Finding the way
Learning paths through this topic
A big wagon or beast gets stuck in a doorway that a person walks through
Routes planned for a small character send a wide animal or cart into gaps it cannot fit through, and it jams. Here is how to plan for the body size, and why the answer for a big unit may be a very different, longer road.
Send each villager to a different free workbench, nearest first
When many villagers want the same few workbenches, letting them choose one after another favours whoever is first in the list and leaves the rest walking across the village. Here is a way to hand out the places that keeps the walking short.
On hilly ground the route up is different from the route down
Enemies walk straight up a cliff the player cannot climb, or avoid a slope that they could simply slide down. Here is how to price a step by the height change, why going back along the same route may be impossible, and how to keep the search honest.
Predict which platform an enemy lands on when it walks off a ledge
A pursuer steps off an edge on purpose to reach you, but sometimes lands somewhere useless or in the pit. Here is how to work out the landing spot ahead of time, which platform wins when several are below, and what the unit's width changes.
Rank which power-up would open the most new areas of the level
In a game where new moves unlock old doors, you need to know which reward to place where. Here is how to count what each missing move would open right now, and what to do when no single move opens anything on its own.
Work out which spots the enemy can reach before the player does
An ambush, a raid on a pickup or a retreat to a safe door all depend on one question: who is faster to this spot? Here is how to mark the cells that belong to the enemy, how different speeds change the picture, and who wins a tie.