The Pathing Logic section of the official rules at https://terminal.c1games.com/rules#UnitMovement clearly indicates that there is a pathing algorithm that every information unit will follow, and goes over it in detail. It then states:
"Targeting is also handled automatically by the game; players cannot directly control which enemy units their deployed Information or Firewalls target. "
Of course, this means that the logic cannot be altered to give an advantage.
However, inside the original starter-algo folder is gamelib, and inside that a file named navigation.py. This caught my attention, and after reading through the file it is clear that it does in fact determine the path that information units should follow. This is significant because it is inside the algorithm folder that is uploaded to the Terminal (so its independent of the engine.jar file) and can therefore be modified before uploading to give a more advantageous route (i.e. having friendly pings move away from enemy scramblers).
There seem to be three possible conclusions to draw from this. Either:
- The pathfinding algorithm can be modified legally and the rules fail to state this.
- The pathfinding algorithm can be modified, however it is illegal (and would therefore result in disqualification) or possibly the site would not accept an algorithm with a modified navigation.py.
- The pathfinding algorithm cannot be modified, and the navigation.py file is simply meant as a documentation of how the actual algorithm works, and has no function.
I am surprised to find no other post asking the same question. All three of these conclusions seem unlikely to me, so I would appreciate a response clarifying this.
Cheers.