cat docs/simple-waypoint-tween/

simple waypoint tween

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Simple Waypoint Tween

A lightweight path-following and tweening system for Unity. Move objects along linear or spline paths with 20+ easing curves, per-waypoint settings, events, rotation tracking, and scale tweening.

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Overview

Simple Waypoint Tween lets you create smooth object movement along paths using waypoints. Place waypoints in your scene or define them as reusable ScriptableObject assets, choose between linear segments or Catmull-Rom spline curves, pick an easing curve, and press play.

Movement

Feature Description
Path Types Linear (straight segments) or Catmull-Rom spline (smooth curves)
Path Modes Once, Loop, or PingPong
Easing Curves 20+ built-in curves (Linear, Quad, Cubic, Quart, Quint, Sine, Expo, Circ, Elastic, Back, Bounce) with In/Out/InOut variants
Custom Curves Unity AnimationCurve support for fully custom motion profiles
Constant Speed Arc-length parametrized movement for consistent speed across variable-length segments
Per-Waypoint Easing Override the global easing curve per individual waypoint

Data & Editing

Feature Description
Inline Waypoints Set waypoints directly on the component — quick and disposable
PathDefinition Assets ScriptableObject paths — share one path across multiple objects, save as project assets
Scene View Editing Click to select waypoints, drag position handles, Ctrl+Click to add new waypoints at the raycast hit point
Path Editor Window Dedicated editor window (Window > SWTween > Path Editor) with waypoint list, reorder, reverse, and mirror tools
Path Preview Gizmo preview of the full path in the scene view — shows both the raw path and the eased-motion path

Transform Support

Feature Description
Position Tweening Move along the path with constant speed and easing
Rotation Modes None, LookAtTarget (look ahead along path), or FollowTangent (smooth rotation following spline direction)
Scale Tweening Lerp between per-waypoint scale values over the course of the path

Events

Event Description
OnPathStarted Fires when movement begins
OnWaypointReached(int) Fires when crossing each waypoint, passes the waypoint index
OnPathCompleted Fires when the path is finished (Once mode)
OnLoop Fires on each loop or ping-pong reversal

Public API

Method Description
Play() Start moving from the beginning
Pause() Pause at the current position
Resume() Resume from paused position
Stop() Stop and reset to the start
JumpTo(float) Jump to a normalized progress (0–1)
JumpToWaypoint(int) Jump to a specific waypoint index
IsPlaying Read-only — check if currently moving
Progress Read-only — current normalized progress (0–1)

Legacy Support

The original SimpleWaypointTween and SimplePathAvoidance components remain in Legacy/ for backwards compatibility. Existing scenes using the old system work without changes.

Package Contents

  • PathTween/Runtime/ — Core runtime scripts
    • PathTween.cs — Main component
    • PathDefinition.cs — ScriptableObject path data
    • PathPoint.cs — Per-waypoint data struct
    • Easing.cs — 20+ easing functions
  • PathTween/Editor/ — Editor tools
    • PathTweenEditor.cs — Custom inspector
    • PathEditorWindow.cs — Path editor window and scene view tools
  • Legacy/ — Original v1.0 components (backwards compatible)
    • Scripts/ — SimpleWaypointTween.cs, SimplePathAvoidance.cs
    • Editor/ — SimpleWaypointTweenEditorWindow.cs
  • Documentation/ — This documentation
    • Images/ — hero.png
  • Samples/ — Sample materials
  • SimpleTest.unity — Basic example scene
  • ObstacleAvoidance.unity — Obstacle avoidance example scene

Requirements

  • Unity 2020.3 LTS or newer

Next Steps