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BabylonJS-CharacterController

A 3rd person CharacterController for use in BabylonJS (a 3D HTML Webgl framework) applications.
It uses the collider and moveWithCollision() function to move the character around. It uses physics kinematic equations to calculate movements like jump, fall, slide. It does not use any physics engine. It does not react to forces but does apply forces to other physics object. The force applied cannot be controlled.
For demo see
https://ssatguru.github.io/BabylonJS-CharacterController-Samples/demo/

About

It currently supports

It supports two modes or ways of moving the avatar.
One suitable for third/first person kind of game and the other suitable for top down isometric kind of game.
Further within the third/first person mode, two “submodes” are supported.
In one submode the left and right keys make the avatar turn left or right and the back key makes the avatar walk backward with back facing the camera.
In the other submode the left and right keys make the avatar face and move left or right and the back keys makes the avatar turn around and move towards the camera. See “setMode” and “Turning On/Off” below.

Further it supports constraining avatar from traversing slopes inclined at certain angles.

It also supports camera “elasticity”. In other words if a mesh comes between the camera and avatar/player, the camera snaps to a position in front of the mesh. This way the avatar/player is always in view.

It can also enter first person view if the camera comes very close to the avatar/player

Breaking change with 0.2.0

Instead of “jump” animation it expects “idleJump” and “runJump” animations.

Version 0.2.0 converts the project from a plain vanilla JavaScript project to a module based JavaScript project.
With this change, the way to load the application has changed.
In JavaScript, instead of

var CharacterControl = org.ssatguru.babylonjs.component.CharacterController;
var characterControl = new CharacterControl(player, camera, scene);

now do

var characterControl = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene);

In TypeScript, instead of

import CharacterController = org.ssatguru.babylonjs.component.CharacterController;

now do

import {CharacterController} from "babylonjs-charactercontroller";

See below for more details.

Quick start

  1. add the following dependencies
<script src="https://cdn.babylonjs.com/babylon.js"></script>
<script src="CharacterController.js"></script>

See INSTALL below to find where you can get “CharacterController.js”.

  1. if your mesh rotation is in quaternion then switch to euler.
    NOTE: The GLTF/GLB files have rotation in quaternion
// character controller  needs rotation in euler.
// if your mesh has rotation in quaternion then convert that to euler.
player.rotation = player.rotationQuaternion.toEulerAngles();
player.rotationQuaternion = null;
  1. instantiate charcater controller and start it.
  //------------------Character Controller -------------------------------------------------
  //fourth parm agMap is optional and is used when animation groups rather than animation ranges
  //are used.
  var cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene, agMap);
  cc.start();

see “BabylonJS-CharacterController-Samples” https://github.com/ssatguru/BabylonJS-CharacterController-Samples for a few simple samples to help you get going

INSTALL

You can get the “CharacterController.min.js” from its git repository “dist” folder or “releases” section
https://github.com/ssatguru/BabylonJS-CharacterController/tree/master/dist
https://github.com/ssatguru/BabylonJS-CharacterController/releases

You can also install it from npm

npm install babylonjs-charactercontroller

Usage

This has been built as an UMD module which means you can use it as a CommonJS/NodeJS module, AMD module or as a global object loaded using the script tag.

Project “BabylonJS-CharacterController-Samples” https://github.com/ssatguru/BabylonJS-CharacterController-Samples has a collection of sample projects to show how to use this from TypeScript, NodeJs, AMD or plain vanilla JavaScript applications.

Below is a quick summary of how you can use this as different module types.

TypeScript

// TypeScript
import * as BABYLON from "babylonjs";
import {CharacterController} from "babylonjs-charactercontroller";
...
let engine = new BABYLON.Engine(canvas, true);
...
let cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene);

CommonJS/NodeJS Module

let BABYLON = require("babylonjs");
let CharacterController = require("babylonjs-CharacterController").CharacterController;
...
let engine = new BABYLON.Engine(canvas, true);
...
let characterController = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene);
...

