🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <10bkvt2...@corp.supernews.com>, kren...@ySaPhAoMo.com 
says...
> My control over my party's actions in combat is less than perfect.  Less 
> than acceptable, actually.  Maybe I'm missing something.
> 
No, you're not missing anything.

> Case #1 -- the bad guys are on the other side of a mine.  I have two party 
> members who focus on melee and one with a ranged weapon.  Giving the 
> ranged character combat instructions means juggling back and forth among 
> the other two to keep them from charging forward into the mines.  Is there 
> some kind of "no combat script" option like in Baldur's Gate, so I can 
> hold back the melee characters until I want to use them?
> 
Sadly, no. Setting the game to pause after each combat round will give 
you better control of them though. Once the NPCs level up a bit I find 
it easier to just let them run through the mines. 

> Case #2 -- fighting bad guy and his three henchmen.  I tell Mission to 
> shoot the henchmen, and the other two characters to go after the bad guy.  
> But every time I toggle back to Mission, she has the crosshairs on the 
> main bad guy.  What gives?
> 
One possibility aside from the crappy combat AI. Characters tend to 
switch their attacks to the hostile that most recently caused them any 
damage.

I'm sure that you've already noticed, but ranged weapons in this game 
suck. Badly. You're far better off building most of the NPCs as melee 
fighters. Especially Canderous. His strength and high HP make him a 
killing machine in melee combat.

> And finally, is there a way to set a default attack for a character?  The 
> game seems to like fancy attacks like Power Attack and Sniper Shot, so 
> that I have to continually click that back to normal attack in most cases.  
> Maybe I don't *want* to be using feats that decrease my defense!
> 
Again, no. The only thing that I can suggest is that you set their 
scripted behaviors to standard attack which is the default. I set them 
all, including the ranged fighters, to Jedi/droid support to *make* them 
start using their feats and/or force powers in combat. The only problem 
with this is that the Jedi NPCs use their powers neither wisely or well.

> I'm enjoying the game, but the micromanagement demands are making the 
> prospect of a single-character party very attractive...
> 
It's doable. Even on the hard setting.

-- 
Nothing in life is more exhilarating as
to be shot at without result.
                  - Winston Churchill -

Karl Hiller wrote:
> My control over my party's actions in combat is less than perfect.  Less 
> than acceptable, actually.  Maybe I'm missing something.

Pause after each round helps but is frankly not really necessary until 
the final battles where you need more positve control.
> 
> Case #1 -- the bad guys are on the other side of a mine.  I have two party 
> members who focus on melee and one with a ranged weapon.  

Hint: Mines don't matter, don't sweat them. In answer to your question, 
you can't stop them.

> Case #2 -- fighting bad guy and his three henchmen.  I tell Mission to 
> shoot the henchmen, and the other two characters to go after the bad guy.  
> But every time I toggle back to Mission, she has the crosshairs on the 
> main bad guy.  What gives?

Don't have this issue, they attack who I tell them and until he's dead.

> And finally, is there a way to set a default attack for a character?  The 
> game seems to like fancy attacks like Power Attack and Sniper Shot, so 
> that I have to continually click that back to normal attack in most cases.  
> Maybe I don't *want* to be using feats that decrease my defense!

No, they will use whatever power seems best.
> 
> I'm enjoying the game, but the micromanagement demands are making the 
> prospect of a single-character party very attractive...

Don't manage them all that much. I normally pause on sight, assign all 
the actions I can for everyone and then just roll with my main 
character. Most combats end before the que runs out or shortly 
thereafter. The NPC use their special powers and throw force powers at 
the bad guys in pretty good fashion so once I've run my ititial gameplan 
I let things go and if not for some bigger fights, pause, rebuild the 
orders list and roll again.

Even more frustration.  Just venting, don't mind me.

