A character stays behind when the group moves

Alonso

It happens quite often and it is annoying. You tell your party to move from one side of the map to the other, go get yourself a beer in the meantime, and when you look again all of them have moved where you told them except this one who hasn't moved at all, he's still at the original position yawning and looking stupid. Then you have to tell him again to move while his companions (and yourself) wait for him yawning. It happens about half of the time, maybe more.

Lord_Tansheron

This usually happens when there's a chokepoint on the way, and people jam. Sometimes the AI of those at the back just gives up when there's no path (since it's blocked by the ones in front) and it doesn't resume when the blockage has cleared.

Been like that forever.

Alonso

No choke point in this case. When I ask them to move in the example above they're in the big Trademeet plaza, outside the smithy.

Lord_Tansheron

Could also be script interference. You say move, script says do something else.

RobertMcDuck

Sometimes they attempt to execute scripts like dialouge. You can sometimes see an NPC go into "Action" stance, like they usually do when you task them to do something before you unpause. Happens to me sometimes, they try to dialouge or something. Those things makes them halt completely. Maybe not the cause since this happen very seldom, but still a possibilty.

dunbar

I occasionally have this problem with Viconia specifically for no apparent reason but every other time it's the dialogue issue - npcs can't talk and walk at the same time.

Calmar

You must gather your party before venturing forth.

Since my earliest days of playing BG I'm used to repeat the marching order several times and check on the map if everyone is actually moving as they ought to.

RobertMcDuck

dunbar said:

I occasionally have this problem with Viconia specifically for no apparent reason but every other time it's the dialogue issue - npcs can't talk and walk at the same time.

Exactly. That is why they halt.

Lord_Tansheron

dunbar said:

I occasionally have this problem with Viconia specifically for no apparent reason

IIRC this is a known issue if you're using the romance mod options from BGTweaks and have multiple romances going with Viconia and someone else. It seems to only affect her and is EXTREMELY irritating.

dunbar

So she's sulking because I'm two-timing her?

BillyYank

I think it's AI script interference, I see the same thing in BG1/SOD. Nowhere near half the time though. More like 10% of the time.

RobertMcDuck

BillyYank said:

I think it's AI script interference, I see the same thing in BG1/SOD. Nowhere near half the time though. More like 10% of the time.

As I Said.

Lord_Tansheron

dunbar said:

So she's sulking because I'm two-timing her?

That would be a creative interpretation that is in line with her character, and I'm 100% endorsing it.

Technically, though, it's some weird dialog glitch. BGTweaks is deprecated at this point anyway, not sure if the successor mod(s) fix the issue.

Alonso

dunbar said:

it's the dialogue issue

I don't understand. What's the dialogue issue?

jackjack

It happens to me even though I never turn on party AI. Why would a script be doing anything at all? Most often, I find the character in question vibrating erratically next to a commoner. Maybe they're lonely.

dunbar

@Alonso npcs have scripted lines that they spout seemingly at random but are actually determined by some timer in the game. If they happen to be walking when the game tells them to speak they stop walking, say their piece and then stand still, having 'forgotten' that they were walking before they started speaking.
I hope I've explained this properly/accurately - somebody else please correct me if I'm wrong.

@jackjack Likewise, I never turn the AI on, but it still happens to me - but only with npcs that I'm romancing so I think it could be the romance timer kicking in to 'continue' the romance. You might have noticed that the timer has no consideration of where you physically are when the time comes to consummate the romance and you end up bonking your loved one somewhere totally inappropriate (geographically speaking).

mf2112

I always just assume someone had to make a pit stop since the only bathrooms in the game are in DeArnise keep.

RelSundan

dunbar said:

@Alonso npcs have scripted lines that they spout seemingly at random but are actually determined by some timer in the game. If they happen to be walking when the game tells them to speak they stop walking, say their piece and then stand still, having 'forgotten' that they were walking before they started speaking.

To be more exact, NPC's can only do one thing at a time, and have to be given a new command everytime they have finished their previous object, be it by AI or the player. To clarify my meaning, an exempel:

1. Cook dinner
2. Eat dinner
3. Wash the dishes.

You have to command the NPC one of these things at a time, not:

Cook the dinner, then eat the dinner, and finally wash the dishes.

That is how the NPC is coded. So if the NPC stop to attempt a dialouge, you will have to tell them to "Continue walking" or something like that.

James_M

I concur with the OP. In BG2EE a party member can get "hung-up" and stop cold in their tracks fairly often even across open areas. You have to check the map after issuing a command. In my experience it's 90% due to getting randomly hung-up on any "corner" or even from bumping into each other. Common spots for this to happen to me is walking the entire party of 6 from:

- Slums: from the Copper Coronet south/lower door, over to the exit/entrance to the Slums (the spot where you meet Gaelan Bayle). Can get hung-up on the north tip of a house.

- Promenade: from the ground/street at the west archway (the arch near the Ore Merchant) standing inside the large central area, walking west/north to the west exit/entrance of the Promenade. Can get hung-up on the Merchant, or thereabouts, near the west exit.

It can be any party member, including the Protagonist.

This problem of getting "hung-up" at these non-choke-point spots is new to BG2EE and is not present in BG2. BG2 had the problem of party members "taking the long 'way around", but certainly didn't have the problem in the two mentioned areas.

Either way, this game is a thing of beauty. I continue to play EE 1.3 and do not find it buggy at all. If EE was not available, I'd continue to play BG2 with the various fixes and smart mods from the community. If BG2 wasn't available, well.....

RelSundan

Do you have any mods? Extra romances or dialogue included mods? @James_M

Belfaldurnik

For me it only happens with obstacles on the way, such as commoners, barrels, rocks or trees. The path finder simply gives up sometimes, and the character is stuck and only accepts a new target location.

Moonheart

This is one of the many reason why I lost my love for 6 man parties.
6 is a crowd for the layout of most areas of the game

Alonso

I have a saved game where you can see this happening with no dialogs interfering. Try to move the group directly to The old tunnels exit. Keldorn and the protagonist refuse to move. Nobody has said a word (actually the whole area is deserted in this save).