The first of the new major features implemented in SickBrick is navigation mesh based path finding!
Before, your robotic enemies in SickBrick walked on predetermined waypoints to get to you, similar to old games (2005 and back).
Here is an image of the old system inside our trusty NeoAxis map editor:
This caused a massive frame rate drop in the engine since every enemy had to think which waypoint to walk onto based on your position and forced us to scale down the number of enemies that you faced in the game. The system was clumsy and hard to work with.
But now we bring you Navigation Mesh Based Pathfinding!
The old system was removed completely and replaced by the new one.
The enemies now walk on an invisible mesh created in the levels, making them able to avoid obstacles and not get stuck thus lowering your health considerably more than before :D
Here is an image inside the map editor of the new system:
This type of pathfinding is used in modern engines like CryEngine3 and Unreal Engine 3.
We have been listening to feedback and a lot of you said the game was too easy.
Not only are the enemies smarter now, but we increased their numbers by a third.
Additional benefits of the new pathfinding system are a dramatic frames-per-second increase and a lot less work on our side :D
Stay tuned for more updates on SickBrick's new Mega-Patch(TM)*! To check out our new game in development "Project Lighthouse" click here.
*not really a trade mark at all
Cheers!
