Bug: AI Pathing Issues with Multi-Floor, Multi-Use Buildings

Hearthlings aren’t pathing too well in multi-function, multi-floor buildings.

Version: Release-453 (x64)

In this savegame, you’ll see I have a two-story building which is used as both a sleeping quarters and a warehouse. When I built it originally, I didn’t yet realize that I couldn’t see through the second story floor into the first, but I had already built storage zones on the first floor to tide me over until I’d gathered enough resources and spent enough time to build proper storage containers. Fast forward a bit, and now you’ll see the second story is almost 50/50 beds and containers.

The AI pathing issues become apparent here, as I’ve had to manually instruct my Hearthlings to clean up their mess at the nearby farm, and instead of using the available space provided to them in the upstairs containers, they continue to try and move items to the first floor zones instead. Even after I placed two containers right near the farm, they continue to path to the first floor storage zones.

When it comes to sleeping, the AI seems to have no problem finding and using the second story beds, so the bugs here seem specific to item storage management.

There are some other bugs evident here, but as the dev team has asked that we keep each bug submission topic-specific, I’ll refrain from listing them all in one post. They aren’t hard to find though. Happy hunting. :smile:


Update [9/6/15 #1]: After waiting several more minutes after placing the large containers close to the farm, Hearthlings began using them. I have also noticed that second-story containers DO get used, but it happens much (much) slower. As a workaround, placing containers near the action, filling them locally, and then moving the full containers to the warehouse seems to be viable, if slightly more work intensive for the player.

Still, it illustrates AI pathing issues, but they’re not show-stoppers, necessarily. Goblins and Skeletons, for example, still often path horribly; choosing to walk the long way around an obstacle. While playable, these issues do pull the player out of the experience, and adds to an overall feeling of clunkiness which will, I’m sure, get worked out as the game continues to mature.


Update [9/6/15 #2]: After continued armchair analysis, a likely root cause here appears to be doors and gates. Any time either are placed, or even requested to be placed (and have not yet been delivered), AI Pathing wigs out badly. Hearthlings that were working fine previously, suddenly stop walking and begin emptying/refilling their backpacks in a temporary loop, seemingly because they can no longer find a viable path back to storage containers/zones. This does seem to stop on its own given enough time, but can lead to Hearthlings getting stuck out in unsafe areas sometimes overnight while they sleep on the ground.

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