You can manually path through a tight space between two units, but if you click somewhere behind the two characters, the automatic pathfinding will not properly detect the shortest path, and will, depending on the vector, severely bug out.

Some of these glitches probably occurs sometimes because the size of the movement indicator is smaller than the selection circle/collision size and the character is trying to center itself on a position on the navmesh which it cannot, thus the endless loop/glitch.

 

It would probably be better to change the movement indicator to be as large as a selection circle of the unit, to avoid these problems.

Edited December 23, 201411 yr by Sensuki

bumping for visibility

Some more examples:

 

 

Adding an example of this issue, this time with a narrow spaces between units/npcs and other things (a wall/table etc.).

 

BB fighter is ordered to go left (the first panel). He actually turns left, as if going there, but afterwards he decides to turn and go around two units (the right panel). The same happens on the way back, when he is ordered to return to the original position. And there is no obstacle on the shortest path. I can walk him there manually.

It's easy to reproduce by walking between lord Harond and the table in the inn, as well.

Another example is the pathfinding around units in a doorway.

 

In left picture below, the party is ordered to go on the other side of the doorway, which should provide enough space. However they are not able to and are stuck behind NPCs in something like a queue. When I try to move a unit step by step, the passage is clearly possible.

 

Through normally the selection circles act as solid walls, when you try shuffle enough, the game lets you to place the units so that the selection circles intersect, see the right side picture.

 

 

 

When it's already possible, why not let the pathfinding AI use a slight circle intersection in tricky situations too? --> Change their borders from hard to soft limits...