Speaking of importing a dead character, I have read that apparently Wizardry 7 has an ending where your party is floating in space, and the game allows you to make a clear save with that ending. Try to import it into Wizardry 8, however, and the game will apparently say something to the effect of "you are still floating in space" and will not allow it.

Speaking of Wizardry 8 and importing, there is one disadvantage to using an import save: Your party will not have a gadgeteer. (Fortunately, there is the replace character feature, but the new gadgeteer will be level 1 when the rest of your party has enough XP to reach level 5.)

Because gog does not release them! :(

*points at Saints Row 4*

But to be more OT: I prefer to play in order too. :)

Well, I know how M&M1 ends.

SPOILER
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-An evil killer robot named Sheltem was programmed by ancient space people to protect worlds but went haywire and wants to destroy said worlds and the party (Who finds out their "world" is actually part of a space station used for habitat purposes) have to destroy him, but they don't, they only delay him but manage to find a gate to another world and continue their quest from there.


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Spoiler OVER

But the reason I want to play through before starting two is because it's so intriguing I really want to see this plot unravel firsthand :)

Quest for Glory's main MO is importing your character from title to title. It's not required, but the overall arc is how you develop your weak simpleton of a hero who can't even drink strong alcohol without disintigrating, into the ultimate badass who


Final Boss SPOILER!
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kills an immortal dragon god despite everyone saying it's impossible because you're just that awesome.(Or rather to be more correct, kicks its butt so badly it crawls back into its own banishment seal just to escape from you)

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Why do people still think HL's ai is good? It's really not. Not anymore at least, and not even back in 1998 really. You should probably play it again, and really pay attention to what your enemy does in that game. In some spots I'd say it's downright broken. Grunts dropping grenades at their feet, then standing there and blowing themselves up? And multiple times on multiple occasions to boot! Marines running right past me without a care in the world? Shooting at vortigaunts and alien grunts from a distance while they just stand there and take it? Don't even get me started on your helper AI. Brain dead and worthless. ESPECIALLY in Opposing Force. I spent a good 5 minutes straight trying to get a stupid fucking marine on an elevator, but he kept bumping into a wall next to it, turning around and walking away.

Compared to the other games out at the time, HL's ai wasn't anything special, it had some weird quirky things about it, but I wouldn't ever call it good. Whereas Unreal's enemies strafe, dodge, retreat, swim and even flank! In Kingpin, thugs will climb ladders and crawl through vents on their own just to get to you. It was honestly a little terrifying the first time I played Kingpin because I had no idea how good the AI pathfinding was and that they could do that. I think the guy behind Quake 2's Eraser bot did the AI programming for that game.

So yeah, HL is a bit overrated, though at least it actually has AI, unlike Blood 2 or Shogo, whose enemies will just stand in place unless they see you or they're scripted to move, then they just gun right for you in a beeline.

Well because it -was- good. Just because there were games with better AI at the time (which I don't believe, Unreal AI was pretty stupid, it just... Dodged a lot which feels good given the genre, climbing ladders is nothing to scoff at, but not particularly advanced either, flanking sounds interesting, but HL AI did that - the assassins specifically who jumped out of your FOV and tried to get behind you.) doesn't make the AI bad, the grunts are still some of the best scripted enemies in games industry, which speaks volumes on lack of meaningful development of game AI. Valve also has a tendency of giving each opponent different behaviors, like . Or [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV9ooD5rx1o&ab_channel=MarphitimusBlackimus]this. Or, hell, even this. I played the game quite recently - and yes, the AI occasionally does something incredibly stupid. Which doesn't change the fact that it's varied, interesting and fun to fight against. It's done with some amazing attention to detail.

