Noob questions about working with AI characters

[Yggdrasil]

1. When out on a mission with an ally, does the ally ever use anything he/she is carrying to fight the zombies? It seems that even though my ally is carrying a gun or molotov cocktail, all I ever see the ally use is whatever hand-to-hand weapon he/she carries.In the watchtower, they'll use guns, but I haven't seen them do so in the field, so far.

2. On a related point, can you exchange carried supplies while on a mission with an ally? Is there any way to transfer items from one character to another in the field?

[Poppi !!]

1. I've never seen them use anything other than a melee weapon or physical/holding/kicking/finishing moves. Some say they'll suicide with a grenade or some such, but haven't had that yet either.

2. No you cannot, but god I wish I could command them lazy sods to pick up a rucksack !

[Yggdrasil]

Thanks. That's what I figured. I would like to get them carry a rucksack or else spare bombs or meds for my playing character. Oh well.

[sailorsilverwolf]

On a besieged mission they sometimes use a gun but it's rare.

[Cass]

The only time I have seen an AI survivor use a gun is occasionally on a besieged mission and the second part of combat training missions.

[Yggdrasil]

Don't know if I have played any besieged missions yet.

[Zorlond]

1. It takes a mod to get AI to use guns. http://www.nexusmods.com/stateofdecay/mods/33 They still won't use consumables, but at least they're shooting now.

2. The only way to transfer stuff is to dump it into a base/outpost container, switch over, then take it out with the new character. Which is a net loss of influence. Probably deliberate.

[Yggdrasil]

引用自 Zorlond：

1. It takes a mod to get AI to use guns. http://www.nexusmods.com/stateofdecay/mods/33 They still won't use consumables, but at least they're shooting now.

2. The only way to transfer stuff is to dump it into a base/outpost container, switch over, then take it out with the new character. Which is a net loss of influence. Probably deliberate.

Yeah, I guess if you could just transfer items, it would lower the impetus to maintain influence.

[Symbi]

This. 1000X times this. What's the point of training survivors with guns and weapons if they can't use them while escorting you? I mean they should at least be able to use their gun and their special moves (special dodge, special attack would be a start).
It feels like spending 100 influence just to have someone following you (and 50% of the time just watching you do all the stuff) is kinda meh. I know you can take advantage of the sandbox to have someone follow you indefinitely, but that's half an exploit (as in "it's not a bug, it's a feature").
Heck the only time my survivors suddenly grow a brain is during some scripted missions.

[Zorlond]

引用自 Symbi：

It feels like spending 100 influence just to have someone following you (and 50% of the time just watching you do all the stuff) is kinda meh.

You're lucky. A lot of the time, I try to bring someone along, they go home the moment the actual mission starts, and I just wasted 100 influence bringing them out there. That really needs fixing.

[IllCaesar]

1. Only melee weapons, though there is a mod on Nexusmods posted earlier in this thread that supposedly allows them to use firearms. I haven't used it myself, but it'd be really nice if it worked as advertised. Of course I can think of a dozen problems with that though, mostly having to do with firing discipline, ammo consumption, and noise.

2. Nope and nope. You can maybe have them take over if they're at friend level, though, so that you can get two inventories full instead of just one.

Side note, don't bring them with you. Its a waste of influence because they almost always go back for home within ten minutes. I literally had somebody leave early my game, home base at the church, before I was even out of the church's safe zone. This is one of the ways co-op could be implemented into the game - the AI is so often worse than bringing nothing, yet teaming up makes searching building safer and faster, but you run a greater risk of somebody getting mauled and leaving your defenses shorthanded.

[Cougarific]

Never spend influence to hire a companion - all you gotta do is *not* return to home base after an Escort Ally mission or any other mission that has you escorting somebody back to base.

Last night I was supposed to escort *three* new survivors back to base to live with us but did I go back to base? Of course not! We were an army! I took them deep into unscavanged territory and had them watch my back while I looted the place silly!

[Zorlond]

引用自 IllCaesar：

1. Only melee weapons, though there is a mod on Nexusmods posted earlier in this thread that supposedly allows them to use firearms. I haven't used it myself, but it'd be really nice if it worked as advertised. Of course I can think of a dozen problems with that though, mostly having to do with firing discipline, ammo consumption, and noise.

To answer your concerns about the mod I mentioned up above: The AI doesn't do friendly-fire, it's aim is (as expected of AI) near-perfect and doesn't fire at all if there's something in the way (like a wall, or your head). The AI never consumes ammo (let's face it, those guard towers in vanilla would empty your reserves instantly if they did) even though it does occasionaly pause to perform a reload animation. Noise is definitely a factor, but the improvement of combined arms means that it generally takes either a Juggernaught or a mob of 10+ regulars to seriously trouble you and one partner (admittedly, with gun noise, that 10+ scenario is a very real possibility).

[IllCaesar]

引用自 Zorlond：

To answer your concerns about the mod I mentioned up above: The AI doesn't do friendly-fire, it's aim is (as expected of AI) near-perfect and doesn't fire at all if there's something in the way (like a wall, or your head). The AI never consumes ammo (let's face it, those guard towers in vanilla would empty your reserves instantly if they did) even though it does occasionaly pause to perform a reload animation. Noise is definitely a factor, but the improvement of combined arms means that it generally takes either a Juggernaught or a mob of 10+ regulars to seriously trouble you and one partner (admittedly, with gun noise, that 10+ scenario is a very real possibility).

Thanks, although by "trigger discipline" I meant "not shooting every last zombie even when its completely unnecessary". It'll get annoying fast when I want to go loot a place, and the two zombies inside the place that normally would've been easy to deal with become a dozen because they decided to shoot them.

[Zorlond]

Well, can't really go into specifics, I didn't make the mod. But I will say that the AI mixes some melee in with gunplay. And it generally doesn't pull out a gun when the zombies are within short range. Nearly all the time I walk into a house with someone in tow, they'll just melee the zombies inside (assuming I don't off the zombies before the AI reacts). And outside, the AI will hold fire unless the zombies have actually noticed you and are closing in. So no popping random skulls as you casually walk down the street.

But, as with any form of AI, you should expect some unwelcome possibilities. I still say it's a net improvement over "no guns EVER" vanilla AI.

[Nurble]

引用自 IllCaesar：

Thanks, although by "trigger discipline" I meant "not shooting every last zombie even when its completely unnecessary". It'll get annoying fast when I want to go loot a place, and the two zombies inside the place that normally would've been easy to deal with become a dozen because they decided to shoot them.

I guess, that's the reason, why they don't shoot in vanilla. In my opinion, it's better that way.