Yeah I like the T and ⊥ too in principle, but I was thinking that formation probably doesn't matter all that much within TBS combat, since once you enter battle there's not much to be gained by holding a formation in this game. At that point its a free for all race either to reach an opponent and start whacking, or get out of the way or to the high ground. So its really more for the roaming outside combat, like whether you want the group to be spread out or all close together when the combat begins. But even there people are mostly meta gaming it I'd guess and approaching combat in whatever position/formation will gain them advantage, since good ambushes are rare and you can scout with the camera.

I'm a control freak, so I also wish I could hold/lock position build formations and move in a more coordinated way, with simple efficient clicking, not click and drag portrait to deal with chains. But that's cause I still dig infinity's RTS type control/command scheme with a marquee or select all hotkey.

I could probably get into something like Dragon's Dogma as an alternative approach for the roaming. It wouldn't feel particularly Baldur's Gate, but at least it would coast along in a more interesting sort of way when outside of combat. I was rather hoping for something more engaging from movement outside of combat, maybe taking a page from Zelda where in addition to jumping players could actually climb and swim and whatnot, maybe use ropes and like. But even the most compelling environments here are just kind of like ziggurats for king of the hill and geared more to combat than free form exploration. In other games I always find myself wanting to head up the wrong side of the mountain, or jump off the tallest rock, and mess about that way, and this sort of teases that 3d and cam control, but doesn't really deliver when it comes to the roaming. That territory has been thoroughly explored in action games where you only have a single character, but I can imagine a lot of cool animations and ways it might work in a party based game where it hasn't really been done yet.

Anyhow, just to echo the other concerns, I'm not super happy with the current controls. Its not fluid enough to be relaxing outside of combat, and overly exacting for simple stuff like just jumping over a rock or having everyone else stand still while you're making the attempt. I think in a desire to keep the party "looking" active and dynamic, they end up with that frenetic jogging about that has been described as chickens ambling without purpose. I just want to be able to issue the commands to each PC separately and have them not trip over themselves or each other, run around the long way, catch on fire or whatever. BG1s innovation was basically to make itself Diablo x6 hehe. I get that this one is different because TB, but I don't want to play the whole thing in 6 second intervals just so that movement outside combat feels like I'm still in control, which I guess is the way its done right now. Just seems like they could get something simpler and more responsive for the roaming part, which is the majority of the game after all.


Last edited by Black_Elk; 07/12/20 04:37 PM.