(A* Pathfinding) Enemy is moving step by step when near player

Hello,
I have a problem with enemy AI. He’s walking towards player but when he’s 4-5 steps near him, he stops moving smoothly and he’s ‘jumping’ when A* path is being updated. The bug doesn’t occur when player is standing still on his starting position.

Here is script for controlling enemy AI and for his movement using raycasts:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
using Pathfinding;

[RequireComponent(typeof(MovementController))]
public class MeleeSkeletonController : MonoBehaviour
{

    //Player position, enemy will follow to this point.
    public Transform playerPos;

    //Enemy starting posistion and maximum distance from this point untill he'll start going back
    [HideInInspector]
    public Vector3 startingPos;
    private float distanceToStartGoingBack = 30f;
    private Vector3 distanceTolerance = new Vector3(0.1f, 0.1f, 0f);
    private float gravity = -10f;

    //Refresh delay for pathfinding player is equal = 1/updateRate
    public float updateRate = 2f;

    //Getting components
    private Seeker seeker;
    private Animator anim;
    private SpriteRenderer sr;
    private MovementController movController;

    //Calculating path
    public Path path;

    public float speed; //Enemy movement speed

    [HideInInspector]
    bool pathIsEnded = false; //Checking if enemy reached end of his path
    [HideInInspector]
    bool goingBack = false; //Checking if enemy going back to his starting point (spawn)

    public float nextWayPointDistance = 1; //Maximal enemy distance from his next waypoint

    private int currentWayPoint = 0; //Current waypoint toward which enemy is moving

    /*End of variables******************************************************************************************************************************/
    void Awake()
    {
        playerPos = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player").transform;
        startingPos = gameObject.transform.position;
    }

    void Start()
    {
        seeker = GetComponent<Seeker>();
        anim = GetComponent<Animator>();
        sr = GetComponent<SpriteRenderer>();
        movController = GetComponent<MovementController>();

        if (playerPos == null)
        {
            Debug.LogError("Brak gracza!");
            return;
        }

        //Seeking path - player position, enemy position and calling method
        seeker.StartPath(transform.position, playerPos.position, OnPathComplete);

        StartCoroutine(UpdatePath());
    }

    IEnumerator UpdatePath() //Main script which searches for path toward player
    {
        if (playerPos == null)
        {
            playerPos = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player").transform;
        }

        seeker.StartPath(transform.position, playerPos.position, OnPathComplete);

        yield return new WaitForSeconds(1f / updateRate); //Waiting for next method call. Refresh rate is equal to 1 / updateRate

        if (goingBack) yield return null; //Stopping method if GoingBackPath() courutine has started
        else if (!goingBack) StartCoroutine(UpdatePath()); //Calling coroutine again
    }

    IEnumerator GoingBackPath() //Script which searches for path for enemy, who is going back to his spawn point TODO - GoingBackPath = delete?
    {
        seeker.StartPath(transform.position, startingPos, OnPathComplete);

        yield return new WaitForSeconds(1f / updateRate); //Waiting

        if (goingBack == false) yield return null; //If enemy has stopped going back to his spawn
        else if (goingBack) StartCoroutine(GoingBackPath()); //Calling again
    }

    public void OnPathComplete(Path p) //Function called to get another path after UpdatePath() and Start()
    {
        //Debug.Log("Jest błąd? : " + p.error); //Unneceserry - huge spam in Log
        if (!p.error)
        {
            path = p; //Passing variable p to "path" that is being used for pathfinding
            currentWayPoint = 0; //Choosing initial index (0)
        }
    }

    void FixedUpdate()
    {
        //If enemy is too far from his spawn, he starts going back to it //TODO - GoingBack = delete?
        if (Vector3.Distance(transform.position, startingPos) > distanceToStartGoingBack && goingBack == false)
        {
            Debug.Log("Rozpoczęcie powrotu przez przeciwnika");
            goingBack = true;

            StartCoroutine(GoingBackPath());
        }
        /* Calculating paths and controlling movement toward player */
        if (playerPos == null)
        {
            playerPos = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player").transform;
        }

        if (path == null)
            return;

        if (currentWayPoint >= path.vectorPath.Count)
        {
            if (pathIsEnded)
                return;

            //Debug.Log("Koniec ścieżki");
            pathIsEnded = true;
            return;
        }

        pathIsEnded = false;

        //Direction of enemy movement
        Vector3 dir = (path.vectorPath[currentWayPoint] - transform.position).normalized;

        Debug.Log(dir);
        Debug.Log(Mathf.Sign(dir.x));
        if (dir.x != 0)
            dir = new Vector3(Mathf.Sign(dir.x), 0f, 0f);

        dir.x *= speed * Time.fixedDeltaTime;
        movController.Move(dir);

        float distanceToWaypoint = Vector3.Distance(transform.position, path.vectorPath[currentWayPoint]);
        if (distanceToWaypoint < nextWayPointDistance)
        {
            currentWayPoint++;
            return;
        }

        //Gravity
        dir.y += gravity * Time.fixedDeltaTime;

        /* Animations */
        if (dir.x != 0)
        {
            dir.x = Mathf.Sign(dir.x);

            anim.SetBool("isMoving", true);
            anim.SetFloat("dirX", dir.x);
        }
        else
        {
            anim.SetBool("isMoving", false);
        }

