How to move AI avoiding obstacles on the path?

Development Programming & Scripting AI
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1

hi guys , please give me some advice i am doing strategy game and ai has to move to location which player clicks , and "AIMoveTo "function moves the ai but doesnt avoids and obstacles . how to make them to avoid obstacles ? What topics i should look ? or may be there are some plugins for that which you know ?

2

Depends on the obstacle.
If it’s a static obstacle, it should avoid it if placed on the nav mesh
if it’s a dynamic obstacle, you will need to change the navmesh settings in your project.
If you are still having issues, you might need to look into steering behaviors.

3

I made a video tutorial on this.
I hope it helps.

4

Check this documentation for obstacle avoidance: Using Avoidance With the Navigation System in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.5 Documentation | Epic Developer Community

5

Great question @ulanov1707 — AI navigation can get tricky fast in strategy games where you’re dealing with obstacles, terrain, and dynamic movement at scale. You’re not alone! :backhand_index_pointing_down:

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: Why AIMoveTo Ignores Obstacles Sometimes:

AIMoveTo relies on Unreal’s NavMesh (Navigation Mesh) system. If your obstacles aren’t properly blocking navigation or the mesh isn’t updating, the AI won’t “see” them.

:white_check_mark: What to Do:

1. Enable and Bake a NavMesh

  • Add a NavMeshBoundsVolume to your level
  • Press P in the viewport to visualize it (green areas = navigable)

2. Make Sure Obstacles Affect Navigation

  • In the obstacle’s collision settings, set Can Ever Affect Navigation to true
  • Make sure they’re marked as blocking in your NavMesh agent filter

3. For Dynamic Obstacles

  • Use NavModifierVolume or NavLinkProxy to dynamically control walkability
  • If objects move or spawn during gameplay, make sure the NavMesh is set to dynamically rebuild

:brain: What to Look Into:

  • NavMovementComponent, AIController, and Pawn movement
  • EQSystem (Environment Query System) for smarter pathing
  • SmartNavLinks for jumping, ledges, or off-mesh movement
  • Navigation Invokers if your world is large and needs streaming

:gear: Bonus Workflow Tip (from experience)

In RTS or strategy projects, AI movement bugs often tie back to:

  • An actor missing nav collision settings
  • A misplaced nav volume
  • A single terrain object not flagged correctly

To manage that kind of detail at scale, we built a tool called Asset Optics. It lets you:

  • :pushpin: Leave comments and checklists directly on actors (like “Check if this rock blocks nav”)
  • :counterclockwise_arrows_button: Sync all of that to a web dashboard for your team
  • :white_check_mark: Track per-asset status (like “Tested AI pathing here” or “NavMesh fails on hill zone”)

It’s super useful when you have dozens of units, terrain pieces, and interactions that evolve across development.

Let us know how it goes — or if you want help setting up a reusable nav template. We’ve worked on AI-heavy scenes and know the pain of chasing invisible pathing bugs! :collision: