One of the big questions for an algorithm is - when do you recalculate the path? A real "human" doesn't recalculate until they receive information that the chosen bath is blocked/changed (they see the road closed sign, etc).
But many games recalculate distance to target (one ping only) over and over again each step, so moving a single block half a map away causes an entire army to repath immediately.
Real humans also don't have perfect knowledge of the map and have additional concerns besides the path length so A* should only be part of the whole solution if you want realistic movement.
Comments
One of the big questions for an algorithm is - when do you recalculate the path? A real "human" doesn't recalculate until they receive information that the chosen bath is blocked/changed (they see the road closed sign, etc).
But many games recalculate distance to target (one ping only) over and over again each step, so moving a single block half a map away causes an entire army to repath immediately.
Real humans also don't have perfect knowledge of the map and have additional concerns besides the path length so A* should only be part of the whole solution if you want realistic movement.