AI heroes' scripting ala Baldur's Gate

[guspav]

I just thought it would be very cool (after seeing my heroes charge mindlessly and using their weapons stupidly) to be able to chose the behaviour your non playable heroes have like in the baldur's gate seres e.g.
have a menu with choices like skirmisher = fight with ranged weapons, engage in melee if forced to but will try to avoid melee. melee attacker= charge mindlessly into a group of enemies (default ). melee defender= will defend other party members that are attacked especially those in skirmish mode. lancer= will try to charge and retreat but if engaged in melee will switch the lance for a more desirable close range weapon.
what do you guys think?
Oh BTW hiya all! just bought my license a few days ago and I think this game rocks but cavalry is largely overrated

 

[Gilrain]

Yup, I would agree with that suggestion.

 

[ThVaz]

Seems nice to have some control over the heroes.

 

[Daimyo]

It's a good idea, and I think it shouldn't be so difficult to implement. Thumbs up.

 

[Maelstorm]

They have these lines i guess:

For Borcha"

IF
weapontype:ranged
THEN
attackAT:player


For Both
IF
weapontype:ranged mount:1
THEN
ignore:player_command
execute:AttackAT:enemy"

:p just playing.

Back to topic..
I'd love to see anything to do any other characters doing something else then blindly attacking. Thumbs up.

 

[Garth]

Sure, but the options are rather limited. Archers, charge! Knights, stay back and fling your bardiches and excess pieces of equipment! Marnid, Borcha... ah screw it, you guys never listen to me anyway

 

[Maelstorm]

In fact, i like them that way. I dont know if this was intentional. But you see we make talks about how heroes behave. This shows they have a character. Nice!

 

[Lethandis]

In fact, i like them that way. I dont know if this was intentional. But you see we make talks about how heroes behave. This shows they have a character. Nice!

Yes, they have character and personality. . .the kind where when you're up against five-to-one odds on foot, barely managing to hold your own, and scream to your friend, "DUDE! Can you help out here?", to which he replies "Sure thing!" His arrow gets you right between the shoulder blades, and fight's over.

 

[Maelstorm]

Yes. Especially Borcha. I think its becouse he's lazy. He just wants to end the fight

 

[Madras]

Ye! i don't want to have control over the heroes, this stinks

anyone remember 'Majesty' ? you could only watch and hope 'your' new lvl 25 rogue wouldn't let himself lure into a trap ^^ that's real excitement. else, i woulda recommend 'rome - total war'

 

[kkriegg]

I totally agree with this. I think as it relates to real life, it would be a bit better. If you're all part of an army, you don't run around all willy-nilly and get yourself killed, you follow a plan of attack that supports your comrades (otherwise you'll just end up like Marnid and Borcha in the current version).

I think telling your heros what plan of attack they should do will make up for the fact that you can't carry on comprehensive conversations with them.

 

[Lethandis]

Definitely, Kkreig, right now, even when you get knights and have your other heroes mounted and in impressive armor. . .you are a laugable rabble that any serious army could dispatch with little effort.

 

[guspav]

yeah so apart from my former heroes' scripting suggestion I think a few more simple battle commands should be available thati EVERY soldier in your army should try to obbey like: stay close! (similar to follow), spread out!, HELP ME IDIOTS!, regroup...

 

[kkriegg]

How about giving NPC soldiers to your heros, and simply telling your heros what to do? You could do some pretty crafty stuff with that.

 

[Jhaerik]

Now that would be a great way to add realism, and a chain of command. Would work better with a larger hero selection though. Also would give reason to actually give them combat skills.

 

[Archonsod]

AI weapon choice needs improvement too.

It still annoys me when you get say 20 Archers, and at least four of them decide to draw their daggers right at the start of battle and advance on the enemy.
Even if you tell them to hold position they won't switch back to their bows, well, until someone engages them in hand to hand...