iGround

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Contents, API Reference, Interfaces, iGround

Interface iGround

Description

iGround objects are immutable objects corresponding to the ground surfaces on which agents can move.

Defined in SDKRoot/code/externalAPI/i_pathengine.h.

(See Ground Meshes.)

iGround objects were recently split out as the immutable part of an iMesh, for a specific purpose, and most of the time you can still work directly with iMesh objects, without worrying about the fact that the iMesh includes a reference to a separate iGround.

The specific use case, and reason for splitting iGround out as a separate object, is to avoid wasting space repeating identical data structures, when constructing certain kinds of mesh federation.

Construction and Deletion

In most cases you don't need to construct iMesh explicitly, as these get created as part of the construction of an iMesh.

An exception is that you can now call iMeshFederation::build2DTiledGround() to generate a single iGround object, that can then be instanced for multiple calls to iMeshFederation::build2DTileMeshWithGround(), where you would previously have called iMeshFederation::build2DTileMesh().

Methods:

addConstExternalRef		Increments the internal reference count for this API object.
addExternalRef		Increments the internal reference count for this API object.
extractConvexPolyFootprint		Extracts a set of convex polygons that can be used as a 2D collision footprint for the horizontal extents of a ground mesh.
get3DFaceAtPosition		A helper function for obtaining information about the 3D mesh under a position.
get3DFaceAttribute		Used to query ground attributes.
get3DFaceConnection		Helper function providing access to the geometry of the underlying 3D mesh.
get3DFaceNormal		Returns a normal vector for a face in the underlying 3d mesh.
get3DFaceVertex		Helper function providing access to the geometry of the underlying 3D mesh.
getNumberOf3DFaces		Helper function providing access to the geometry of the underlying 3D mesh.
getNumberOfSections		Helper function returning the number of sections present in the underlying 3D mesh.
getSectionID		Returns the section ID for a given position.
getSurfaceType		Queries for the surface type value associated with the given position on a ground mesh.
hasRefs		Enables you to check whether there are any outstanding references on this object, other than the interface reference through which you are calling, and therefore whether this object will actually be deleted if you call its release method.
positionIsValid		Returns whether or not the specified position is a valid position on this ground.
release		Releases the API object pointer.
save		Saves part or all of the information in a ground object to persistence.

next: iGround::addConstExternalRef()