Finding the way
Learning paths through this topic
Keep remembered routes after the player builds or digs, drop only the changed ones
A world the player keeps changing makes every stored route doubtful. Throwing them all away is slow and keeping them all gives walking through new walls. Here is a test for each change that drops exactly the routes that could be affected.
Make days long in summer and short in winter, with dawn and dusk to match
A seasonal world needs sunrise and sunset that move through the year, so winter nights hurt and summer evenings are a gift. Here is a smooth curve for day length, where in the year it peaks, and how the year wraps without a jump.
Tell the player whether their shelter really keeps the night monsters out
Players wall in a bed and sleep, then wake up to a monster beside them through a gap nobody noticed. Here is how to check the whole room at once, including the gap that only looks closed, and how big the protected space is.
Find a way for a digger in a side-view world that walks, steps up and drops down
In a world seen from the side, a character can hop up one block and drop down a short way, but not climb back. Here is why such routes are one-way, how far a drop may be, and how to search a map like this.
Skip the night when enough players are in bed, without waiting for idle ones
In a shared world one forgotten player standing at the door must not keep everyone awake all night. But the night must not be skipped by a single sleeper either. Here is the vote rule and the hour it jumps to.
Make climbing a hill cost more than coming down, and forbid cliffs
On rough ground the walk up should tire the player more than the walk down, and a sheer drop or climb should not be walkable at all. Here is a cost rule that makes routes prefer gentle paths, and why the trip back is not the same price.
Put a new player on solid ground in a big enough landmass, not on a lone rock
A generated world sometimes puts the player in the sea, on a one-tile islet or on a beach cell with water next to it, and the game is lost before it starts. Here is how to look outward from the middle for the first good spot.
Walk between the floors of a tall base where stairs only meet at matching spots
A tower base has several floors, and a stair on one floor only leads somewhere if there is a stair at the same spot above or below. Climbing takes time too. Here is how to search through all the floors at once and what makes a stair useless.
Light a cave with several torches so walls block it and overlaps do not add up
A torch should light the room around it, fade with every step, and stop at walls instead of shining through them. Two torches should not simply double. Here is the rule for each cell, and why pulling a torch down means working it out again.
Turn a treasure note of walking directions into one exact tile, without drifting
A clue says walk so many paces one way, then so many another way, from an old landmark. If every leg is rounded to whole tiles on its own, the dig spot ends up a tile or two off. Here is where to round, and what to do about it.
Tell the explorer how much farther they can go and still be home before dark
The player is out in the wilds late in the day and wants to know whether to keep going. Out and back cost different amounts of the time that is left, and night may already have begun. Here is the sum that gives an honest answer.
Stop the player from walling in so tightly that enemies have no way to the base
If every path to the base is blocked, enemies either freeze or smash through walls, and the defence game turns into nonsense. Here is how to refuse a placement that closes the last route, without punishing spawn points that were cut off already.