0008784: Job distance calculation gives too high priority to different Z level - Dwarf Fortress Bug Tracker

ID	Project	Category	View Status	Date Submitted	Last Update

0008784	Dwarf Fortress	Dwarf Mode -- Jobs, Assignment of Jobs	public	2015-02-03 13:16	2015-02-03 13:16

Reporter	PatrikLundell	Assigned To
Priority	normal	Severity	minor	Reproducibility	always
Status	new	Resolution	open
Platform	PC	OS	Windows	OS Version	8.1
Product Version	0.40.24

Summary	0008784: Job distance calculation gives too high priority to different Z level
Description	It seems job distance calculation for miners (at least) changed between 0.40.19 and 0.40.23. Now (0.40.24), if you designate digging of a number of rooms above each other connected by a staircase to the side, the miner will dig a couple of tiles, run to a different level, dig a couple of tiles... Thus spending most of the time running back and forth.
Additional Information	I assume the behavior is a result of a distance comparison that ignores the actual path in order to reduce the CPU cost. However, since dwarves basically cannot climb (and certainly not through rock), equating Z level distance with X/Y distance generally leads you astray. I'd suggest the following modification: Make the basic check if there is a Z level difference between the target and the destination, and if so, add a fixed "level change cost" (probably somewhere in the range 10-100 tiles, I'd guess around 30) to the computed distance to handle that vertical distance usually results in the use of stairs somewhere off to the side. This level hysteresis should cost almost nothing in CPU terms.
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Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
2015-02-03 13:16	PatrikLundell	New Issue