AMD Module

<script src="./lib/require.js"></script>
<script>
	require.config({
		baseUrl: ".",
		paths: {
			"babylonjs": "./lib/babylon",
			"cc": "./lib/CharacterController"
		}
	});

	require(['babylonjs', 'cc'], function (BABYLON, cc) {
		let CharacterController = cc.CharacterController;
		...
		let engine = new BABYLON.Engine(canvas, true);
		...
		let characterController = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene);
		...
	});
</script>

Global Module

<script src="./lib/babylon.js"></script>
<script src="./lib/CharacterController.js"></script>
<script>
...
let engine = new BABYLON.Engine(canvas, true);
...
let characterController = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene);
...
</script>

API ( version 0.4.4 )

To Instantiate

// JavaScript

// if using animation ranges
var cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene);

// if using animation groups (.glb files use animation groups)
var cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene, agMap);
//agMap is a Map which maps an "animation name" to "animationGroup object".

// if the avatar face is forward facing (positive Z direction)
var cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene, agMap, true);

// TypeScript

import {CharacterController} from "babylonjs-charactercontroller";

// if using animation ranges
let cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene);

// if using animation groups (.glb files use animation groups)
let cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene, agMap);
//agMap is a Map which maps an "animation name" to "animationGroup object".

// if the avatar face is forward facing (positive Z direction)
let cc = new CharacterController(player, camera, scene, agMap, true);

Takes five parms

let myWalkAnimationGroup:AnimationGroup = ...;
let agMap:{} = {
    	"walk": myWalkAnimationGroup,
     	"run": ...,
}

Note: If camera is set to null then the camera will not follow the character and keybaord will not controll the character. You can use this for an NPC which you can move around programmatically. See the section on “Controlling Avatar programmatically”.

If using animation ranges the player skeleton is expected to have the animation ranges named as follows

If a particular animation is not provided then the controller will not play that animation and will continue playing the animation it was playing just before. Note that if no animations are provided then no animations will be played. This, thus, can be used to move an non skeleton based mesh around.

Note that there are some animations with name ending with string “Fast”. If these are not present then the controller will play the non-fast version but at twice the speed.
So for example lets say you provided “strafeLeft” but not “strafeLeftFast” then the controller will play the “stafeLeft” animation whenever it has to play the “strafeLeftFast” but at twice the speed of “strafeLeft”.

The “Fast” animations are played when the user presses the “mod” key (usually “shift key) along with the normal key. Example: to play “strafeLeft” if the key is set to “q” then to play “strafeLeftFast” the key would be “q” and “shift”.

Now if your animation range is named differently from those mentioned above then use the setWalkAnim(..), setWalkBackAnim(..) etc API to specify your animation range name.

If instead of animation ranges you have animation groups then you will have to provide a map of animation name to animation group object. This is explained further down below.

NOTE : If your mesh rotation is in quaternion then switch to euler before creating character controller. The GLTF/GLB files have rotation in quaternion.

player.rotation = player.rotationQuaternion.toEulerAngles();
player.rotationQuaternion = null;

To start/stop controller

cc.start();
cc.stop();

To pause playing any animations

Sometimes you might want to stop the character controller from playing any animation on the character and instead play your animation instead Example instead of idle animation you might want to play a shoot animation. Use the following to pause or resume

cc.pauseAnim();
cc.resumeAnim();

To Change Mode

The CharacterController can run in one of two modes - 0 or 1.

cc.setMode(n: number); // 0 or 1
Turning on/off

Use this to set turning on/off.
When turining is off
a) turn left or turn right keys result in avatar facing and moving left or right with respect to camera rather then just turning left or right
b) walkback/runback key results in avatar facing back, towards the camera and walking/running towards camera rather than walking backwards with back to the camera

This setting has no effect when mode is 1.

cc.setTurningOff(true/false);

default is false

To change animation range name / animation group and their parameters

Takes three parms

To leave any parameter unchanged set its value to null.

