Matrix Games Forums

wtf is this pathfinding???

I still see this too often...

I can't even understand WHY there is pathfinding anyway. Just go straight there! I mean, I'd understand if the AI was making a detour to refuel at a station, but why does it feel the need to make stops at random systems?

Possibly because of the limited Jump Distance.

Also pathfinding is required around obstacles like planets, asteroids and other ships shooting at you.

To stay in formation or to line up a shot with different weapons on different firing arcs.

On that note. I would prefer if my ships would not flee 2 weeks into open space just because the paint got scratched.
They should rather go to the next save location in my empire, preferable in the same system.

You could flee into open space where nobody will ever find you again, or you could go to your ASSIGNED HOMEBASE
with a nice Repair and Refuel Facilities surrounded by Defense Stations.

Emperor0Akim wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 11:07 am Possibly because of the limited Jump Distance.

But nothing is preventing ships from stopping in the middle of nowhere. Why force ships to detour just to spend a few seconds inside a random star system instead of in deep space?

Because Solar Panels don't work outside of Star Systems and working Solar Panels save fuel.

Of course you could counter that the direct route would still be more fuel efficient, if the detour becomes to long.
My guess though is, that this would venture into the "travelling salesman"-Problem for optimal pathing.
And with a look to performance with increasing groups, this is a problem you want to avoid.

So the way around it, is to introduce some hard rules, that may seem to be counter-productive in smaller samples.

What i see is that the pathfinding AI use only stars as node for their paths.

A simple solution would be:
When generating a new map, the program could generate invisible nodes, where there are gap in the map.
This would make the paths sharper.

While I'm now on [1.0.3.0] this was [1.0.2.8] , that's not pathfinding, that's pathloosing

Thineboot wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 3:23 pm While I'm now on [1.0.3.0] this was [1.0.2.8] , that's not pathfinding, that's pathloosing

Yes, the crew and navigator added the glowy mushrooms to the still down in Engineering... Best moonshine ever!

Erik Rutins wrote: Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:12 pm As of March 28th, 2022 v1.0.2.8
[...]
(TLDR: We are prioritizing Critical Issues, Performance Issues and Gameplay issues in that order. We will be putting more time into testing beta updates before they go official to avoid introducing new save or other problems. We will be switching to a slower update schedule to make additional testing possible and to improve the stability of official updates going forward.)
[...]
Priority #3 - Gameplay
[...]
4. Improve pathing issues related to nebula storms as well as home systems being generated within nebulas This should also improve pathfinding issues that could in rare cases result in ridiculous paths around the galaxy.
[...]

hicks

Ahh yes the route plotted by the taxi driver when he knows you are from out of town. Or as my father calls it ' We are not lost just taking the scenic route' All jokes aside will be happy when it is fixed. Was having issues inside a Grav storm my ships thought it would be quicker to jump out of the system and then back in to move from one planet to another.