ARMA II AI Behaviour

[abddbz 10]

I have a few questions:

1) Does enemy ai respond to sniper fire from far away in such a way that placing mines or trip wires around the player are helpful, and also are there mines and tripwires in the game?

2) Does enemy AI call for reinforcements when possible?

3) Does enemy AI respond to nearby footstep sounds?

4) Does enemy AI have something like casual and alerted states where they react more efficiently to player actions?

5) Does the player have MANUAL access to camouflage like grass covered suit for snipers etc. and access to enable and disable weapon sound suppressors?

Also can the player order his ai teammates to enable and disable sound suppressors? Also can you attach, detach or change weapon enhancements like different scopes in weapons?

6) can you order your team ai to shoot a particular target at a specified time (like to neutralize a patrol by by telling the team ai to shoot a particular enemy while the player shoots the other at the same time and that way the enemy wont know what hit them)?

7) can you actually go stealth and kill an enemy using your knife or other close quarter abilities?

8) Can you order teams using a overhead map, like tell a team to suppress fire on a group of enemies from one point while the player's team enters a building behind the enemy to set up traps or to grab ammo or weapons without letting the enemy know about the activities behind them?.

If answer to all of these questions are yes then i am surprised that i didn't hear of this game and this genre before... There would be almost infinite possible applications of infinite different tactics.

And one more thing, does the enemy ai attack using tactics?

[celery 8]

3, 4 and 8 are true in a scenario where the AI isn't scripted to do extra things.

The game has no infantry mines, tripwires or functioning melee weapons. Weapon mods are a solid part of their weapons, and there aren't weapon classes for all possible mod combinations in the vanilla game.

[metalcraze 290]

1. Kinda yes. AI reacts to sniper fire provided it hears it (then it starts looking around for the shooter otherwise it will try to find cover) and if AI detects the sniper AI will go after him.

Tripwires and anti-personnel mines are only available in ACE mod (which is a must-have)

2. Not in vanilla. They can do that with one of GL4 mod's modules but note that it will break missions not made with GL4 in mind because AI calls reinforcements in 2km radius.

In vanilla AI can sorta "call for reinforcements" (or better say "get called") via a "GUARD" waypoint in the editor and some scripting but obviously that requires a mission editor (which may as well be you) to script all that beforehand.

3. Yes. AI responds to all nearby noises in general.

4. Yes.

5. No.

6. Yes.

7. There are no melee weapons.

8. Yes.

Edited May 29, 2011 by metalcraze

[abddbz 10]

So if I shoot some enemies in front of me at a distance and there are enemies behind me at a distance then both of them will come looking for the sound of the rifle?

From what i understand: There is no non scripted access to sound suppressors, no changing scopes and no non scripted camo, no close combat stealth, There is no possibility of laying traps in the vannila versions and ai calls only scripted reinforcements.

Does the enemy ai use tactics to proceed to and attack the player and his team?

[maturin 12]

1) Does enemy ai respond to sniper fire from far away in such a way that placing mines or trip wires around the player are helpful, and also are there mines and tripwires in the game?

If you are sniping people, they will usually shoot from 50-100m rather than creep right up to you.

3) Does enemy AI respond to nearby footstep sounds?

Yes, although they are more likely to use this to find a known enemy than when initially making contact. They should at least turn and look.

4) Does enemy AI have something like casual and alerted states where they react more efficiently to player actions?

There is a spectrum of alertness when reacting to threats. Players can set a variety of states such as Safe, Alert, Danger, Stealth

Also can the player order his ai teammates to enable and disable sound suppressors?

No, and there is no rational reason to do this. A suppressor does not have any drawbacks in terms of weapon performance and removing it would affect the zero of the gun and ruin accuracy.

6) can you order your team ai to shoot a particular target at a specified time (like to neutralize a patrol by by telling the team ai to shoot a particular enemy while the player shoots the other at the same time and that way the enemy wont know what hit them)?

Yes, you would tell everyone to hold fire, then assign specific targets in the target menu before ordering a general open fire.

8) Can you order teams using a overhead map, like tell a team to suppress fire on a group of enemies from one point while the player's team enters a building behind the enemy to set up traps or to grab ammo or weapons without letting the enemy know about the activities behind them?.

Just because they're suppressed won't mean they won't see your other guys.

And one more thing, does the enemy ai attack using tactics?

They will move from cover to cover using a buddy system variant of bounding overwatch, and will suppress and flank.

[metalcraze 290]

So if I shoot some enemies in front of me at a distance and there are enemies behind me at a distance then both of them will come looking for the sound of the rifle?

Yes. When AI enemies will hear shots they will come to check it out. No need for an additional scripting.

From what i understand: There is no non scripted access to sound suppressors, no changing scopes and no non scripted camo, no close combat stealth, There is no possibility of laying traps in the vannila versions and ai calls only scripted reinforcements.

Yeah you are unable to take off/put on silencers (but there are silenced weapons and quite many) and there are no links between AI squads (although one squad will come to help another if it knows that enemy is there - like heard a shot or saw gunfire). Basically it's a trade off for having missions where enemies from all mission radius won't just rush you so you'll have a smoother progression over the whole mission (the radius of which may as well be several kms)

Think about "GUARD" waypoint as a variable that tells which squad can come to help the others and which can't. Well crafted missions operate it in such way that you feel like AIs do use reinforcements:

For example if AI squad has a GUARD waypoint and an APC connected to that squad - as soon as enemy is detected by other AIs they will load into an APC, come into an engagement area, disembark and proceed to attack on foot with APC moving nearby to assist.

