Aquila
GameMaker has some really nice built-in pathfinding in the form of mp_grids; in fact, I often go as far as saying they're my favorite built-in system of GameMaker. They're great if you want to be able to navigate through a grid-based structure like a maze, but sometimes they're not quite the right tool for the job. Did you ever want to implement Google Maps in GameMaker? Probably not, but bear with me.
Enter the pathfinding algorithm known as A*! mp_grids actually use A* under the hood, but they're set up in a special way such that each node is automatically connected to its neighbors, creating a grid rather than a generic mesh. This way, the network is defined only by the connections between each node (see: graphs), rather than their physical location in space.
To get started, download the YYMP from the Itch page and import it into GameMaker (Tools > Import Local Package).
- Aquila can be found on Itch here.
- For the sake of my sanity, I won't be posting anything else to the GameMaker marketplace until Yoyo actually does a bit of work on the user experience over there, because my time is worth more than that.
Aquila was written using GameMaker Studio 2.3.3. It relies on some of the language features added in 2.3.3, and won't work in anything older.
There's a demo program which shows this system in use for navigation between major cities in the United States. Distances between cities are estimates; do not use this as IRL driving directions.
- Icon is Bald Eagle by Icons Producer from the Noun Project