AI spotting enemys per clock

[Coffeecat 10]

OA introduced the clockspotting system, which i really like. makes it much easier to spot threats, but...

why are only americans able to spot per clock?!

has anyone noticed that russians, cdf, insurgents cant spot per clock?

the clock appears but they tell you, "enemy man, far, right".

new bug or not completly done feature?

[Tonci87 163]

Well we know that the Arma 2 Units still aren´t on OA Standard, so its not really surprising. I bet the Takis use the clock system properly

[Coffeecat 10]

Indeed, they do, just tested it. so guess you are right with the OA/Arma2 standards. its a bit of a let down we didnt hear anything from BIS so far.

I miss packable rucks for Vanilla guys aswell. guess BIS is not interested in making the units to the standart of OA then;-(

[metalcraze 290]

OA introduced the clockspotting system

lawl.

has anyone noticed that russians, cdf, insurgents cant spot per clock?

Obviously that's because they don't have voiceovers for that

[Coffeecat 10]

why lawl? didnt OA introduce it?

if they dont have voice overs it had been nice they made some. 1-12 o clock samples shouldnt take that much time i guess.

[Clavicula_nox4817 0]

why lawl? didnt OA introduce it?

No, Operation Flashpoint did.

[old_painless 182]

I'm guessing lawl, because the clock directions appear to be broken. All threads around this (searched the other day) come to that conclusion. And noone really knows if it is related to your view, the general direction your squad is heading, the formation and your placement with respect to it, or something entirely other that the clock thingy refers to.

I am still so noob that I miss this feature so if anyone has the lowdown on this - and can attest that it works - I would love to hear about it.

-OP

[dmarkwick 261]

I'm guessing lawl, because the clock directions appear to be broken. All threads around this (searched the other day) come to that conclusion. And noone really knows if it is related to your view, the general direction your squad is heading, the formation and your placement with respect to it, or something entirely other that the clock thingy refers to.

I am still so noob that I miss this feature so if anyone has the lowdown on this - and can attest that it works - I would love to hear about it.

-OP

Yeah there's plenty of clock discussions :) and the *general* consensus is that it needs a fix. It seems (to me) that the clock direction is shouted out from the orientation of the unit doing the shouting, which most often means a re-orientation of the clock, which is not helpful.

The "fix" (should it be deemed an actual problem by BIS and not designed behavior) would be to fix the 12 o'clock position for the duration of the battle somehow. My suggestions would be to fix the position based on either:

Placed temp waypoint position

Next waypoint position

general group direction as calculated over distance (say 100m)

in that order of priority. However, we'll see :)

[old_painless 182]

Those are some nice ideas that would help. Most strange really, is that noone from BIS has ever uttered a single word on whether it works, and if it works, then how?

In OA we even get the clock when the shouts are going. Think I'll see how that correlates with the red markers that you get on lower difficulties ....

[DaveP 66]

The direction method is what we use for communicating enemy targets in vcb (Quarter/half/full left/right) and it works great..if you know what the axis of advance is; to me the major failing of enemy ai spotting is you never know where it's relative to -I'm sure we've all seen with the clock ray icon from ofp up to the present day when it madly hops about while ai are calling in contacts to suit, and it simply isnt consistent enough to rely on the information you're being told

[xxbbcc 6]

They should simply use degrees or major directions (like "Enemy machinegunner to NW, 500m") The major directions are always fixed and independent of relative positions of squad members.

[dmarkwick 261]

They should simply use degrees or major directions (like "Enemy machinegunner to NW, 500m") The major directions are always fixed and independent of relative positions of squad members.

Agreed, but not every unit carries a compass :)

AFAIK the clock system is a pretty much standard system, but as said earlier it relies on a static direction of advance.

[Coffeecat 10]

No, Operation Flashpoint did.

yea sure, but it wasnt present in Arma2, came with OA back. thats what i meant. i also think compass directions would be the best. i think the AI is allready good enough in dense environment, specially on chernarus you can hardly see the AI, so i wouldnt care about the realism part where only units with compass can spot the direction.

but i see, there´s more discussion about the system itself, i just thought for Combined Ops they would have introduced the clock system for all units.

[Joe98 92]

I don't have Arma 2. I only have Operation Arrowhead so the clock is normal for me.

In another thread I suggested: On the clock face there be a small red dot representing the enemy.

Then my character turns to face that dot.

-

[metalcraze 290]

Why do you need the red dot when you already have been told the hour on the clock face?

the clock directions appear to be broken

Dunno. When I'm being told "Enemy, 9 O'Clock" that's where the enemy is in relation to the AI saying it (and if you stick with your squad - to you as well). Obviously a bush or a wall may obscure the enemy so it may take some time for me to spot him.

But the clock system works OK. Too bad they had to ditch it in AA2 for whatever silly reason.

Edited April 6, 2011 by metalcraze

[mr burns 132]

But the clock system works OK. Too bad they had to ditch it in AA2 for whatever silly reason.

With OA being standalone they (mostly) dropped A2. You need to understand that less work is involved then.

It´ll become more obvious soon why this is important to the max (hopefully) when "take on" takes on..

[Joe98 92]

Why do you need the red dot when you already have been told the hour on the clock face?

Because the clock face constantly moves.

That tree to the front was 12 o'clock. But I turned to the right and the clock turned too.

Then I turnd to the right a bit more and the clock turned too.

So tell me, what direction is that tree now?

-

[xxbbcc 6]

But the clock system works OK. Too bad they had to ditch it in AA2 for whatever silly reason.

Unfortunately it doesn't work at all. The clock system is better than that dead-end new system in A2 but it's still pretty bad. Other than some simple scenarios, the clock system cannot be used to determine the location of enemy units. Even when I stick with the rest of the AI squad, they face different directions and I find it impossible to tell what "4 o'clock" means since I don't always know the facing of every single unit (even if I know their position.)

[nkenny 1057]

I think the clock system works well. As a feature I would want the temporary waypoint set by the Squad Leader (shift-clicking) to be transmitted to all members of that unit and that direction designated as 12 oclock

It makes sense to establish temporary waypoints in the squads marching direction!

-k

[metalcraze 290]

Because the clock face constantly moves.

That tree to the front was 12 o'clock. But I turned to the right and the clock turned too.

Then I turnd to the right a bit more and the clock turned too.

So tell me, what direction is that tree now?

-

That's why you have to enable the clock hud (if it's disabled of course)

12 O'Clock on it will always point to that tree while it shows on the screen

[old_painless 182]

How do you enable/disable the clock hud? Mine appears for a short time whenever someone shouts out a direction. But it goes away - would be nice to be able to toggle it on (or off)

[rundll.exe 12]

How do you enable/disable the clock hud? Mine appears for a short time whenever someone shouts out a direction. But it goes away - would be nice to be able to toggle it on (or off)

Thats default behaviour, and can not be changed.

[Tonci87 163]

I don´t know where the Problem is. If the AI sees an enemy and reports his position the clock appeares. I simply turn to 12 o clock and there he is

[dmarkwick 261]

I don´t know where the Problem is. If the AI sees an enemy and reports his position the clock appeares. I simply turn to 12 o clock and there he is

That's OK when one unit spots one enemy, when several units spot several enemies, and each one has a different orientation, it gets very silly. There's no way a real-life procedure is to call out an enemy respective to your individual orientation, there must be a defined common orientation or the whole system is useless unless you have a magic clock appear in front of you (as happens ingame) and enemies are only seen one at a time.

[NeMeSiS 11]

I thought it was tied to the formation direction?