AI going to be player centric?

[2nd ranger 282]

This would be great for the campaign. I stopped playing Harvest Red during Manhattan (?) when I went to apprehend that woman, and found half the town flattened by a rampaging M1A1 platoon and eventually discovered her feet sticking out of the road where she'd been run over.

[Innomadic 10]

This would be great for the campaign. I stopped playing Harvest Red during Manhattan (?) when I went to apprehend that woman, and found half the town flattened by a rampaging M1A1 platoon and eventually discovered her feet sticking out of the road where she'd been run over.

Who let the gates open? M1A1's in their natural habitat are wildly dangerous.

[NoRailgunner 0]

How the AI far away should support the player/AI if they are deactivated? Isn't it somehow weird and immersion breaking if the player can see those deactivated AI's and within a certain distance they get activated/online??

[MoS 0]

How the AI far away should support the player/AI if they are deactivated? Isn't it somehow weird and immersion breaking if the player can see those deactivated AI's and within a certain distance they get activated/online??

No I think they are activated outside of actual viewdistance to not break the immersion. I like the idea very much cause you are not restricted to go anywhere but at the same time you will see plenty of action once you arrive where you want.

Having a large scale island and CPU-heavy AI just needs those kinds of workarounds. I was thinking myself of a solution for this common problem for a long time. It is really hard with the means we have right now. Maybe a module would be the easiest yet most complete way of doing this.

[wolffy.au 9]

Myke;1951782']I dislike the idea that far away enemy troops are just standing there' date=' staring at each other, just waiting for a player to come near to start off the battle.[/quote']

Do you mind telling me what MSO is and how you disabled AI (disableAI command or another way)?

MSO use two different methods to minimise AI CPU when they are far away. The first method was infact originally written by Myke as part of his Coop Essentials Pack in Arma1.

I've heavily modified it, but the core is still the same code he wrote, whereby if a group is 'x' distance away from all players, it is reduced to a Team Leader only and continues on its patrol, etc. The group 'respawns' once they are within distance to a player.

The second method was suggested by Nou and although not as CPU saving as Myke's method, the advantage is units remain entirely intact but all their simulation is disabled when they are 'x' distance from all players. We use the enableSimulation command.

MSO is a game mode whereby you can disconnect/reconnect to a mission (and resume exactly as you were) which means it can last for days. Supply and logistics, building FOBs, etc all become a worthwhile exercise when you know they will be around for a week instead of a few hours. See http://dev-heaven.net/projects/mso for more info.

[Big Dawg KS 6]

I hope this doesn't stop BIS from taking advantage of AI doing stuff offscreen. IMO this is one of the best things the series offers.

[sniper pilot 36]

I would Love a module like this! AND just to reiterate what others have said, yeah don't make it a hardcoded ALL-THE-TIME feature.

[AstroMan 10]

Good move, Very good for the campaign, and missions in general, I remember in red Harvest stuff being completely out of wack when i got their.

But yeah thanks for clearing that up with it only being in Campaign.

[Uziyahu--IDF 0]

Hopefully this is only an aspect of the editing of the missions, not of the sandbox dynamic A.I.

Interviewers often don't understand that a great deal of what they are asking about is dependent on how the mission is edited.

[-GR-Operative 10]

AI following scripted routes will not be affected by this, I suppose, even far away from the player.

[ArmAriffic 10]

So now I can say (in the campaign at least) the world really does revolve around me :bounce3:

[jackass888 0]

bump... just because this is the only AI thread i can find :( Hard to believe that this aspect of the game is completly forgotten.

It doesnt matter how accurate and pretty looking my npcs are... if i can not rely on them or just mow them down by the dozens, what is currently the case. Hope that the AI is still in the making, so the devs will present it later. But a partially player centric AI would be acceptable if it has better survivability as a result.

Hope the AI will use buildings(interiors) this time without mods, maybe use vehicles for cover and that they are better at using the environment cover... especially in determining direction.

[Steakslim 1]

It isn't forgotten, it's just mostly mentioned in the Wishlist thread.

[mrcash2009 0]

I hope this doesn't stop BIS from taking advantage of AI doing stuff offscreen. IMO this is one of the best things the series offers.

