Technical Details

Unity’s AI Navigation package does support runtime navmesh baking internally, but it exposes only a very low-level API. There is no editor tooling, no service layer, and no practical workflow for most teams.

The Runtime NavMesh Baker wraps these APIs in a structured, service-based system with intuitive inspectors, menu items, events, and samples—so designers, programmers, and technical artists can all configure runtime baking without writing custom infrastructure.

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Core Features

Coordinator-First Workflow

• The BakerCoordinator component is the main entry point.

• Owns a NavMeshBakeProfile (asset with all settings) and a Center Target (e.g., player or camera).

• Automatically attaches and manages the underlying NavMeshBakerService.

Service-Based Architecture

• NavMeshBakerService manages:

  • Dirty queueing and async bake scheduling.

  • Continuous AABB baking or Grid-Cell streaming.

  • Agent expansion, seam link building, and concurrency control.

• Normally hidden from end users—accessed via the Coordinator.

Dynamic Surfaces

• DynamicNavMeshSurface wraps Unity’s NavMeshSurface.

• Registers automatically with the Coordinator (optional auto-register).

• Provides buttons to mark itself dirty, register/unregister, and ping its surface.

Profiles

• NavMeshBakeProfile ScriptableObjects hold all bake parameters:

  • Bake mode (Continuous, Grid Cells, Combined).

  • Bounds sizes, cell dimensions, hysteresis, and rebake intervals.

  • Agent types, default area, and area costs.

  • Concurrency limits and seam-link options.

• Multiple profiles can be created and swapped quickly.

Event Hooks

• BakerEvents exposes static events:

  • OnBakeStarted, OnBakeCompleted, OnBakeFailed.

  • OnCombinedBakeStarted, OnCombinedBakeCompleted.

• Ideal for gameplay hooks (e.g., spawning AI when the navmesh is ready).

Seamless AI Integration

• Works directly with Unity’s built-in NavMeshAgent, NavMeshQuery, and NavMesh.SamplePosition.

• Agents automatically re-path when new bakes complete.

Non-Destructive Workflow

• Combine static editor-baked navmeshes with runtime baking.

• Useful for hybrid projects: static base levels + procedural/dynamic zones.

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System Architecture (At a Glance)

[ Unity NavMesh System (AI Navigation package) ]
        ▲
        │ (low-level runtime APIs: NavMeshData, UpdateNavMeshDataAsync)
        │
[ NavMeshBakerService ]
    - Centralized runtime baking logic
    - Manages DynamicNavMeshSurfaces
    - Async scheduling, dirty queues, perf metrics
    - Dispatches BakerEvents
        ▲
        │
[ BakerCoordinator (MonoBehaviour) ]
    - Primary entry point for users
    - Owns NavMeshBakeProfile + Center Target
    - Auto-registers child DynamicNavMeshSurfaces
    - Provides friendly methods: StartBaking, BakeAllNow, EnqueueGridCells
        ▲
        │
[ Inspector & Editor Tooling ]
    - Quick Setup menu, asset creators, Bake Monitor window
    - Dynamic Surface inspector (mark dirty, register/unregister)

This layered design separates the runtime engine (Service) from the editor/user entry points (Coordinator, inspectors, menus), making it both production-ready and approachable.

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Dependencies

• Unity 2022.3 LTS or newer

• AI Navigation (com.unity.ai.navigation) – required core package.

Optional / samples only:

• TextMesh Pro – used in sample UIs.

• Cinemachine – used in sample scenes for player camera control.