ABSTRACT
Converting obstacles’ shapes to a convex hull really improved the quality of the navigation of NPCs around them. One of the principal reasons NPCs appear intelligent is their ability to properly understand their environments and adjust their behaviors accordingly. On Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, part of the mandate for the AI team was to support horse-drawn carriages at every level for the NPCs. In the game, NPCs are able to interact with vehicles even while in movement. The convex hull being only a virtual shell around the vehicle does not prevent the agent from going through it, so if no intersection is found with the contour, the NPC can simply walk in straight line to its destination. The real challenge when an intersection is detected is to find the right direction to send the NPC, since if it walks around the obstacle, it will eventually clear the contour and enter the convex hull.
