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How a character controller's skin width is implemented?

I have a custom server with a traditional heightmap for terrains but when it comes to regions sitting on the terrain, I rely on 3D voxels that say whether a location is passable or not. The problem I'm having is that my makeshift character controller is getting stuck on everything within these regions instead of sliding along them as a client's character controller would (be it Unity or Unreal Engine). I have no idea how skin width is supposed to work but I'm intrigued by it. My C++ code takes a hard-stop approach when it encounters an impassable voxel. I would like to know more about how PhysX skin works.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The PhysX documentation describes this here and it looks like the source code is available here. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 28, 2023 at 1:12
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    \$\begingroup\$ But I think this might be an XY Problem. It sounds like what you really want is "How do I implement a collide-and-slide behaviour between a capsule and voxels, without getting snagged on corners?" You think skin width could be a solution to that, but it might not be. Ask about your goal / the problem to solve, not about the stepping stone you're guessing might get you there. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 28, 2023 at 1:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ I know one thing for sure, my "capsule" is really a point. On the server side (which is what I'm talking about), I've implemented everything myself and there is no capsule or circle for my character's "collider". I will look at the source you just pointed me to. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 28, 2023 at 1:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ You probably want to model the character as having some radius if you want them to climb up over small ridges without a hard stop. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 28, 2023 at 1:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ You're right. I shouldn't be focused on skin width. My end-goal is to be able to move smoothly throughout the level geometry without the use of any game engine and given only a 3D bitmap of what is passable/impassable. But I'm not even going to concern myself with the 3rd dimension at this point. So, instead of a capsule collider for my character, consider a circle collider. I want to be able to move smoothly throughout a 2D environment given a bitmap of valid positions. I could easily adapt any solution to work in 3 dimensions for when my character is jumping or flying. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 28, 2023 at 1:41

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