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Do you play with party AI?

MitchforkMitchfork Member Posts: 390
edited January 2014 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Pretty self-explanatory question. I see a small amount of talk about the party AI in these games and I wonder what percentage of players use it. Hopefully one of the poll options is accurate to your playstyle.

Also feel free to mention which scripts you like for your party members.
  1. Do you play with party AI?107 votes
    1. I never use party AI for any reason.
      26.17%
    2. I play with party AI off, but will toggle it on under certain circumstances.
        9.35%
    3. I play with party AI roughly 50% of the time.
        7.48%
    4. I play with party AI on, but will toggle it off under some circumstances.
      45.79%
    5. I never turn the party AI off.
      11.21%
«1

Comments

  • MitchforkMitchfork Member Posts: 390
    For myself- I do not like the party AI. I pause very frequently and prefer to assign orders very tactically and deliberately. I like letting the enemy come to me, and most of the default AI scripts will let your party charge stupidly into enemy positions. For spellcasters, I don't like any script that will waste your spells.

    However, if I'm up against trash mobs when I'm high level (stuff like Orcs and Hobgoblins) I'll flick it on so that I can speed up combat. Otherwise it's always off.
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    The SCS AI is really good. I almost never turn it off but I do have to once or twice. Early on the autobuff can bring the Cowled Wizards down on your head very quickly. There's a non-buffing option but I find it easier just to flick it off in town.
  • KaltzorKaltzor Member Posts: 1,050
    edited January 2014
    I have AI on most of the time...Though generally I remove scripts from most except Fighters, Paladins and Rangers, and all they get is the attack enemies on sight script.
  • TwaniTwani Member Posts: 640
    I play with good scripts, so I toggle it off so rarely that I'd say I basically keep it on 100%. If I need something different from scripts, I'm probably needing to actively control that character, so... yeah. Very rare for me to turn it off.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    Phew, looks like I'm a nazi!
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited January 2014
    I learned a long time ago that party AI, no matter how I set the scripts, just leads to a lot of dying. Characters countermand my orders, interrupt their own spells, and start attacking when I just clicked for them to retreat. The scouts also blow their stealth right in front of dragons and elder orbs and stuff. ("No, Yoshimo, you idiot, don't shoot that normal arrow at that boss with the rest of the party two rooms away!)

    I want the NPC's and my own toon to just follow my orders to the letter ("to the click?") please.
  • TwoWayFinesseTwoWayFinesse Member Posts: 128
    When it starts making even more daft decisions than I usually do, that's the time it goes off. Hold on, can I change my vote?........
  • UrbanHoundUrbanHound Member Posts: 7
    I'm with Twani on this. I use very particular scripts and they do a good job of taking care of the most routine conflicts. Anything needing more precision I'm stepping in to take direct control anyway so it works out.
  • SilverstarSilverstar Member Posts: 2,207
    I always put the passive/defensive one on everyone at least (apart from myself who use no ai script at all) and usually the standard attack one on the meatheads. The original BG had a magnificent script called Fighter 2 (I think?) that had the character auto-attack enemies but not straying very far from party leader... there's a similar one around still but it centers on currently controlled character instead and also works outside of combat, so it's not quite as neat.
  • Durlag_ThunderaxeDurlag_Thunderaxe Member Posts: 71
    Party AI is annoyin', particularly when warriors decide to charge headlong into cloud kill, web etc

    But having my wizard stand around and do nothing for several rounds cos I didn't notice spell got disrupted is also really annoying
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,268
    I want 100% control over my party members; no questions asked. The only time AI is turned on for me is when I forget to turn it off after starting a new game.
  • ryuken87ryuken87 Member Posts: 563
    The AI is both crap and annoying. Off it stays.
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    My party AI exclusively has my party using the standard attack script (or the ranged script if their primary weapon is a ranged one). I turn it off whenever I'm going to be in a fight where I need my arcanists at the front doing the brunt of the work, or when you are fighting a Dragon or a Mage or something and there's no practical reason to have your party running in strapped to the teeth.
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    I never quite found an AI setup that I was happy with.

    But I still use it quite a lot, mostly with melee characters on Standard Attack, and most others on Passive. It allows me to quickly deal with trash mobs without bothering about micromanagement, and also I sometimes use AI to check if casters have finished with a spell, when they starting firing arrows/bullets.
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,393
    I love managing battles, every detail of them. So no AI for me. Ever. Ever.
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    But there are few things as spectacular as watching an Improved Hasted Mazzy tear through a horde of hobgoblins at a rate of 10 goblins/round... It's just not the same when you have to assign her a new target after every swing.
  • Mrpenfold666Mrpenfold666 Member Posts: 428
    i never turn it off because I'm lazy and do all their actions anyway
  • jackjackjackjack Member Posts: 3,251
    I turn it on for Gibberlings.
  • PugPugPugPug Member Posts: 560
    Maybe if there were some sort of script to cast Cure Light Wounds on the party semi-intelligently between battles, I would turn it on just for that and turn it off.
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    PugPug said:

    Maybe if there were some sort of script to cast Cure Light Wounds on the party semi-intelligently between battles, I would turn it on just for that and turn it off.

    The SCS one does that, and also refreshes stoneskin after sleeping.
  • ajwzajwz Member Posts: 4,122
    ryuken87 said:

    The AI is both crap and annoying. Off it stays.

    Yep. Also, even if it was any good, the D&D spell casting system would not be suitable to be managed by a computer.
  • Sucky_McWorthlessSucky_McWorthless Member Posts: 5
    My party is allowed to act in 3 ways :
    1) My Way
    2) My Way
    3) My Way
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    I measure this in game time, not just combat. I usually have AI on and use... scripts that don't allow NPCs to do much damage (casters are always on "fighter ranged" or similar, so they don't start casting at the sight of a kobold and such). I turn it off for fights and in other specific situations (exploring area with many traps, for example). So, I mostly travel with AI on and when NPCs are required to do something more complex than walking and hitting wolves over the head, I turn it off.
  • IllustairIllustair Member Posts: 878
    If only we could make custom AI scripts IN-GAME, much like the Tactics in Dragon Age but with more options and be more complex.
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    i use it for minor encounters like a bunch of kobolds or something, but I turn it off for bosses and more advanced group where I need more control :)
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    edited January 2014
    While the default AI routines definitely suck, there are some pretty good ones out there. The eSeries and the BPSeries scripts both do a fairly good job. I suspect the people who don't like using the AI in the game haven't tried a more advanced version.
  • UrbanHoundUrbanHound Member Posts: 7
    Illustair said:

    If only we could make custom AI scripts IN-GAME, much like the Tactics in Dragon Age but with more options and be more complex.

    This is honestly one of my favorite aspects of Dragon Age. Tweaking the AI to allow for all the various exigencies of combat on my own terms and seeing the fruits of that labor.

  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    I've had too many bad experiences where turning on party AI leads to characters thinking "lets use our entire spellbook against these gibberlings" or "better buff up for this Suna Sensi encounter"
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