max collision size soft-blocked at 48

[Cheshire]

Hey there,

I have found a number of old threads on this, but none with any useful conclusions.

It seems that collision size for moving units is soft-blocked at 48. The editor lets you change the number higher than this, but it doesn't do anything. the unit can still go through the same sized gap as a Tauren Chieftain no matter how high you set the collision size. changing the max collision size in the game constants doesn't help either.

any known solutions or workarounds for this?

(- changing the unit to a building, adding a pathing map and then changing back to a unit - does not change the actual in game pathing either. still can go through a TC sized gap...)

 

[Dr Super Good]

There is no direct solution to this as the collision size is likely an engine imposed limit.

You can try work arounds using triggers such as forcing units back if the gap is too small. This is unlikely to be performant but for a few really big units might be good enough.

 

[ThompZon]

Yep, the sizes that are relevant for pathfinding through "static terrain" (I.E. terrain, doodads, destrucatables, buildings):

• 0-15: 1x1 hole required
• 16-31: 2x2 hole required
• 32+: 3x3 hole required

IIRC the "1"-size-unit is in quarter of a barrel. So 32+ cannot move through a 1-barrel-sized hole, but unit smaller than that can.
But there is some unit-collision that matters for sizes bigger than that, but unit-collisions is a bit iffy too.
A footman can squeeze through a 1-barrel-sized hole, but a rifleman cannot (difference between collisionsize 31 and 32).

Note: Extremely few things in default WC3 path-map use the collision sizes smaller than a barrel, making the difference between 0-15 and 16-31 barely matter for "static terrain" unless you use your own or import custom ones.

EDIT: maybe 1 more size exist, as indicated by Tristronics answer below, the 4x4, meaning that the 3x3 is only for 32-47

 

[Tristronic]

Another aspect of collision size to keep in kind is that it also determines melee attack range.
If collision is 600, melee attacks can be done at the range of archer ranged attacks, but the collision will require 4x4 pathing space.

Edit:

EDIT: maybe 1 more size exist, as indicated by Tristronics answer below, the 4x4, meaning that the 3x3 is only for 32-47

I think it would almost always go unnoticed because the grid structures are snapped to use a 32x32 cell size, so the 2x2 hole fits both 32.0-47.9 and 48+ and they both can't fit the 1x1 hole, but in a crowd or collision system you might notice it more.

 

[kokon]

Hey there,

I have found a number of old threads on this, but none with any useful conclusions.

It seems that collision size for moving units is soft-blocked at 48. The editor lets you change the number higher than this, but it doesn't do anything. the unit can still go through the same sized gap as a Tauren Chieftain no matter how high you set the collision size. changing the max collision size in the game constants doesn't help either.

any known solutions or workarounds for this?

(- changing the unit to a building, adding a pathing map and then changing back to a unit - does not change the actual in game pathing either. still can go through a TC sized gap...)

@Cheshire Tree of life has a collision size 144 in the editor. Are you sure it is converted to 48?

 

[Uncle]

@Cheshire Tree of life has a collision size 144 in the editor. Are you sure it is converted to 48?

I imagine for pathing it's clamped down to 48 but for attacks/spells which have limited range it will take that full value into consideration.

You can test this yourself with a Footman attacking a Tree of Life. The Footman's origin is being compared to the Tree's origin and that distance is undoubtedly larger than the Footman's limited Attack Range of 90 - yet despite that it can still attack. So basically a Footman can hit a Tree of Life from 90 + 144 = 234 distance away. At least as far as I understand.

Edit: I believe the Footman's collision size is also added to the equation so it'd be 90 + 31 + 144 = 265 max distance.

 

[Tristronic]

I imagine for pathing it's clamped down to 48 but for attacks/spells which have limited range it will take that full value into consideration.

You can test this yourself with a Footman attacking a Tree of Life. The Footman's origin is being compared to the Tree's origin and that distance is undoubtedly larger than the Footman's limited Attack Range of 90 - yet despite that it can still attack. So basically a Footman can hit a Tree of Life from 90 + 144 = 234 distance away. At least as far as I understand.

Edit: I believe the Footman's collision size is also added to the equation so it'd be 90 + 31 + 144 = 265 max distance.

That is correct as far as I am aware.

Collision size serves two purposes:

1. Collision size for non-structure units (structured units will use their pathing map, such as the rooted Tree of Life).
2. Zero-Point for range for attacks and abilities originating from the unit (if its collision size is 144 and the Tree of Life is given a 300 range sling-shot, the Tree of Life can attack things at a distance of 444.

Weird how this post was inactive as long as I was lol