed is applied as moving force.

    Well, the path is actually finished. So now, we are intensively testing it. The pathfinding integration is already done, too. Therefore, we need to update the docs and to build some decent example scenes before we're going to upload it to the store.

    Before we can upload any of these features, we are currently waiting for the Unity Asset Store admins to release our Polarith AI Free version. Sadly, it is up in pending review for 14 days now. We hope that the Asset Store team manages to proof this during the next days. Then, we will continue to progress on new features.


    Martin from Polarith
     
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  29. ikemen_blueD

    ikemen_blueD

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    I can't wait for this to be implemented ;). I wonder how easy is it to integrate Polarith to a custom path finding solution?
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2017
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  30. Polarith

    Polarith

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    We can't wait for this either. One developer is currently working full-time for 3D sensors to be ready as soon as possible.

    Concerning your custom pathfinding: Even with the current version, this is not so difficult. The easiest way would be to use an AIMFollow behaviour. With its property TargetPosition, you can easily pass-through your current waypoint position and you're done with a basic solution. :cool:

    With the path patch, things will be far more comfortable and smarter. Then, we'll provide you an abstract MonoBehaviour you can derive from, and if you do so, you'll only have to implement a few properties and/or methods and you'll be come up with a very intelligent path following behaviour. It will even be able to automatically check whether its current path is good or not with respect to local steering and other customizable conditions. If it is not, the behaviour can automatically require your underlying pathfinding to generate a new path. We'll provide you components (with source code) which are doing this for Unity's pathfinding and navmesh already, but the same can easily be done for A* and Apex and so forth, too. (To be honest, we already consider such connectors for future patches made by us :)).

    Well, please, beloved Unity Asset Store admins, let us advance further and hurry up with your review.


    Martin from Polarith
     
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  31. ikemen_blueD

    ikemen_blueD

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    After reading the manual, I must say it is professionally written. Though a bit pity, because it's quite short, did not cover all Polarith AI topics.

    1) "Mesh-Based 3D sensor", does that means Polarith will support any Mesh, not sphere-mesh only? That would be really cool to simulate a FOV cone-mesh for example

    2) Some other topics I think useful too many: how to inject additional data into the back-end behaviour? Any Formation tutorial? How to change AI steering behaviors with AI state?

    Since the Unity review quite slow, is there a quicker way to get the latest version of Polarith directly from your site?
     
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  32. Polarith

    Polarith

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    @ikemen_blueD: Thank you for your feedback!

    1) Of course, we'll support arbitrary shapes as well as basic primitives (like the sphere). We even plan to provide you an importer to get your custom shapes from your modeling tool of choice into Polarith AI.

    2) Very interesting point of view. We always had the feeling that we already wrote about too many things in the documentation. In general, we (try to) develop putting heart and soul into less but, therefore, polished features. That's necessary for us at the moment because we are still a small team and have to plan quite well with our human resources. :oops: Nevertheless, these are great proposals we'll take into account. Thanks! We already got new equipment for producing more and better video tutorials. Our content producer Christian (our voice in the YouTube videos) aims at releasing 1 to 2 videos per week now.

    This would be an option, but in terms of statistics and licensing issues, we decided that it would be better to rely on the Asset Store first. This whole review thing cannot take so long anymore since the package is already up in pending review for 17 days now. :eek:


    Martin from Polarith
     
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  33. Polarith

    Polarith

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    The Free Version Is Here



    Hello, everyone! After very long 20 days of pending review in the Unity Asset Store, we’re proud to present you our Free version of Polarith AI. If you find it useful, consider buying the Pro version to support the development of new features. Of course, we would appreciate a nice rating in the store, too. Thank you so much for your support!

    As you might have noticed, we already adapted our Unity forum thread and product site to match up with the different versions. The Polarith AI for Movement plugin automatically became the Pro version so that owners of the “old” plugin will get every upcoming feature as well. Moreover, the version numbers of both the Free and Pro plugin will be kept in synchronization. This way, both versions will benefit from bug fixes and common feature enhancements whenever a new patch is going to be released.

