Courier Pathing

[Saddletank]

Hey, which patch are you Guy's using, I'm still using the 1.4012 Version, and my couriers are still crossing over the land, instead of using the roads.

For an unknown reason, and one which certainly was not requested by us during the recent courier testing, couriers began using roads around patch 1.4023 or 1.4024. I do not know why and it has introduced a new element of frustration to our group games. I wasted 90 minutes last night riding around trying to extricate from an unwanted action a brigade and two batteries that took a wrong road and which I could not get couriers to, to make them go the right way.

We are now on v1.4026 because this patch finally fixes the courier message system in MP but couriers still use roads.

Its doubly frustrating because it is so unrealistic as well. Why would an officer bearing a message, in countryside he might not know, on a road network he doesn't know where it leads, ride forwards a couple of hundred yards to a road and then take that road around 3 sides of a square, for over a mile, rather than riding back towards the last known location of the units he's being sent to deliver his message to and which is only 800 yards behind in by a direct line?

I agree that if there's a direct road leading mostly in the right direction he should take it, but having him use the nearest road that does NOT go in the right direction but follow it doggedly through all its twsts and turns until he dies infront of an enemy unit miles away, is not logical.

DaVinci you can install patch v1.4026 and see this yourself, but you can also back-patch and go back to 1.4012 if you wish as the recent spate of micro-patches have only been affecting the same four courier-related files.

[Davinci]

DaVinci you can install patch v1.4026 and see this yourself, but you can also back-patch and go back to 1.4012 if you wish as the recent spate of micro-patches have only been affecting the same four courier-related files.

Thanks, but I think that I'm going to stick with the current patch for now, due to the fact that I'm not a MP , and the patches have really been related to that part of the game.

I would like to see something like this in the future game:

Sender of Message – on the road = Recipient on the road – courier will travel the roads first.

Sender of Message – on the road = Recipient on a field – courier will use all roads leading up to that particular field.

Sender of Message – on field = Recipient on a field – courier will travel slightly backwards, and then proceed to crossing the fields.

Sender of Message – on field = Recipient on a road – courier will cross field and then proceed to the nearest road.

But, I would also like the AI try to chart a course that would bring the courier from behind the Recipient , especially if the units are engaged, only an idiot courier would dare to cross the battle-lines during a fight.

davinci

[Saddletank]

Yes, those logic strings make sense.

It could even be more easily defined:

1) If recipient is in sight, then go direct, using a road if one is encountered on that direct line aand is quicker.

2) If recipent is behind the sender, then go rearwards across country until a road is met, then follow it to receipient (this is our most common occurrence, generated when a player general rides ahead of his units to scout the terrain ahead), happens in almost every MP battle we play.

3) If recipient is not in sight, use best road net to find him.

Approaching an engaged unit from the rear is also logical but is a different issue from the actual courier function. I would imagine this comes low on a priority list as in effect its eye-candy. My assumption is that in fact all couriers are doing this, but the game graphic does not bother showing it! Gameplay does not suffer from it, only our sensibilities. The rest of the courier pathing issue is affecting gameplay a good deal.

[Leffe7]

Just adding my 2cents.
The courier pathing is no game-breaker for me.

I imagine that the logic "If the recipient is in sight, then ..." is a bit hard to code.
Maybe it's possible to reuse the logic which is used when auto-sending couriers to the own troops. I think these are only sent when in a certain distance to their commander. Then we could use the same system when communicating with other players. If recipient is 500yards (?) away, go direct, if not use the road network.

I'm not too sure about this, but wasn't there a logic if the courier is captured then the next is sent in another way (like, if captured using roads, then he would go cross-country next)?

[Kerflumoxed]

We just had a Hits & Courier game that froze with the "bad packet" error message. Saddletank has gathered the log files and is forwarding them.

Also, on this thread, can we please BEG to have the courier routing to roads be replaced! It is virtually impossible to play a game without the majority of couriers being killed/captured because they take the roads! I had couriers going to a regiment within "eye-sight" that routed through a road and were killed! PLEASE, PLEASE re-consider the current pathing and replace it!

THanks for your consideration!

J

[Gudadantza]

My point of view is that if every sent courier is a dead courier, The general in charge should consider control the roads.

Another option is not use couriers in game or play on normal.

[Blaugrana]

My point of view is that if every sent courier is a dead courier, The general in charge should consider control the roads.

Some people who are very keen on this aspect of the game, and play a lot, have concerns based on how it actually works in games they have played. Have you experienced what Kerflumoxed is describing?

Another option is not use couriers in game or play on normal.

I think it is preferable to ask for improvements / tweaks rather than just 'lump it' as you seem to be suggesting.

[Beef Stu]

I'll second Kerflumoxed request. More and more people are getting interested in hits/couriers and the current courier pathing system is unfriendly for the MULTIPLAYER. environment. Maybe its just my opinion but we cant save MP games and an hour long game is hard enough to finish ,the current system works against those facts. I'm sure the pathing maybe close to "historical" or just good enough for some but i know personally i only ever finished one courier battle that i actually enjoyed and that was while the pathing was "fixed".

[Gudadantza]

My point of view is that if every sent courier is a dead courier, The general in charge should consider control the roads.

Some people who are very keen on this aspect of the game, and play a lot, have concerns based on how it actually works in games they have played. Have you experienced what Kerflumoxed is describing?

Another option is not use couriers in game or play on normal.

I think it is preferable to ask for improvements / tweaks rather than just 'lump it' as you seem to be suggesting.

I am sure improvements can be done. If a courier ride forward through the enemy lines, it should be fixed.

but they Should not have a GPS to locate the destiny. They should take the road as the first option. And if it is not completely secured the courier can be shot.

[Saddletank]

Gudadantza, we understand the logic of couriers using roads and how it was probably done this way in reality, however from a gameplay perspective this courier pathing rule is extremely unrealistic, clunky, slow and frustrating.

When a brigadier general is 700 or 800 yards from his regiments and they are in plain sight across a few fields it is ludicrous for a courier to set off AWAY from them to seek out the nearest road (which can actually be a good distance away in the wrong direction), then work his way around something like 3 sides of a square to find the nearest off-road path to his destination. The journey time can be easily 25% to 50% longer. It isn't working and we ask that it be set back to what it was.

When it hurts MP games this much we would ask that it be set back to what it was before, straight-line to destination. I agree that's not as realistic, but realism is not the necessary result of every rule decision.