Develop Reference

How can I draw the points of a route equidistant of one another?

I am writing a program that outputs the shortest route between two points on a map. The problem is that if the route is too long and it has many points that define its path it slows the program a lot and I am looking for a way to draw just some points instead of all the points in the array.
My approach goes as follows: the map has a zoom, each time the zoom changes check which points overlaps with the others. All the points that doesn't overlap go into the routeToDraw list and then it is drawn.
To check if the points overlap or not I have the following function:
//route is a list of latitude and longitude points
LinkedList<Point.Double> route = MapPanel.this.getGlassPane().getRoute();
LinkedList<Point.Double> routeToDraw = new LinkedList<Point.Double>();
int ovalSize = 8;
boolean compareMorePoints;
for(int i = 0; i < route.size(); i++) {
Point p1 = getScreenCoordinates(route.get(i).x, route.get(i).y);
compareMorePoints = true;
int j = i + 1;
while (j < route.size() && compareMorePoints == true) {
Point p2 = getScreenCoordinates(route.get(j).x, route.get(j).y);
if (Math.sqrt(Math.pow(p1.x - p2.x, 2) + Math.pow(p1.y - p2.y, 2)) > ovalSize ) {
routeToDraw.add(route.get(i));
compareMorePoints = false;
}
j++;
}
}
MapPanel.this.getGlassPane().setRouteToDraw(routeToDraw);
The problem is that this function is quite expensive and although it does reduce the amount of points to draw and I seem to obtain some speed after calculating routeToDraw I don't think it is worth the wait each time I zoom in or out.
The ideal solution would be something like Google Maps' does when routing, drawing a series of equidistant points that modify each time you zoom in or out and look quite nice.

Two suggestions...
(old trick)... Don't do unnecessary math inside of a loop. You can and should eliminate the sqrt function, which is an "expensive" math operation when doing distances. Just compare to the square of ovalSize. It is mathematically equivalent.
Is your list sorted in any way? If there were a convenient point in your program to sort your list (or a copy of it) before displaying, then you could very quickly:
Lop off the first and last part that is outside your zoom window in one of the coordinates (say X, if you sorted by X) by doing a binary search for the window boundary
Tighten up your loop to only look at neighbors within a window of concern, and do a sliding window instead of all-compared-to-all.

