In many computer games up to hundreds of agents navigate in real-time across a dynamically changing weighted grid map. Pathfinding these situations is challenging because the grids are large, traversal costs not uniform, and each shortest path has symmetric permutations, all which must be considered by an optimal online search. this work we introduce Weighted Jump Point Search (JPSW), new type ...

One of the greatest challenges in the design of realistic Artificial Intelligence (AI) in computer games is agent movement. Pathfinding strategies are usually employed as the core of any AI movement system. This paper examines pathfinding algorithms used presently in games and details their shortcomings. These shortcomings are particularly apparent when pathfinding must be carried out in real-t...

We have isolated mutants in the zebrafish Danio rerio that have defects in axonal connectivity between the retina and tectum. 5-day-old fish larvae were screened by labeling retinal ganglion cells with DiI and DiO and observing their axonal projections to and on the tectum. 82 mutations, representing 13 complementation groups and 6 single allele loci, were found that have defects in retinal gan...

Rac GTPases control cell shape by regulating downstream effectors that influence the actin cytoskeleton. UNC-115, a putative actin-binding protein similar to human abLIM/limatin, has previously been implicated in axon pathfinding. We have discovered the role of UNC-115 as a downstream cytoskeletal effector of Rac signaling in axon pathfinding. We show that unc-115 double mutants with ced-10 Rac...

Axon pathfinding relies on the ability of the growth cone to detect and interpret guidance cues and to modulate cytoskeletal changes in response to these signals. We report that the murine POU domain transcription factor Brn-3.2 regulates pathfinding in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons at multiple points along their pathways and the establishment of topographic order in the superior colliculus...

The distribution information of game maps is highly relevant to the execution efficiency of path searching and the degree of game difficulty. This paper analyzes the relationship between the pathfinding performance and the obstacles distribution in maps from two aspects, pathfinding algorithm design and game’s map design respectively. A hierarchical pathfinding algorithm called CDHPA* is propos...

Pathfinding is used extensively in modern computer games: more efficient pathfinding allows for more units and bigger games. Several heuristics already exist to improve the performance beyond that of heuristics as the Manhattan distance when used in the A* search algorithm. In this paper, the new Boundary Heuristic (along with several variants) is introduced in order to attempt to increase the ...

Pathfinding involves solving a planning problem with agents seeking optimal paths from a start state to a goal state. The pathfinding process involves utilizing the full state space information available to agents to find the least expensive route to the goal. However most solutions to the pathfinding problem have solely focused on using graph based terrain representations and graph search algo...

Commercial games can be an excellent testbed to artificial intelligence (AI) research, being a middle ground between synthetic, highly abstracted academic benchmarks, and more intricate problems from real life. Among the many AI techniques and problems relevant to games, such as learning, planning, and natural language processing, pathfinding stands out as one of the most common applications of...