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Using Navigation Invokers

This guide shows how to use Navigation Invokers.

Using Navigation Invokers
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Overview

Unreal Engine's Navigation System allows Agents to navigate the Level using a Navigation Mesh for pathfinding. In addition to the various Runtime Generation methods for the Navigation Mesh, the system also includes a way to only build the navigation locally around specific targets.

Navigation Invokers are Blueprint Actor components that generate the Navigation Mesh around the Agent at runtime. Using Navigation Invokers removes the need to build the Navigation Mesh in the editor and can also limit the number of tiles generated at runtime.

Navigation Invokers are ideal for big Levels where building the Navigation Mesh in the editor is impractical.

Goals

In this guide, you will learn to use Navigation Invokers with your Agents to generate the Navigation Mesh during gameplay.

Objectives

  • Create a new Level and configure the Navigation System to use Navigation Invokers.

  • Modify the ThirdPersonCharacter Blueprint to roam around the Level using Navigation Invokers.

1 - Required Setup

  1. In the Unreal Project Browser window, select the Games category and Third Person template.

    Select the Games and ThirdPerson category and click Next

  2. Enter a Project Name and click Create.

    Select Blueprint and No Starter Content and click Create Project

Section Results

You created a new Third Person project and are now ready to learn about Navigation Invokers.

2 - Creating Your Test Level

  1. Click File > New Level from the Menu Bar.

    Click New Level

  2. Select the Basic Level.

    Select the Basic Level

  3. Select the Floor Static Mesh Actor in the Outliner and go to the Details panel. Set the Scale to X = 100, Y = 100, Z = 1.

    Select the Floor Static Mesh Actor in the Outliner Set the Scale to X = 100, Y = 100, Z = 1

  4. Click Settings > Project Settings and go to the Navigation System category. Enable the Generate Navigation Only Around Navigation Invokers checkbox.

    Click Project Settings Enable the Generate Navigation Only Around Navigation Invokers checkbox

  5. (Optional) The Invokers Maximum Distance from Seed property sets the maximum distance between players (seeds by default) and Invokers that will be considered to regenerate tiles around those Invokers.

    In the example below, we set the maximum distance to 30,000 units (300 meters). Any Invokers farther from the player will not trigger navigation regeneration.

    Set the Invokers Maximum Distance from Seed to 30,000

  6. Go to the Navigation Mesh category and scroll down to the Runtime section. Click the Runtime Generation dropdown and select Dynamic.

    Click the Runtime Generation dropdown and select Dynamic

  7. Go to the Place Actors panel and search for NavMeshBoundsVolume. Drag it into the Level and place it on the floor mesh. Scale the NavMeshBoundsVolume to X = 500, Y=500, Z = 10.

    Drag the Nav Mesh Bounds Volume to the Level Set the Scale to X = 500, Y=500, Z = 10

Section Results

In this section, you created a new Level and configured the Navigation System to use Navigation Invokers.

3 - Creating your Agent

  1. In the Content Drawer, right-click and select New Folder to create a new folder. Name the folder NavigationSystem.

  2. In the Content Drawer, go to ThirdPerson> Blueprints and select the BP_ThirdPersonCharacter Blueprint. Drag it into the NavigationSystem folder and select the option Copy Here.

    Drag the Third Person Character Blueprint to the Navigation System folder and select Copy Here

  3. Navigate to the NavigationSystem folder and rename the Blueprint to BP_NPC_Invoker. Double-click the Blueprint to open it and go to the Event Graph. Select all input nodes and delete them.

  4. Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Add Custom Event. Name the event MoveNPC.

    Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Add Custom Event. Name the event Move NPC

  5. Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Get Actor Location.

    Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Get Actor Location

  6. Drag from the GetActorLocation node and search for and select Get Random Reachable Point In Radius. Set the Radius to 1000.

    Drag from the Get Actor Location node and search for and select Get Random Reachable Point In Radius

  7. Drag from the Random Location pin of the GetRandomReachablePointInRadius node and select Promote to variable.

    Drag from the Random Location pin of the Get Random Reachable Point In Radius node and select Promote to variable

  8. Connect the MoveNPC node to the RandomLocation node you just created.

    Connect the Move NPC node to the Random Location node

  9. Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select AI Move To. Connect the RandomLocation node to the AI Move To node.

    Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select AI Move To

  10. Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Get a reference to self.

    Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Get a reference to self

  11. Connect the Self node to the Pawn pin of the AI Move To node. Connect the yellow pin of the Random Location node to the Destination pin of the AI Move To node, as seen below.

    Connect the Self node to the Pawn pin of the AI Move To node. Connect the yellow pin of the Random Location node to the Destination pin of the AI Move To node

  12. Drag from the On Success pin of the AI Move To node, then search for and select Delay. Set the Duration of the node to 4. Drag from the Completed pin of the Delay node, then search for and select MoveNPC, as seen below.

    Drag from the On Success pin of the AI Move To node and add a Delay node. Set the Duration to 4. Drag from the Duration node and add a Move NPC node

  13. Repeat the steps above to add these nodes to the On Fail pin of the AI Move To node. Set the Duration of the Delay node to 0.1.

    Repeat the steps above to add these nodes to the On Fail pin

  14. Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Event Begin Play. Drag from the Event Begin Play node, then search for and select MoveNPC.

    Right-click the Event Graph, then search for and select Event Begin Play Drag from the Event Begin Play node, then search for and select Move NPC

  15. Go to the Components tab, click the +Add dropdown, then search for and select Navigation Invoker.

    Go to the Components tab, click the Add Component dropdown, then search for and select Navigation Invoker

  16. With the Navigation Invoker component selected, go to the Details panel and find the Navigation section. Here you can change the Tile Generation Radius (radius around the actor used to generate Navigation Mesh tiles) and Tile Removal Radius (radius from the actor used to remove Navigation Mesh tiles). For this example, set these values to 3000 and 5000, respectively.

    Set the Tile Generation Radius to 3000 and the Tile Removal Radius to 5000

  17. Compile and Save the Blueprint.

  18. Drag several BP_NPC_Invoker Blueprints to your Level and click Simulate to see the navigation generating around each Agent.

    Drag several BP_NPC_Invoker Blueprints to your Level

    If you don't see the navigation, press P on your keyboard to visualize the Navigation Mesh.

     Your Agents are now moving in the Level

Section Results

In this section, you created an Agent that roams around the Level and uses the Navigation Invoker component to build the Navigation Mesh around itself.

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