Optimal Path-finding technique in a non-standard maze

So, my problem is that I'm currently working on a path-finding technique in an open world with tiles of various sizes. The object needs to find an optimal path to a destination inside an infinite world (it generates on the fly), which is filled with tiles of various sizes (which are not located on a set grid - they can have any location and size - and neither have to be integers). (The object has access to the data of all the tiles via and ArrayList). Now some factors that make this problem more difficult:
The objects itself has a size and cannot move through tiles. Therefore, it is possible for a path to exist that is too narrow for the object to move through.
The target destination may itself be a moving object.
It is possible for there to be dozens of such objects at the same time - so it is necessary for the algorithm to either be light on the system or for the path to be calculated in a few separate ticks of the program.
I tried implementing solutions for maze-solving techniques, but the main problem is the in most mazes, the tiles can only have very specific coordinates (such as whole numbers) and are always the same size.
I also tried rendering the scene as a giant conventional maze where tiles are actually pixels of tiles (so if i have a 20x40 tile it becomes a 20x40 block of 1x1 tiles), but ran into performance issues and the still didn't solve the issue with a path potentially being to narrow for the object to fit through.
EDIT:
Terribly sorry for my poor wording before, that happens when I'm trying to rush to a solution without fully understanding the question. So what I'm using the algorithm for at the moment is for NPC enemies to find their way to the player around obstacles. Here is an example of a scene:
The black circle with an arrow is the player, the black bush-like blobs are the NPC enemies. So this my my current algorithm I'm using for the enemy AI:
void move() { //part of the Enemy class, this function is called once each tick for every enemy
PVector velocity = new PVector(speed*game.dt, 0); //speed is a pre-set float denoting the enemy's speed, game.dt is deltatim
velocity.rotate(atan2(game.player.location.y-location.y, game.player.location.x-location.x)); //game.player.location is a PVector of the player's position, location is a PVector of this enemy's position
boolean init_collision = getTileCollision(); //getTileCollision is a boolean of whether this enemy is colliding with any tile
location.add(velocity);
boolean collision = getTileCollision();
if (!init_collision && collision) { //if the enemy happens to spawn inside a tile, let is move out of it before checking for collision
location.sub(velocity);
if (desired_heading != -1) { //desired heading is the angle, in radians, of which 90-degree angle the enemy wants to move in, by default set to -1 (see my descrition of this algorithm below)
velocity = new PVector(speed*game.dt, 0);
velocity.rotate(desired_heading);
location.add(velocity);
if (getTileCollision()) {
location.sub(velocity);
velocity = new PVector(speed*game.dt, 0);
velocity.rotate(current_heading); //current heading the an angle, in radians, of which 90-degree angle the enemy is currently moving in. set to -1 by default but can not equal -1 if desired_heading is not -1
location.add(velocity);
if (getTileCollision()) {
location.sub(velocity);
desired_heading = -1;
current_heading = -1;
}
} else {
desired_heading = -1;
current_heading = -1;
}
} else {
float original_heading = velocity.heading();
desired_heading = radians(round(degrees(velocity.heading())/90.0)*90.0); //round to the nearest 90 degrees
velocity = new PVector(speed*game.dt, 0);
velocity.rotate(desired_heading);
location.add(velocity);
if (getTileCollision()) {
location.sub(velocity);
}
float turn = radians(90);
while (true) { //if it cant move, try rotating 90 degrees and moving
velocity.rotate(turn);
location.add(velocity);
if (!getTileCollision() && abs(round(degrees(current_heading)) - round(degrees(velocity.heading()))) != 180) {
current_heading = velocity.heading();
break;
} else {
location.sub(velocity);
}
}
}
} else {
desired_heading = -1;
current_heading = -1;
}
}
So what my terrible code hopes to accomplish is the the enemy first tries to move directly at the player. If it encounters an obstacle, it will round its angle to the nearest 90 degrees, set desired_heading to this and try to move through. If it cant, it will rotate another 90 degrees and so forth, always keeping the original rounded angle in mind.
This doesn't work remotely well as first of all, rotating 90 degrees has a 50% chance to go in the exact wrong diretion, so I tried adding
if (abs(original_heading - velocity.heading()+turn) < abs(original_heading - velocity.heading()-turn)) {
turn = radians(-90);
}
right before the while (true) but that broke the algorithm completely (sometimes the enemy will freeze in deep thought and not move ever again).
What am I doing terribly wrong? Should I try a different algorithm or does this one have potential?
I hope this is a better question now...

How to get the distance that a body has moved during a box2D world step?

I'm trying to implement linear interpolation and a fixed time step for my game loop. I'm using the libGDX engine and box2D. I'm attempting to find the amount the simulation moves my character's body during a world step like this:
old_pos = guyBody.getPosition();
world.step(STEP_TIME, VELOCITY_ITERATIONS, POSITION_ITERATIONS);
new_pos = guyBody.getPosition();
printLog(new_pos.x-old_pos.x);
This returns 0 each time. The simulation works fine, and the body definitely moves each step.
Additional code:
#Override
public void render(float delta) {
accumulator+=delta;
while (accumulator>=STEP_TIME){
accumulator-=STEP_TIME;
stepWorld();
}
alpha = accumulator/STEP_TIME;
update(delta);
//RENDER
}
private void stepWorld() {
old_pos = guyBody.getPosition();
old_angle = guyBody.getAngle() * MathUtils.radiansToDegrees;
world.step(STEP_TIME, VELOCITY_ITERATIONS, POSITION_ITERATIONS);
new_angle = guyBody.getAngle() * MathUtils.radiansToDegrees;
new_pos = guyBody.getPosition();
}
I'm attempting to use alpha to check how far I am in between physics steps so I can interpolate a Sprite's position.
Thanks!

