Unit pathing near obstacles - bug or WAI?

[Zumwalt_446]

Hi all,

I am playing through Tutorial 3 (incorporating engineering units, off-map artillery, and NBC considerations) and am seeing the attached pathing when I attempt to order a unit to pass next to a minefield. Is the pathing algorithm intended to yield this result?

[CapnDarwin]

What was the unit's SOP for movement for this move order?

[Zumwalt_446]

Hi,

The order SOP is seen below.

order sop.JPG (71.53 KiB) Viewed 641 times

[Zumwalt_446]

A quick update to my previous post:

Is this pathing occurring since the easiest route (the highway) passes through the minefield hex and the "second best" route is actually the roundabout one rather than passing through the heavily wooded hex (waypoint 2)?

[CapnDarwin]

I would say that is the case. Moving waypoint 2 back a hex may have it pathing to the right. ALso setting for cover would use the woods more as the road is the issue with the obstacle in the way. William would be able to shed more light on this.

[WildCatNL]

Is this pathing occurring since the easiest route (the highway) passes through the minefield hex and the "second best" route is actually the roundabout one rather than passing through the heavily wooded hex (waypoint 2)?

The pathfinder comes up with the detour since the direct route from 2 to 3 is really time-consuming:
- it is the final hex towards 3, so a dismounted move at the speed of infantry going uphill (SOP: dismount 1 hex from objective) with vehicles following through a full forest

The route across the obstacle is problematic since the obstacles slow down the movement significantly. Besides, for a move deliberate (wide formation, not limited to roads), the road doesn't offer much of a benefit.

The chosen detour chosen is relatively fast (vehicle based until the final hex), and the final hex move is also quicker (infantry in flat terrain).

[SgtZdog]

I would recommend changing the SOP for that last waypoint to prefer cover for example to get the desired route. Sometime the pathing (which tries to minimize time cost if there are no other considerations I believe) can be manipulated to a more desirable outcome by changing the use roads or use cover settings for individual waypoint SOPs.