Character AI - what exactly is it??

[SpiritWarrior]

In a message someone wrote :"You need not attack him. Enter his house/shop and tell him that you know everything and that he cannot escape justice. Folow him downstairs. Turn AI off before going downstairs! You'll see why soon."

Exactly what changes does the AI make? I know it has sommat to do with your characters pathfinding abilities but other than that i'm not so sure.

[Witchhunter]

AI is short for Artificial Intelligence. If you got the AI turned on(the lantern is lit) then the NPC's will take actions on their own against attackers and bad guys(ie. attack them). If you have it turned off they will only react on your orders.

[Sir Exxon]

AI is a help to control your NPCs. If AI is turned off, the NPCs will e.g. attack enemies without your command, etc, but if AI is turned on, no NPCs will move or do anything without you ordering them to.
But I'm not fully sure on this. [img]smile.gif[/img]

EDIT: Yes! I was correct!

[ 06-10-2002, 11:44 AM: Message edited by: Sir Exxon ]

[Lanthir]

Exxon you got it reversed. With AI on your party memmbers including your pc will react to enimies as per the scripts you choose for them. With AI off they will just stand there till you tel lthem to do something

It is a good idea to soemtimes turn them off like if you are trying to sneak past someone it isa real bumer to have a party member to all of asudden let an arrow go at a black dragon.

Oh the Ai latern is located on the lower right fo your screen just to the left of the group select button

[ 06-10-2002, 04:22 PM: Message edited by: Lanthir ]

[Glorfindel]

Originally posted by Lanthir: With AI off they will just stand there till you tel lthem to do something

Dont ya just HATE it when you accidentally hit the lantern and they get killed.. and your left thinking... WTF???
It annoys me no end [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Lanthir]

Oh yea ruins my day. Lets see i have had my thief attack the shadow dragon when i was trying to sneak by and i have had my ranger charge in with everyone else stadnign there when it wsa turned off. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 06-11-2002, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: Lanthir ]

[Asynca]

I prefer to refer to party AI as AS, Artifical Stupidity. No matter what script you pick for you players, basically you're going to need a good cleric in santuary to raise everyone afterwards. Your party CAN'T tell when there's a mage that should be attacked first, they can't tell what's useful and what's not (My weapon is Faulty! My Weapon is Faulty! My weapon is Faulty!), they can't tell when they need to be healed and when they don't (for example, my cleric ran off to heal herself as the mage she was attacking was near death). Basically, AI for a player of any minor ammount of skill is useless. Pause as the battle begins and tell everyone what to do.

[Radek]

I don't think AI is so bad. In fact, the scripts are another "console" in BG2. You can (mis)use it and get big "advantage" unreachable otherwise. On the other hand, you can use it wisely.
The predefined scripts are of limited use. If you want to use AI effectively then you have to conform the scripts according to your play style. You won't need to control every fight any more, you can issue only general orders (whom to attack first, etc.) and control the fight only during difficult combats or if something gets wrong.
I am using AI extensively. About 80% of combats are done by AI. 15% of combats need a few general instructions to my people. Only 5% of combats are fought with AI off.

[Dundee Slaytern]

In the beginning, I used AI extensively, because I was still getting used to the game style.

The spacebar was my friend... my very. Good. Friend... ...

As I progressed however, I started to use it far less, then I started disabling it. Some of the NPCs will have AI scripts, the rest not( mostly the spellcasters, because hack and slash is pretty straightforward, but you have to cast your spells correctly, or the battle will quickly turn into frustration).

Nowadays, I use AI more. I order them to cast the first spell, then sit back and watch the carnage, intervening only when it seems necessary. For boss fights however, I switch off AI. I switch off AI when I am using a Cleric/Paladin to Turn Undead as well.