Program: A* Explorer Author: James Matthews Version: 1.0 (1st September, 2001) - This program was written as an example program for my chapter in AI Wisdom published by Charles River Media, "Basic A* Pathfinding Made Simple". - Check Generation5 for latest executable and help files: http://www.generation5.org/ ================================= F E A T U R E S ================================= - Draw, load and save maps. - View the A* tree and open/closed lists. - Run or Step the A*. - Breakpoints and 5 break conditions. Set a breakpoint by double-right clicking on a point on the map. If that point is queried, the A* will break allowing you to examine the tree as well as the open and closed lists. ================================= B U G S A N D Q U I R K S ================================= - Quirk: If a node changes parent, the A* tree doesn't update to reflect this. - Quirk: Do not place the goal node on a impassable (black) piece, since it will render the goal unreachable. - Quirk: The A* tree doesn't update when "Continous Update" is selected. This is for efficiency reasons. ================================= F U T U R E F E A T U R E S ? ================================= - Hexagonal map support. - CAStar should really support distance function overloading. - Improve the nasty saving/loading code. Any comments would be welcome at jmatthews@generation5.org Enjoy! - James