Design of party movement outside of combat

[OttoQuitmarck]

So I'm working on a party-based 2D CRPG (in a similar style to Dark Sun: Shattered Lands) and I was wondering what you guys' opinion is on how other party members should be able to move outside of combat. If they should just not appear on the map at all and only appear whenever combat starts, or if it should be possible to move each individual party member around on the map outside of combat like Baldur's gate, or if they should just always follow the main player character a bit like in JRPGs or the recent Kingsvein I believe (I only looked at screenshots so I might be wrong). Each of these options has quite a lot of implications for the overall game, and especially level design so it's something I want to decide on early on and not have any regrets about, ideally.

For the record, the plan is obviously that IN combat the various party members will be able to move separately in each of their respective turns. And if they can't move separately outside of combat they would just automatically move into/behind the player once combat is over. Even if they *can* move separately the idea is still to have the "follow the player" design by default and the user would need to actively decide to want to move characters separately.

 

[MRY]

Heavily driven by gameplay considerations (e.g., whether individual party members can sneak or place traps, whether combat and exploration happen on the same map such that you can position party members pre-combat), aesthetic considerations (is the exploration mode meant to be relatively "realistic" such that it's bizarre not to see the followers), and somewhat driven by narrative conventions (to what extent does one character have primacy over the others, to what extent are followers "characters" whose presence should be visually respected). Impossible question to answer in a vacuum.

All else being equal, they should be visible but should not obstruct movement.

 

[OttoQuitmarck]

Heavily driven by gameplay considerations (e.g., whether individual party members can sneak or place traps, whether combat and exploration happen on the same map such that you can position party members pre-combat), aesthetic considerations (is the exploration mode meant to be relatively "realistic" such that it's bizarre not to see the followers), and somewhat driven by narrative conventions (to what extent does one character have primacy over the others, to what extent are followers "characters" whose presence should be visually respected). Impossible question to answer in a vacuum.

All else being equal, they should be visible but should not obstruct movement.

Hmmmm alright.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Even if they *can* move separately the idea is still to have the "follow the player" design by default and the user would need to actively decide to want to move characters separately.

In cities or places you want to have combat that can happen at any given moment, you probably should have them being separate from the main character and on the screen together. However, you can always save yourself some trouble and just have a single icon for the entire party in the overworld. Lots of games do this.

 

[OttoQuitmarck]

Even if they *can* move separately the idea is still to have the "follow the player" design by default and the user would need to actively decide to want to move characters separately.

In cities or places you want to have combat that can happen at any given moment, you probably should have them being separate from the main character and on the screen together. However, you can always save yourself some trouble and just have a single icon for the entire party in the overworld. Lots of games do this.

Yea makes sense. Hmmm. It does seem like a lot of extra work/needed QA to implement it like this, however.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Yea makes sense. Hmmm. It does seem like a lot of extra work/needed QA to implement it like this, however.

Fallout did it this way, now that I think about it. You can have a party of four people walking around in the towns and in random encounters, but your whole party is just a triangle on the map screen. It just depends on how abstract you want the party icon on the overworld map.

 

[Dorateen]

If you go with the Party Leader approach, whether represented by a single icon or the other characters tagging along, the Player should be able to swap out/select a different character to be the party leader, as needed.

 

[The_Sloth_Sleeps]

A really good question that I have wondered about myself.



I don't have want I want but I want this feel. That is some jank, which is what I want. For that I use an arrive with separation behaviour. Companions cannot traverse all geometry therefore they can get stuck. They will appear alongside you when combat begins though.