    The current plugin versions are 1.3 and here are the corresponding release notes:

    Changes
    • Polarith AI is now Polarith AI Pro, furthermore, we now provide a Free version in the store as well
    • Adapted the documentation for the new Free and Pro versions
    • Added source code of our controller components
    • [Pro] Every Pro component now have a Pro label icon
    Enhancements
    • [Pro] AIMSeekNavMesh, AIMFleeNavMesh: Improved editors, they now show a proper bitfield for AreaMask instead of just an integer
    Fixes
    • Fixed a bug in our custom editor system which made proper multi-object editing impossible
    • Fixed a bug in character controller editors which caused the value of ObjectiveAsSpeed to be reset at runtime
    • AIMPhysicsController2D: Removed the unnecessary dependency to Rigidbody2D so that it can be decoupled properly from the actual physics object
    What’s Next?
    We have already started to prepare the release of the next patch. So custom path structures, inbuilt patrol behaviours and complete pathfinding integration will arrive during the next weeks. Stay tuned!


    Martin from Polarith
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2017
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  34. Polarith

    Polarith

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    The Pathfinder



    Anyone here remembering that weird path patch half year ago? (Yeah absolutely correct, this one we had to revert a patch later because it broke everything.) We’re more than happy to tell you that, finally, we managed to release these features in a very sophisticated and highly usable manner. On top of this, we not only added functionality for quickly constructing and following paths. We also managed to fully integrate pathfinding right into our steering approach. For now, we do this utilizing Unity’s inbuilt NavMesh technology, but in the future, we plan to release adapters for the most commonly used pathfinding plugins out there.

    Good things come to those who wait (and buy the Pro version, of course)! Let your agents taking advantage of asynchronous pathfinding with the new inbuilt components without losing the flexibility and natural expressiveness of context steering. Polarith AI now combines the best of both worlds in one plugin: Pathfinding for mastering complex level structures and context steering for local avoidance, formations and much more.





    As usual, here are the release notes for patch version 1.4:

    Changes
    • [Pro] Added AIMFollowWaypoints behaviour to follow a path or an arbitrary collection of points
    • [Pro] Added AIMLinearPath for quickly creating your own paths or patrols
    • [Pro] Added AIMUnityPathfinding, an adapter for Unity’s NavMesh system so that AIMFollowWaypoints can utilize this information
    • [Pro] Extended overall API such that the AIMFollowWaypoints behaviour can be easily used with your custom Pathfinding solution
    Enhancements
    • Improved custom editors, they now follow Unity’s standard with respect to multi-selection and prefab emphasizing
    Fixes
    • Fixed a bug which broke the multi-selection capabilities of custom editors (if you implemented your own editor based on AIMBehaviourEditor, you need to override the BehaviourProperty)
    • Fixed a bug where Unity crashed on calling Polarith AI API methods in a specific order (AIMContext.ResizeObjectives, thanks @Simon for pointing this out)
    • Fixed a bug in AIMContext which caused the indicator gizmo to flicker based on the set UpdateFrequency
    • Fixed the PlaneGizmo such that it is consistent with our other gizmos
    What's Next?
    We’re not done yet! We’ve got so many ideas we want to implement for you. Currently, we’re busy developing our long-term feature for full 3D mesh-based sensors. Moreover, we’ll take our time to make things shine which are already there. That said, in our current development branch, we just improved the performance of massive agent setups by a factor of two. Of course, we will also polish usability here and there, but the most existing feature for the next patch will be a completely overhauled layer system without breaking backward compatibility. Combining behaviours will be much easier and much more intuitive. The creation of queues, boids, flocks and herds will take you no more than a few minutes. For that, we are currently preparing some decent video tutorials, too. Stay tuned and let us know any bugs! Thank you.


    Martin from Polarith
     
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  35. sentar

    sentar

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    Hi Polarith,

    I'm interested in your Asset, and I watched your tutorial. I have one question that is holding me back. In your tutorial you talk about things to steer away from (red aka traps), and the objective (green goodies).

