Getting units to fire near someone

[Funkman 10]

Just wondering if anyone can help me.

I want a scene where someone is getting shot at, tracers are whizzing all around even tanks firing right near this person but they dont get hit.

Is there any kind of invisible targets that can be set up to use for this purpose. (Or maybe I could put little rabbits there and target them?)

I did ask this question once a while ago but I never got a satisfactory answer.

[Funkman 10]

Can anyone help me with this?

[Vino3 10]

i think there are invisible targets in the side:empty, ive only ever tested them, but they seem to work.

hope that helps

[Funkman 10]

Hmm, thanks for that. I cant see them, but looking through I did see a baseball, I could probably hide some of those in the grass and have them invisible to the camera, might just work.

[Vino3 10]

if you have ACE then in side:empty there is a class called AE Invisible Targets. It has lots of choices in there:

Infantry/heavy armour etc target blufor/opfor/civilian etc

[Funkman 10]

Ah I dont have ACE. maybe I should get it.

---------- Post added at 01:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:18 AM ----------

Oh, ACE is only for OA. Damn, lol. I am using vanilla Arma 2

---------- Post added at 01:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 AM ----------

Might have to just try the baseballs

[Xero 10]

You could try and put an invisible object down like a helipad(invisible) and use the DoFire command.

[Funkman 10]

Thanks I have been testing using a baseball (empty small object).

When I told a man to doTarget it then doFire, he targets but doesnt fire.

When I tell an M1A1 to doTarget it, it wont even target it, let alone fire.

If I can get them to target it, I can at least then get them to fire manually using the fire command (S1 fire "M1014"). But I need to get the tank targeting the object first.

---------- Post added at 01:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 AM ----------

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BTW, can anyone point me towards the weapons Ref? The listing of all the names used. Thx.

---------- Post added at 02:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 AM ----------

I think the tank wont target because the commander overrides me. Is there someway to disable the commander or something?

[Vino3 10]

i dont know about disabling the commander, but you could place and empty m1a1 then put two crewmen near it. then follow:

crewman 1's init line: this moveindriver tank (tank being the name of the m1a1)

crewman 2's init line: this moveingunner tank

you might have to add a loader as well, but this way there is no commander

use your doTarget and doFire commands on the gunner and driver i suppose.

i am not sure if this is the best way to do it, if anyone else knows one im all ears

[Funkman 10]

Hmm, thanks, Ill give it a try and post back.

---------- Post added at 10:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 AM ----------

Bummer, it doesnt do it, it still just sits there idle. :(

[maddogx 13]

If you can get a unit to at least point his weapon at something, then you can do this:

unit fire (currentWeapon unit)

That should force him to shoot. ;)

Of course you will need to call that command multiple times to keep him shooting, so a scripted loop with a random sleep time is probably the next step.

EDIT: Hmm, I've just seen on the wiki that the fire command is possibly not working. See here. Down at the bottom, someone has posted an alternative.

Edited January 21, 2011 by MadDogX

[PELHAM 10]

When the units are in a tank they are under control of a commander so will not fire or target unless he orders them to.

In addition to a driver and gunner you need to assign a commander with:

_man1 moveInCommander _tank1;

try Vino's advice on the commander?

other ideas:

Also look at:

commandTarget

commandFire

You might need to get the vehicle as a whole to target your object with:

Description:

Remotely forces a unit to fire the given weapon.

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

Example 2:

_handle = Igla_AA_pod_TK_EP1 fireAtTarget [_helicopter,currentweapon Igla_AA_pod_TK_EP1];

Example 3:

_handle = Igla_AA_pod_TK_EP1 fireAtTarget [helicopter];

Edited January 21, 2011 by PELHAM

[Vino3 10]

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=73241

I think this is what you are looking for, scroll down and you'll find the weapons + ammo

[Cloughy 0]

You could just set the side of the empty-baseball in the mission.sqm to the opposite side of the unit fireing.

Also im sure when researching the attach to command, i saw a setting which let you add units but stop the game from rendering them, so sort of creating a invis target, i may have been dreaming it, if i were, then try the side of the baseball i mentioned.

Cheers

GC

[Vino3 10]

also,

if the unit you want shot AT but not HIT, is the opposite side to the shooters (eg. he is blufor, and they are opfor), to avoid him being chosen as a target you can set him to be captive.

see here.

[Funkman 10]

You could just set the side of the empty-baseball in the mission.sqm to the opposite side of the unit fireing.

Also im sure when researching the attach to command, i saw a setting which let you add units but stop the game from rendering them, so sort of creating a invis target, i may have been dreaming it, if i were, then try the side of the baseball i mentioned.

Cheers

GC

Thanks everyone, heaps of useful suggestions here, but I think this will be the best way to do it. What if I group the baseball under an OPFOR unit with a probabilty of presence 0? Ill try this first.

---

EDIT: This wont work, it wont let me group an object under a person. How do I set the side in the mission.sqm as you say?

---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 PM ----------

When the units are in a tank they are under control of a commander so will not fire or target unless he orders them to.

In addition to a driver and gunner you need to assign a commander with:

_man1 moveInCommander _tank1;

try Vino's advice on the commander?

other ideas:

Also look at:

commandTarget

commandFire

You might need to get the vehicle as a whole to target your object with:

Description:

Remotely forces a unit to fire the given weapon.

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

Example 2:

_handle = Igla_AA_pod_TK_EP1 fireAtTarget [_helicopter,currentweapon Igla_AA_pod_TK_EP1];

Example 3:

_handle = Igla_AA_pod_TK_EP1 fireAtTarget [helicopter];

This moveInCommander worked, now the tank at least targets the target. I just need to get it to fire now. Will trry some of your suggestions.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Funkman

[PELHAM 10]

Another tip - ever thought about using a rabbit as a target?

I use them for targeting mortars. They run around when shot at and you get a nice random spread of shells. As longs as there is some grass around with all the shooting it's unlikely anyone will notice them.

Name the rabbit and you just need:

this allowDamage False;

in the rabbit's init to stop it being destroyred.

Edited January 21, 2011 by PELHAM

[f2k sel 164]

To get the tank to fire the main gun just use this.

tankname dowatch targetname ;tankname action ["useWeapon", tankname,  tankname turretUnit [0], 0];

fireAtTarget only seems to work in OA, when I tried in ArmaII it gives me an error.

tankname dowatch targetname ;tankname action ["useWeapon", tankname,  tankname turretUnit [0], 1];

will make the tank fire a short machine gun burst.

Edited January 22, 2011 by F2k Sel

[Funkman 10]

F2k Sel, thanks heaps, that worked like a charm.

PELHAM, thanks for the suggestion but I found I can get them to target markers which are perfectly invisible, so that is the best solution. (I want precise misses, not random shots).