proper path grids

[theuseless]

I know that path grids are to make sure your npc's don't walk into walls, etc. A while ago when I was doing the beginner's guide tutorial on the wiki it mentioned special path grid situations for atronachs. I believe it was storm atronachs. Anyways, I've been getting close to completion on my floor plans and was wondering if there are any rules to adhere to. I understand that one should look to the CS and ref vanilla paths, but I don't know if there is a more complex pattern than the "box with an 'x' in it."

 

Also, what are the rules the preferred (blue) nodes adhere to? do those have targets or just placed for traffic control? Will they affect wander packages?

 

Any help is welcome,

theuseless

[Vagrant0]

I know that path grids are to make sure your npc's don't walk into walls, etc. A while ago when I was doing the beginner's guide tutorial on the wiki it mentioned special path grid situations for atronachs. I believe it was storm atronachs. Anyways, I've been getting close to completion on my floor plans and was wondering if there are any rules to adhere to. I understand that one should look to the CS and ref vanilla paths, but I don't know if there is a more complex pattern than the "box with an 'x' in it."

 

Also, what are the rules the preferred (blue) nodes adhere to? do those have targets or just placed for traffic control? Will they affect wander packages?

 

Any help is welcome,

theuseless

Generally, you should place a node anywhere you want an NPC to stand, and connect nearby nodes where movement between them isn't hindered by clutter or walls. You should avoid making connections which are longer than 1024 units (1/4 the size of a cell), and should avoid clustering too many nodes in one spot. When traveling short distances, NPCs will usually pick the closest node to them, instead of one further away.

 

The generic box pattern is good for most open areas, but doesn't need to be quite that uniform. A triangular pattern can often work better in interiors, or where you have places that will be traveled in both directions. For stairs, it's usually a good idea to have two isolated paths, with the starting node of each path being closer to the nodes of that room than the ending node of the other path.

 

Blue nodes are given a slightly higher priority for short distance travel packages, but longer distances utilize a different method based on a generated roadmap that is created by recording the location of blue nodes within a worldspace. In interiors, blue nodes seem to have no change to behavior.