Walker's AI

[Ruudje_1976]

I surely hope that the random walkers will have some more AI, not like in Pharaoh where the firefighters are at the end of the citymap on the provincial road in the middle of nowhere while the city is burning down. I almost never use roadblocks cause it stops ALL random walkers, making it nearly impossible to have full employment in more distant industries. So, no roadblocks please, but a bit more walker AI would be very appreciated.

Rudy

[Kars-T]

Originally Posted by Ruudje_1976

I surely hope that the random walkers will have some more AI, not like in Pharaoh where the firefighters are at the end of the citymap on the provincial road in the middle of nowhere while the city is burning down. I almost never use roadblocks cause it stops ALL random walkers, making it nearly impossible to have full employment in more distant industries. So, no roadblocks please, but a bit more walker AI would be very appreciated.

Rudy

Hi Rudy. Did you paly COTN? There are basically no walkers anymore and you won't need any roadblocks. This is stated in the C4 FAQ as well

[Ruudje_1976]

I was just reading the FAQ's of Caesar IV. Looks like i asked the wrong question lol

Good thinking to change the "mindless walkers system" as they call it. As for the example in the FAQ about the librarian: how the heck are you supposed to make sure the librarian lives close enough to the library?! If he lives far, perhaps he should work for the pottery maker around his corner. Am i supposed to kick him out of his house and kick him in a shack nearby the library? True, people have their preferences (never in my life would i wanna work as a potter), but as a person i would logically make sure not to live too far from (or too close to) work.

To answer your question, i bought COTN, but... i haven't played it yet. Please don't shoot me! As a collector, i simply have an entire list of games which i bought but didn't have the chance to play yet.

Rudy

[sitearm]

Walker algorithms in isometric games like Pharaoh rely on fixed paths and intersections to calculate allowed routes.

Walker algorithms in COTN originated from Empire Earth Titan 2.0 game engine and rely on where a character is and wants to be, and move it along checking for obstacles along the way.

The algorithm gets in trouble with variable obstacles, e.g., a tile checked "empty" but becoming occupied before the character gets there. The character is blocked and secondary checks have to be coded to "bump" the character's location to unblock him.

Blocked character motion still occurs often enough to be distracting, so yes, improved walker algorithms would be good!

* wipes brow *

[Ruudje_1976]

Originally Posted by sitearm9

The algorithm gets in trouble with variable obstacles, e.g., a tile checked "empty" but becoming occupied before the character gets there. The character is blocked and secondary checks have to be coded to "bump" the character's location to unblock him.
* wipes brow *

Are you saying there is a bug in the walker system in COTN which can permanently lock a walker on a certain location?

[Dog of the Sun]

I had it done to me before 2wice, with my all important priest and an
*OVERSEER like myself *

[Jimaaten]

Originally Posted by sitearm9

Walker algorithms in COTN originated from Empire Earth Titan 2.0 game engine and rely on where a character is and wants to be, and move it along checking for obstacles along the way.

C-IV has a new game engine, so hopefully we won't have that to worry about any more.

[wodinoneeye]

Originally Posted by Jimaaten

C-IV has a new game engine, so hopefully we won't have that to worry about any more.

Or a whole bunch of new ones.

[sitearm]

* shudders *

Originally Posted by wodinoneeye

Or a whole bunch of new ones.

[Jimaaten]

Originally Posted by wodinoneeye

Or a whole bunch of new ones.

LOL And my friends think I'm a pessimist.

[wodinoneeye]

Originally Posted by Jimaaten

LOL And my friends think I'm a pessimist.

I write and test software for a living.

A new engine means they have to start over (and not be able to leverage off the work they already did getting COTN to work).