The AI routing is actually imperfect completely by choice - haha! It's just a simple depth first search across some pathfinding nodes - but instead of generating a map of pathfinding to be referenced when necessary (or just doing a complete traversal with distances/breadth first search for node count), each of the little guys have their own "pathfinding_iq" which dictates how many paths they're able to generate before picking which one they think is the "best".
I started with "perfect" pathfinding, but I wanted to have some semblance of "goofing off" that they would do, and I didn't have time to implement a more complete feature, so I decided that making them struggle to get where they're going would be a good stand-in! I think I might have made their IQs a little /too/ low though, which makes the game really hard as the difficulty ramps up. I think if I were to continue, I would make them get smarter as they complete tasks, so that once the store is really, really busy, they can actually make their way around the store. Something to limit the frustration but keep that "what are these goofballs even doing" kind of feeling!
Huge thanks for playing my game, and for the detailed feedback! I really appreciate it! :)
Viewing post in Goobler's Magic Shop: a game by Shovel jam comments
That's interesting to hear how you intentionally designed it! I remember having those kinds of thoughts, like, "Are you dumb? Why did you just turn around?" Or, "I told you to deliver that already ... right?" So that's funny to hear you explain the intent.
*ugh* maybe it's too realistic of a manager simulator XD
Oh! One other observation that I wanted to offer was the learning curve on the inventory for the shop. It was pretty overwhelming initially to figure out what items were when a customer asked, as I had to search each list for the non-obvious ones. Especially as I quickly had 5 customers waiting!
If you are interested in easing the player into it, you might start with only one of each category, and then slowly add new stock. The progression would serve as not only a way to simplify the early game, but also reward progress and maintain interest.