    I seen that you placed these things in there correct spots before run-time. Is it possible to make the Objectives and Traps dynamic in run time?

    I'd love to make 100 vs 100 battles, and have the AI notice "traps" when instantiated at run-time (example: a catapult throws rocks, and make the rocks become "red" as it falls to the ground to see if the AI can run away from it in time).

    I hope that makes sense.

    Sincerely,
    Sentar
     
  36. Polarith

    Polarith

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    Hey Sentar,

    welcome to our thread! Of course, that makes sense! Everything that you can do with Polarith AI in the editor (all this handy drag and drop and presetting) can easily be done via the scripting API at runtime, too. The API offers you even more possibilities than the inspector does.

    In your case, you can dynamically add new objects to the AI world by different methods. Choose the one you prefer:
    1. We recommend using our perception pipeline. Adding new game objects at runtime this way is nothing more than adding them to AIMEnvironment.GameObjects.
    2. You can add objects directly to behaviours, e.g., via AIMSeek.GameObjects, but this is not so optimal in terms of performance.
    Let me know if you have got further questions or issues of any kind. You're always welcome.


    Martin from Polarith
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2017
  37. NeatWolf

    NeatWolf

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    924
    Hi there!

    Is full 3D support going to be available with future updates of this asset, or is it going to be an upgrade?
    Do you have any eta?

    Also, (ok, I'm a bit rusty about the latest changes to the native navmesh system), as I believe the pathfinding/avoidance system overhaul is probably down in the Unity roadmap at some point, what do you believe are going to be the highlight features of Polarith that are going to shine doesn't matter how Unity is going to handle navigation in the future?

    For instance, smooth steering and avoidance were not just available natively?

    Please assume my most positive attitude when asking these questions, I'm sincerely not up to date when speaking about pathfinding, I've been focusing on other subjects lately :) (where lately == months :D )

    Cheers,
    Alessandro Salvati
     
  38. summerian

    summerian

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2014
    Posts:
    140
    Hi,

    This looks interesting. I'd like to know how the steering is handled when a gravity or force is applied and using physics to navigate.
     
  39. Polarith

    Polarith

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315
    Hey @NeatWolf,

    thank you for your questions. I'm going to give my best to answer them all.

    Yes, we develop for and with the community. The money we earn with the Pro version directly flows into feature development. When mesh-based 3D sensors are released, everybody having the Pro version will get it automatically. This has always been our philosophy and always will be. One thing which can, of course, happen is that the price for the Pro version will be higher in the future. We plan to release this feature in autumn this year and we are convinced that we manage to meet this deadline.

    Very good questions which convince me that our marketing needs to point out such things more clearly. Well, Unity's steering is very basic, which might be okay for simple local avoidance but easily gets messy for more complex behaviours (think of boids, herds, squad patterns and formations etc.). On top of this, our algorithm outperforms every classic steering approach by far. Our team made a lot of research on steering algorithms back in our days at the university. We came up with advanced context steering which is more than a simple weighting/prioritizing of vectors. It works pretty much like human decision-making because it balances between pros and cons for certain movement directions (in general, called objectives). This kind of techniques belong to multi-criteria optimization and can save you a lot of time when it comes to real immersive behaviour. Moreover, the best thing is that behaviours can be combined as easy as Photoshop layers for achieving effects even we do not think of.

    When I've whetted your appetite, feel free to have a look at the following blog posts: Steering behaviours are doing it wrong and Context Behaviours Know How To Share. These might provide you a better insight. Long story short: As your scenarios and demands on character behaviours grow, the more time and code our technology can save you every day.

    Concerning Unity's changes to AI: We'll always provide adapters for the latest stuff so that it can easily be combined with our work regardless what Unity does. Maybe, one day, we're going to provide an own pathfinding solution, but when we do so, we'll make sure that it will work in full 3D space.

    Thank you very much! I've really enjoyed your questions, so you're always welcome.


    Cheers,
    Martin from Polarith
     
  40. Polarith

    Polarith

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315
    Hello there!

