Age of Empires: 25+ years of pathfinding problems with C++
summary
Covers a C++ pathfinding system live‑ported from 1997 to 64‑bit, tracing regressions caused by lost source history, removed 80‑bit extended precision (SIMD flags) and geometry precision errors; implements a new edge‑walk + ray algorithm with self‑verifiable algorithm checks, switches to fixed‑point math, collects over 100 test cases, doubles average speed versus the old short‑range code, removes the 64‑iteration cap, and ships a working fix that materially reduces community complaints.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Introduction to AOE pathing
- 1:05Community feedback analysis
- 1:59Pathfinding challenges
- 4:47Erosion of knowledge
- 7:16Original algorithm breakdown
- 11:17Geometrical precision errors
- 14:27Debugging the regressions
- 17:26Developing a new solution
- 18:45Implementing the new algorithm
- 23:52Handling edge cases
- 25:45Implementing fixed point math
- 27:18Optimizing for performance
- 30:15Results and community reception
- 31:57Q&A session part one
- 40:08Q&A session part two
