Research of the Path Finding Algorithm A* in Video Games

Abstract

Pathfinding is an essential component of many video games. This review provides a simple overview of the classical pathfinding algorithm A*, including a brief summary of the A* algorithm, as well as a few optimizations and applications of A* in video games. In the gaming industry, A* is a widely used pathfinding algorithm. Based on breadth first search and heuristic search, A* uses a heuristic function to quickly find the shortest path in a game map. A common optimization of A* is to use a binary heap to save the open queue, a variety of heuristic functions are also commonly used to increase the accuracy and speed of A*. This paper summarizes work done on the A* algorithm. The goal of this paper is to give researchers and developers a simple overview of the A* algorithm and its applications in video games.