custom settlement fix + leo's guide to working layouts

[rusty887]

Many custom settlements have a serious issue- the AI not moving at all or not attacking properly, this is gamebreaking since these custom settlements are basically impossible for the AI to attack
I did some research and found some solutions...

I started off by reading this thread, where Gongsunzan sums up the main problem:

No its not the total war AI. You have to mess with attack points and defense points for custom settlments for the AI to navigate it properly. Third age total war had to do alot of work with this to make custom settlments work for the AI. If the mod maker relys on normal settlement ai scripting the AI wont do anything. Currently I dont think undying has programed any AI pathing for his settlments. At least not the ones ive defended. We will have to wait for patches.

He is correct in saying that TATW has made this work, and the godlike modder who created most of TATW's custom settlements, leo.civil.uefs, has an amazing guide on how to make the AI's pathfinding work
Neph please read this, the guide can be found here: IWTE - Custom settlements - Creating a working layout for your custom settlement.

Basically, the AI is designed to attack the vanilla settlements, so custom ones need some serious tweaking to make them work
I know that this is gonna be difficult & its more of a long-term project, but it has to be done, i wish i wasnt such a noob so i could help fix some of the settlements

also if the custom settlements seem to work in custom battles but not the campaign map, this is the reason:
Leo discovered thru testing that "NOTE: After finding out that custom settlements can work well in custom battles but not in camapign ones, I've tested them all in campaign battles and all found issues were fixed in this release, as follows." (from the 4.4 changelog section in this thread)


btw i put this here because nobody would read it if it was in the bug reports section

[Eldren]

I agree with rusty887.

I think Neph should look in to this.

[starwars90001]

sometimes when the A.I invades they drop all their siege weapons and run far away from the settlement and wait. and one time when I attack a custom settlement I just won when I began the battle.

[TheHylianJuggalo]

I just won when I began the battle.

Was this at the Gerudo capital?

[starwars90001]

yes, I take this has happen before.

[TheHylianJuggalo]

Actually, I ran across it today. I got the message and said screw it, because I wanted to fight. Turns out, the mounted dune archers that were in the garrison were STUCK inside of a building and I couldn't win, so I quit (and still won, because I already did)

[UndyingNephalim]

I didn't even know they were necessary, though I do have such points in my settlements. I imagine there's something else I've not done to get them to work.

[rusty887]

I didn't even know they were necessary, though I do have such points in my settlements. I imagine there's something else I've not done to get them to work.

well the layouts have to be ai-friendly
however if the ai doesnt move at all, or is the settlements crash upon loading, that's a different issue

according to Leo, "Basically, the AI in med 2 is made to handle the vanilla layouts. If you just mimic a vanilla pathfinding for your layout, there is big chances things will work then. However, we have seen custom settlemets with unique layouts working well. You can dare making something different, but no guarantees it will work."

also..."The most known AI issues are:

- They get in the settlement but stuck right after the walls.
- They try to circle the settlement from outside and get loss in the corners of the battlemap.
- They attack the plaza with some units but other ones gets lost in the settlement or outiside it.

All that issues are fixed by editing the pathfinding and relocating the plaza!"

i know theres not time to do this before the next release, but u should read Leo's guide after u return to working on htw
the custom settlements are beautiful but the complexity of some might be too much for the ai, they look great but its gamebreaking if ai can't attack them