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Author Topic: Inconsistent Movement Mechanics Re: NPCs  (Read 1317 times)

biomatter

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Inconsistent Movement Mechanics Re: NPCs
« on: June 04, 2015, 03:09:27 PM »

>> Exhibit A <<

We begin with frame 1. The scene is me waiting for some goblins that saw me a while ago to enter the doorway.

Frame 2. In the space of a single turn or 'wait' command, TWO goblins enter the room. Notice the turn count has only incremented by 1. What the heck?!

Frame 3. I have fired two volleys at the goblin in the doorway. Somehow, a new goblin manages to enter the room BEHIND ME. Notice the enemy name ticker indicating this is the first turn he's entered my vision. My theory is that they are treating their own movement like a flight unit, and he crossed over the doorway goblin AND myself to reach the corner square behind me. WHAT THE HECK?!

This kind of shit happens all the fuckin' time. This is just the most egregious case I've seen yet. My theory is that when enemies are in line-of-sight, they move "normally" with no hoppy bullshit, but when they are out of sight they cut corners and move over and through each other. This would explain why, when fighting in a narrow hallway, enemies do not leap over each other to get to me but instead head backwards and path to the other side of a hallway, or go find another doorway into the room. In other words, it seems like units think they can't fly, but in some cases attempt to move and the game treats it as if they can, much to their non-sentient bemusement I'm sure. I could be wrong about what causes this or how it happens.

Can something be done to change this kind of jackassery? Combat is infuriating enough - the ONLY way to control a fight is with the nearest 1-tile constrictor, but then sometimes this crap happens completely blowing all attempts at controlling the flow out of the water.

Unrelated note, but I just noticed there is a big black bar on the right side of my screenshots, meaning I have a problem with OBS... Sigh... Edit: Fixed. Huzzah! Maybe there still is a god.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2015, 03:13:45 PM by biomatter »
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ironpotato

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Re: Inconsistent Movement Mechanics Re: NPCs
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2015, 03:29:41 PM »

That guy in back could have also come through a secret door. But I agree movement is damn near impossible to get a bead on at this point. Hopefully movement trails happen and make this less of an issue.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Inconsistent Movement Mechanics Re: NPCs
« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2015, 08:47:04 PM »

Optional movement trails will be added before long to help figure out which hostiles are moving where.

But I should applaud biomatter and say that your theory is correct. In order to prevent excessive blockages in narrow passages when large clusters of robots are moving through, they are allowed to push past each other, though this leniency is only allowed when you don't know their position (so outside your FOV and active scanning range).

Non-combat robots can always push past each other (even in view), and any flying robot can jump over others as per normal movement mechanics, though combat robots are not allowed to do this while in view since it does make combat frustrating.

However, the current check is only whether you can see their origin, not destination. So robots may jump over each other in a doorway to push into a room. I don't see this as being a significant problem, because it's essentially the same thing as having whoever's in the doorway shift in and make room for the next bot to file in.

My guess with the third one is he came through a secret door, one that you didn't see open because you were too busy firing your volley. Based on the angles there I don't think it was possible for him to jump to that position.
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