Will characters with the Bodyguard & Staying close job grab food?

[Bragdras]

I'm getting quite tired of characters in a squad having to do one giant conga line in order for everyone to walk at the same speed so I decided to have everyone bodyguard the squad leader at full speed while the squad leader walks to make sure they can catch up at all time. However I was wondering if they'd properly go and eat food when needed or if I'd have to constantly stuff their bags, rendering the whole thing null?

PS A way of forcing characters to stay in formation while all going at the same speed without having to go through these hoops would be excellent, sometimes the journeys really become an exercise in frustration when characters get themselves stuck, start doing conga lines or straight up stop moving.

[Hatsune Neko Gaming]

the double stick man is the option.

[Lochar]

I noticed that recently animals get further behind and sometimes the squad when the pathing splits up. But lately animals are constantly lagging and have to give them a follow command just to catch up

[Bramborough]

Originally posted by Lochar:

I noticed that recently animals get further behind and sometimes the squad when the pathing splits up. But lately animals are constantly lagging and have to give them a follow command just to catch up

Just recently started running a packbeast on longer expeditions. Ran into same problem, even with the "double stick man" movement option...apparently regulating pace to the slowest member of the group doesn't extend to animals. The beast's Athletics is in the 40s, purportedly good for 25mph.

I dropped the pace down to the Jog, and things worked much better. Not only did the beast now keep up and remain tight with the group, but also seemed to improve pathing issues. Guys would split off and run a different route less often. And the lower speed actually isn't as annoying as I expected.

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As far as OP question, I haven't tried the all-on-follow/bodyguard method, but as long as they remain in range of a food-carrying backpack (perhaps on the squad leader they're following?), seems that should work.

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All that said, would be nice if there was some sort of streamlined "group travel" option. I know that's what the pace-matching double-man button is supposed to do, but just doesn't seem to work quite as intended. With the various methods currently available, there's a lot of "babysitting" involved to maintain group integrity on the move.

[BlitzBob NoPants]

Bodyguarding shouldn't interfere with them grabbing food out of backpacks as long as they are in range of it. I once had a guy who was at the back of the line that couldn't reach the food supply at the front, but generally with the bumps in movement speed from hills and such it wasn't really a problem. You can check by seeing if you are able to move items between their inventories. If you can, they can reach for food as well.

Seems like animals lose a lot of speed when they have to turn around and because of their bigger hitbox that sometimes prevents them from taking the same path the smaller humanoids fit though.

Double stick-man doesn't allow for walking in formation either, so one way or another movement still needs some love before they release.

[Bragdras]

Originally posted by HaTsUnE_NeKo:

the double stick man is the option.

It doesn't do the job at all.

It makes characters go into a conga line, they don't wait for each other, if one gets stuck they'll keep going, and all it really does is make them go at the speed of the slowest guy, meaning if they're taking a different path and some end up way ahead or behind, they won't group up.

So no, double stick man is unfortunately not the option.

[Jim's counter insurgency]

I tend to put my guys on bodyguard with a packbeast, then jog the packbeast. I use this when delving into cannibal territory to raid them for raiding me.

[Tovias]

Really wish the formations didn't required the follow/bodyguard order since you have to play a lot with character speed. So if your VIP is too fast, it's gonna leave everyone behind so you actually need to bodyguard the slowest fella.

[mr_bman]

Even out backpack weight, have all the same footwear, same pants - try to get them so the weight they carry isn't slowing them down any. Don't encumber a few guys with heavy armor and expect them to keep up with guys wearing light armor and wooden sandals. You will get the occasional one get stuck on obstacles a bit and get behind. Its when you get a big difference in speed between your group when they'll seperate out. With pack animals sometimes you can get then to travel at the same speed as the rest of the group by having them catch up but order a move before they stop running. They tend to get behind because they don't accellerate fast enough when the whole group starts moving - that puts them behind. Some times you can play around with the stick men icon to get them all moving at the same speed. Sometimes it'll glitch and clicking the stickman icon clears it out.

[Bragdras]

Originally posted by Tovias:

Really wish the formations didn't required the follow/bodyguard order since you have to play a lot with character speed. So if your VIP is too fast, it's gonna leave everyone behind so you actually need to bodyguard the slowest fella.

That can be circumvented by making the leader walk and the rest running at their max speed, but it still doesn't fix much, the leader will still basically not stop, can still get stuck or just stop in his path etc.

Tbh it would be nice if we didn't have to go through these hoops just to go from A to B without issues depending on the terrain you tread, hopefully this'll be either fixed or a new feature will be added for that later on.

[Bramborough]

Originally posted by Old man jenkins:

I tend to put my guys on bodyguard with a packbeast, then jog the packbeast. I use this when delving into cannibal territory to raid them for raiding me.

Decided to try this out. Works quite well for the actual movement. Gets a little clunky when transitioning into combat preparation though; lol the packbeast always out front and moving it to rear makes everyone else try to align in formation behind. Plus my packbeasts tend to walk in a little circle when they stop, which makes the bodyguard group rotate around it.