Body's getPosition method is returning Vector reference - that means that you not copying it by value but only assign "pointer" on position object to old_pos/new_pos. However you are assigning it once before step and then after step all in all both variables keeps the same object with state after step already.
What you need to do is to copy position vector by value - to do this you can use Vector's cpy() method.
Your code should looks like
old_pos = guyBody.getPosition().cpy();
world.step(STEP_TIME, VELOCITY_ITERATIONS, POSITION_ITERATIONS);
new_pos = guyBody.getPosition().cpy();
printLog(new_pos.x-old_pos.x);
If you do not use y coordinate you should also consider keeping only x in float type variable to not copy whole object (however it should not really impact your performance).

While the accepted response does answer my question, I wanted to add some information I figured out while trying to get this to work that I wish I knew at the beginning of this.
If you're going to use a fixed timestep for your physics calculations (which you should), you should also interpolate(or extrapolate) a Sprite's position between physics steps. In my code, the screen is being rendered more often than the world is being stepped:
#Override
public void render(float delta) {
accumulator+=delta;
while (accumulator>=STEP_TIME){
accumulator-=STEP_TIME;
stepWorld();
}
alpha = accumulator/STEP_TIME;
update(delta);
//RENDER using alpha
}
To avoid a jittery rendering of moving objects, render Sprites or Textures at their positions, modified by alpha. Since alpha is the ratio of your accumulator to the step time, it will always be between 0 and 1.
You then need to find how much your body is moving during one step. This can be done with the accepted answer or using the body velocity:
newPos = oldPos + body.getLinearVelocity()*STEP_TIME*alpha
Then just render Sprite at the new position and you should see smooth movement with your fixed timestep at most frame rates.

Animating translation between two fixed points (Libgdx)

I'm making a 2d game in libgdx and I would like to know what the standard way of moving (translating between two known points) on the screen is.
On a button press, I am trying to animate a diagonal movement of a sprite between two points. I know the x and y coordinates of start and finish point. However I can't figure out the maths that determines where the texture should be in between on each call to render. At the moment my algorithm is sort of like:
textureProperty = new TextureProperty();
firstPtX = textureProperty.currentLocationX
firstPtY = textureProperty.currentLocationY
nextPtX = textureProperty.getNextLocationX()
nextPtX = textureProperty.getNextLocationX()
diffX = nextPtX - firstPtX
diffY = nextPtY - firstPtY
deltaX = diffX/speedFactor // Arbitrary, controlls speed of the translation
deltaX = diffX/speedFactor
renderLocX = textureProperty.renderLocX()
renderLocY = textureProperty.renderLocY()
if(textureProperty.getFirstPoint() != textureProperty.getNextPoint()){
animating = true
}
if (animating) {
newLocationX = renderLocX + deltaX
newLocationY = renderLocY + deltaY
textureProperty.setRenderPoint(renderLocX, renderLocY)
}
if (textureProperty.getRenderPoint() == textureProperty.getNextPoint()){
animating = false
textureProperty.setFirstPoint(textureProperty.getNextPoint())
}
batch.draw(texture, textureProperty.renderLocX(), textureProperty.renderLocY())
However, I can foresee a few issues with this code.
1) Since pixels are integers, if I divide that number by something that doesn't go evenly, it will round. 2) as a result of number 1, it will miss the target.
Also when I do test the animation, the objects moving from point1, miss by a long shot, which suggests something may be wrong with my maths.
Here is what I mean graphically:
Desired outcome:
Actual outcome:
Surely this is a standard problem. I welcome any suggestions.

