Slowing the machinegunner down

[dmarkwick 261]

Is there any non-config way of slowing the machine gunner down RE his rate of fire? I'd like him to use 2-3 round bursts every few seconds, currently he just goes at it hammer and tongs until he's out of ammo.

This means that usually after the very first skirmish he's out of ammo. I'm sure a more reasonable rate of fire would be more appropriate, he's meant to be used as a harassing element while the rifles pick off the targets right? :)

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Yours or AI?

If yours I would go for EH-fired (catch every shot, but only execute once every few seconds) which puts him into hold fire mode for a few seconds. If you have two SAW gunners, you could try putting them in suppression mode, and alternate between hold modes (concept of talking guns).

For AI gunners on the defending side, I'd either given them additional ammo or plenty of places to restock from.

For AI gunners on attacking side, I'd make sure to have assistants wearing MG rucksacks.

For any AI MG team, I'd be sure to set leader to enableAttack false (I think that's the one) so they don't run off engaging targets like regular infantry.

[Shadow NX 1]

While were at it maybe someoen has a clue how to get the damn vehicle gunners do the exact opposite and not need 10 seconds to identify a target 50 meters in front of our vehicle and then fire at it with almost single shots.

This is one of the things that each time make me rage like a madmann in Combined Ops... much more than machinegunners firing too fast :butbut:

[walker 0]

Hi all

DMarkwick Try Zeus AI it alters rates of fire according to distance.

Kind Regards walker

[SteveJA 12]

Maybe a System like this:

Deliberate

This is the actual rate of well-directed fire a weapon can deliver for an indefinite length of time. This is good for suppressing an area to keep an enemy’s head down. Shot intervals are normally about 4 seconds apart. Rifles fire a single round every 4 seconds while automatic weapons fire a burst of 4-6 rounds every 4 seconds.

Rapid

This is the maximum amount of controlled fire which can be delivered on target for a short period of time (usually not more than two minutes). This is used to win a fire fight with an enemy returning fire. Shot intervals are normally about 2 seconds apart. Rifles fire a single round every 2 seconds while automatic weapons fire a burst of 4-6 rounds every 2 seconds

Watch & Shoot

Engage targets you see only.

Credits to HC wiki.

[GHOG 0]

If yours I would go for EH-fired (catch every shot, but only execute once every few seconds) which puts him into hold fire mode for a few seconds. If you have two SAW gunners, you could try putting them in suppression mode, and alternate between hold modes (concept of talking guns).

Does a script for this exist anywhere?

I don't know much coding.

I have made a search under "EH-Fired".

thanks

gh

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Probably not. I use "EH-fired" a lot but I've never played with it for stuff like this. And, I'm sorry, "EH-fired" is just my own slang for addEventHandler "fired".

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/addEventHandler

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA_2:_Event_Handlers#Fired

[GHOG 0]

Sorry I misunderstood.:o

So the idea is to add an EH-fired to the mgunners init which calls a script which sets his combatmode to blue and after say 2 seconds sets combatmode back to yellow or green?

Thus giving short bursts of MG fire.

gh

[CameronMcDonald 146]

I think that this would be best solved in the config of related weapons, but sadly, it isn't always the case. :)

BIS has, in the past, made burst config entries for their MGs/SAWs. I once had good fun experimenting with these. Basically, the bursts are hidden from players to prevent the MG from having five different firemodes, but the AI will use them. This worked OK, excepting for the fact that longer bursts tended to have the AI aim offtarget after killing their target or moving (e.g. up from prone), which then interrupted the burst... only to have it continue in a totally different direction when they had stopped moving again - usually into nearby friendly troops.

This system is, however, robust for shorter bursts (< 10 rounds) - you can set the full auto probability for AI use to 0, meaning the AI will always choose a burst of sorts, dependent upon distance. This is what the BIS weapons have been configured to do in the past, and I believe it prevents that stupid "yeah-I've-got-a-SAW-but-I-will-single-shot-beyond-human-finger-speed-but-below-cyclic-rate-constantly" syndrome.

