@The Composer : Yes. Kind of. Mostly but not fully.
The Chain Control Scheme is one issue (a complex one, with multiple parts, pieces and layers). The bad Pathing is, fundamentally, a different issue (a rather simple one to describe and discuss, I feel).
But they not entirely unrelated. And so I think your analogy goes a bit too far, as the two example you take are truly and entirely unrelated.
One of the (several) pieces of the Chain Control Scheme is that, every time a character is selected, all the other characters that are part of the same Group will automatically be ordered to converge to the selected character if they are too far away. Executing this movement "command" naturally calls the Pathing code.
Improving the Pathing code would alleviate some issues. In particular, the case where combat just ended, your Group is scattered, and everyone converges to the last character to act in combat. With an improved Pathing, characters would no longer walk in fire or traps. But they would still be moving without my express order, and they might get in line of sight of other enemies.
Improving the Chain Control Scheme, by no longer requiring all non-selected Group members to constantly check their distance to the selected character and move if they are too far, would completely decouple the two issues.
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Side note 1 : since the thread has "party movement mechanics" in the name, I feel that both issues are completely on topics, regardless of how they are inter-related.
Side note 2 : yes, reactivity is also an issue. In summary, in BG1&2, Astarion would not randomly walk through fire and traps after a fight because - a) there was no Chain Control Scheme : after a fight, if my party is scattered and all selected, they won't move until I give a move order. - b) when I press Pause, the game pauses immediately, allowing me to react if I see that Astarion is about to walk on a trap.
Last edited by Drath Malorn; 11/07/2204:57 PM. Reason: who I'm replying to
