LE [REQUEST] Followers walk beside player

[IsharaMeradin]

If possible I'd like to be able to have followers walk beside the player when traveling the road ways.

 

Simplest might be when weapons are drawn trail behind, when weapons are sheathed walk closer to the player.

 

Understandably this might not be good for multiple followers but for a single follower it would be nice to see them actually walk beside the player rather than behind. For me it would give that extra touch. It would make them feel more like friends who want to hang out rather than pack mules that trail along.

[JangSunHee]

I'd actually love that. It's not that fun having them parade behind you in a straight line.

I also wonder if there's a way for them to start moving sooner, so they don't fall behind as much.

[Mattiewagg]

I was thinking about working on this as a side project, but I have to leave for a trip soon so I won't be able to for a while. But I'll put it in my list of mods to do :smile:.

[IsharaMeradin]

Toyed with it some.

 

I can get the follower to walk close behind the player when weapons/magic are not out.

I can get the follower to fallback to normal distance when weapons/magic are out.

 

It required duplicating and editing an AI package plus editing the original AI package. The duplicate AI package had to be assigned to the follower alias on the DialogueFollower quest which means it is incompatible with anything that edits said quest or package.

 

No idea how to actually get them to walk beside. But with the 360 Walk/Run mod, I can walk facing the left or right and when I stop I'll turn back to the center and the follower stops right beside. Running without slowing to a walk and gradual stop causes the follower to run into my character and push me out of the way.

 

The follower when weapons/magic are not out are set to be within 70 & 100

When weapons/magic are out they are set to be within 256 & 384

 

Not sure how any of that corresponds to feet or whatever but the 70 - 100 looks to be about 2.5 to 5 feet away while the 256 - 384 is at least 10 feet and more.

 

To my eyes it seems a bit more "realistic" as far as two people trying to traverse through a crowded street would appear. i.e. one clearing a path and the other keeping up close behind. But in the wide open space it still seems odd that they'd only trail after.

[IsharaMeradin]

So... I got tired of the follower just following. I duplicated one of Serana's sandbox packages and put it into the follower alias with the other packages. It checks to see if the player is not moving before allowing the follower to use furniture, idles and such around the player within a range of 256.

 

Unlike Serana the follower does not push the player about while in dialog. But they will pick the closest thing to do while the player is idle.

 

A funny thing, Erik the Slayer is my test subject. While I was in dialog with some Vigilants of Stendar, he bent down to "take" items from a dead vampire. Well, I'd already taken her outfit as it was better rating than what I had. The angle he was at and the length of time he was down there, sure looked like he was trying to get "vampire milk" :P

[IsharaMeradin]

I can easily do different distances between follower and player based on when weapon/magic is out as well as when sneaking or not. Sneaking at the adjusted closer range puts the follower right on the player's heels. But when I add in sandboxing so that they'll do something while waiting on an idle player... it all goes to hell. Sometimes they won't stay sneaking. Sometimes they'll walk all the way back to their editor location to sandbox. And it all depends on the NPC follower in question... My guess is that some of them have other packages that are getting used or interfering in some way. I really don't want to be editing tons of things just to not have "boring" followers.

 

EDIT: Turns out that part of the problem at least was the package that checked for the player to be sneaking without a weapon out. It was supposed to shift the follower's radius from the player. Instead the follower would loose focus on the player as if they'd been dismissed and head back to their editor location.

 

So cannot differentiate between sneaking and not sneaking with packages. This would also explain why they were wandering off instead of sandboxing. I was trying to have them sandbox only when the player was not sneaking because they would up and sandbox whenever the player was idle, even in sneak mode. Guess it is let them sandbox and possibly give away player location or not sandbox at all.

 

Hmm... maybe only sandbox when weapons/magic are not drawn. I tend to leave followers outside when I'm doing stealing for the thieves guild and that's pretty much the only time I sneak without weapon/magic drawn. Will have to try it.

 

One drawback of sandboxing, the follower does not fast travel. Instead they spawn some distance away and run to catch up.

Edited July 10, 2014 by IsharaMeradin

[IsharaMeradin]

Still can't get them walking beside... But walking closer when no weapon or magic is drawn and walking further when they are is working beautifully. Took a cue from my 1st person check tutorial. Created a magic effect and passive ability to start a quest which gives the follower a sandbox AI at a higher priority than the standard follower quest. The conditions are that the player cannot be changing into another world space, cannot be moving, cannot have weapons or magic out, cannot be sneaking. So far works great. Needs more testing especially in the fast travel department.

 

 

I know there are plenty of follower related mods out there but I don't want dialog options, menus or other intrusive means of accomplishing something that makes them feel even the slightest bit more alive than following blindly like a little puppy dog.

[IsharaMeradin]

Interesting side note:

 

Do not let a free sandbox follower near the chopping block during Roggvir's execution.

 

I had walked up near the platform for a good view. Erik the Slayer promptly decided that the idle marker for the chopping block was free to use. As he walked up the steps and interrupted the execution, the entire contingent of guards proceeded to attack. I did not draw my weapon. As a result the guard in melee range refused to attack me (just stared with weapn out and dodged Erik's swings) but it did not stop the archers on the walls from turning me into a porcupine. :P

[EgoAltar]

Do not let a free sandbox follower near the chopping block during Roggvir's execution.

That sounds like good advice right there! :laugh:

 

Sounds like you're making some inroads. I've never had multiple followers until recently (Familiar Faces FTW), but having them trail across the landscape is pretty annoying.

Is it all based on distance? Or is there a way to change the angle and have a follower "flank" the Player (or another follower for that matter)?

[IsharaMeradin]

 

Do not let a free sandbox follower near the chopping block during Roggvir's execution.

That sounds like good advice right there! :laugh:

 

Sounds like you're making some inroads. I've never had multiple followers until recently (Familiar Faces FTW), but having them trail across the landscape is pretty annoying.

Is it all based on distance? Or is there a way to change the angle and have a follower "flank" the Player (or another follower for that matter)?

 

I have found no way to get the follower to go anywhere other than behind the player. Right now, I just shift distance depending upon if weapon/magic is drawn or sheathed. If sheathed the follower is between 100 & 200. I had it at 70 but when sneaking they would be so close that they could clip through the player so I pushed it back. If weapons/magic are out then they'll be at the original default distance (not whatever USKP used). It isn't a sudden change between distance when drawing weapons. They'll stay close until the player either runs ahead and gets out of the new range or the package actually kicks in.

 

I do have npc greetings turned off otherwise the follower would spout some lines every so often. That does get annoying when testing on a stock profile.

 

The sandbox behavior works great. It starts and stops based on player movement. Unfortunately, it has proven to be unfriendly with fast travel. I may have to try again to make a custom template that includes both sandbox and follow. My trouble with that before was trying to do it all on the original follower quest. Might work now that the sandbox is separate from the modified distance follow packages.

 

I had wondered about constantly moving an Xmarker so far to the front and side of the player and having the follower use that as the target, but I'm afraid it might get a little jerky and/or have odd moments when it is no longer on a navmeshed area. Not to mention the performance hit it could have.