Which port has the better allies?

[printz]

I really wish I could post a poll here, so I can narrow the possible answers between two exact choices: Hexen-style or MBF-style.

So yeah. Which kind of ally do you prefer? Which helps you better in combat by being more effective and not standing in your way?

The Hexen ally is mainly supported in ZDoom and acts like the Dark Servant. They only seem to be active when an enemy is sighted, but also tend to follow the player afterwards. They are nicely aggressive as soon as they spot a monster, but seem to become hellbent on taking out that target (I saw a ZDoom friend milling behind a wall because its target was out of sight). They don't shoot back the friendly-fire player, which is good. But also they don't do other nice things like "help the distressed" or "get out of the way". But at least they attack the enemy as soon as it is sighted.

The MBF ally, supported in PrBoom and Eternity, acts more dynamically, pursuing the player or the monsters when seeing them. It knows when to back off or help an injured ally. Unfortunately, it takes them more time until they acquire a target, and even seem to be passive when the player is active. Worst of all, they shoot back if accidentally hit (unless in Eternity a special flag is set). Otherwise, they're more flexible... I've seen them gang on a single enemy crushing him (I think real-life dogs do this!) and they give up pursuit if there's nothing to do.

I don't know what answer to give, myself, but I'm posting this question to know what is community's preference on this. To know which port is better to play on slaughtermaps with allies.

[Creaphis]

I remember reading that the programmers for MBF actually consulted with dog trainers to help them code the helper dogs to behave more realistically. Therefore, I'd say you should go with Hexen allies - it's only fair that your allies be as dumb and single-minded as your enemies.

[40oz]

Well whenever I'm playing on Coop I'm rescuing players when they're backed into corners by Hell barons, rationing ammo and health pickups, and watching player's backs. Pretty sure I'm one of the best allies you can get.

so uhh.. Odamex i guess?

[Csonicgo]

Since allies are implemented differently in each port (and hexen AND strife) there are tradeoffs for each:
Hexen allies are incredibly advantageous, as they aren't attacked immediately by some enemies(I am not entirely sure of this though). MBF friends, however, are seen by the enemies (and therefore wake them), which can slow the engine down in hectic situations.

Zdoom's allies are similar to hexen's, and cannot be seen by any enemy until provoked, and invokes infighting. They are also incredibly stupid, sometimes failing to fire at an enemy for several moments before eventually firing.

[Quasar]

There are also Strife allies, which normally adopt as a target any non-ALLY which has injured the player or at which the player has fired a weapon, but otherwise sit around doing nothing. They are invisible to enemies until they start fighting with one, so they have first initiative to attack. When a noise alert occurs, they will look in three directions in front of them for an enemy target if the player doesn't have one himself yet.

On maps 3 and 34 of Strife, allies will attack the player if he does anything to piss them off.