Auto-explore improvement ideas thread

[wobbly]

When recalling, autoexplore will continue after recalling while on the transmogification chest window.

[wobbly]

Auto-exploring on the global map with a fast computer will often wiz past zones & Agrimley before you even see them. Currently it only stops if it moves next to them. In the top part of the map especially it will turn around & go back without stopping. Can it head for zones & interesting characters once on global map like it does items on other maps?

[jotwebe]

I'm afraid that this is neither simple to implement nor concise, but when playing Afflicted it would be great if autoexplore somehow took into account that it is more important to find the next enemy quickly than to depth-first every nook and cranny.

So I think it'd need an alternate algorithm which it could use when the player character is a Cursed or Doomed. If it would try to uncover the most space in the fewest steps it would be a good start. Walk up to doors as soon as you see them, then stop to let the player decide whether to open them.

The way hate currently works, at low hate levels the loss rate gets progressively less until it stabilizes - at that point it could switch to the usual strategy.

As a matter of fact, this might also be good behaviour if the player has sustains running that incur a net loss in stamina or mana. Now go and detect that automatically for extra credit.

[wyzzarrdd]

I would like to set up autoexplore to stop when you take damage rather than when you see an enemy. This would greatly speed up the early game.

[laru]

I would like to set up autoexplore to stop when you take damage rather than when you see an enemy. This would greatly speed up the early game.

Note that this will also most certainly get you killed in the lategame..

[Velorien]

I would like to set up autoexplore to stop when you take damage rather than when you see an enemy. This would greatly speed up the early game.

Bad bad bad idea. It would indeed speed up the early game, while simultaneously removing the possibility of a mid or late game.

Consider the Archmage whose first warning of an armoured skeleton warrior is taking damage at melee range. Now make that being surrounded by enemies because he didn't notice them closing in until one of them dealt damage. Now add a stun or something else that disables escapes, since any sensible monster will use that as an opener. Now make the skeleton warrior a boss whom your system has just guaranteed a first blow, before any shields or defensive abilities can be activated.

[Zeyphor]

I have noticed that autoexplore usually doesn't stop the first tome it sees an enemy; it usually waits a turn to stop due to the enemy spotting, resulting in crystal mobs phase dooring away on turn 1 that you're in LoS so you autoexplore past them, or dying to urkis in autoexplore

If the crystals example isn't confirmation idk what is

[bricks]

Conceivably, the crystals get a turn to phase away the moment you enter each other's mutual line-of-sight, which happens after your turn (since you are the one that is moving). It's more of an AI/design problem.

[wobbly]

An option to stop when auto-explore auto-pickups an item would be nice.

[CaptainTrips]

- Reload arrows in offhand before moving
- Certain charged items aren't recharged before moving, for example Eden's Guile (this also applies to (r)esting)

All in all, a large round of applause is in order for the implementation of auto-explore. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but it really makes the game more enjoyable. Now most of my deaths are the result of poor decisions and/or bad lack rather than accidentally hitting a movement key two more times after coming into range of an enemy. Kudos.

[wobbly]

I was thinking you might be able to get round some of the problems of autoexplore if you could just set a timer somehow. Like autoexplore - 10 turns.

[nate]

2 problems I have with autoexplore:

1) It sees stealthed and invisible monsters that my character can't see. For instance: "Cannot autoexplore, thief to the south." Hey, thanks for letting my know about that thief, autoexplore.

2) Doesn't play nicely with preternatural senses, a talent for cursed. There are probably similar abilities it doesn't play well with. Of course, if you can see monsters that are very far away, do you want autoexplore to stop when it sees any of them? With enough range, that would break autoexplore.

My suggested solution: don't break autoexplore when seeing mobs through walls, but instead try to predict whether our next step will cause us to become visible. There are situations where this is definitely the case, situations where this is definitely not the case, and situations where we're not sure if this is the case. I would recommend having autoexplore stop if it is not certain that the player will remain unseen by any mobs that the player knows about on the player's next step. This should let ESPish abilities play nicely with autoexplore.

[notmiki]

1 simple thing: don't have autoexplore stop at antimagic bushes, glimmerstones, necrotic auras, or other such features. Speaking for myself, I pretty much never have a particular reason to stop at them, so they just amount to pounding z a few more times.

1 possibly more complicated thing: when autoexplore stops for graves/pedestals, my immediate reaction is "great, I'll clear the rest of the level out then come back to these," but when you hit z again it takes you right into that space, giving you a dialog box. I'd love to see autoexplore treat those spaces like vault doors and not put you on the space with the pedestal/grave until the rest of the area is explored.

Other than that, I don't see how autoexplore could be improved without toggleable options. I'd love to see the option to begin exploring before resting at all for cursed and doomed who want to avoid hate decay, for example, but that's not something that is generally optimal.

By the way, I really appreciate how autoexplore doesn't open doors until you have nowhere else to go and saves vaults for last. Good stuff.

[Infinitum]

Resting equipment: setting equipment (or talents) to automatically get swapped on as the player starts resting and swapped back if the player rests to full (though obviously not if amonster interrupts the player with his proverbial battle-pants off). This would remove the need to micromanage amulets of manastreaming and the like for classes who can't regenerate certain resources naturally.

[CaptainTrips]

Just noticed this quirk while working on my rest addon:

If I use auto-explore while needing to reload my quiver AND having talents on cooldown, it will send me exploring directly after reloading, even if there are still talents on cooldown.

This seems to be part of a larger issue with the way auto-explore makes use of resting. Here are two scenarios:

1) If I auto-explore while not at full health but with nothing on cooldown, I rest until healed, move one step and stop with the 'all resources and life at maximum' message. Pressing auto-explore [edit: actually, any button] once more directly following this leads to no reaction from the game at all; only with a third press of the button does the game actually start auto-exploring.

2) If, however, I use it while not at full health and with certain skills on cooldown, I rest until healed and all cooldowns are off and go on to auto-explore without any further ado. I say 'certain skills' because while testing with a Higher Berserker, resting without full health and with Death Dance on cd leads to scenario 1, while with Stunning Blow on cd leads to scenario 2.

Edit: Upon further testing it looks like the two scenarios I've outlined here only occur after attacking (or dealing damage to?) one's self. Boggling big-time here. Still, the original quirk remains.