Help

Straight Follow the Leader

Joshua L. Designer •

I see the lovely follow the leader tool that's been added...HOWEVER, I am trying to figure out how, if possible, to do a 'traditional' (straight) follow the leader; that is, 90 square angles, straight lines, 4- or 2- step spacing? I'm sure I'm just missing something simple, but all my brain can think of is how I would do it in Pyware. When I use the FTL tool, it seems to a) default to curved turns and b) the grouping / ordering is completely wacky. Is it possible currently to set my own ordering and then trace a shape / script for a FTL drill? I'd prefer a straight, blocked path with 90deg turns/pivots, but I'm not even sure how to set ordering for a curvilinear FTL. End goal is just to script a block letter beginning with one marcher at the corner of an existing square block.

Replies

Christian P. Admin •

We haven't even though about adding straight curves! We'll add this to the next patch coming soon! The best advice I can give for now is to use the follow the leader tool and add as many control points at corners as possible. For defining order, there's a "Define Order" button that then lets you click the order of marchers just in case the algorithm gets it wrong.
Joshua L. Designer •

That would be incredibly helpful! I don't seem to see a 'Define Order" button when using the FTL tool, although I have seen that in other tools. It would definitely be helpful for FTL's. I think I figured out yesterday how to effectively force the grouping for an evenly-spaced grid by tracing the order I want with line segments, but it would definitely be more helpful to be able to either pre-group them (a la Pyware) or set the order before / while setting the path. I will say, MM is definitely game-changing for my program, particularly the buddy app. I do think a few 'traditional' tools would be helpful, though. I'm trying to incorporate more curvilinear work with my small band, but still find myself throwing in the occasional Step-2/sequential push or pinwheel (I believe both of those might be doable already, not sure), and for pregame purposes straight/right-angled FTLs are incredibly helpful for scripting, forming tunnels, etc. - those can be taught verbally, but sometimes it's just easier for me to check my math visually and for my students to see it.
Christian P. Admin •

Just modified the code to add the feature! Works great in our tests! Make sure you have the 1.1.3 version downloaded to use the "Define Order" feature, or you can wait a few days until we have 1.1.4 out 😁 I'm very glad we're able to help out your program! If you have more features you'd like to see please do let us know and we'll see what we can do to implement them!