On Tatoonine, there's a spot (near the Bantha herd) where you have to 
fight a group of Sand People.  My first thought was to lead them back 
toward the cave, because the map narrows at that point and I was hoping to 
get them into a close grouping so I could lob grenades at them.

So as soon as they popped up, I turned and sprinted toward the cave.  Got 
halfway there, turned to look back, and found that Bastila and Carth were 
wayyy back there getting chewed up by the Sand People.  Argh.

On my next attempt, I started near the cave, turned on solo mode, and 
sprinted for the Banthas alone.  The SP jumped up, I turned and ran toward 
the cave, got halfway there, and...  Wait, where are...?  Looked back, and 
somehow Bastila and Carth were again wayyy back by the SP getting chewed 
up.  Da fug?!?

I can kind of rationalize the NPCs being somewhat independent in combat, 
but magically teleporting past me so they can get slaughtered is a bit 
much.

Oh well, at least the storyline is interesting...

Karl Hiller <kren...@ySaPhAoMo.com> wrote in message news:<10eob5g...@corp.supernews.com>...

> I can kind of rationalize the NPCs being somewhat independent in combat, 
> but magically teleporting past me so they can get slaughtered is a bit 
> much.

I don't think they teleport, but they will attack any enemy they see
even when you're soloing. If you want to avoid interference by them,
you'll have to put them somewhere they can't see the enemy.

BTW, if you liked that, you're going to love a later map which is
designed specifically to exploit this annoying NPC behaviour. You'll
know when you get there.

Mean_Chlorine wrote:
> Karl Hiller <kren...@ySaPhAoMo.com> wrote in message news:<10eob5g...@corp.supernews.com>...

> > I can kind of rationalize the NPCs being somewhat independent in combat, 
> > but magically teleporting past me so they can get slaughtered is a bit 
> > much.

> I don't think they teleport, but they will attack any enemy they see
> even when you're soloing. If you want to avoid interference by them,
> you'll have to put them somewhere they can't see the enemy.

They may not have teleported in game terms, but they did go from the cave 
mouth to the Sand People without going past me...  It's not like I could 
have missed seeing them, given the terrain.

Karl Hiller <kren...@ySaPhAoMo.com> writes:

> They may not have teleported in game terms, but they did go from the cave 
> mouth to the Sand People without going past me...  It's not like I could 
> have missed seeing them, given the terrain.

I think that in some situations they do "teleport" as a scripted
event.  Ie, the game is assuming that the sand people have ambushed
you, which means your party will be surrounded even if this involves
changing the physical laws of the universe.

-- 
Darin Johnson
    Caution! Under no circumstances confuse the mesh with the
    interleave operator, except under confusing circumstances!

Darin Johnson <darin_@_usa_._net> wrote in message news:<cu1658y...@nokia.com>...
> Karl Hiller <kren...@ySaPhAoMo.com> writes:
> 
> > They may not have teleported in game terms, but they did go from the cave 
> > mouth to the Sand People without going past me...  It's not like I could 
> > have missed seeing them, given the terrain.
> 
> I think that in some situations they do "teleport" as a scripted
> event.  Ie, the game is assuming that the sand people have ambushed
> you, which means your party will be surrounded even if this involves
> changing the physical laws of the universe.

True. I had no memory of a scripted event involving fighting sand
people, but if it was scripted then yes, they may well have teleported
into battle. Kotor is quite heavy-handed about its assumptions when it
comes to the scripted events.

If anyone is still looking for this - a quick and dirty solution:

Just place this here file in the "Override" folder:
www.dropbox.com/s/a218bcim4c4y1ln/k_ai_master.ncs?dl=0

The result should be them not doing anything in combat without your explicit order. Team members will still follow you, of course, unless in solo mode.

Be aware that this ~could~ cause problems when fighting someone who will join the team later - or fighting someone who has deserted the team. If you should witness such a person just standing around, temporarily remove the file from the Override folder and restart the program. I was not able to test this yet, so any comment on this is welcome!