3D Support

[lua-star.git] / README.md

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 # lua-star
-Easy A* path finding for Lua
+
+[![Build Status](https://www.travis-ci.com/wesleywerner/lua-star.svg?branch=master)](https://www.travis-ci.com/wesleywerner/lua-star)
+
+Lua-star is a pure Lua A* path-finding library.
+
+![lua star example screenshot](example/example.gif)
+
+# Quick Start
+
+Easy to use, it will make you more attractive and you feel sensual doing so.
+
+    local luastar = require("lua-star")
+
+    function positionIsOpenFunc(x, y)
+        -- should return true if the position is open to walk
+        return mymap[x][y] == walkable
+    end
+
+    local path = luastar:find(width, height, start, goal, positionIsOpenFunc, useCache, excludeDiagonalMoving)
+
+`path` will be false if no path was found, otherwise it contains a list of points that travel from `start` to `goal`:
+
+    if path then
+        for _, p in ipairs(path) do
+            print(p.x, p.y)
+        end
+    end
+
+Lua star does not care how your map data is arranged, it simply asks you if the map position at `x,y` is walkable via a callback.
+
+`width` and `height` is your map size.
+
+`start` and `goal` are tables with at least the `x` and `y` keys.
+
+    local start = { x = 1, y = 10 }
+    local goal = { x = 10, y = 1 }
+
+`positionIsOpenFunc(x, y)` is a function that should return true if the position is open to walk.
+
+`useCache` is optional and defaults to `false` when not given. If you have a map that does not change, caching can give a speed boost.
+
+If at any time you need to clear all cached paths:
+
+    luastar:clearCached()
+
+`excludeDiagonalMoving` also optional value  defaults to `false`. If you want to exclude the possibility of moving diagonally set the value `true`. i.e, by default, diagonal movement is **enabled**
+
+# Requirements
+
+* [Lua 5.x](http://www.lua.org/)
+
+For running unit tests:
+
+* [Lua Rocks](https://luarocks.org/)
+* busted
+
+These commands are for apt-based systems, please adapt to them as needed.
+
+    sudo apt-get install luarocks
+    sudo luarocks install busted
+
+Unit testing is done with busted, the `.busted` config already defines everything, so simply run:
+
+    busted
+
+# Performance
+
+There is a performance measurement tool in `tests/performance.lua`, it calculates the average time to find a path on a large, random map.
+
+    # copy the lib to tests
+    $ cp ../src/lua-star.lua .
+
+    # measure performance
+    $ lua performance.lua
+    Running with seed 1540584306
+    Building a map of 3000x3000...
+    Precalculating 6000 random start/goal positions...
+    Finding 1000 paths...
+        Done in 16.37 seconds.
+        That is 0.0164 seconds, or 16 milliseconds, per path.
+        The map has 9.0 million locations, with about 65% open space.
+
+
+# Example
+
+There is an [interactive example](example/main.lua) that can be run with [Love](https://love2d.org).
+
+# License
+
+See the file [LICENSE](LICENSE)