Scenario Editor: Unable to place Buildings off grid

Age of Empires II: DE II - Report a Bug
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:arrow_forward: GAME INFORMATION

  • GAME BUILD #:
  1. Preview Version 101.102.27177.0 (#92713) 12030901
  2. Version 101.102.24724.0 (#90260) 11771158
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

:arrow_forward: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

Unable to place buildings-tab objects off-grid regardless of which mode is being used.

:arrow_forward: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

  • 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)

:arrow_forward: REPRODUCTION STEPS

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. Access The Scenario Editor
  2. Select Building-Tabs Objects
  3. Switch building modes using Ctrl+G
  4. Place Buildings.

:arrow_forward: EXPECTED RESULT

Out of 4 modes of buildings placement, two were supposed to work in prior version.
None of these modes work for buildings-tab objects, except when using heroes/units/other-tab.

Granary is a building, but it’s in other-tab so it’s work like intended. On the other hand, Barrack/House/etc. in Buildings-tab cannot be placed off grid.

:arrow_forward: IMAGE

20230905094810_1
20230905094810_11920×1080 391 KB

Post reproduction image. Caravanserais are grid-locked and Granaries are not restricted by grid.

:arrow_forward: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

The link to the reproduction, please pay attention to how grid-based the Caravanserai’s buildings are and how easily to place off grid Granaries are.

1 Like
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I have edited to add additional information that related to the bugs. Videos and Images are added. I do hope to get a response regard the issue.

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Hello @MotorRogueBike
Placing buildings off grid is not possible anymore to avoid issues with pathfinding.
Thank you for this detailed report :slight_smile:

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A pity I guess. At least I got some answers. I will keep it in mind when designing scenarios though.

Thank you for the response.

1 Like
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Not a solution for everyone, but if you know how to program, you can edit the scenario file manually using the scenario parsing library to place the buildings off-grid: https://github.com/KSneijders/AoE2ScenarioParser

Another option might be to use a data mod to trick the game into thinking something is not a building to place it off-grid, then load the scenario with the normal data set.

However tere are indeed pathfinding quirks for off-grid buildings, so I’d only recommend using them for scenery away from “gameplay” areas of the scenario. There are various AI functions related to DUC that don’t seem to return the correct values when a unit is sharing a tile with an off-grid building (I ran into these when modifying Saladin 6, where Acre is populated with a few off-grid towers).

1 Like
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This is a decision I’d recommend reconsidering. There are various non-gameplay reasons people might want to use off-grid buildings in the editor (e.g. the Pretty Town Contest). For now people have to use various workaround for off-grid placement, it would be much more convenient to have it possible directly in game.

2 Likes
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Honestly I do get it’s for gameplay experience.

I’m still like to build beautiful town though, so I guess perhaps dev can enable some sort of compromise warning before playing like this map is for gameplay purpose or for art.