Bug report: Impossible Nebula

[Icehawk78]

For a screenshot with pathing turned on, of an inaccessible node (not an unreachable exit - are these two different potential bugs?), see here: http://imgur.com/a/sBeZA

(Not my game, unfortunately - I've asked the Redditor who posted this if he or she has a save file with it, but haven't heard a response back yet.)

[sokar]

The way I see it, there are basically 3 solutions to this problem:

1) A fancy pathing algorithm that makes sure every node can be reached from the start node.
1.1) I've written multiple algorithms like this before, the easiest way to do it is with b-trees, but there are other methods. If someone really wants to see the implementation of what I would think would work best I'd be happy to post it.

2) Making sure each node has both a positive and negative x-coordinate connection.
2.1) With the special cases of:
2.1.a) Any coordinate on the far left side of the map (say less than 50) only has to have a positive x link
2.1.b) Any coordinate on the far right side of the map (say 50 from the edge) only has to have a negative x link
2.2) Of course you would also need a script here that makes sure every node that is connected has at least one link to it. Something along the lines of: if no link withing radius $x double $x and re-search until link is established.

3) A less fancy pathing algorithm that makes sure that the end node can always be reached from the start node and an augment that lets you jump to "unreachable" nodes or any node on the map in any order you want ignoring all paths.

[Deenreka]

Hello, I'm the one who got the error. I'm no longer in that sector, so I'm not sure if this will be of any use to you, but here is the save file for that run.

[Matthew]

I like unreachable nodes and those screenshots from reddit are a perfect example of why. I miss when games weren't laundry lists to check off things to do as I worked my way through it without issue. In the "old days" it might have been due to bugs, design, or just my flawed memory, but I preferred worlds where sometimes quests wouldn't be solve-able and not every location was reachable. It made the world feel whole and complete. Like there was more going on than the player was privy to. That maybe there was some hidden secret you never heard of that would let you reach that location (even though there isn't). In that screenshot, it tells a story you wouldn't tell otherwise. If you could go there, it's just another distress beacon to check off as you work your way to the exit. But like this, you have that reaction in the subtitle "those poor people will never get help" and you wonder how they even got there. It's something people post and talk about.... though in this case it might have been in the context of being a bug. But I think that breathes life into the world.

Yes, there are a number of trivial solutions to "fix" unreachable nodes. I appreciate the save files, images, and algorithm suggestions for those that want it fixed....but I don't see it as a problem. FTL has had this for 12 months, it's been left for a reason :-/

On the other hand, quests were never intended to spawn at unreachable locations and that should have been fixed as of the last patch. And the exit should always be reachable (which was the original purpose of this thread). So if those bugs show up please show me screenshots / send me saves.

[Icehawk78]

Yes, there are a number of trivial solutions to "fix" unreachable nodes. I appreciate the save files, images, and algorithm suggestions for those that want it fixed....but I don't see it as a problem. FTL has had this for 12 months, it's been left for a reason :-/

Gotcha, thanks for the clarification!

[RocMat1]

Had the same problem here on sector six. Kind of annoying cause it had been my best playthrough yet. Oh well.