PathEngine upgraded to v5.21

French firm PathEngine has updated its eponymous pathfinding solution to v5.21.00.

The new version adds functionality for projecting 3D geometry to ground shapes. While we’re usually good with this tech stuff, only their words can give this justice (or meaning): "Ground shape projection works on 3D tri-mesh input data, with this mesh data effectively clipped to a specified agent movement space above the ground, and a convex hull thrown around the resulting set of clipped points. This is something that can be done at run-time as well as at content time, and the objects created in this way can be treated just like other PathEngine obstructions."

The pre-process data structures have also been significantly optimised, replacing the old linked-element boundary system with the compiled representation ‘previously implemented for the SPU collision core,’ reducing the memory footprint and load/save times. The system’s 3D content processing system has also been improved to allow 3D processing on 64-bit systems.

Two new companies have also now licensed the solution: Monolith, for an unannounced title, and Nexon, for the game Nexon Star.