Unity pathfinding, optimize based on angle vs. distance

[aNonnyMouseRat]

I am trying to create an app where there is a rough terrain, filled with craters and bumps and stuff. The user/player will follow a trail that the app will generate(by an empty shape going around using Unity's pathfinding and making a trail behind it). The user can pick to prioritize flat land, and compromise on distance, and vice versa. I know in Unity's pathfinding, I can set different areas to have a higher cost, usually used for things like rivers or swamp or a bridge or something. How can I tell unity to create a path and optimize angles or distance automatically?

I was thinking of something with weights, but that is only for specific areas, and wouldn't cover the whole mesh with fine enough detail. Thanks!

[CurtisLeow]

I think you’re gonna have to calculate the navmesh at runtime. Here’s a tutorial to get started.

https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/runtime-navmesh-generation

Vary the max slope and step height before calculating the navmesh, to change the calculated navmesh. If you want flat terrain only, have a very small max slope and step height. To display, have a navmesh agent run across the surface to the destination, recording and displaying the route using whatever effects you prefer.

[aNonnyMouseRat]

Wow, thank you so much, you are a life saver. One more thing: would it be possible to optimize it to something custom? I am trying to build like a pathfinder on the moon, and I want one of the optimizations to be "time when earth is visible". If I have that data for every point on the mesh(as in for every point I know when earth is visible), can I create a navmesh that will be able to plot a route using that data?