Improve boat hire pathfinding

[Krutonium]

Look at the Boat Hire (Center Screen) trying to get back in.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ch8b4tc7p8zxc8/Leafy%20Lake%20-%20Boathire.SV6?dl=1

[duncanspumpkin]

Nope not possible yet. And i suggest changing the title to boat hire pathfinding so we can find it later.

[Gymnasiast]

Another reported problem is boats getting stuck and doing nothing intelligent to get moving again:

[duncanspumpkin]

Copy paste of @bourne2program who posted in a closed issue:

Ugh really annoying. Should be simple to detect occurrence and solution can just be to move one inwards on track if none already there

[superchadST345]

I did a test and built a boat hire with just a single boat and it seemed to work fine, 2 boats seemed to work fine, I would imagine that the issue happens when there are too many boats, ill do more testing and try with more and more boats to see what happens.

[bourne2program]

I did a test and built a boat hire with just a single boat and it seemed to work fine, 2 boats seemed to work fine, I would imagine that the issue happens when there are too many boats, ill do more testing and try with more and more boats to see what happens.

It only takes 2, then additional boats that come also get stuck. It's difficult to reproduce for the boats to arrive at around the same time to cause it, but it usually will occur sooner or later.

[superchadST345]

I ran on hyper speed with 2 boats with no issues in the time I tested, but with 3 boats issues occurred very quickly (I had 2 instances of the game running, one with 2, one with 3 boats)

I am wondering if there is a way to keep boats from being too close to other boats

[bourne2program]

I ran on hyper speed with 2 boats with no issues in the time I tested, but with 3 boats issues occurred very quickly (I had 2 instances of the game running, one with 2, one with 3 boats)

I am wondering if there is a way to keep boats from being too close to other boats

Just did it with 2 bumper boats. Try with access from both sides.

[ocalhoun6]

I am wondering if there is a way to keep boats from being too close to other boats

That's probably a good idea in general, since it may also help resolve the issue of them getting stuck in other places with other boats blocking the way.

But, it would make the Bumper Boats never actually bump each other.

Maybe instead, collision detection between boats could be disabled if they're within 1 tile of any of their own track pieces? (Obviously, they still need to do collision detection for all non-boat objects, so they don't go wandering all over the map.)

[bourne2program]

I am wondering if there is a way to keep boats from being too close to other boats

I would caution against this alone, for currently in narrow and other specific water areas - congestion can already cause significant delays for boats ever returning.

But, it would make the Bumper Boats never actually bump each other.

Great point!
I was thinking maybe boats could search for a random short path to a nearby point and those tiles of the path are blockable to other boats (similar to how it would work in real life that you would avoid getting in front of someone's heading), though that would go against what you mentioned for the Bumper Boats

Maybe instead, collision detection between boats could be disabled if they're within 1 tile of any of their own track pieces?

Specifically their own track piece that is open to join (which I think with consecutive track requirement is at most 1 track piece per ride).

[ocalhoun6]

Maybe instead, collision detection between boats could be disabled if they're within 1 tile of any of their own track pieces?

Specifically their own track piece that is open to join (which I think with consecutive track requirement is at most 1 track piece per ride).

Eh, I'd go for any track piece, because I have seen some of the larger boats (such as canoes) actually interfere with each other when one is on the track and one is not. Having a boat near the track can cause a boat on the track to stop. And the two boats can get jammed together when one is on the track and one is not.

(That's a bit of a separate issue, but it would be nice to solve both at once.)

[bourne2program]

I have seen some of the larger boats (such as canoes) actually interfere with each other when one is on the track and one is not

Oh I didn't know that was an issue. Thought it be strange to limit boats from going into tiles next to tracks. Could cause problems in narrow waterways.

[ocalhoun6]

Not prevent them from going there entirely -- just disable boat/boat collision detection while they're in that area.

Come to think of it, there's another possible (hacky) solution here:

• For every boat/boat collision anywhere, give it a small chance (like 1 in 20) of ignoring the collision and allowing the two boats to pass through each other. That way, 95% of boat collisions work as normal, so it won't be very noticeable during normal play, but that 5% chance of boats passing through each other means that no boat will ever get stuck against another boat for very long. As they try over and over again, within 20 attempts, they'll pass through the other boat and get un-stuck.

[MASHzj]

Isn't the problem that causes this bug that boats stop for a moment when they enter the track? That is at least what I always observed. If at that moment another boat collides, they both get stuck. So maybe changing that behaviour of boats stopping could be a solution?