Two out of the three examples you listed are completely useless to gameplay. Scripted sequences are not impressive to me. You can expect that scripted sequence to play out the same every single time. When the AI does things on its own, like the soldiers in FEAR who will flank, react to you killing off their squad, get behind cover, knock things over for cover, that kind of thing is highly impressive. The Skaarj in Unreal are miles more impressive then HL's AI because for one, they don't do anything fucking stupid like stand on grenades and twitch in place, or just run right past you not even paying you any mind. Skaarj won't let me pick away at them from a distance while they just stand there and stare at me either. The other enemies of the game where pretty standard fare, but the Skaarj and the alien mercenaries were highly aggressive, and would hunt you down with really good pathfinding. Even across the map if they had too.

The assassin's are neat, but they're used in a grand total of two areas the entire game, and they become less impressive when you realize they are really dumb against grenades or your MP5's M203 grenades.

Climbing ladders is not advanced today, but in 1997-98 it sure was. Kingpin's thugs will climb ladders, crouch under things, retreat and are just overall very aggressive.

I just find HL's AI to be incredibly annoying and most times down right idiotic. It reminds me of Blood in a lot of ways, the way the AI will get stuck in a loop, much like the gargoyles in Blood who will spin in circles high up in the sky. Or the way enemies will just ran past you down the map, much like in Blood when zombies or cultists will break, hug a wall, and run from you without shooting. That's not good AI in my book. That's shoddy as shit.

HL2's AI was pretty standard stuff, but at least it worked. It never did anything mind blowingly retarded.

I used to think when I played HL the first few times that the AI was unparalleled and terrifyingly intelligent, but like CARRiON said it's mostly scripting that makes it seem more than it is and the actual AI itself in combat is mostly braindead/bog standard. They make little or in some enemy's cases no effort to dodge or flee or flank you, and those that do are predictable and put themselves in a vulnerable position. The HECU don't work together as a team like you think they do early on, there is scripting where if you kill the leader it will disrupt the coordination of the other troops but I think it's so subtle and the way you're picking everybody off randomly you wouldn't really notice. Like how the roaches will flock to gibs, it's a practically useless small detail.

Unreal's Skaarj are no laughing matter, far pressed to call them 'stupid', they're single-handedly one of the most dangerous enemies in FPS, up there with the thugs from Kingpin, the Replicas from F.E.A.R., hell even the Combine from HL2 still put a good fight without being total morons about it. Something these enemies all have in common in fights is that they aggravate the player's reflexes and coordination. A good player who does a lot of Counterstrike will probably blow through these guys without breaking much of a sweat. But if you've played Doom and Quake then HL1 won't be much different.

Why do you all wait for sequels?

Because deep down you're into bondage.

*quietly places mic on the ground and shuffles out of the empty theater*

I'm talking about why Half-Life had good AI, not how it contributed to better gameplay. Half-Life was largely based around its theme and attention to detail, and little things like these contribute to that, right down to every opponent behaving slightly differently. You won't find many games doing that.

There's not a huge amount of difference between soldier AI in FEAR and Half-Life actually, aside from the fact that FEAR has fleshed those ideas out significantly. Funny thing about FEAR AI: It's fairly primitive, the 'smartness' stems from clever level design and use of scripting (Which is the mistake HL has made - its AI used a lot less scripts to give player a feeling it's clever)

Yes, sadly, the more complex the underlying scripting is, the more error prone it becomes. It's a sad reality, but also a testament to how advanced HL's AI actually was. AI in Unreal was not advanced in any meaningful way, it just reacted to player input well. (and it's worth pointing out I actually enjoy the original Unreal more than HL because, amongst other things, yes - AI which directly reacts to you clicking the left mouse button while aiming at it is more challenging that AI which is trying to do its own thing)

Retreating is neat. HL's AI did that too. The rest? Not so much. Ladders and crouching is just matter of using appropriate animations that most devs don't bother with, it's not actually a technological advancement in terms of smart AI.

No matter how you want to spin it, HL's AI has been excellent for its time, and still is. It does stupid things, yes, and it's excellence doesn't necessarily contribute to better gameplay - but it does contribute to a more interesting game, and not many games go into the lengths necessary to create unique behavioral patterns for individual opponents you encounter unless it's absolutely necessary.

