Improve Mob Behaviors, AI, Combat, Pathing a.k.a. Pathfinding

For a list of issues tied to kinetic combat, see the kc_modpack tag.

To see an explanation of some game concepts not used by Minetest, see a related article on my website: Kinetic Combat vs RPG-like Elements in Video Games.

Pathfinding or raycasting issues

(split into separate issues)

[ ] #481 mobs walk/fly straight through walkable nodes
[ ] #62 mobs can attack through two diagonally-connected blocks and harm players
[ ] #520 Mobs walk on top of other mobs
[ ] #558 land mobs appear lobatomized, pacing back and forth then stopping and staring (flying mobs doing it is a separate issue because flying mobs (should) have entirely different pathing to be interesting at all unless whatever algorithm from which they both derive is made far smoother)
- [ ] #557 Flying mobs (same as issue 558 but for flying mobs)
[ ] #560 Animals don't always face the way they are walking.
[ ] #562 Mobs glitch when stepping up onto a node instead of moving smoothly.
[ ] #573 Mob keep jumping even when the jump can't succeed.
[ ] #574 Mobs keep moving toward a small gap even though they can't succeed
[ ] #484 Mob movement causes "rubber-banding" (mob movement and animation stutters)
[ ] #100 Add Sassy Villagers or Improve NPC Villages Mod

(sub-issues required to fix the issue are indented)

[ ] #362 Blend between animation sequences.
[ ] #559 Some animals moonwalk (The speed and possibly model needs to be adjusted so feet match the ground)
[ ] #360 Mob animation keeps resetting.
- [ ] #561 Preserve current animation frame when changing state, if start and end are the same.
- [ ] #563 API doesn't return the values documented in lua_api.txt

The lists in the subsections below are all speculative.

per-player or CSM particles for optimization (restrict to player if related to character development [such as skill or item acquisition]?)

short animals (such as Giant Panda) cannot go through 1-block high openings even if the opening is on the ground level (possible allow this, and possibly allow climbing for certain mobs)
A provoked mob that can't reach you (same scenario as above) keeps trying to get to you (maybe they should intimidate instead)
If an Ent falls on your head they just stay there. You can attack them, but they can't attack you. Perhaps have them jump off and have a delay before attacking instead, so the technique remains but immersion is increased.
(.net team wontfix) Client-side modification of player properties based on wielded item #8477
Wrong wielditem scaling for different drawtypes #8281
[Lua] Default wielditem entity size is inconvenient #7897
Player emitting light abilities #6921
Allow changing the angle/position of the “camera” that is used to create the wield image #7140

Post other ideas and issues as comments below. Thumbs up any comments you like (avoid duplicate comments so important ones get more Thumbs up)