    How movement is handled can precisely be controlled by you. The underlying AI is completely separated from the controller stuff (in contrast to Unity's AI...). As an example, we provide completely physics-integrated controllers for moving agents including source code. In most cases, controller code highly depends on your concrete scenario. In-house, we've already built a couple of different games with our AI without any problems, for example, a pong clone, platformers and a little space game.

    You see, how the concrete movement is handled depends on your demands and is independent of the AI itself. For an easy start, we provide example controllers (with and without physics).

    Thank you for your question, you're welcome.


    Cheers,
    Martin from Polarith
     
  41. Polarith

    Polarith

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315
    SALE

    Beloved community,

    great news! All of you who have ever been interested in buying the Pro version, now is your chance! We're in the 24h sale. Every sold Pro license gives us the possibility to develop further features, to polish what's already there and to produce new video tutorials for you. Thank you, you're the best.


    Martin from Polarith
     
  42. sewerstyle

    sewerstyle

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2012
    Posts:
    17
    Hi guys!

    I've noticed your asset on sale. It looks very promising and I'm very interested in it.
    Have a question: Can I use it in RTS style game, something like Star Craft, Dune to navigate a few dozen grouped units on large map. Or probably I should pay attention to the solutions with "Vector Field based steering" like this one https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/33039
     
  43. Polarith

    Polarith

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315
    Hey @sewerstyle,

    nice to have you here. Well, both approaches would work fine although, at the moment, Apex might provide more useful material for your scenario.

    Nevertheless, one developer at Polarith is currently all in realizing formations. With the next updates, we plan to add components and video tutorials demonstrating how to achieve these stuff easily.

    My honest opinion: With the current Polarith AI version 1.4, Apex might work more comfortable for your specific scenario, but this can change rapidly during future updates. So pick your poison. :) Apart from that, we offer a Free version as well. Maybe, you experiment first before buying the cat in the bag.


    Cheers,
    Martin from Polarith
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2017
    one_one likes this.
  44. sewerstyle

    sewerstyle

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2012
    Posts:
    17
    Thanks for the frank and complete answer, Martin!
    I'll think all the rest of the 24 hours sale ;)

    All the best wishes.
     
  45. Newbies-Unity

    Newbies-Unity

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    Posts:
    22
    Do you have any example for RPG?
     
  46. Polarith

    Polarith

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315
    Hi @Newbies-Unity

    In terms of movement AI an RPG seems not to be a special case. As long as the game takes place on a solid ground we don’t see any limitations with our system. So unfortunately, we are currently not working on an RPG example.

    However, maybe we have a different image of an RPG game in mind. I mean it is certainly a difference if we talk about a Final Fantasy like game, a Souls like game or even an RPG Maker style game. If you have any special requirements, please ask me. Hopefully I can help you with your concerns. :)

    Cheers,
    Franz from Polarith
     
  47. Korindian

    Korindian

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2013
    Posts:
    584
    Just bought in anticipation of the 3D mesh based sensors!
     
    Polarith likes this.
  48. Inspeinre

    Inspeinre

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2013
    Posts:
    44
    I bought yesterday, I would like 3D mesh, multiplayer and I want to know mobile systems, consoles, etc. are supported?
     
  49. Polarith

    Polarith

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315
    Hey,

    we give our best to release them as soon as we can. We plan to develop full-time with all developers on this feature for August. So our deadline for autumn this year can be kept. :cool:

    Thank you for your support!


    Martin from Polarith
     
    Korindian likes this.
  50. Polarith

    Polarith

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Posts:
    315
    Hi @Inspeinre,

    3D mesh sensors are definitely released the autumn this year. Multiplayer is easily possible, whereby with the next (smaller) patch 1.5, we will add a determinism option for the solver. This would allow you to have a distributed approach for multiplayer, too.

    We've tested on all major desktop and mobile systems without a problem. Since the plugin is written in pure C# with Subset .NET 2.0, all platforms should work fine.

    You're welcome.


    Martin from Polarith
     
    Inspeinre likes this.