You can still kill enemies with silenced firearms in close quarters. If you do that fast nobody will get alerted. There is a very large selection of arms and their modifications in a game to compensate for the lack of mid-mission customization.

Does the enemy ai use tactics to proceed to and attack the player and his team?

Only inside a single squad. They are not any advanced tactics but they work. Basically if AI squad comes upon enemies the commander will assign some subordinates to attack some enemies while he and other guys that may have no targets assigned will attempt to flank the enemy. Machinegunners will always attempt to suppress the enemy. AIs also don't just run in a straight line towards you preferring to use whatever nearby cover or concealment they have for movement and move at you from the side so it only adds to the feeling that you are actually being surrounded.

But that's pretty much it.

Here's a footage from a mission I quickly threw together in an editor some time ago to show AI improvements in 1.59

The squad leader is AI

After the gunfight begins AI reinforcements come inside a truck (when I was recording they never had a time to disembark being killed inside - usually they are much more lucky)

You can also see how AI tries to check nearby areas for enemies.

The commander's binocular bug happened due to ACE mod - it was fixed since then.

Edited May 30, 2011 by metalcraze

[abddbz 10]

Thanks for all the replies. This is going to be a great game and lot of fun, finally a game that i can use my brain to pin down enemies. The fact that it actually requires patience and tactics and does not have a definite programmed way of proceeding for cutscenes to trigger makes it even better.

Just a few more questions: Are there c4 charges in the vanilla? Do you get to customize and select weapons before a mission begins? Are there unlockables? How tough is the editor? Does the visibility of player reduce for the AI while laying down, crouching in grass or while wearing camo? Can you blow down a structure to damage enemies under it, i.e. does the game have physics, the explosions and smokes and the environments look cool though.

I also saw that arma 3 is going to release. Though arma isn't a very big budget title, let the third version be a milestone in AI like crysis was in graphics along with improving capabilities of the player and improving realism of graphics and physics. I think sounds in games are far ahead in realism already though the dialogues in a few videos of arma 2 sounded funny, I think that was from a demo. Best of luck to bis.

[maturin 12]

Just a few more questions: Are there c4 charges in the vanilla?

Only big satchel charges. C4 is in ACE2.

Do you get to customize and select weapons before a mission begins?

If the missionmaker allows it. The missionmaker is all-powerful.

Are there unlockables?

There is the armory, which is just a sideshow or training tool.

How tough is the editor?

Basic tasks like waypoint and squads are very simple, but there are lots of little tricks. Then there is the highly complex scripting aspect.

Does the visibility of player reduce for the AI while laying down, crouching in grass or while wearing camo?

Absolutely. Don't just lie down when the AI already sees you though. They will remember where you are and the grass won't hide you.

Can you blow down a structure to damage enemies under it

If you're in a building that goes boom, you will die, but the physics are very rudimentary and mostly apply to vehicles and ballistics.

I think sounds in games are far ahead in realism already though the dialogues in a few videos of arma 2 sounded funny, I think that was from a demo. Best of luck to bis.

The demo has normal sounds, but there are many sound mods.

[metalcraze 290]

The fact that it actually requires patience and tactics and does not have a definite programmed way of proceeding for cutscenes to trigger makes it even better.

It's also a sandbox with a very powerful editor.

And as I've said ACE mod is a must have - it adds a lot of realism, improves AI, adds a lot of content and has quite a number of user made missions too.

It is also the most widely used mod in MP.

Be advised however that sometimes AI will act stupid, especially the stance-bunny-hopping. The price of being non-railroaded I guess

Just a few more questions: Are there c4 charges in the vanilla?

As maturin said - satchels.

The only difference from C4 is that they are more powerful.

But other than that - you can either set up timer on them or use the remote detonation which as I take it is what you want.

How tough is the editor?

Easy if you want to have blue dudes fighting red dudes and green dudes fighting one or the other in between.

Needs some knowledge of scripting if you want some advanced missions. There is a subforum for that here and there is a Wiki which documents scripting commands.

However there are better ways to learn - you can take apart any mission you want and check out how it works under the hood by loading it into the editor (you will need to unpack it first though with some dePBO tool - there is quite a number of them around)

Does the visibility of player reduce for the AI while laying down, crouching in grass or while wearing camo?

AI uses some kind of ray-tracing to detect targets so you still need to think where to lay down because if you are lying down the slope - your body will be more exposed. Also when you are crawling in the grass you are pushing it down - I think AI reacts to that too. AI is also able to predict where you move (like when you run into the bushes it will keep tracking you there and will shoot you through them so only hard cover will protect you when you are already spotted so keep that in mind)

Can you blow down a structure to damage enemies under it, i.e. does the game have physics, the explosions and smokes and the environments look cool though.

What maturin said. But yeah buildings are destructible. The destruction isn't physics based though. The game is very taxing on the PC as it is as you will soon learn.

I think sounds in games are far ahead in realism already though the dialogues in a few videos of arma 2 sounded funny, I think that was from a demo. Best of luck to bis.

Yeah ArmA games since OFP use granular phrases to compose messages.

Basically if AI spots an enemy it will pick the enemy type, direction, distance from the database of pre-recorded words and put them together to form a response. That's why it sounds so robotic.

Edited May 30, 2011 by metalcraze