The sidekick question...

[Sev72]

A lot of fps's now give you friendly AI's to "help" you with your missions. Most of the time they nothing but an annoyance. Some other games, some RPG's, give your friends to help you in your quests. In some games like Knights of the Old Republic, your allies were genuinely helpful and interesting parts of the game. Other times, like the marines in Halo, they serve no purpose except to drive up your blood pressure.

What are your thoughts on the matter of friendly AI's in a game?

 

[ganpondorodf]

AI's getting better, certainly. Sheva in RE5 isn't perfect, but she's as close to it as I've seen in a friendly AI.

 

[Tech Team FTW!]

I think KotOR did friendly ai so well because you cand direclty control all your party members at once, thereby eliminating the need for ai.

 

[necromanzer52]

I find friendly A.I. really useful.
I've never been annoyed with it in halo.
I have in gears tho.

 

[setsunafseiei]

In terms of RPG's friendly A.I. is very useful and helpful, the more the merrier

 

[megalomania]

I always find myself developing an oddly misplaced affection for the retarded support AI like those in Halo, despite their complete uselessness, maybe its because of it!

Other 'useful' AI is at its best when it adds something to the gameplay (so many games have a sidekick just because they can, and the game would be the same without them). The best example I can think of is Alyx in HL2: the scene waiting for the lift in the dark where she keeps moaning about where your pointing the flashlight made me laugh and crap my pants at the same time!

 

[Gamegeneral]

Valve did it right, Alyx was useful, and you generally felt like you were in for some "Oh shit!" moments when you lost a squad member, until the next pair showed up.
I liked the vortigaunt's little snippets of dialogue to you.
"No pit is complete without a Freeman climbing out of it!"

 

[forestwalker]

gfa the ai sucked the people would run only when u killed some one

 

[BolognaBaloney]

AI's getting better, certainly. Sheva in RE5 isn't perfect, but she's as close to it as I've seen in a friendly AI.

HAHAHA no way she's fucking retarded, takes all the ammo wastes all the health, only uses the pistol, gets into a lot of trouble.

 

[squid5580]

It depends on the situation. If the AI can effect me (like them dying causes a reload) then screw it. I would much rather die on my own. I would also like t okill the enemy by myself rather than watch a suicidal AI do it for me. I don't trust the AI at all when it comes to teamwork. The computer is fighting against itself and that is not a good position to be in.

 

[Shapsters]

Elika in Prince of Persia was pretty good. The marines werent that big of a deal anyways in Halo 3, its not as tho they are actually supposed to help you, they just kind of there.

 

[New Troll]

Most sidekicks do seem more annoying than helpful, but I would have to admit they do get better as time passes. In Vegas 2 they are actually quite useful to have.

Overall though, except for muling purposes in some games, I prefer to go it alone.

 

[PasDeChat]

In Saints Row I was about ready to strangle the AI to death (I shot them instead). I know it's supposed to move the story on, but how would even survive in a game if all you ever do is get captured and act like an idiot? Christ, they're not supposed to be Peach.

 

[xChevelle24]

A lot of fps's now give you friendly AI's to "help" you with your missions. Most of the time they nothing but an annoyance. Some other games, some RPG's, give your friends to help you in your quests. In some games like Knights of the Old Republic, your allies were genuinely helpful and interesting parts of the game. Other times, like the marines in Halo, they serve no purpose except to drive up your blood pressure.

What are your thoughts on the matter of friendly AI's in a game?

AI's do nothing except slow you down and take bullets for you, all the while not doing a damned thing to help you.

My 2 cents.

 

[sanzo]

The followers in Fallout 3 were really useful; usually Charon or Fawkes would kill something before I even knew where it was

They do have really bad pathing issues though