cc.setIdleAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setIdleJumpAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setWalkAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setWalkBackAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setWalkBacFastkAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setRunAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setRunJumpAnim(name: string, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setFallAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setTurnRightAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setTurnLeftAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setTurnRightFastAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setTurnLeftFastAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setStrafeRightAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setStrafeLeftAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setStrafeRightFastAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);
cc.setStrafeLeftFastAnim(name: string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

cc.setSlideBackAnim(name :string|AnimationGroup, rate: number, loop: boolean);

So lets say your walk animation range is called “myWalk” and you want to play it at half speed and loop it continuoulsy then

cc.setWalkAnim("myWalk", 0.5, true);
//if you donot want to change the name or the rate then use below instead
cc.setWalkAnim(null, null, true);

If animation Group

let myWalkAnimationGroup:AnimationGroup = ...;
cc.setWalkAnim(myWalkAnimationGroup, 0.5, true);

To change key binding

By default the controller uses WASDQE, space, Capslock and arrow keys to controll your Avatar.

KEY/KEYS ACTION
w and up arrow walk forward
Shift + w run
CapsLock locks the Shift key and thus pressing “w” results in run
s and down Arrow walk backward
a and left Arrow turn left
d and right Arrow turn right
q strafe left
e strafe right
” “ jump

To change these use

cc.setWalkKey(string: key);
cc.setWalkBackKey(string: key);
cc.setTurnLeftKey(string: key);
cc.setTurnRightKey(string: key);
cc.setStrafeLeftKey(string: key);
cc.setStrafeRightKey(string: key);
cc.setJumpKey(string: key);

Example: To use “x” key to walkback do

cc.setWalkBackKey("x");

To specify spacebar key use “ “. Example cc.setJumpKey(“ “) If targetting IE11 and previous use the word “spacebar”.
Example:

   var ua = window.navigator.userAgent;
   var isIE = /MSIE|Trident/.test(ua);
   if (isIE) {
     //IE specific code goes here
     cc.setJumpKey("spacebar");
   }

Note: Currently you cannot reassign Shift, Capslock or Arrow Keys to other actions. This is on TODO list

Controlling Avatar programmatically

In addition to keyboard, as show above, the Avatar’s movement can also be controlled from script using the following methods.
You might use these to controll movement using say UI, Mouse Clicks, Touch Controllers etc.

cc.walk(b: boolean);
cc.walkBack(b: boolean);
cc.run(b: boolean);
cc.turnLeft(b: boolean);
cc.turnRight(b: boolean);
cc.strafeLeft(b: boolean);
cc.strafeRight(b: boolean);
cc.jump(b: boolean);
cc.fall();

Example:

cc.walk(true);  // will start walking the Avatar.
cc.walk(false); // will stop walking the Avatar.

A word about cc.fall(). The CharacterController doesn’t constantly check if the user is “grounded”. This is to prevent needless computation. Once the Avatar is on a ground/floor it assumes the Avatar will continue to stand on that ground/floor until the user uses keys to move the Avatar. In some use cases the ground/floor might move away and thus leave the Avatar hanging in mid air. In such cases use cc.fall() to force the Avatar to fall to the next gound/floor below.

Enabling/Disabling the KeyBoard controll

Sometimes, when you are controlling the movement of the Avatar programmatically as shown above, you might want to disable the keyboard.
Use the following method to enable disable the keyboard.

cc.enableKeyBoard(b: boolean);

cc.enableKeyBoard(true) enables the keyboard
cc.enableKeyBoard(false) disables the keyboard

