Clay Dogs (Dog Handler & Guard Dogs)

[Clayman 20]

Description:

This all started while I was working on a mission where I needed some dogs guarding an enemy camp. There where already

several dog-scripts out there, both for friendly and evil dogs. But none of them where exactly what I was looking for.

So I started to write my own scripts, but soon ran into several problems. Dogs, as being ambient life, have some

build in routines that make it hard for them to follow orders. And createUnit'ed dogs simply talk way too much.^^

I decided to create this small addon to remove the default animal behaviour and add the quite nice attack animation,

which was present in one of the .pbos but for some reason is not usable ingame.

- Dog Handler:

The Dog Handler has to be controlled by the player and lets him give orders to the dog (attack enemies, search for

explosives etc).

- Guard Dog:

Guard Dogs are AI controlled and can be placed anywhere on the map. They will attack any enemy unit within a certain distance.

- Wild Dogs:

A small bonus. ;)

Spawns a group of wild dogs that attack any unit within a certain distance.

Keep in mind that this is an early Beta!

Not everything will work as intended and scripts and config still need a lot of work.

I decided to release this as is to get some feedback and new ideas.

Dog Handler

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Place the Dog Handler Module on the map and sync it to the player. You can sync as many units to the module as you wish, but keep in mind that the Dog Handler units must be player controled.

You can control the dog via Communication Menu (0-8).

Use the included userconfig to add dog-detectable explosives. (Default: PipeBomb, Mine)

Use the included userconfig to add vehicles to transport the dog. (Defaul: MTVR, Kamaz, Ural, V3S, Coyota (only unarmed variants))

To change the type of dog (Pastor (Default) / Fin), put this in the players (Dog Handlers) init line:

this setVariable ["CLAY_DogType", "CLAY_Dog2"];

CLAY_Dog = Pastor

CLAY_Dog2 = Fin

The search radius for finding enemies / EODs can be set in unserconfig. (Default: Man: 100m; EOD: 50m)

Guard Dogs

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Guard Dogs are available for USMC, RU and GUER factions and can be found under 'Men' class.

Guard Dogs will automatically attack any enemy unit(s). The default distance for the dog to start attacking is 150m. This can be changed by adding this to the init line of the dog:

this setVariable ["CLAY_DogAttackDistance", *DISTANCE*];

Where *DISTANCE* has to be a number and is the distance in meters how far any enemy unit has to be away for the dog to start attack.

To change the type of dog (Pastor (Default) / Fin), put this in the dogs init line:

this setVariable ["CLAY_DogType", "CLAY_Dog2"];

CLAY_Dog = Pastor

CLAY_Dog2 = Fin

Wild Dogs

This will spawn a group of wild dogs at the position where the module is placed. There dogs will attack any unit within a certain distance.

To set the number of dogs spawned (Default: 5)(+/-1), put this in the modules init line:

this setVariable ["CLAY_DogCount", *NUMBER*];

To change the distance at which the dogs will start attack (Default: 150m), put this in the modules init line:

this setVariable ["CLAY_DogAttackDistance", *DISTANCE*];

Note that wild dogs will attack ANY unit, no matter which side or faction the unit belongs to. This includes civilians and other animals.

Known Bugs:

• Pathfinding of the dogs is terrible
  
• Overall weird dog behaviour from time to time
  
• Dog Handlers' dog sometimes gets stuck after attacking enemy units
  
• If dog is ordered to board an unsupported vehicle, an error message from a BIS function will pop up
  
• Dogs might cause errors in .rpt file or even on screen
  
• Guard Dogs will not always start attack when player is in attack distance at mission start
  

Credits:

A big Thank You to BI for this strange addiction

Big Daddy for his 'Blitzy' scripts, which where my major inspiration

Rommel for the EOD Dog idea

DMarkwick for the Tracker Dog vid, although I wasn't able to create anything that fancy (yet)

DeanosBeano for his dbo_dog, I epically failed at trying to understand that massive piece of config *lol*

And probably a bunch of other people I can't remember right now...

DOWNLOAD: CLAY_DogsBeta120.rar

Change Log:

Beta 1.2

• Rewrite main scripts for multiplayer support
  
• Several changes in config
  
• Type of dog can be selected
  
• Dog Handlers dog no longer on civilian side
  
• Lots of minor bug fixes and improvements
  
• Added Wild Dogs Module
  

Beta 1.1

• Guard Dogs added
  
• Some minor bugs fixed
  

Beta 1.0

• First release
  

Edited June 28, 2012 by Clayman

[Fox '09 14]

Cool, thanks

[wipman 1]

Hi, sounds like a pimp addon to me; maybe in the future you could add a script or something that make the (ambient life) dogs to bark when they're at certain distance of a combat unit (player or AI) and flee if they begin to fire, that would be great for a future release. Let's C ya

[KeyCat 131]

Very nice addition to the Armaverse, thanks for making and sharing!

