Parable - 168 - HD

David Howe

Did she steal that pose from Camdin too?

Some Ed

@Crissa your response reads like either you've never attempted to write companion AIs for a 3D realtime computer game, or you're an exceedingly rare sort of person who just fundamentally understands logic, walking, and how computer AIs perceive things to such a detailed level that you can program this stuff and not have issues with this sort of thing. The vast majority of people who work on game code are not such people. As I understand it, most people who do that sort of work went from thinking there's literally no reason companions should do any of those immersion-breaking things to wondering why their companions were doing all of those immersion-breaking things. Then there's the other sort of game programmer, who instead gets to laugh at their companions running through walls and closed doors, stealthily walking straight through areas crowded with opponents without noticing, sometimes walking through opponents, and manage to use explosives while in the middle of friendly crowds without causing friendly casualties. They'll sometimes walk in the air, or wade through the floor. These AIs will shoot enemies through walls, or other enemies, one-shot bosses, and otherwise wrack different sorts of havoc. Mostly the divide between the two seem to be whether companion AIs are subject to the same constraints as the player or not. If companion AIs aren't subject to those same constraints, it's generally very noticeable, but it does at least get around the issue of companion AIs seeming to be drooling incompetents.

Stephen Gilberg

I was trying to remember which minor character has a way with awkward poses.

Crissa Kentavr

There's literally no reason companions should do any of those immersion-breaking things.

Some games give the human player complete control of every member of the party; that usually turns out pretty well.

coredumperror

Your body language is just stellar, Dan.

Viktor

The thing is from a game design perspective, companions are awful. AI can't fake being human, so they're going to constantly break immersion by running into walls or getting stuck on doors. Programming them to be perfect in combat is impossible, so they're going to break stealth, use explosives in the middle of friendly crowds, shoot you while you're in melee with the enemy, etc. They'll block your path, always be too far behind or ahead, and are a nightmare to balance around. Yes, some games put a LOT of time into getting their companions right, and others we've learned to live with the issues, but I can't blame devs for deciding not to bother with that mess.

Thisguy

Ideally, you would have the choice to add the companions to your party, or go solo. Also the ability to tell companions to "Wait here while I sneak in, but run in if I call". Though it kinda all depends on how good the AI is.