   A question about path blocking in games
  I'm new to this whole experience and am in the process of(or attempting to) making a simple game.  Currently I'm using Java because it's the language I'm most familiar with.  This is more of a generic question rather than a "what exactly do I code?" one, which I why I'm hoping I might find some answers in this forum.  I'm not sure if the topic is the correct term for it, but I'm looking for a way to effectively block characters from entering areas.  In other words, if there's a tree in the way, the edge of the map area, or another NPC.  The most obvious is the old "Y is where the tree begins.  If the character, X, comes into contact with Y, then don't cross".. But I'm wondering if there's something a little more complex than that.  It just seems like it would be an enormous hassle to code in every single time you add a structure.  Maybe this falls into the realm of constructing a map editor for your game... which I suppose is almost a whole different topic altogether, but if anyone has some thoughts on that I'd be interested as well.  If it does fall within those bounds, I'm also curious how one would go about this.  Do you instruct the map editor to automatically write the code for you as you place objects, essentially, which automatically blocks paths and so forth by writing the long and exhausting code for you?  Any information would be appreciated, or a starting place where I can look to for advice or reading material.  Thanks :)   
  Basically: (i will skip the part of quadtree or octree spatial organization)1)Create a bounding quad/box (2d/3d) or another bounding volume like capsule, sphere or so for every object.2)When you "walking around" do a collision test like aabb collision test or OOB or whatever.Ok now you know that you are colliding with somethings but you don't know yet if these objects effectively block your walk path. (consider an Arc, when u walking under that arc you are colliding but it should not block the movement).3)For every objects you are colliding with, do a mesh intersection test in your walking direction.Now you know if you should prevent movement or not :)Hope this help.   ;  Sorry for the late response, but I didn't want to let this go without saying thanks for the reply :)  This helped me a good deal in finding a starting point.   