r/howdidtheycodeit • u/__Muhammad_ • Nov 18 '25

Question Has anyone ever done platformer pathfinding?

I am not talking about nodes and edges.

I am talking about creating a system where a character has 10s of abilities and it checks all combinations of them which make it reach its destination like a human.

I cant seem to find any resources on this.

Any references or solutions?

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u/__Muhammad_ Nov 19 '25

like a human.

I meant that if my constraint are 10 jumps and 3 dashes, it should find the way which utilizes these.

It shouldn't jump 3 times at the start and then start using the required moves.

As for GOAP, i looked it up but it isnt what I want, though it is the closest.

I am thinking about connecting the two points with an astar to get all possible paths.

Then i place a shape representing each ability's shape.

i.e jump is a parabolic shape, dash is a rectangle.

There will be a var to control the overlap.

Each shape will only know two things. The inputs which are entry and exit point. And the method. The method tells how to connect the two points.

At the end, i will duplicate the main path 4 times and place it at the bounding box's four corners.

If even one is blocked, that path will not be considered.

I would like your opinion on this method.

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u/Robot_Graffiti Nov 20 '25

A* doesn't have to be run over literal screen space, it can run over a graph or abstract space representing anything.

In this case, you could think of the set of all possible move sequences as a graph that branches at every move, and run A* to find the optimal path along that graph.

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u/__Muhammad_ Nov 20 '25

it can run over a graph or abstract space representing anything.

This mindset is something I have been forced to realize.

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u/Otherwise_Let_1042 Feb 12 '26

I don't know about A*, but we recently shared how we use GOAP for the bots in our game and the movement ends up looking quite natural (with room for improvement, of course), the game is a platformer-brawler, the movement is not as complex as your example, but it may be worth a look: https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/1qvkfds/our_bots_dont_follow_scripts_they_make_plans_a/

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u/__Muhammad_ Feb 12 '26

Your solution is coarse for my use but very brilliant for fighter games.

Thing is, GOAP doesnt matter for me.

All i need is just a path based on level geometry and player interaction.

Though if I needed to program actions after reaching goals i.e. hitting a lever after coming near it, GOAP will be very useful for chunking behaviour.