Good evening,
I’d like to bring up a topic that has been discussed quite a bit within the community: unit pathing. However, I don’t just want to focus on pathing itself, but also on formations and how units behave when regrouping—particularly the moments where they move backwards to maintain formation, often resulting in them being unnecessarily exposed and killed.
1. Pathing – A Simpler Approach?
I understand that pathing is a complex system with many layers. But at times, it feels like units take overly complicated routes, often running around straggler trees, animals, or other small obstacles, leading to chaotic movement or long detours.
Perhaps a more minimalistic pathing approach could help—where units simply go from Point A to Point B via the shortest route, ignoring minor obstacles like straggler trees or wildlife. Yes, this might lead to units getting stuck occasionally, but it would prevent them from doing “marathons” around the map and make their movement more predictable and manageable.
2. Formation Behavior – Smarter Regrouping
The second issue is about how formations work, especially during regrouping. Right now, when a group of units is moved, some of them turn back to reposition and form up, even if they’re already in a good spot. This causes unnecessary delays and often results in poor engagements, especially in fast-paced battles.
In other RTS games, formations are handled more dynamically. For example, units move toward a destination while gradually organizing into formation as they move, rather than trying to regroup before advancing. A possible improvement would be:
- Units already in a good position simply keep their place.
- Units behind or out of formation catch up without forcing everyone to slow down or move backward.
- Formations stabilize as the group moves toward the rally point or target destination.
To help explain this, I’ve attached an image:
- Left side: shows the suggested behavior — units move forward and align while moving.
- Right side: shows current behavior — units fall back (gray line) to regroup, then move forward again (brown line), often wasting time or getting killed in the process.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. These tweaks—while seemingly small—could have a big impact on the feel and flow of gameplay. I hope this can contribute to ongoing discussions and improvements to the game.
Regards!
