Resolving Ghost Issues – Understanding Nav Mesh Agents in Unity

Objectives 

1. Resolve Ghost Movement Issues: Address and correct the problems causing the ghosts to move incorrectly or disappear in the game.
2. Revisit Nav Mesh Agent Settings: Examine and adjust the navigational mesh agent settings to ensure proper movement of the ghosts along the baked surface of the game environment.
3. Reconfigure Ghost Prefabs and Animations: Re-establish the ghost models, prefabs, and animations to ensure they function correctly in the game scene.
4. Script and Waypoints Setup: Implement and test scripts for the ghosts, including defining and assigning waypoints for their movement paths.
5. Game Testing and Debugging: Conduct thorough gameplay tests to identify and fix any issues with ghost behavior, movement, or game restarts upon player-ghost interactions.
6. Enhance Gaming Experience: Explore and implement additional features or optimizations for an improved gaming experience.

Steps

1. Revisit Nav Mesh Agent Settings:
• Adjust the navigational mesh agent settings, ensuring it’s set correctly for ghost movement. This involves modifying parameters like agent radius and step height.
2. Reconfigure Ghost Prefab and Animator:
• Create or reestablish the ghost prefab in the hierarchy.
• Add and configure an Animator Controller for the ghost, ensuring it includes necessary animations like ‘Ghost Walk’.
3. Collider and Rigid Body Setup:
• Attach a Capsule Collider and Rigid Body to the ghost prefab for collision and physics.
4. Observer Script and Point of View Adjustment:
• Implement the Observer script from the gargoyle setup onto the ghost.
• Adjust the ‘Point of View’ object’s position and rotation to align with the ghost’s dimensions.
5. Setup and Enable Nav Mesh Agent:
• Add a Nav Mesh Agent component to the ghost, making sure it picks up the proper settings from the navigation setup.
• Enable the Nav Mesh Agent for the ghost, ensuring it can use the pre-baked surface for movement.
6. Implement Waypoint Patrol Script:
• Create a new Waypoint Patrol script, defining variable arrays for waypoints.
• Assign waypoints to the ghost, starting with a single ghost for initial testing.
7. Test Ghost Movement and Script Functionality:
• Conduct tests to ensure the ghost moves along the defined waypoints.
• Continuously adjust and retest, focusing on the ghost’s interactions and pathfinding.
8. Duplicate Ghosts and Waypoints:
• Once the initial ghost setup is successful, duplicate ghosts and waypoints as required by the game design.
• Adjust the position of each ghost and its corresponding waypoints.
9. Final Testing and Adjustments:
• Run the game to test the complete setup of dynamic observers.
• Make any necessary adjustments based on testing outcomes.
10. Save Progress and Iterate:

• Regularly save different scenes for easy reference and potential rollback.
• Iterate on the setup to refine ghost behavior and interactions.