Every entity in the MMO Combat Lab simulation occupies a position on a 32x32 grid. Each engine tick is 0.1 seconds. At a base movement speed of 6.4 m/s, an entity moves 0.64 meters per tick. With 2-meter grid squares, that works out to 3 ticks per orthogonal step and 5 ticks per diagonal step, the values you'll see demonstrated here.
To navigate around obstacles, the simulation uses a pathfinding algorithm called A* (A-star). Given a start point, an end point, and a map of walkable versus blocked cells, A* finds the shortest valid path between them. This is the same algorithm used in commercial video games, GPS navigation, and robotics.
One implementation detail worth understanding: A* can be run synchronously (calculate the entire path immediately) or asynchronously (spread the work across multiple frames and fire a callback when ready). For a visual game, async keeps the screen responsive. For a headless simulation running 10,000 iterations as fast as possible, sync is the right choice. The path is available the same tick it is requested. The toggle below lets you observe both modes on the same grid.
3 ticks × 100ms = 300ms/square