Let's say you have start coordinates X1,Y1 and end coordinates X2,Y2. And let's say you have some variable p which holds percantage of passed path. So if p == 0 that means you are at X1,Y1 and if p == 100 that means you are at X2, Y2 and if 0<p<100 you are somewhere in between. In that case you can calculate current coordinates depending on p like:
X = X1 + ((X2 - X1)*p)/100;
Y = Y1 + ((Y2 - Y1)*p)/100;
So, you are not basing current coords on previous one, but you always calculate depending on start and end point and percentage of passed path.

First of all you need a Vector2 direction, giving the direction between the 2 points.
This Vector should be normalized, so that it's length is 1:
Vector2 dir = new Vector2(x2-x1,y2-y1).nor();
Then in the render method you need to move the object, which means you need to change it's position. You have the speed (given in distance/seconds), a normalized Vector, giving the direction, and the time since the last update.
So the new position can be calculated like this:
position.x += speed * delta * dir.x;
position.y += speed * delta * dir.y;
Now you only need to limit the position to the target position, so that you don't go to far:
boolean stop = false;
if (position.x >= target.x) {
position.x = target.x;
stop = true;
}
if (position.y >= target.y) {
position.y = target.y;
stop = true;
}
Now to the pixel-problem:
Do not use pixels! Using pixels will make your game resolution dependent.
Use Libgdx Viewport and Camera instead.
This alows you do calculate everything in you own world unit (for example meters) and Libgdx will convert it for you.

I didn't saw any big errors, tho' i saw some like you are comparing two objects using == and !=, But i suggest u to use a.equals(b) and !a.equals(b) like that. And secondly i found that your renderLock coords are always being set same in textureProperty.setRenderPoint(renderLocX, renderLocY) you are assigning the same back. Maybe you were supposed to use newLocation coords.
BTW Thanks for your code, i was searching Something that i got by you <3

LibGDX - Best way to adjust fire rate in a loop

I'm making a 2D platformer / shooter with LibGDX. I'm having this loop where holding fire-button down causes bullets to fly from the main character's gun the whole duration while the fire-button is pressed down (rapid fire). That part works perfectly and as intended. However, I'd like the rate of fire to be a bit slower. Currently the loop just adds a bullet to the world on each game frame which means the rate of fire is ridiculously high.
I've been trying to find a good way to do this, to no avail. Any suggestions would be vastly appreciated.
the loop:
if (keys.get(Keys.FIRE)) {
player.setState(State.FIRING);
world.addBullet(new Bullet(1f,1f,0));
}

You can use a delay mechanism by having a variable which counts down the time and every time it hits 0, you make one shot and reset the time, for example to 0.2f when you want the player to shoot every 0.2s:
private float fireDelay;
public void render(float deltaTime) {
fireDelay -= deltaTime;
if (keys.get(Keys.FIRE)) {
player.setState(State.FIRING);
if (fireDelay <= 0) {
world.addBullet(new Bullet(1f,1f,0));
fireDelay += 0.2;
}
}
}

Use a constant to hold the fire rate and add a timing mechanism, like so:
public static final long FIRE_RATE = 200000000L;
public long lastShot;
if(System.nanoTime() - lastShot >= FIRE_RATE) {
world.addBullet(new Bullet(1f,1f,0));
lastShot = System.nanoTime();
}

I have seen #noone s answer and it is correct. I just answer you, because i had to add the same to my game. What i did: I had a variable boolean attacking, which stores if you are holding firebutton. Then i had 2 more variables: float bps, which stores how many bullets you can shoot per second and float reloadTime, which stores how long it takes to reload an empty magazin, if you use one. I also store a long time and a boolean reloading. Time stores the TimeUtils.millis() of your last shot, the reloading stores if you are reloading the magazin or just shooting. Then in the attack method i call a method: public boolean readyToAttack(), in which i compare TimeUtils.millis() to my variable time. If reloading = true, TimeUtils.millis() - reloadTime has to bigger then time. If not, TimeUtils.millis() - (1000 / bps) has to be bigger then time. If this is the case the method returns true and i can shoot. Noones solution is simpler, but for me bps is easier to understand so i used this.
Hope it helps