    }
}

And another script:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

[RequireComponent (typeof(BoxCollider2D))]
public class MovementController : MonoBehaviour
{
    /* Structures */

    struct RaycastOrigins
    {
        public Vector2 topLeft, topRight;
        public Vector2 bottomLeft, bottomRight;
    }

    public LayerMask collisionMask;

    public struct CollisionInfo
    {
        public bool above, below;
        public bool left, right;

        public void Reset()
        {
            above = below = false;
            left = right = false;
        }
    }

    /* Variables */
    const float skinWidth = 0.015f;
    public int horizontalRayCount = 4;
    public int verticalRayCount = 4;

    float horizontalRaySpacing;
    float verticalRaySpacing;

    BoxCollider2D boxCol2d;
    RaycastOrigins raycastOrigins;
    public CollisionInfo collisions;

	void Start ()
    {
        boxCol2d = GetComponent<BoxCollider2D>();
        CalculateRaySpacing();
	}

    public void Move(Vector3 velocity)
    {
        UpdateRaycastOrigins();
        collisions.Reset();

        if (velocity.x != 0)
        {
            HorizontalCollisions(ref velocity);
        }
        if (velocity.y != 0)
        {
            VerticalCollisions(ref velocity);
        }

        transform.Translate(velocity);
    }

    void HorizontalCollisions(ref Vector3 velocity)
    {
        float directionX = Mathf.Sign(velocity.x);
        float rayLength = Mathf.Abs(velocity.x) + skinWidth;

        for (int i = 0; i < verticalRayCount; i++)
        {
            Vector2 rayOrigin = (directionX == -1) ? raycastOrigins.bottomLeft : raycastOrigins.bottomRight;
            rayOrigin += Vector2.up * (horizontalRaySpacing * i + velocity.y);
            RaycastHit2D hit = Physics2D.Raycast(rayOrigin, Vector2.right * directionX, rayLength, collisionMask);

            if (hit)
            {
                velocity.x = (hit.distance - skinWidth) * directionX;
                rayLength = hit.distance;

                collisions.left = directionX == -1;
                collisions.right = directionX == 1;

                Debug.DrawRay(rayOrigin, Vector2.right * directionX * hit.distance, Color.green);
            }
        }
    }

    void VerticalCollisions(ref Vector3 velocity)
    {
        float directionY = Mathf.Sign(velocity.y);
        float rayLength = Mathf.Abs(velocity.y) + skinWidth;

        for (int i = 0; i < verticalRayCount; i++)
        {
            Vector2 rayOrigin = (directionY == -1) ? raycastOrigins.bottomLeft : raycastOrigins.topLeft;
            rayOrigin += Vector2.right * (verticalRaySpacing * i + velocity.x);
            RaycastHit2D hit = Physics2D.Raycast(rayOrigin, Vector2.up * directionY, rayLength, collisionMask);

            if (hit)
            {
                velocity.y = (hit.distance - skinWidth) * directionY;
                rayLength = hit.distance;

                collisions.below = directionY == -1;
                collisions.above = directionY == 1;


                Debug.DrawRay(rayOrigin, Vector2.up * directionY * rayLength, Color.green);
            }
        }
    }

    void UpdateRaycastOrigins()
    {
        Bounds bounds = boxCol2d.bounds;
        bounds.Expand(skinWidth * -2);

        raycastOrigins.bottomLeft = new Vector2(bounds.min.x, bounds.min.y);
        raycastOrigins.bottomRight = new Vector2(bounds.max.x, bounds.min.y);
        raycastOrigins.topLeft = new Vector2(bounds.min.x, bounds.max.y);
        raycastOrigins.topRight = new Vector2(bounds.max.x, bounds.max.y);
    }

    void CalculateRaySpacing()
    {
        Bounds bounds = boxCol2d.bounds;
        bounds.Expand(skinWidth * -2);

        horizontalRayCount = Mathf.Clamp(horizontalRayCount, 2, int.MaxValue);
        verticalRayCount = Mathf.Clamp(verticalRayCount, 2, int.MaxValue);

        horizontalRaySpacing = bounds.size.y / (horizontalRayCount - 1);
        verticalRaySpacing = bounds.size.x / (verticalRayCount - 1);
    }
}

Thank you in advance.

So, I didn’t have a chance to go through all the code (so, sorry if I’m assuming a bit), but I recognize the behaviour:

When the player is moving, the enemy maps a path to their location. But when they get there, the player has moved, and is no longer there. So, at that point, it either needs to jump to the player’s updated position, or calculate a new path to it. If the player doesn’t move, then the path end position will always be the player’s position, so it’s no problem.

So, you need to check to repath after it arrives at it’s destination, or use a more dynamic pathing system. Generally the first is much easier to implement.

Not a solution but a first step to find the solution:

change the timeinterval to diffrent numbers to make sure its the problem lies in the pathUpdate part. No matter if the answer is a yes or no, it will bring you further because you know if it problem is caused by the pathUpdate or not.

Also: try to find a way to show the only the important part of the code, as most people wont take the time to read through such a long code.

Problem solved - I forgot about variable public float nextWayPointDistance = 1;
if enemy was near player, the distance was very short and he was just ‘jumping’ on every path update.