The creators of Manor Lords continue to gradually reveal their plans for the development of the city-building strategy. In a recent release, they announced that they decided to refactor the pathfinding system (navigation).
The developers explained that they took this step due to “growing technical and gameplay issues” – they spoiled the gameplay experience and worsened performance:
From the AI side, inefficient distance calculation methods began to affect performance, and problems with collisions [collision calculation] and navigation undermined the reliability of basic systems such as worker behavior and unit movement.
As a result, pathfinding was completely redesigned. According to the developers, they implemented a significant number of fixes for situations where characters or animals got stuck, blocked passages, or refused to move. Improvements also affect troop and merchant movement.
The developers also reported that they studied the feedback and decided to temporarily postpone the redesign of the trade and perks system. Players made it clear to them that there are more pressing things to fix and refine right now.
The May Manor Lords developer diary is available at the following link.