reported AI pathfinding problems in trees and plantations

[EasyEB]

After 2.7 there was an update to AI pathfinding, and now they have huge trouble getting through wooded areas. A group of vehicles will split up and drive in different directions, in circles, back and forth and sometimes completely losing their way making it impossible for them to reach the other end of the wooded area, driving back and forth forever. Before 2.7 they never had this problem in wooded areas.

 

See AI_Pathfinding_Problem1.trk

 

The next problem is related, but it existed before 2.7. In the plantations in Syria, the vehicles do the same thing as stated above, but it's much more prominent. 

 

See AI_Pathfinding_Problem2.trk

 

In my personal opinion it would be preferable if ground vehicles could simply drive through bushes and trees, because the way it is now can completely break a mission that involves ground units moving.

 

In this video the vehicles are supposed to move from the viewpoint of the camera, straight up/forward.

 

 

DCS Pathfinding problem - YouTube

 

AI_Pathfinding_Problem1.trk AI_Pathfinding_Problem2.trk

Edited April 18, 2021 by EasyEB

[BIGNEWY]

Hi, 

 

the AI will do there best to navigate through large plantations, but it is a difficult process, where they can they may try to go around, when they can not they do their best they can to get through.  We are working on the AI and do have other reports open regarding this. 

 

If you want you can give specific waypoints around smaller plantations, this is the best work around. 

 

thanks

[BIGNEWY]

we will have tweaks coming in a future patch. 

 

thanks

[EasyEB]

This behavior has become a huge issue when trying to control ground vehicles in some sort of cohesion.

 

They are much worse at staying in formation than before the pathfinding change. This means that when they split up because of obstacles, they get separated very far and do not wait for each other enough, so when they arrive at the shootout, they come one by one, and gets picked off quite easily by their opponents, whereas if they were to arrive in a group they'd not have that problem.

 

At this point I'd much rather have the old pathfinding and routing back, because the way it is now is just a mess of vehicles all over the place.

 

I've also seen that the route of the vehicles is calculated from the last vehicle in the group. That means if the lead vehicle gets lost, it has to get back to its place in the line drawn from the last vehicle. Maybe if each vehicle was following the vehicle in front of it we wouldn't have this problem?

 

Please let me know if there is anything at all I can do to help with this issue. 

 

I have another track attached. The vehicles in the track gets lost, and would probably never come out. I think the track plays over two hours (speed it up of course). The vehicles never exit the woods.

AI_Pathfinding_Problem3.trk

Edited April 25, 2021 by EasyEB