Control All Characters Mod?

I tried searching for this but, since the basic description is inherently generic, nothing useful came up: has anyone made or tried to make or discussed in any way a mod where I get full control of my followers? I just bought the game and after playing it for a while and reading about it, the general consensus, which very much agree with, is that everything about arcanum is fantastic except for combat, which is kind of awful. I think this mostly comes from a) getting frustrated watching your companions constantly doing idiotic things you don't want them to do and b) being completely unable to plan out any kind of tactics or strategy which is the most fun part of fighting anyway. If I could simply tell each character: "stand here" shoot that" "heal this" etc. using the exact same gui as I do for my main char the game would be almost perfect. Of course then you'd have to go and make it twice as hard.

So does anything like this exist? Could it exist?

 

I'm pretty sure it does not exist, it would require heavy modifications to the game engine.

However, you can do limited tactics with the F1..F5 keys; I usually tell my followers to back off (F5), bait some monsters, and then attack (F2).

 

No problem with that one.

• 1. Right click on follower portrait
  2. Click "Attack"
  3. Click on chosen enemy

 

Interesting. I assumed attack was just a general command. I didn't know you could pick targets. I'll try it, better than nothing I guess. Thanks

 

The most useful is the 'back off' command which gets your followers out of combat. Especially if they're attacking a civilian who's running away or a hopelessly powerful enemy.