I think that will never be the case, as mentioned it seems more mission/script/module based as options for campaigns. If you mean BIS taking advantage FOR the campaign they will make then it looks like they will use it in some form, but I would expect just in places where its realy more logical to keep distant things at a minimum based on the moment and story/interaction.

[-)rStrangelove 0]

I find this thread kinda funny tbh.

How do you miss something that you can't witness directly but just see its results when you get there later?

Example:

In the mission notes it says you'll be operating along other groups which will be north of your start position. Now as the mission unfolds you really hear shots and explosions in the distance and when you look at the horizon you see smoke trails north of you. Fine, you think, this is what its says in the notes. Later you are ordered there and see smoking vehicles and lots of bodies around.

This is what you expected and therefore you deem this mission well done.

But what really happened? You heard distant sounds, saw smoke trails and later on some damaged stuff.

Question is: would you really be devastated when someone told you distant combat is all simulated? Note: simulated doesnt mean the result of combat would be simple. There could still be some heavy comparisons about the strenghts of each group and their equipment taking place, making the result (who wins? how many units are left?) somewhat realistic or better, realistic enough to appear belieavable to the player.

Personally i dont really care what is simulated as long as i dont see the game is 'cheating' and the results of some 'hidden' calculation is believable.

[dmarkwick 261]

)rStrangelove;1957971']I find this thread kinda funny tbh.

How do you miss something that you can't witness directly but just see its results when you get there later?

Example:

In the mission notes it says you'll be operating along other groups which will be north of your start position. Now as the mission unfolds you really hear shots and explosions in the distance and when you look at the horizon you see smoke trails north of you. Fine' date=' you think, this is what its says in the notes. Later you are ordered there and see smoking vehicles and lots of bodies around.

This is what you expected and therefore you deem this mission well done.

But what really happened? You heard distant sounds, saw smoke trails and later on some damaged stuff.

Question is: would you really be devastated when someone told you distant combat is all simulated? Note: simulated doesnt mean the result of combat would be simple. There could still be some heavy comparisons about the strenghts of each group and their equipment taking place, making the result (who wins? how many units are left?) somewhat realistic or better, realistic enough to appear belieavable to the player.

Personally i dont really care what is simulated as long as i dont see the game is 'cheating' and the results of some 'hidden' calculation is believable.[/quote']

At first I wanted to rage against this post :D ;) but of course in a pragmatic sense you're right. As long as the end result is indistinguishable, there's no difference. Only the nagging back-of-your-mind complaints that things are being simplified :)

One of the things I sometimes do however is to use a spectator cam and go and watch stuff. Endlessly fascinating.

On balance, I prefer the fully-simulated approach. And, seeing as it's already implemented, it's gonna stay :)

[Zipper5 74]

Might have relevance.

[-)rStrangelove 0]

Nothing wrong with raging as long as its done on a professional level. ;)

So thx for trying to understand my point.

To be more precise, what i was trying to say (as direct answer to OP) was that even if BIS decides to take away control of distant AI actions, there are still ways for skilled scripters to work around this, like it always has been.

I'd trade fully sim distant combat if i get 20+ fps for it, thats for sure. ;)

[maddogx 13]

Might have relevance.

:eek:

Can't access Gamasutra right now due to a filter, but the URL says a lot. Can someone sum up the content of the article?

EDIT: Okay, found the article on a different site. Seems to be VBS2 only.

Edited June 17, 2011 by MadDogX

[Zipper5 74]

xaitment Partners with Bohemia Interactive

Saarbrücken/Quierschied, Germany – June 15, 2011 – xaitment GmbH / Inc., the leading artificial intelligence (AI) technology provider for the video games and simulations industries, today announced a new licensing agreement with Bohemia Interactive, an award winning game and simulation development studio headquartered in Prague. Bohemia Interactive Simulations has integrated xaitment’s AI tools into its VBS2 platform for tactical training and mission rehearsal. The deal acts as a distribution agreement, in essence making future Bohemia Interactive customers xaitment customers at the same time.

VBS2 is an industry-leading, game-based simulation employed by many military organizations around the world for training use. xaitMap, xaitment’s dynamic 3D path-finding and automatic navigation mesh generation tool, pre-processes VBS2 terrains to support the simulation’s overall AI. Additionally, the integration of xaitment’s tools xaitMove and xaitControl will provide VBS2 users with high-fidelity solutions for path-following, movement, crowd simulation, character behavior modeling and the creation of finite state machines to augment current VBS2 capabilities.

