Automation of Party

misharsenal

Hey guys

I love BG on the iPad, but I'm new to the series (but not to rpgs)

Is there any way to automate the party members so that the mages cast spells best suited to the AI? Currently when I select all party members and attack and enemy they all go in for melee. Or do I have to manually manage the magic and such?

Also, on the iPad, the lantern that represents party AI on/off - what does that do exactly?

iKrivetko

Character -> Customise -> Scripts

Illydth

The game does include AI for party members. As @iKrivetko mentions there are customizable scripts (though I don't know if you can customize those for the iPad at this point) that identify the AI Actions of your party.

Basically you'll set a "Mode" for your party member anywhere from passive to aggressive based upon the script you select. Characters have multiple scripts...so for a Cleric you might decide you want the cleric to be passive/ranged/healer, which will try to keep the cleric at range from any enemies and cast healing spells on any damaged characters, or you could select another script that makes them into an aggressive ranged damage dealer, casting spells like flamestrike from range but still getting into combat instead of trying to stay passive. There may be another option for a melee based cleric who buffs themselves and tries to get up close and personal.

The Lantern / Party AI button turns on and off the execution of these scripts. WIth the button off, all party members are directly under your control and will accept your actions regardless. With the button on, the scripts can conflict with your actions and may end up overriding you based upon the situation. That said, if a script does what you want it can certainly remove some of the combat management you'll have to do.

Eventually you should be able to customize those scripts and/or create new ones that are EXTREMELY complex to do exactly what you need. Had a friend of mine that played BG2 for YEARS doing nothing but tweaking/tuning his AI scripts for each of the characters.

misharsenal

@Illydth Thanks a lot - thats an amazingly clear reply, I totally get it.

SirHables

@Illydth Do you recommend the Lantern/Script button to be turned on or off?

robertmarkbram

SirHables said:

@Illydth Do you recommend the Lantern/Script button to be turned on or off?

I change my approach depending on what I want to do. By default I like to have it on so that - for example - when in combat, having just killed one enemy, they will automatically switch to the next. I also like to see how well Imoen can do back stab with the script.

One problem with the backstabbing thief script is that they always want to hide in shadows (normally a good thing) except 1) when you have directed your entire party to walk across half the map and Imoen fails a hide in shadows check.. she *stops* moving! (So I have to re-issue the move command.) and 2) many times Imoen is wounded and I get Jaheira to cast heal... but the spell is wasted because *just before* the spell fires, Imoen successfully hides in shadows and the spell fizzles!

So in many situations like this I want to micro-manage my party and direct them myself.

franco

I usually turn the lantern off. Part of what I enjoy in the game are the different tactical situations that occur because of the type of opponents and the relative positions at the start of the battle. Keeping the AI on means that the individual party members will respond on their own, but they will not see or factor in the overall tactical situation for the party. I think you can lose some battles just relying on the scripts, and I don't want the mage wasting spells when the situation can be handled without magic, or the archer using +2 arrows when they're not needed. I prefer to play the game rather than watch the game play itself based on some limited AI programming.

robertmarkbram

franco said:

I think you can lose some battles just relying on the scripts, and I don't want the mage wasting spells when the situation can be handled without magic, or the archer using +2 arrows when they're not needed. I prefer to play the game rather than watch the game play itself based on some limited AI programming.

Agreed: I never let scripts determine spell casting or use of expensive resources. During combat, I leave the AI on primarily as a backup to make sure that party embers focus on the next enemy just in case I miss something.

I am experimenting with Imoen and backstabbing to see if the script manages that, though I keep getting scared and take her over anyway.