Hello everyone!
This update brings a big step forward in how your animals move and interact with the world. We’ve fixed movement issues around walls and added a new, smarter, decision‑based walking system that makes behavior feel more natural and reliable.
🛠️ Fixes & Improvements
Movement & Walls – Resolved: Animals no longer clip through walls or get stuck on corners. Collision checks and navigation around obstacles have been tightened up for consistent movement.
New Decision‑Based Movement System: Auto movement now uses pathfinding and a layered decision model to choose the best route. Interaction movement (e.g., when you direct an animal to a bowl or object) remains responsive and unchanged—still prioritizing your command.
🧠 How the new movement system works (detailed)
Auto Movement (smarter navigation):
Obstacle awareness: Animals detect walls and blocked tiles, then compute a valid path around them instead of pushing forward or getting stuck.
Route selection: They evaluate multiple candidate paths and pick the shortest viable route, with fallback logic if the first attempt fails.
Micro‑adjustments: If a path becomes blocked mid‑movement (another animal, temporary object), they recalculate locally rather than restarting the whole route.
Stability first: Movement speed and turn rates are tuned to avoid jittering or zig‑zagging around tight spaces.
Interaction Movement (no change, but more reliable):
Direct commands respected: When you send an animal to interact (like a bowl), it prioritizes that target.
Collision‑safe: Even though interaction movement stays the same, it now benefits from the improved collision checks—no more slipping through walls.
Behavior tweaks:
Context‑aware decisions: Animals pause or re‑route if the target becomes temporarily unavailable, rather than forcing a bad path.
Smoother starts/stops: Acceleration and deceleration are tuned to feel natural, reducing abrupt turns or stops.
👀 Village Progress
Work on the Village continues at full speed. You’ll see more visual polish and layout improvements as we build toward a cozy, lively hub.
📌 Next steps
Satisfaction feedback: We’ll collect a “movement satisfaction” rating to measure how the new system feels in real play. Your feedback will directly guide tuning.
Customization systems: Exploring pet customization options (visuals, small traits, and flair) and preparing concept art.
Village development: Ongoing improvements to paths, points of interest, and ambient life.
💌 Requests & Thanks
Your bug reports and suggestions are incredibly valuable—especially around movement edge cases and Village navigation. If you notice odd behavior (stuck paths, strange turns, or collision hiccups), please share a quick note. Screenshots or short clips help a ton.
Thank you for your support and for helping shape Tiny Paws into a cozier, smarter world. Enjoy the update and have fun with your little companions! 🐕🐈✨