Pathing - villager goes for the wrong sheep

Age of Empires II: DE II - Report a Bug
1

:play_button: GAME INFORMATION

:backhand_index_pointing_down: These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.

  • GAME BUILD #: 162286
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

:play_button: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

Villager picks sheep farther away

:play_button: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST !

  • Less than 25% of the time / matches I play (RARELY)

:play_button: REPRODUCTION STEPS

:backhand_index_pointing_down: List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptiv e!

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. Task villagers to sheep

  2. Stack sheep on top of currently being harvested sheep

  3. DO NOT MOVE THE SHEEP - sheep that are moving are invisible to villagers (is that a bug too)

  4. Villager might go for the sheep many meters away, instead of the one in front of it

:play_button: EXPECTED RESULT

Villager eats the sheep in front of it

:play_button: IMAGE

image
image506×433 123 KB

:play_button: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

:backhand_index_pointing_down: Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file ser vice.

  • Gametime 7:28

rec.aoe2record (4.6 MB)

2

Did you try to reproduce this bug after disabling the TC mod you are using?

3

I have reproduced this bug (took many tries, its random, happens rarely) but with the TC mod (Dark Age TC, so I can see the villagers !)

Attached is another replay, minute 8, blue player, right side villager moves to left side on minute 8.

I am wondering if this relates to what I thought was a feature, but might be a bug, where villagers will ignore a sheep that is moving.

rec.aoe2record (2.4 MB)

4

Before continuing to debug this, can you verify @Felizon89 that it is

a) a known bug

b) a feature

that villagers will ignore a walking herdable? I.e. if there is only one sheep near the villagers, and it is in motion, then they will ignore it.

5

image
image639×474 394 KB

rec.aoe2record (3.9 MB) Minute 6:36

I will now disable all mods and see if it replicates

6

All mods disabled (oh its quite gnarly! Tiny minimap, tiny sheep, tiny deer, tiny numbers etc)

At 8:45 male villager decides to go for the further away oxen https://youtu.be/WblNP9C-Iw4

rec.aoe2record (3.3 MB)

7

No mods installed.

9:08 male villager walks away from a cow to a far-cow

rec.aoe2record (4.1 MB)

8

Mods are back in since they don’t influence this behavior, and game is too tiny for my old eyes without them!

This is an egregious one, villager walking way out at 8:52

rec.aoe2record (3.5 MB)

9

I think I’ve had similar “issues” if it’s okay to call it that. I’ve always assumed it’s related to villager and herdable collision boxes.

I feel I see it at least in a couple of your examples where an animal is depleted of resources. Villagers then vie for position on the new animal and a villy’s path get blocked out or blocked off by other collision boxes, so they go to a path of least resistance.

  • Like, to an alive animal a few units away, or another animal being harvested that has clear immediate room for another villy to squeeze in and help.

It makes me have to micro sheep a tiny bit more than maybe I’d like, but that’s where I’m on the fence of it being an “issue/bug”, or not.

  • I don’t mind having to micro to line sheep up in a row with spaces between them, or randomly space them about my TC area. This allows villagers to more easily go in to harvest and out to drop off, for example
  • I also move living sheep around from time to time as the harvesting layout evolves to make appropriate space for the free flow of harvesting movement
  • So, rather than group the sheep/herdables in a tight cluster where it will be a collision box and pathing nightmare, with villys confused on where to go or getting blocked out by fellow villys or sheep, I spread the sheep out.
  • Sub-optimal, inefficient harvest pathing is avoided through manually spacing things out more (micro)

This need for micro could separate experienced, high APM players from less advanced ones… one could argue.

I lean toward wanting the villy and/or herdable collision boxes a little smaller for these things; not eliminated. I think AoE4 has them completely or near completely eliminated, which isn’t my favorite thing. Sheep are clumped together, I think even overlapping ,and everything works… the need for micro eliminated

Of course, if you and I are the only ones that experience this type of villy behavior, then, yeah, sounds like a “bug” that should be looked into

If collision boxes are the issue, would you want changes or fixes? If so, how many? Would you want micro as I described it conpletely eliminated, or?

1 Like
10

Thanks, we are looking into it :blush:

1 Like