Okay, but 90% of the time I'm not going to notice the hound eye's sleeping, or the roaches scattering away from people, because it doesn't really matter. Houndeyes get shot at instantly because they're an enemy and roaches get stepped on because I'm not paying attention to them... Small AI things like that are neat at best in the bigger picture.

Are you talking about the small details again? Most of which people aren't going to notice? They're just there to be neat and nothing more? They don't contribute in any other way?

FEAR's AI is strong from it's level design, yes. That doesn't make it any less impressive though. Fighting the replica's and the HECU are like night and day. Mostly because the HECU are more often then not fucking retarded. The HECU are never impressive no matter where you put them. They all run around like headless chickens, it only looked smart in '98.

You say this like it's a proud thing, a badge of honor for a game to wear. "My AI is so advanced it's extremely error prone! Huzzah! Marvel at it's advanced stupidity!" Well in that case maybe you shouldn't roll with it, eh? That or, IDK, go back to the drawing board?

The only enemy I recall retreating in HL was the vorts and the HECU, you can hurt the vorts to the point they run away and don't fight you anymore, which is thrilling really, and the HECU are actually most often seen standing on their grenades after they retreat. I guess they just can't handle how poorly programmed they are so they take their own life.

Climbing and ducking obviously was an advancement because games were not doing that. Just because it wasn't a huge amazing technological feat doesn't mean it wasn't an advancement. Not even games the following years did something as simple as letting the enemy climb a fucking ladder. I ended up not even really liking Kingpin as a whole, but some things like thinking I could run away from a thug up a ladder, only to have him follow me right up and blow me away stuck with me. Not even a lot of MODERN games do this.

Interesting how? Maybe you're right. I more often then not stopped and stared at someone or something doing something utterly retarded, followed by a facepalm or a sigh. I wish I could see this "awesome AI" some people see, unfortunately all it seems to me is some minor details that you won't see or notice often anyways, because you're too concentrated on not dying or laughing at the marine who ran into his buddies grenade. Or perhaps you're screaming because your helper AI just ran right up into the face of an alien and got it promptly ripped off. More often than not you're better off shooting the guards in the head for ammo, and shooting the scientists for stress relief.

Okie Dokie. If we flip around the definition of excellent, you're right. HL's ai sure is excellent, I really enjoy when the enemy kills themselves or lets me put bullets in them without so much as a scratch back. Or when a security guard will run out in the open to stand there and fire away, only to get fucking blown away instantly. Yep. Excellent AI.

Thanks, but not thanks. I went back to HL in 2014, including its expansions. Even went on Hard for all of them. HL didn't age well at all in my eyes, and Opposing Force pissed me off on multiple occasions because the helper AI is so god damn atrocious, it completely ruined the experience for me. I loved HL when it was released, and I modded it heavily. But after going back to it... never again.

I'm sorry, but your entire argument comes down to purposefully contrarian "But I didn't like it so it's shit!" I'm not refuting your opinion - I get it, you didn't enjoy battling AI in Half-Life because it kept breaking. Last time I played it, I got the bug with grunt placing a grenade at his feet or not reacting to me shooting at him like once or twice at worst. I'm sorry your experience with the game is so much worse than mine, but it does not diminish the advancements in terms of simulating artificial intelligence in the game, which is why said simulation of Artificial Intelligence in Half-Life is impressive and why I said I like it - as opposed to you, I actually enjoy noticing these details that majority of games to this day fail to replicate in any meaningful manner - and without actual advancements Half-Life has made in AI design, FEAR might not end up having the amazing scripting and AI it ended up receiving. So yes, the AI is excellent and we have a lot to thank it for, it offered complex and varied yet reasonably simple to code solutions to AI. There's where the widespread opinion that HL's AI is great stems from, and deservedly. Yes, it breaks occasionally - but you know what, AI in HL2 works a lot better, yet is a lot boring due to Valve not really experimenting with it as much.

By the way, as a consequence to "terrible and stupid AI" in Half-Life and "brilliant" AI in FEAR, I replay HL a lot more. Quite simply because AI in HL is unpredictable whereas in FEAR, I now know which parts of a level are designed for AI to do which actions and it just becomes somewhat boring and predictable (the first time effect is great tho.)