“This partnership with xaitment confirms once again our intent to support the latest cutting-edge middleware to deliver more capability to our users. xaitment is a smart choice because it offers both AI editors and runtime libraries, which is a big differentiator in the market. Our company is now able to supply our clients around the world with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology directly integrated with our VBS2 platformâ€, said Dr. Mark Dzulko, CTO of Bohemia Interactive. “xaitment’s powerful AI tools will help to further enhance and expand the experience our clients will have using our simulation.â€

“The cooperation of xaitment and Bohemia Interactive is closing the development gap by using high-quality, easy-to-use artificial intelligence editors and runtime libraries in combination with the best sold simulation engine worldwide. We are delighted to partner with Bohemia Interactive,†said Andreas Gerber, Group CEO of xaitment. “This partnership is an unrivaled advantage for our customers using VBS2 with one of the most advanced AI middleware solutions on the market. Our customers can directly start modeling their CGFs and other AI bots using our well-known graphical tools without having to program anything. We are excited about the immense and unlimited possibilities of creating new, unique and intelligent training and simulation games.â€

EDIT: Okay, found the article on a different site. Seems to be VBS2 only.

Indeed. I figured it may be relevant to the future of AI possibilities for BIS as a whole, however.

[roberthammer 582]

xaitment Partners with Bohemia Interactive

Saarbrücken/Quierschied, Germany – June 15, 2011 – xaitment GmbH / Inc., the leading artificial intelligence (AI) technology provider for the video games and simulations industries, today announced a new licensing agreement with Bohemia Interactive, an award winning game and simulation development studio headquartered in Prague. Bohemia Interactive Simulations has integrated xaitment’s AI tools into its VBS2 platform for tactical training and mission rehearsal. The deal acts as a distribution agreement, in essence making future Bohemia Interactive customers xaitment customers at the same time.

VBS2 is an industry-leading, game-based simulation employed by many military organizations around the world for training use. xaitMap, xaitment’s dynamic 3D path-finding and automatic navigation mesh generation tool, pre-processes VBS2 terrains to support the simulation’s overall AI. Additionally, the integration of xaitment’s tools xaitMove and xaitControl will provide VBS2 users with high-fidelity solutions for path-following, movement, crowd simulation, character behavior modeling and the creation of finite state machines to augment current VBS2 capabilities.

“This partnership with xaitment confirms once again our intent to support the latest cutting-edge middleware to deliver more capability to our users. xaitment is a smart choice because it offers both AI editors and runtime libraries, which is a big differentiator in the market. Our company is now able to supply our clients around the world with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology directly integrated with our VBS2 platformâ€, said Dr. Mark Dzulko, CTO of Bohemia Interactive. “xaitment’s powerful AI tools will help to further enhance and expand the experience our clients will have using our simulation.â€

“The cooperation of xaitment and Bohemia Interactive is closing the development gap by using high-quality, easy-to-use artificial intelligence editors and runtime libraries in combination with the best sold simulation engine worldwide. We are delighted to partner with Bohemia Interactive,†said Andreas Gerber, Group CEO of xaitment. “This partnership is an unrivaled advantage for our customers using VBS2 with one of the most advanced AI middleware solutions on the market. Our customers can directly start modeling their CGFs and other AI bots using our well-known graphical tools without having to program anything. We are excited about the immense and unlimited possibilities of creating new, unique and intelligent training and simulation games.â€

Indeed. I figured it may be relevant to the future of AI possibilities for BIS as a whole, however.

Oh nice , shame it probably won't be in ArmA 3 :(

[NeMeSiS 11]

If that wont be in ArmA3 i will murder someone.

[Perforator 10]

I figured it may be relevant to the future of AI possibilities for BIS as a whole

Hell yeah, I'm really surprised that the article doesn't already have it's own thread because it's a huge development. Hopefully we will get some feedback from the developers about this new tool.

[maddogx 13]

Hell yeah, I'm really surprised that the article doesn't already have it's own thread because it's a huge development. Hopefully we will get some feedback from the developers about this new tool.

Actually, someone made a thread about Xaitment a while ago, long before this announcement.

[elmas 10]

Well ArmA 3 is still more than a year away, so there's always a chance that we will see this in the final product.