Topic: Pathing in this game sucks

So the double click on ground pathing as well as the shift-click on the radar pathing seems to get my bots stuck and randomly stops 100 times more now than before. It seems to me there's either something really bugged with the pathing, or two different pathing systems in place, of which one is horrible bugged.

I can either double-click on the ground or shift click on radar, and the bot starts moving. Now 1 of 2 things happens.
1. The bot stops after like 4 tiles. I click again, and it stops after random 5 tiles. This happens all the way to the bank, on both my clients I might add.¨

2. The bots goes awhile and get stuck into ONE impassable tile, the only ONE impassable tiles for miles. And it keeps rubberbanding into it forever. And if I then shift-click again on the same area that he's supposed to go, he loosens up, gets to himself and goes automatically around the damn bush(that's what she said).

This has been an issue before, but moreso now after this last patch. And there's no avoiding this bug. As a relatively new player I have been told about the shift-click on map thing when I got back into the game, and I have to say knowing this is a possibility has made the game worse than it was when I didn't know it existed. Because it's a nice feature, even Eve have this auto-piloting thing, which works better than this pathing. My bot often doesn't use the accelerated roads when auto-piloting, which kinda defeats the whole purpose of travelling.

Please, please, please have this issue sorted out, as it is quite frustrating, and makes often me loose the grip, mass double-quadruple-shift-click the *** outta the radar, pinging and annoying other players to my frustration over the game.

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Double click on ground will not use the path mechanic at all. You have to use the shift click on the radar.

John 3:16 - Timothy 2:23

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

the autopilot pathfinding was not updated with the same logic the npc pathfinding was.

also, theres still the question - why the hell does the autopilot stop?

*Disclaimer: This post can contain strong sarcasm or cynical remarks. keep that in mind!
Whining - It's amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear

4 (edited by MineObot 2014-04-12 19:55:26)

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Gremrod wrote:

Double click on ground will not use the path mechanic at all. You have to use the shift click on the radar.

Yeah, exactly. There's two path goers, one that's going directly towards the target, and one that actually pathfinds. IMO both should pathfind. Why would you have one NOT pathfinding, and going directly through every obstacle?

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

MineObot wrote:
Gremrod wrote:

Double click on ground will not use the path mechanic at all. You have to use the shift click on the radar.

Why would you have one NOT pathfinding, and going directly through every obstacle?

Good question.

John 3:16 - Timothy 2:23

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Pathfinding only moves on NSEW tangents, direct to location moves 360 degrees, far more useful in some situations.

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Annihilator wrote:

the autopilot pathfinding was not updated with the same logic the npc pathfinding was.

also, theres still the question - why the hell does the autopilot stop?

Now if only they'll give players the npc pathing that teleports directly to the destination when the path is blocked ;)

8 (edited by MineObot 2014-04-27 13:23:02)

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Well, I had it last night. Having two accounts, trying to move both bots is a PAIN. Even double-clicking on the ground has this -random stop- issue. So I had it. I'm waiting for this to get fixed before returning. I might log on to get my EP but that's about it.

Like it even stops before I have release my shift key.. SO annoying and gamebreaking for me.

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Wow, having to actually control the movement of your robot is gamebreaking?! Eve has made you lazy! smile

Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the mods you've lost. They belong to me now.

Scarab Kill Count:2

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

lol, someone not playing because autopilot does not work (while its still an undocumented feature), and autorun is not flexible enough?

*Disclaimer: This post can contain strong sarcasm or cynical remarks. keep that in mind!
Whining - It's amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Shadowmine wrote:

Wow, having to actually control the movement of your robot is gamebreaking?! Eve has made you lazy! smile

It's a broken mechanic and it's always been broken. Vets are just so used to it we don't mention anymore. But nice way to *** on the OP.

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

The pathfinding was mentioned in update news on 2011-8-25. Seems to me this feature is documented. Maybe it has been removed in some other updates notes, but i have not been able to find it.

link for the update notes: http://www.perpetuum-online.com/Changelog:2011-08-25

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Gremrod wrote:

Double click on ground will not use the path mechanic at all. You have to use the shift click on the radar.

That's not true; they both use the same mechanic. Where it's different is that the pathfinding will not kick in if you try to approach a player or object (instead it will just go straight at it) - but I honestly didn't even realize that until the Jim Sterling video (thx Jim!) and am fixing it now.

[14:15:15] <Freya Sabbat> ...Dear god, the Devs are as bad as us

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Shift clicking the map moves me forward 3 feet then stops

tried it on a long straightaway with no obstacles, right click + shift on the map to cross and it couldn't manage a straight line with no obstacles, just stops after moving a few feet.