However, an oddity that has been lurking often rears its ugly head at this point. It seems that AI rates of fire are strangely affected by the player's distance, despite what the reloadtime entry within the config is. I'm not sure if this is still the case in ArmA 2; it probably warrants some investigating. I know for a fact that I saw it in ArmA, and it seemed that the further from an AI firer the player was, the slower the rate of fire, and this happened even during bursts, which then caused a relapse to said silliness, just that the number of bullets fired each time was limited. Sadly I only have OFP on this crappy laptop I'm using.

Edited September 23, 2010 by CameronMcDonald

[CarlGustaffa 4]

@GHOG: That's how I would think, and attempt to change things, from a mission point of view. Or, one of the ways. Also consider my other options, again, from a mission point of view. During suppression I really want them to disregard ammo, but it puts responsibility on me to get them restocked somehow.

@CameronMcDonald: He was specifically asking for a non config approach, so I didn't mention config rates of fire. But you are right naturally, config is another way, and also you're right in how their rates is affected by distance to target.

[GHOG 0]

@CarlGustaffa

I have tried the other options but wish we had a way to control burst length better.

I mainly sim long BAF foot patrols where we have to carry everything we need and it's just AR/MG ammo that causes problems.Resupply dumps are not realistic.

I have tried to script with eh-fired but just don't know enough to make it work.

One day someone will fix it.:)

gh

[CarlGustaffa 4]

You could equip other guys in the team with MG rucksacks for additional ammo. If you only give them ammo (on body) you'll have to micromanage ammo sharing, which can be a lengthy process (I suggest teamswitch to speed it up). Other than that, maybe the patrols have too many encounters? With fairly realistic setups, I guess one needs fairly realistic numbers of encounters as well. Or add in unrealistic ammo resupply, i.e. via SSM Request Ammo Drop.

[GHOG 0]

We use the ace mod with equipment weight.

SL are players, teams AI.

Everyone carries backpacks.These are filled with rifle and mg mags,grenades[frag,smoke and gl],night vison kit,Carl gustav ammo,batteries ,goggles,gasmasks,firstaid and c4 explosives.

Luckily we don't need to carry water yet.

Like real Brit troops we move very slowly. :)

Encounters are random (DAC) but may reach 3-5 in a long patrol.

200rnds of 5.56 don't last long!

7.62 belts are hell.

If MG ammo gets critcal we RTB.

Thanks for all the ideas.

gh

[CarlGustaffa 4]

If ACE backpacks are what they were in Arma2 (don't use ACE myself just yet), AI won't recognize them as ammocrates with legs, and you'll have to rely on micromanaging the AI.

It should be possible for a 7.62 MG team of two guys to carry about 600-700 rounds without a big penalty (I'm assuming walking speeds). For 5.56 AR, boxes of 200 rnd ammo among the main team, and additional 100 rnd mags shared among the rest. An AT team, same deal, two guys should be sufficient for weapon and ammo.

As an alternative, why not setup AI to use i.e. M60s? 3-5 encounters sounds like a lot, also keep in mind you never start a fight if you don't expect to win. Sometimes it's best just to let them pass. I'm assuming an encounter is also an enemy patrol of similar size, not a city garrison.

[GHOG 0]

Yes we have to micromanage a lot but it works.

Each man carries MG/AT ammo in addition to his own kit.

A normal patrol of 90 mins probably includes 2-3 contacts of up to 3 times our strength [all randomised] sometimes including vehicles.

We use the Zeus AI mod which is excellent.

AI riflesmen seem to manage ok for ammo.

Problem is that the AI MG gunner can burn through 800 rnds in a contact !

With controlled short bursts this could be halved while still suppressing the enemy.

Infantry small unit tactics is all about overcoming problems and working with what you have so I guess thats realistic too.

thanks

GH

[GHOG 0]

In the new Beta I saw:-

[73625] New: mergeConfigFile script function

Could this allow EH-F to call a change in a Cfg solution to ROF for AI troops?

GH