CM:BN and pathing...still? Honestly?

[JudgeDredd]

I'm sure it's much improved, but seriously?

Almost 15 minutes of game time have been without this tank in action or doing anything productive.



I was trying to send it from the west down the lane to the end at the east (red arrow). The first few minutes, it headed down there and for some reason, it decided it couldn't make it. Next time I noticed it, it was back up where it began (tanks take almost an entire minute to turn around).

When I did notice it, I thought I must've placed a waypoint wrong...I mean - it's a lane...why wouldn't the tank go down it, right? So I sent it down again and then noticed it had turned back again.

So it's decided it's going this way (yellow arrow).

[IronX]

Could it be a map design issue? Looks like something is blocking its path, although I can't see what.

[Con]

Gaps in Bocage are tricky for armor vehicles.  I am a big fan  of the allies blowing a path through bocage versus trundling down narrow lanes and getting KO'd.  In my experience you sometimes have to hit the bocage hedge with 2 or more blasts from your engineers.  It helps if you create a bigger gap. I will have two engineer half squads both lay down a blast pattern next to each other to ensure that the gap is wide enough.  I have also had tanks get immobilized in the gaps as well.  Another trick I do is bring the tank right up to the gap and then use a slow move to the other side.  This way if it doesn't make it you dont get too badly put out of position as the AI tries to figure out a different path to the move point.  Basically moving tanks through bocage is lots of micro management and many waypoint placements versus a sort of general go there move you do in open terrain with CM.

Good luck
Con

[Sir Slash]

Agree with Con's post and it could be the path is not big enough for the Sherman to drive down and is trying to figure-out another way to the target point. The unit sizes in the game are not always accurate especially if you play with anything other than the absolute smallest. Could also be the driver is from out-of-state and looking for Yard-Sales.  ;D

[Father Ted]

You obviously failed to update its satnav.

[IronX]

^This would explain why so many tanks end up in the water near bridges.

[Yskonyn]

The bridge pathing issues supposedly have been fixed by one of the latest patches. Haven't seen it in action yet, though.

As for the Tank in the narrow lane; there might be 'doodads' (generic flavour objects) in the way or the lane is just too small.

Still, what others are suggesting is a far better approach and a more realistic one as well; blast gaps in the hedges to get through.

[JudgeDredd]

I did (blast gaps in the hedges)...ran out of explosives (only 6 each squad and I only had 2 squads). Ran out partly because there's so much hedgerow and partly because the mechanic to blast (or my implementation of it) didn't work and so I had to blast again.

Example - I got to a hedgerow and blasted a hole. I then selected the blast command again and this time put the cursor by the second hedgerow. But the second blast was effected on the hedgerow I just blasted through. That happened twice taking my squad down to 2 satchels left and only 2 holes through.

The other squad was across the map so I thought I'd just head down the lane.

What annoyed me about it was it allowed me to place the cursors down the lane to the end. At no point did I see a "no entry" icon (you know the one - where you can't place a unit). On top of that, the tank went trundling down there just to turn back.

I suspect it was the bend in the hedgerow...but you have to ask, why? I mean, the bloody thing could do a 180 turn in the lane, so what was so tight about the corner.

That's all conjecture. I have no idea why it couldn't make it down there as I had successfully navigated a tank along a different hedgerow which - on the face of it - was similar width (look to the north) and that had two 90 degree corners, considerably steeper turn than the one I seemed to be stuck on.

It just annoying to lose that kind of time over something that's blatantly not apparent (and seemingly not enforced as standard - the hedgerow to the north!).

Superb game - just still, after all these years, some annoying facets.

[Father Ted]

It looks from the screenshot that you've drawn a straight line with the move (fast?) command?

I wonder if you way-pointed the entire route whether the no entry sign would show up at the choke point?

[JudgeDredd]

I see what you're saying, but I definitely put waypoints in...1 at the first bend, 1 at the second and 1 at the final point.

I don't know if the route had been redrawn when it got to the point it couldn't go past and so headed off on its own...therefore drawing the line from where the tank is now to the final point.

But I definitely drew waypoints. I'm not so dumb as to go through injun country through hedgerows and just drawn a direct line...though I do grant you, moving fast might seem daft...but the infantry had moved forward and cleared

[IronX]

The bridge pathing issues supposedly have been fixed by one of the latest patches. Haven't seen it in action yet, though.

It's still there:

http://community.battlefront.com/topic/122235-battle-pack-bridge-bug-report/

[Boggit]

Road to Montebourg Campaign - 2nd mission? I'm playing the same one, but haven't had the same problem. Don't know if this is a workaround, or just works for me. I give several spaced movement orders for the tanks (none too long) - unless there is a sharp deviation, it doesn't make any difference, unlike infantry who pause. It works for me anyway.

IIRC I read about the technique on one of the CM wiki's a while back. In principle it shouldn't make any difference but it does. I think the rationale is that if you give one long distance order the tank will periodically re-evaluate its best path. In open terrain that's fin, but as Con hinted, constricted terrain like narrow lanes can cause some odd behaviour. Let me know if it works for you. :)

[Father Ted]

I'm not so dumb as to go through injun country through hedgerows and just drawn a direct line...though I do grant you, moving fast might seem daft...but the infantry had moved forward and cleared

Hey, don't worry - I'm the last person who should be critiquing others' tactics.  It's just what it looked like.

From memory, one can plot a route from A to B past an insurmountable blockage without getting a "no entry" tool-tip if the game can find a way around it - the no entry bit only shows up if you hover the cursor over the actual blockage.  Thus your way-points might not have been micro-managed enough to detect it.

Which obviously is not a criticism of your CM technique, just an attempt to explain the game's annoying behaviour

[Elvis]

I was thinking something similar to what Father Ted just said. Looking at the screen shot, that road you wanted to go doesn't look like it should be a problem but the gap in the hedgerow might be. It doesn't hurt, when plotting a path through a gap like that, to slowly move the cursor through the gap. If it isn't wide enough you'll get the feedback that you're looking for.  Ideally, you would get that feedback when you try to place the waypoint.... Similar to when a target line shows a blocked LOF.

[panzerde]

There is no calvados along the path you tried to send him. Clearly, there is calvados in the farm complex he wants to drive through. Why do you think we invaded at Normandy in the first place?


It's been a couple of years since I played that scenario, but I seem to remember a variety of navigational issues in that general area of the map. I tend to think that map is a little funky. I use pretty much the same technique Boggit describes, but remember having issues on that map no matter what I did.