I think a lot of people who complain about slow movement speed wouldn't if they were able to make use of this feature and it actually worked.

Stranger Danger / Capital Punishment / Cyberdown
Pillar of the Community
Ruler of Recruit Chat
CIR Ministry of Truth

15 (edited by Ludlow Bursar 2014-04-30 16:33:21)

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

DEV Gargaj wrote:

... and am fixing it now.

Do you have any idea why:

sometimes auto-pilot acts as Stranger describes above - i.e. runs about 40m and then stops.
sometimes it just runs straight towards the shift+click with no path finding.
sometimes it can navigate its way through a complicated maze of plants and impassable with no issues for many kilometres

I've tried for hours on end to find common circumstances for when it is in each these modes but I can't work it out. It just seems to have moods.

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

we need embeds magnets in a paths roads to make self-driving robots successfull.

Ignorance is curable, Stupidity is not.
The "Planet of the Apes" is not science fiction, is a daily reality.
All is in "The Matrix".
See Beyond the Obvious.

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Ludlow Bursar wrote:
DEV Gargaj wrote:

... and am fixing it now.

Do you have any idea why:

sometimes auto-pilot acts as Stranger describes above - i.e. runs about 40m and then stops.
sometimes it just runs straight towards the shift+click with no path finding.
sometimes it can navigate its way through a complicated maze of plants and impassable with no issues for many kilometres

I've tried for hours on end to find common circumstances for when it is in each these modes but I can't work it out. It just seems to have moods.

I don't have an answer yet and as you said it's really hard to reproduce, but I'm gonna refactor the whole pathfinding code sooner or later.

One thing I do know that it's not simple to write pathfinding code for a scenario where the terrain changes dynamically (case in point e.g. plants growing).

[14:15:15] <Freya Sabbat> ...Dear god, the Devs are as bad as us

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Race Drones wrote:

we need embeds magnets in a paths roads to make self-driving robots successfull.

I suggested something along these line when I suggested NPC transport/pickup bots.

It would be even awesome If we had extensions were we could overlay points were we could dot out the path we would like to take and let the client find the path in between each point we pick.

Steam achievement Unlocked:  Being a Badass
http://www.perp-kill.net/kill/239407
Dev Zoom: I think its time to confess, Ville is my alt
Dev Zoom: Ville can be sometimes so sane it's scary.

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Ville wrote:
Race Drones wrote:

we need embeds magnets in a paths roads to make self-driving robots successfull.

I suggested something along these line when I suggested NPC transport/pickup bots.

It would be even awesome If we had extensions were we could overlay points were we could dot out the path we would like to take and let the client find the path in between each point we pick.

Yes it would.  ROBOT PATROL FTW!

Population graphs

<GM Synapse> please don't abuse our fresh players before blowing them up. And for god sakes, don't do that after it!

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

DEV Gargaj wrote:

One thing I do know that it's not simple to write pathfinding code for a scenario where the terrain changes dynamically (case in point e.g. plants growing).

that quote is something that i do not understand.

  • Player autopilot pathfining is something the client has to do.

  • the Terrain is updated as we walk around, and the patfhinding can only work client side on client known data.

  • also, server<-> client communication causes often that the client has to syncrhonise with the server about the players actual position.

that means that by those facts, the path has to be recalculated every few meters anyway. so when a single plant suddenly grows impassabe on my path, it should not be an issue for more then a few seconds until the next refresh.

i would understand it to be difficulty if we had robot colision in 100 vs. 100 robots fighting each other, using pathfinding. (the typical RTS game pathfinding issue)

btw, the red point is what i suspect to be the issue with the current implementation.

*Disclaimer: This post can contain strong sarcasm or cynical remarks. keep that in mind!
Whining - It's amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

I'm pretty sure I just fixed the "robot randomly stops in the middle of an empty road for no apparent reason" bug and it is as embarrassing as it sounds.

I will probably push a patch out on the test server later today.

[14:15:15] <Freya Sabbat> ...Dear god, the Devs are as bad as us

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

If you did fix that, i think you made more people happy then you would realize smile.

Keeping my fingers crossed for this!

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

Out on the test server now, go nuts.

[14:15:15] <Freya Sabbat> ...Dear god, the Devs are as bad as us

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

DEV Gargaj wrote:

Out on the test server now, go nuts.

*TAKES TOP OFF*

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Population graphs

<GM Synapse> please don't abuse our fresh players before blowing them up. And for god sakes, don't do that after it!

Re: Pathing in this game sucks

DEV Gargaj wrote:

Out on the test server now, go nuts.


it still hits plants and starts to headbutt them, but it seems better for what i tested