Pet pathing question/suggestion

[________________Auto]

Ok new pet owner here (Crat and Engineer) and I've been wondering about the pet pathing issue. The way I see it there are two predominant problems with pet pathing. The first is pets have a difficult time following you thru missions, dungeons, and heck even outdoors. The other is that pets have a problem reaching a target after an attack command has been given.

The second problem seems to be more difficult to solve requiring a great deal of programming but the first seems trivial to solve, atleast with a compromise, to me and I don't understand why it hasn't.

If the pet is not currently attacking something nor is it currently under attack (including it being snared, rooted or mes'd) by anything then why can't we have a pet command that INSTANTLY warps the pet to the exact player coordinates? Something like "/pet comenow" or "/pet here". If the pet has agro my suggestion would not allow you to warp the pet to you but otherwise you could position the pet into any room or place that you can get to yourself. Pets already warp when they fall too far behind when outdoors (I love watching them fall from the sky when they catch up to me in my Yalm) so warping pets alreadyy exists. Heck I've been warped by squad commanders I feel like a yo-yo.

To me this would be a dirt-simple way of solving over 50% of the pathing problems. Why do I say "over 50%"? Well part of the problem of the pet finding a path to the target you told it to attack was that it didn't necessarily have a clear path to the target because it couldn't follow you around a table, into a room, or around a pebble! If you were able to get your pet to warp to your exact position you most likely already have a clear line-of-sight to the target and the pet could start its attack path from that position.

I'm 100% sure that someone must have brought this up before and I am just looking for a reasonable (non-flame) explanation of why this isn't a workable solution. I can understand that a pet suddenly appearing without using a nano formula or some such thing might appear unrealistic but to me isn't it more unrealistic that a robotic pet 25K years in the future can't navigate a room?

Please give me a reason why something like this shouldn't be done. I must be missing something, perhaps I'm too tired.

Wooti (QL200 Fire deflection shield is on)

PS - originally posted this in Beginners' Corner but I wasn't getting many response and I really would like to get some discussion going.

[________________Auto]

bump

[Barimen]

That would be a very nice command indeed, doubt we will se it though, but it sure would be nice.

Another thing that would solve almost all problems in missions is this, either:

Make all furniture "transperent" like players and even some objects, top of council building in tir for example is only a texture, one can not stand on it for example

Or make pet transperent to everything but walls, having them able to go trough walls migth not be a good idea but anything else in a mission shouldnt even exist for a pet.

Its bad for Crat and Engi but the poor MP's live trough pure hell each time they do a mish, much to a point were they are more or less not doing them at all, it is just frustrating annoying and absolutely ZERO fun, wich is sad cause any team benefits greatly from their precence, be it nano buffs or heallballs, when they work.

Not seing this happening either of course, but at least it is said, to no use what so ever.

Be well all

[Phoxtrot0]

Might even allow them to go through walls if there is an unlocked door between the rooms.

The way pets seems to get blocked trying to go through wall when there is a door just 1inch to the side ...

This is all so silly. I really believe that they are only now starting to implement pathing. I hope they can do it quickly and efficiently.

They promise osme improvement by 14.8 but it will be indirect improvement (by change of layouts or some stuff like that).
Woudln't expect a real solution before 15.1 ...

[Toxinator]

The problem is in missions, pets path as if there are no walls. They need to have an int boost, so that they can go around the wall and thru the doors.

Trust me pathing is the devil and until someone makes a post on the actual code that FC needs to put in, it will never be implemented.

[________________Auto]

To me the problem with attempting to do anything like making obstacles (or the pet) transparent/non-collidable is that you open a lot more potential problems down the road. I also don't think it would necessarily solve as much as having the pets warp on command. Right now my pet spends a great deal of time humping the walls in a mission...usually one inch from the doorway. Going further and making the pet able to go thru walls would simply bring more problems some obvious others not so in my opinion.

I would love to see a complete solution but I was hoping to point out that there is a reasonable and easily implemented partial solution. Anything more I would never expect from FC until they actually implement some reasonably intelligent pathing AI.

Wooti

[Barimen]

Was only a wish list, Autos' suggestion were it implemented would work wonders, and so easily to...

In fact, spoke to friend of mine who is meta and he said, damn it would have been so easy it they just let us summon our pets, upon wich i of course asked if he had read this thread, he hadnt, strange coincidence.

Anyhow, doubt FC will do even that much really

Yours
Umbrood

[Phoxtrot0]

FC seems obessed with the idea that it could be exploited.

Or perhaps it wold be too much like an admission of complete helplesness. "Since pets' movement is broken, let them warp instead". Duh. I can already hear the remarks that would be made.