/KC

[ArmAriffic 10]

nice work man, very epic ;D

[Spartan 163 0]

This is gonna make the spec op mission more imersive. Will also be good for RPG mods as now they can have K9 units. Does this also work with the other dogs in the game or just the sheapard?

[jeza 5416]

Great work there pall

[xxbbcc 6]

Heh this is simply fantastic!

[ArmAriffic 10]

epic mod and all but the USMC soldier does not fit in on OA, please make one with US army camo

[bigpickle 0]

maybe in the future you could add a script or something that make the (ambient life) dogs to bark when they're at certain distance of a combat unit (player or AI) and flee if they begin to fire, that would be great for a future release. Let's C ya

What an awesome idea!

[daoarge 203]

Thnx, Clayman - nice work!

Im using some of these features in one of my missions. I used BigDaddys scripts (slightly modified by me), but they have their limitations.

I will implement your mod into the next version and send you feedback about MP gameplay.

cya,

[KH]DaOarge

[Clayman 20]

Thanks for the comments. :)

maybe in the future you could add a script or something that make the (ambient life) dogs to bark when they're at certain distance of a combat unit (player or AI) and flee if they begin to fire

Nice idea. I'll keep it in mind, maybe some time in the future.

Does this also work with the other dogs in the game or just the sheapard?

At the moment I'm only using the sheapard. But I'll most likely rework the whole Dog Handler system and then I'll add an option to use the other dog, too.

epic mod and all but the USMC soldier does not fit in on OA, please make one with US army camo

I'm already thinking about a way to add the Dog Handler function to any unit.

Im using some of these features in one of my missions. I used BigDaddys scripts (slightly modified by me), but they have their limitations.

I will implement your mod into the next version and send you feedback about MP gameplay.

Feedback on MP compatibility is very much appreciated. While I had the MP part in mind while working on this, I don't have much experience when it comes to MP scripting.

[Spartan 163 0]

Keep up the great work. You need help with stuff just ask.

[daoarge 203]

Hi,

Does your mod need to run serverside too?

I couldnt find anything related in your docs, but if im blind just point me to the right section :)

[maturin 12]

Excellent. I think the most exciting thing in the Arma 2 trailer was a German Shepherd running at the camera, barking.

[Clayman 20]

Hi,

Does your mod need to run serverside too?

I couldnt find anything related in your docs, but if im blind just point me to the right section :)

To be honest, I really don't know. Never done anything multiplayer related so far. I think currently it won't work in MP at all.

I've read some topics about MP scripting the last days and I'll try to get a new version ready this week. But I can't promise anything as, like I said, it's the first time for me. ;)

[Whiteraven 10]

I cant get it too work unfortunatly, tho im only running OA on my laptop.

Really good concept. Thumbs up from me

[daoarge 203]

I wasnt able to get it running in MP mode either.

Disregarding whether your mod is running serverside or not, it always throws me back to mission selection screen. I dont even get to the slot selection screen.

But im still investigating :)

[Uziyahu--IDF 0]

Whenever I see "Clay Dogs" I think of someone yelling "Pull!" and gents with shotguns blasting flying dogs out of the air.

[eggbeast 3673]

i might have a look at this and see if we can get it working in evolution mp

if i make it work ill post you a mp version back ok?

egg

[Clayman 20]

It took a little bit longer than I had planed... but finally here is the next update.

The main purpose of this version is MP testing. This is my first attempt at making something really work in multiplayer. I've spend the last two weeks reading every little bit about MP Scripting I could find, and I think slowly I'm getting my head around it. (Although when I read the words local, global and public one more time my head is going to explode. *lol*)

However, I wasn't able to test this in a real multiplayer environment - I hope it will work. But don't kill me if it doesn't. :p

Any feedback on this is very much appreciated.

Make sure to read the included Readme file. There have been lots of changes to scripts and config. Most classnames have changed. Old ones will work for now, but will be removed in the future. So if you've made a mission with the previous version, make sure to update it.

As a little bonus I've added a Wild Dogs module. This will spawn a group of wild dogs (guess what^^) that will attack any unit in range. See the included Readme file or the first post for details. (Ignore the TO DO: in the module's name - forgot to remove it and I'm too lazy to change it right now. ;) )

DL Link and further info can be found in the first post.

Please remember to leave feedback on MP compatibility. Of course any kind of ideas and suggestions are welcome. And again sorry for the delayed update. Have fun!

[styxx42 0]

Great Addon, thanks for making it Mplayer as well.

Looking forward to downloading and testing.

Thanks for your Hard work Clayman.

[Uziyahu--IDF 0]

Can you script the wild dogs to run away if too many gunshots or explosions go off?

[coma73 0]

hey man i love this addon and have been following it a while. i get an error while trying to put dog into car.

[Clayman 20]

Can you script the wild dogs to run away if too many gunshots or explosions go off?

Will be in next version. :)

hey man i love this addon and have been following it a while. i get an error while trying to put dog into car.

Not all vehicles are supported yet. You can manuelly add other vehicles using the .hpp file inside the userconfig folder.