Wonda comes with a default invisible infinite walkable flat floor with a height of Z=0 that you can replace with your own one.
The navigation mesh is simply the surface where the player will be able to navigate within your experience. It is essential to avoid crossing walls, restrict walkable areas or either add slopes in your model.
The navigation mesh will allow the user:
To move using the directional keys (or the WASD keys) in Wonda;
To teleport using its cursor in Wonda.
Note: if you use Blender, there’s a lot of tips at the end of this section.
INTRODUCTION: WHERE IS THE SPAWN POINT ?
The spawn point is located in (X:0 Y:0 Z:0), and the player will face:
the +Y direction if you use Blender
the -Z direction if you use Spoke
We will see later that this means that our Mesh Navigation must contain the point (0;0;0).
This also means that if you need to move the spawn point, you'll need to move your whole room so that it matches your spawn expectations.
CREATE THE NAVIGATION MESH
We recommend you to create your Navigation Mesh from a simple plane, remember that your whole navigation mesh must be contained in only one object. Your navmesh must contain a maximum of 1k triangles. We recommend you to keep your navigation mesh related, otherwise characters will need teleportation.
SET UP THE NAVIGATION MESH
To contribute the navigation mesh directly through the Blender file, we are expecting the parent node of the navigation mesh to be named “Wonda_Navmesh” (mandatory).
The navigation mesh must:
be positioned above the floor
must contain the spawn point located in (0:0:0);
have its normals oriented in the direction of the user.
Here is a rightly defined navmesh with good normal orientation and right positioning (above the floor):
VALIDATE THE NAVIGATION MESH
Validating cursor navigation
To validate cursor navigation, we need to use Wonda. In the editor, you can check using the mouse that you can navigate with the cursor and that the navigation mesh is not shown.
You also need to validate that you can not teleport to areas where the navigation mesh is not defined.
Validating directional key navigation
To validate cursor navigation, we need to use Wonda. In the editor, you can check using the arrow keys that you can navigate and that the navigation mesh is not shown.
You also need to validate that you can not move to areas where the navigation mesh is not defined.
WONDA TIPS FOR BLENDER USER
Navigation Mesh creation in Blender
We advise you to use Blender’s Subdivide and Loop Cut & Slide operations, the Knife tool and the Bridge Edge Loops tool to link edges in order to create bridges or stairs in a quick and easy way.
The Bridge Edge Loops is located in [Edit Mode] Edge → Bridge Edge Loops (don’t forget to select the 2 concerned edges before).
Deal with normals in Blender
To inspect normals in Blender, as shown in the image below, you need to:
Be in [Edit Mode] (after selecting your object);
Display the normal in the viewport overlay options.
Note: To invert normals if necessary you can go to [Edit Mode] Mesh → Normals → Flip:
Now you know everything you need to create your custom walkable area! Take a look at this article to learn how to import your custom room & floor into Wonda.