Movement problem (clearest foolproof?)

[Arjuna]

After some initial testing I have identified that there is still an issue in that we need to also cater for AI adjustments to waypoints during some of the reassessments. I'll get onto this tomorrow.

[johndoesecond]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for this feedback.

I'm glad to hear you're making progress on this.

I also think you made a good decision to force replan with all the related order delay. It will feel much more realistic that way.

I was about to write about the segment-per-segment vs. whole route movement resolution and the related speed issue. I'm glad it came out by itself.

Thanks again.


P.S. If you need one more person to beta test this, I'm here ...

[Arjuna]

JD2,

Please email me direct "dave[at]panthergames[dot]com".

[johndoesecond]

Hi Dave,

Here's another formation lockup situation.

This time unrelated to the waypoints issue.

It's the very beginning of the scenario.

You'll see I gave the 39 Regt. an attack order setting a FUP and leaving attached the two subordinate battalions. If you run it for 30 minutes or so, you'll notice that the I.39 Bn further south stops almost immediately after moving few hundred meters.

I attach both "before" and "after" saves.


BTW, I experimented several times and changed a bit the FUP point, but the problem was always there. Strangely, if I order the regiment to move or defend at the same spot, everything works OK, so it may be related only to the fact it's an FUP.
I thought it might have to do something with the fact the regt. HQ is on the other side of the river, but who knows...

Have a look.

Thanks.

[Arjuna]

Thanks JD2. Will do.

[johndoesecond]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

OK I've finally fixed the issue and will put it out for beta testing next week. ( I want to address the Exit issue before I do another build. )

What I found was that whenever you adjusted a waypoint ( eg moved it ) it would force a recalc of the route. Alas this was not using the new code inside PlanMove that segments the route if there are members of the forceGroup that cannot reach a waypoint for any reason. As a consequence it was adding in all the waypoints for the bossTask route to each of the planTasks, rather than restricting it to just the segment that particular planTask was addressing. This could then cause loopbacks and all sorts of funny routes to be generated. It also resulted in screwing with bossIndexes used by the formation code. Definitely not good!

After thinking about the comments above re waypoint adjustments being too easy, I decided to force a replan now with any waypoint changes. This has the added advantage of avoiding these problems. In addition I added some smarts to the new PlanMove code so that it only segments a route where part of the force cannot reach it. Previously it was doing this for each waypoint and as a result you would get the force deploying off the road once it finished the planTask for that segement. Now it will only generate one planTask for the entire route if all units can reach all waypoints. Result is that it speeds up movement and that's a good thing.

We'll need to test this and confirm it's all go. Stay tuned.

Dave, I was thinking.

Besides for changing waypoints, maybe you could also consider triggering a replan for some other changes in order settings, such as Route, Rest, and maybe Attack & Bypass checkboxes.


The case for Route setting seems the clearest to me. Switching the route setting while an order is being carried out often immediately recalculates the path and sets the units to move along it. This to me doesn't appear a plausible behaviour, and can be exploited in a gamey way (for example, when an enemy unit suddenly appears along the current path, you can trick a bypass by quickly switching to "avoidance"). I believe there should be some time and planning penalty related to such changes.
I'm just guessing here, but maybe it also may mess up with formation movements.


Besides Route, also Rest levels and Attack & Bypass checkboxes could be taken as candidates for replan, for these seem to invoke quite important variants in the behaviour of the battlegroup.


I'm not sure if replans always require a full order delay (I have the impression that sometimes pink boxes appear and bring about changes in units' log without full order delay), or you can easily work with fractions of the full order delay. If that's possible, maybe some of these replans could require just fractions of the full delay.

As I said, just thinking out loud.

[Deathtreader]

Good ideas johndoesecond!! I agree completely especially regarding the fractional orders delay. Invoking full orders delay would be a bit harsh (as an example) for simply giving a formation permission to attack on its own initiative.

Arjuna/ you mention invoking orders delay for waypoint changes.....ok by me.....but does this include delays for adding/deleting waypoints or just for adjusting existing ones??

Rob.

[Arjuna]

Both.