What is the difference between 'escort and 'follow orders?

[PM]

I cannot tell the difference between them except 'escort seems unreliable at times. (Have not figured out all the details yet.) No controllers like "fleet" are used.

[shanejfilomena]

I cannot tell the difference between them except 'escort seems unreliable at times. (Have not figured out all the details yet.) No controllers like "fleet" are used.

on Ship to Ship orders : 'Escort = parallel Flying Guard
( whereas 'Guard = Circling the target ship, like a " flying " version of 'Patrol )

on 'Follow the ship will not guard or defend the target intentionally, such as
If you ordered the ship to 'follow another into the gate .....it would go and never return

If you ordered a ship to 'escort and the target does 'gate : your ' escort ship will return looking for orders ( this is why Autons are ordered to 'escort gPlayership after many orders ) once the target is gone into the gate.

[george moromisato]

I cannot tell the difference between them except 'escort seems unreliable at times. (Have not figured out all the details yet.) No controllers like "fleet" are used.

In general, I'm trying to deprecate the concept of "controllers." I'd like to replace their unique behaviors with specific orders or AI settings.

For the standard controller, the only difference between 'escort and 'follow is that 'follow does not break formation to attack enemies in range, unless attacked first. In contrast, with the 'escort order, a ship might sometimes break-off just because it saw a threat nearby (even if not attacked).

Other controllers do not implement 'follow, and generally don't do anything.

[PM]

Good to know. I think I used them interchangeably in Playership Drones. I think I tried to stick to one, except for times the AI ship refused to do anything because it was docked at something, and I used the other to pry it loose and make it return. I forgot the exact details.