Poll: Which bad AI is worse in a game?

[LavaLampBamboo]

We've all come across the two types of bad AI in games.

The first is your AI that will walk into walls, throw a grenade into a crate that lands at its feet, or simply run in circles as you blast away at it.

The other is the Ninja AI, that can detect you moving behind a wall a mile off and once has caught onto you, will never lose you no matter how much you run.

I for one prefer the stupid AI. Sure, it's a bit less of a challenge, but sometimes, I like to feel like I'm the all powerful superhero.

So what's your preference? What games have astonishingly bad, or astonishingly good AI?

 

[Ninjamedic]

Stupid AI. The type in early fighting games which rely on button reading and not having to input moves. They sit there like a vegetable then spaz out and wipe out your health with a combo impossible to time normally.

I'd rather super human AI which utilizes all of a characters abilities making it possible to counter rather than scumming the same two moves.

 

[BeerTent]

I'd take the impossibly good over the retarded kind. I like a challenge, and nobody is a killing machine in a fight. Not even the all-mighty player.

 

[Raddra]

Superhuman AI.

The psychic guards in Oblivion annoyed me no end.

*picks up a loaf of bread after successfully sneaking into an uninhabited building at 1am at night*

*Guard barges in 10 seconds later*

Thief! You've broken the law! *derp eyed stare*

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I hate the AI that causes the enemy NPC to suddenly detect that I've taken out one of their allies. You know, the one who was all alone and taken out by garrote wire, more quietly than a silent fart. I hate those bastards with the psychic links to, not only their allies but, to the items they own (I'm looking at you Elder Scrolls guards)

 

[DonMartin]

Hmm.. Stupid AI can be great, cant it? In Serious Sam, the enemies just run directly towards you, and that game is still fun as all hell.


Oh, wait, Serious Sam has bad AI by design.. Hm. Not sure. Still, voted stupid AI.

 

[Griphphin]

Your two descriptions remind me of some fighting game AI's on higher difficulties, which are a lot like fighting a man who, after sustaining a massive head injury via a radioactive explosion, has simultaneously gained both psychic powers and the inability to strategize better than a fourth grader. "Oh my god how did you react to that so fa-with a completely useless move? Alright, I'll take it" *KO*

ON TOPIC!

I'll go with the super smart kind, they give me a nice challenge and I feel like man has triumphed over machine when I journey into the cyber-belly of the beast and best it at its own...game!

 

[veloper]

There is no super human AI.
Maybe you meant "cheating bastard AI". All AI are stupid. What I want is for the game to upfront about what advantages the AI gets to compensate for it's handicap and play a nice challenge.

Your example of AI seeing through walls is one of the cheesier things a designer can put in though. It's even worse when they can also shoot through the object you're concealed behind.

What I prefer is AI of the scripted variant. If you got a room and you know which doors player could come in, then good locations for cover and waypoints for flanking manouvres can be scripted.
If that isn't an option, a simple aimbot is best.

 

[psivamp]

I voted that the super human AI is worse.

Like in Farcry 2 sometimes. Seriously, there is nothing worse than squinting at the screen trying to figure out who shot you through a half mile of dense jungle, with one of the most inaccurate guns in the game. All because some programmer didn't take the time to check for occluded line of sight.

Or the goons in Batman Arkham Asylum who can't miss once they see you -- I give them a pass though because the game isn't really about ranged combat, that's just to keep you in either stealth or brawler mode, where the game just shines.

Or the guards in Oblivion, who know you murdered someone in a cave with no witnesses at all. Also, how the crap did the Brotherhood know?

Stupid AI is amusing, usually. If it's an escort or companion, it's less amusing. Stupid AI is forgivable. Most super human AI is the result of lazy developers who don't go far enough to limit the AI. The most basic AI is omniscient and literally can't miss except to hit cover you're hiding behind. It takes some serious work to make the AI seem to have to look for you. Making the AI miss shots is usually just down with a random number generator, but I think I remember reading about one of the multiplayer focused games trying to make AI that missed in a manner that looked human -- spraying at the target and either sweeping back and forth in decreasing arcs or just locking on.

Anyway, that's why I think that super human AI is worse.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Or the guards in Oblivion, who know you murdered someone in a cave with no witnesses at all. Also, how the crap did the Brotherhood know?

I 'murdered' a guy by accident becuase everyone before him with the same clothes had been hostile for the entire quest chain and the brotherhood shows up. I just kind of kept quiet about it, probably for the best also, they gave me shinies.


The AI in oblivion really is special. I attacked a cave with a necromancers in it and loads came swarming but they all started hitting each other then a massive fight broke out. So I just sat in the corner and waited for the winner :/

Probably 'dick move' AI is worse than stupid because at least you have a chance against the stupid ones.

 

[Calcium]

My brain fell over when the poll asked me which was worse and you asked which I preferred. Was looking at the options for too long thinking: 'They're the same?' before it finally clicked.

I don't like super human AI, as it's just frustrating and feels unfair.
I prefer stupid AI, as at least I can get some laughs from them occasionally.

 

[commandx]

Stupid AI, just finished playing through assassins creed brotherhood and the AI was full on retard half the time. I know I killed myself during one mission because the idiot I was supposed to be escorting walked into a wall, and kept trying to walk, only way to continue was restart from checkpoint (Kill myself) or restart the mission (restart the memory). At least with super human AI you don't have to restart mission's due to the AI's screw ups.

On a similar note, any gaming studio that includes escort missions in their games should just quit. Escort missions are the most annoying idea to ever get popular in gaming design.

 

[JWRosser]

Super human AI is just aggregating, but eventually (hopefully) you can overcome it. Generally the worst case scenario is that you die and respawn nearby-ish.

Stupid AI can potentially ruin the game. So many times on various games when you have to escort someone or something similar have they ended up stuck in a wall or something stupid, and you have to restart from miles back.
Although not quite as severe, I was playing LA Noire and my partner got stuck getting into a car....so...that was the end of him.


Also, interesting fact: the GTA series was actually developed due to an AI glitch - it began as a racing game where cops could chase you, but due to a glitch, the cops kept ramming you because they were trying to drive through you. The developers thought this was so funny that they made it permanent. Yay Cracked!

 

[Valkyrie101]

Super AI is worse. It frequently takes away options while stupid AI generally adds. It bothers me when something that should and would work in a real life scenario is impossible within the confines of the game.

 

[Diablo27]

Damn it, I thought the poll question was "which AI would you prefer" so I voted Stupid AI

 

[vrbtny]

The AI in both Crysis 2 and Far Cry 1/2 and considering they're on both ends of the spectrum, I dunno.

I just hate bad AI i guess...

 

[akfg666]

The super human AI in Far Cry 1....I was hidden in a bush about a mile away...the suddenly "PING" pistol round to the head and I was dead....WTF!!

 

[icame]

F* Daikatana's AI.

Good AI? The first F.E.A.R game had excellent AI. They would dive through windows, they would flank you, 2 would attack from different ways. It was great.

 

[Angry Camel]

For the enemy side, God-like bastard AI is worse. I'm all for a challenge, but when an enemy can hit you with a pistol from 100 metres away once they see half a nose hair, that is not challenging in the right way. Im looking at YOU, Far Cry.

When it comes to allies, stupid AI can be more painful to deal with than a steel-cap to the testicles. The survivors in Dead Rising 1 were just nightmarish. They got stuck behind walls, could not escape grapples and could not use fully automatic weapons properly (shotgun was fantastic though). Thank Lord Dead Rising 2 has improved them (maybe a bit much, but meh).