Route finding between workplace and resource shouldn't use paths, forester takes long road to tree
I'm aware that paths are generally necessary to reduce route finding complexity. However, in the case of beavers traveling between workplace and a resource (tree/crop/metal etc.), paths cannot be followed entirely since those resources are by definition not connected to a path.
Currently, it seems the game calculates the shortest distance from the resource to a path and lets the beaver travel the path plus that shortest route off-path. This can lead to everything from subtly suboptimal to completely ridiculous routes. In the screenshot, the forester will not take the blue or yellow route but travel the whole path labyrinth (red) to get to the target tile and replant the tree.
I suggest that if a beaver is already at his workplace (which by definition is properly connected to a path and covers a very restricted area), the route calculation to a resource should disregard paths entirely. This would ensure sane routes. I can't imagine it would hurt performance all that much.
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29 Sep, '21
FuryoftheStars MergedHighlighted comment
From what I can tell, since the changes with districts and all, paths no longer give that bonus. I've seen beavers moving parallel where one is on a path and one isn't and they are traveling at the same speed.
More over, some of the times this occurs, even if paths did give a movement bonus, it'd have to be near 100% in order for it to make sense. I'll see if I can purposely recreate this at some point and capture a screenshot. -
29 Sep, '21
FuryoftheStars MergedI've noticed this the most with my lumberjacks, but assume this would affect any flag worker and potentially farmers and others that do their work "off-path", but if there's a path that cuts nearby, they have a bad tendency of going to/following that path around and then go off-path to their work, even if that results in longer transit time (like in the case where the path cuts through on the back side of their work area and loops around it, and where they're currently working is near this path). It's not a 100% of the time, but it's often enough to make me grind my teeth at times.
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29 Sep, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin MergedHave you actually timed that it takes more time, given that supposedly paths give a movement bonus. (At least they did in demo, and at the moment building range is notably increased along roads)
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30 Sep, '21
FuryoftheStars MergedOk, here's the promised screenshot: https://imgur.com/2eJKS9r
The beaver (circled red) picked up a log from a cut tree (circled blue) then walked the whole way around the path (I let the game run after taking the screenshot to verify) to the lumberjack flag (circled green).
Definitely took longer. -
30 Sep, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin MergedOk, I've attached screencap, it indeed looks questionable in the context, marking it as bug for devs to consider further
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04 Oct, '21
Grayson C MergedToday, while building an aqueduct, I noticed that my beavers will prefer to use the paths I set up to reach construction sites, *even when that route is much slower than walking directly across empty tiles*. This only seems to happen when the tile under construction has a path adjacent to it. To mitigate the effect on build times, I've taken to drawing a ton of paths that spiderweb around large build sites and then destroying the paths later. This seems like it might be against the spirit of the pathing mechanic.
Instead, beavers who are walking to a construction/construction-material-hauling task should probably consider taking shortcuts rather than always following set paths when available. -
06 Oct, '21
Gin Fuyou System Merged"Beavers should not use paths to reach construction sites when it results in a suboptimal route." (suggested by Grayson C on 2021-10-04), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
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06 Oct, '21
Gin Fuyou Admin MergedI've also observed such behaviour, looks indeed inefficient, I vote it up.
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02 Jan, '22
crimsonking MergedBeavers follow roads only if they're workers and only when they're not recollecting/chopping trees. This is a bit weird.
I mean, let's say the road from the lumberjack's post to the log pile isn't the shortest path. The lumberjack will waste time along the road while transporting logs (fine), but while chopping trees he will go wherever he pleases with no problem whatsoever (weird, isn't it?).
Moreover, children and unemployed beavers can roam wherever they want, while workers can only walk on roads, regardless if they're transporting something or not.
I understand buildings have to be connected by roads by design etc. but I think beavers in genral could be more "flexible" when computing the optimal path from one place to another. Roads could have some "speed boost" but any terrain should be considered.
After all, I could just put roads everywhere and force the algorithm to do the math for me, but that's just tedious. -
02 Jan, '22
Ben MergedNoticed that some of the beavers were trying to get into a lodge walking the long way around (blue arrows), instead of taking the stairs that lead directly to the door (green arrow). And the long way is only connected by the corner to the space with the door, so they can't even get in that way. I placed a dam block there and that seems to have stopped them from trying to take that path.
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02 Jan, '22
Gin Fuyou System Merged"Shortest path improvements" (suggested by crimsonking on 2022-01-02), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
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02 Jan, '22
Gin Fuyou System Merged"Pathfinding with stairs" (suggested by Ben on 2022-01-02), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
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19 Sep, '22
The_Hb_Hero MergedMy lumberjacks walk a long distance around on a path after chopping down a tree instead of walking right back to their flag.
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20 Sep, '22
Gin Fuyou System Merged"Lumberjacks walking long distances" (suggested by The_Hb_Hero on 2022-09-19), including upvotes (2) and comments (2), was merged into this suggestion.
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11 Aug, '25
QodvuxAlso, note that paths are already completely disregarded when routes from resource to resource are calculated (e.g. from tree to tree), in the very same scenarios (e.g. forester planting trees) and thus under the same complexity conditions. So extending this existing logic to the case where the beaver happens to be idling at the workplace instead of in the field seems only natural, and is already proven to be computationally performant.
The only case where the "path + shortest route off-path" logic should be retained for field-working beavers is when traveling from a non-workplace building (usually a lodge at the start of the workday) directly to a site in the field – e.g. a forester starting work by traveling from his home directly to a tree stump. In all other cases beavers should always take the shortest/fastest route within the boundaries of their working area. -
26 Aug, '25
NobodyNot sure about that logic. Imagine a house next to the forester. In the morning the red path is still not the short path. Better to just let them tag the forester building or more optimally compare the two calculations while they sleep.
(to forester + direct route from forester) vs (to closest path + direct route from path) -
17 Mar
anippita MergedSee picture. I have noticed that my forester takes the tubes no matter what instead of taking the stairs. It's marginally faster to do so but for some reason here we are. The picture shows the path the beaver takes in red and the one they should take in blue. Boxes are tubeway stations that the beaver gets in or out from.
Playing on experimental 1.0 with a couple of QOL mods (nothing that should change this kind of pathing behavior, I don't think...). -
18 Mar
Gin Fuyou System"Some workers should ignore paths while working (not optimal pathfinding)" (suggested by <Hidden> on 2021-09-29), including upvotes (8) and comments (15), was merged into this suggestion.
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19 Mar
Gin Fuyou Admin MergedThis is an expected behaviour. Unfortunate case caused by trade-off of pathfinding algorithms
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19 Mar
Gin Fuyou System"Forester not taking fastest path" (suggested by <Hidden> on 2026-03-17), including upvotes (1) and comments (1), was merged into this suggestion.
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23 Mar
Lakis MergedFor some reason beavers collecting scrap metal decided to use tubeway system (travel across almost the entire map) instead of walking directly (a few seconds). The save file will be included in a separate email.
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23 Mar
Gin Fuyou System"Strange pathfinding" (suggested by <Hidden> on 2026-03-23), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.
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