party members not walking in formation

[LORD KRAID]

the members of my party refuse to walk in a neat triangle like in the original version. they cluster around the avatar at wierd angles. its really irritating because walking up stairs and through doors is a pain, i keep getting hung up on them and stuck in corners. does any one know what is up with this?

[artaxerxes]

Dominus, please go ahead.

You do it better than us all.

Artaxerxes

[Colourless]

Found at the top of the page:

Before posting, make sure you've read the FAQ and searched the message board for previous discussions.

Have you done that? No, of course not. If you did, you would have seen this from the faq:

3.6. Why is the party formation different?
In Exult the party (the Avatar and his companions) move quite differently than they do in the original. This is actually not a bug but a disliking of the old style. Recently Jeff changed this a bit but it still is not the same as the original.

Jeff:
It's not a bug, it's a feature! I like it that way. Everyone is sensitive to different things, and I always though the formation-walking in the original U7 looked really stupid. Eventually, someone may add the original type of walking to Exult, probably as an option.

-Colourless Dragon

[Dunadan]

But eventhough i have to agree with Daniel, its the only reason i'm not yet playing Exult because of the party formation.
Its really odd to see them bumping on eachother most of the time.

I really hope it will be fixed someday

I also heard its really hard to fix,

[Dominus]

Artaxerxes: I think Colourless did a really great job this time

Dunadan: if you wait for that to change it might take you along time to get on playing with Exult...
And it is complicated to fix as it might very well effect other behaviour in the game and pose new bugs all over. That'S the main reason no one did anything on this yet...

[Max]

Hmm, I'm not that sure if the Exult team created Exult for the reason that everyone likes it:). It's their program and so their decision to change the formation that way.

[Tim]

If it was intentionally made so that the party doesn't march in formation, then it can be easily undone. My opinion. I don't care, I just wish they would keep up with the Avatar and stay on the same screen even at medium resolution.

[drcode]

Here we go again:-)

1. It's not that easy to implement 'formation walking', since you have to deal with things blocking the formation.

2. Nobody here is against it; but nobody has felt like doing it yet.

3. Anyone is free to take the source and try to implement it as an option. We're happy to take patches.

4. In the original, I remember constantly having problems with companions getting in my way.

[MagicMop]

Hmmm... if I'm not mistaken, now is the perfect time for someone to suggest a multiplayer option for exult.

Ummm... geez, why is everyone looking at me like that?

Oh, nevermind...

MM

[artaxerxes]

or shiny pants for Spark



Artaxerxes

[Tim]

Well, I'm not all that disappointed by the non-formation marching. And I always had them in my way too. But when combat comes, it'd be nice to have them on the screen.

The answer to the FAQ is somewhat misleading. What I gathered from it is that the Exult team said, "I really hated how the party would bunch up and get in the Avatar's way. Let's fix that." "I know, we'll just kinda scatter the party."

"This is actually not a bug but a DISLIKING OF THE OLD STYLE. Recently Jeff changed this a bit but it still is not the same as the original."

"It's not a bug, it's a feature." I know this is a BS answer, but not everyone will understand that.

The FAQ answer is what got me confused. I fussed about this a while ago. I think the FAQ should mention that while developing Exult, the party formation was lost. And no one really cares about putting it back in, mabe later as a feature.

That's fine with me. I hope someone does it eventually though.

[Dominus]

I will fix the FAQ next time I wrestle with it.

[Christopher Strong]

One problem that results from this decision is there are scenes (more in SI than BG) where the characters talk (with words appearing over the characters), but when they are all overlapped in a pile it can cause a problem as some information is lost.

I don't have time to develop a fix right now so I have to just appreciate how great Exult is....

[toad`sMoke]

Artaxerxes: lol. you still remember.... i loved that thread....

[Tim]

Spark's pants wasn't that long ago.

[Skutarth]

Don't start THAT again...