To change gravity or speed at which avatar/player is moved

Speed is specified in meters/second

setGravity(n: number);    //default 9.8 m/s^2
setWalkSpeed(n: number);  //default 3 m/s
setRunSpeed(n: number);   //default 6 m/s
setBackSpeed(n: number);  //default 3 m/s
setBackFastSpeed(n: number);  //default 6 m/s
setJumpSpeed(n: number);  //default 6 m/s
setLeftSpeed(n: number);  //default 3 m/s
setLeftFastSpeed(n: number);  //default 6 m/s
setRightSpeed(n: number); //default 3 m/s
setRightFastSpeed(n: number); //default 6 m/s
setTurnSpeed (n:number);//default PI/8 degree/s
setTurnFastSpeed (n:number);//default PI/4 degree/s

To change the slope the avatar can traverse

setSlopeLimit(minSlopeLimit: number, maxSlopeLimit: number); //the slope is specified in degrees

Example

setSlopeLimit(45, 55);

Here if the avatar is on a slope with angle between 45 and 55 degrees then it will start sliding back when it stops moving.
If the slope is 55 or more then avatar will not be able to move up on it.

To change the height of steps the avatar can climb

setStepOffset(stepOffset: number);

Example

setStepOffset(0.5);

The avatar can only move up a step if the height of the step is less than or equal to the “stepOffset”.
By default the value is 0.25.

To set/change the setup step sound.

setSound(Babylon.Sound);

Example

 let sound = new BABYLON.Sound(
      "footstep",
      "./sounds/footstep_carpet_000.ogg",
      scene,
      () => {
        cc.setSound(sound);
      },
      { loop: false }
    );

The above will load sound from file “footstep_carpet_000.ogg” and when loaded will set the Avatar step sound to that.
This sound will be played for all actions except idle.
The sound will be played twice per cycle of the animation.
The rate will be set automatically based on frames and fps of animation

To change avatar or skeleton at

setAvatar(avatar: Mesh);
setAvatarSkeleton(skeleton: Skeleton);

To change camera behavior

By default the camera focuses on the avatar/player origin. To focus on a different position on the avatar/player use

setCameraTarget(v: Vector3);

Lets say your avatar origin is at its feet but instead of focusing on its feet you would like camera to focus on its head then, assuming the the head is 1.8m above ground, you would do

cc.setCameraTarget(new BABYLON.Vector3(0, 1.8, 0);

By default the camera behaves “elastically”. In other words if something comes between the camera and avatar the camera snaps to a position in front of that something. This way the avatar/player is always in view. To turn this off use

setCameraElasticity(false);

You can use the arc rotate camera’s “lowerRadiusLimit” and “upperRadiusLimit” property to controll how close or how far away from the avatar the camera can get.
Example setting

camera.lowerRadiusLimit = 2;
camera.upperRadiusLimit = 20;

will restrict the camera between 2 and 20m from the avatar/player.
When the camera comes to the “lowerRadiusLimit” the controller switches to first person view. In other words it makes the avatar/player invisible and the camera collision is disabled. Pulling camera back restores the third person view. To prevent this use

setNoFirstPerson(true);

Build

If not already installed, install node js.
Switch to the project folder.
Run “npm install”, once, to install all the dependencies.

To build

  1. Run “npm run build”
    This will create a production build. This will both compile, minify and store the build called CharacterController.js in “dist” folder.
  2. Run “npm run build-dev”
    This will create a development build. This will compile and create a non minified build called CharacterController.max.js in “dist” folder.

To test

Two ways to test.

  1. using the webpack-dev-server.
    Start the development server
    “npm run start”
    This will start the live dev server on port 8080 (could be different if this port is already in use) and open the browser pointing at http://localhost:8080/tst/test.html.
    The dev server will live recompile your code any time you make changes.
    Note: The dev server does not write the build to disk, instead it just builds and serves from memory. In our case it builds “CharacterController.max.js” in memory and serves it from url http://localhost:8080/dist. (see “devserver.devMidleware.publicPath” in wepack.config.js file).

  2. using any other http server.
    Start the server , say http-server, from the project root folder (not from within “/tst “ folder).
    Goto http://localhost:8080/tst/test.html (assuming the server was started on port 8080).
    Everytime you make changes you will have to build using “npm start build-dev”.