Video games are about having fun and if I'm not having fun then I'm just wasting time. No one gives a shit about the games you out there plays - the only one that should care is YOU. Most games have crap stories anyway so just jump into a series whenever you want. Wanna play Assassin's Creed 4 because it's awesome being a pirate but you haven't played the others yet? Go for it!

It's the same with finishing games - if the game isn't fun for you anymore then stop and find one that IS fun. You don't get a medal or gold star for finishing it and no one gives a shit about your Steam or PSN chievos.

All that matters when you game is the amount of fun you have in the moment!

For me, it depends on how story-driven the series is. HoMM you probably wouldn't miss much skipping the first one... Seriously, I'll sum up the story without a spoiler warning, that's how shallow it is:

Four kingdoms want control of their continent. Lord Ironfist rallies the humans and kicks the other three factions' butts. The end.

2 definitely developed more story-wise, though it's still not a major focus- but it does give what it has a nice presentation.

That being said, I need to finish 2's expansion campaigns.

I was totally like this, but then i learned about longplays and movie/playthoughs where they cut a game to look like a movie...

i did this to get though the first 3 assassin creeds without playing them again.... i also have done this with alot of classics i dont necessarily want to play just experience... its rather nice to laod up a game/movie sit back and relax while someone else does all the hard work :P

No, it's not. I do think HL is overrated by today's standards, but I also don't really like Kingpin or even Unreal, but I have eyes and can see they did more for AI then HL ever did. HL gets praise for its level progression, its lack of cut-scenes, but I think anyone can plainly see its AI is not that impressive. Not as much as it was made out to be. But some people just choose to remain blind to that fact. Or we just have VERY different definitions of what good AI is. So don't just brush my argument off as "haha fuck you".

Yes, yes, I get it. You'd rather see a cockroach run away from a light, or feed a bullsquid some gibs, then have enemies actually be able to navigate anywhere the player can, or navigate WELL at all, or flank, or use/create cover, or anything that actually contributes to the game you're playing in a meaningful manner, and is not just the programmer fucking around.

Now you're just taking the piss.

We sure do. Thank god for that cockroach AI, or that AMAZING marine AI, without it, we wouldn't have FEAR. Is that what it boils down to? HL's little quirky things are the reason we have the AI we have today? Because is sure doesn't do much else but look even stupider than a sidekick from Daikatana.

HL2 is boring as a whole after the first time, but you know what? I'd rather have safe AI until we know what we're doing, rather then completely broken AI held together with bubblegum. That just completely ruins the immersion.

Well then actually, I can say the same for HL. I know exactly what to expect when dealing with the enemies of HL. Especially the HECU, the crowning jewel. Scatter like cockroaches in a headlight? Check. Throw a grenade with a weak throw and hurt their buddies more then they hurt me? Check. Stand on a grenade and do a little jig on it before they explode? Check. Stare into the eyes of an alien scratching their face off? Check. Sometimes we might get lucky and he'll actually use his kick, or he might decide he's sick of this beating and run away, only to run back over to the alien, while limping, never firing a shot at it, and finally get eaten by it. We must be training them pretty hardcore in the HL universe. Those are some advanced commando moves.

Headcrabs do nothing special, bullsquids just charge you like an enemy from Quake, Alien Grunts stand there and take it like a bitch, vorts will run away from you and stop attacking, the alien fish is glitchy and dumb as a rock just floating around occasionally biting you, the barnacles do nothing special, the controllers float in a circle and fire at you, the garg charges you like an enemy from Quake, the aircraft all depend on way points, the scientists are crowbar fuel, and the security guards are better off shot in the face for ammo because they're just as dumb as the HECU. All together sounds like a fantastic experience. Nothing works together. Utter stupidity fueled chaos.

But I'll stop my "purposefully contrarian" argument here. All praise HL's wonderful AI, for it gave us napping space puppies.