Help with AI Convoy Ambushed

[lax 10]

Hello. I am trying to find a fix for something that has annoyed my since ArmA 2 first came out. I have noticed that if the AI is in a convoy, no matter what you set the waypoint parameters to, as soon as you start to shoot at them, all the vehicles stop and the men get out and start shooting.

The worst thing you can possibly do in an ambush is to stop your vehicle much less get out lol.

Does anybody know a way to make it so that the AI will stay in formation and just shoot with the guns but not stop driving? It would be way more realistic.

By the way, I am organizing the convoys by setting them all in the same group and organizing them by rank. Highest rank will be front (usually an armed vehicle) then trucks in the middle (middle rank) then rear security in the back (lowest rank)

All help is appreciated. Thanks

[twirly 11]

Hi lax...

To keep the guys in cargo from getting out.... maybe temporarily disableAI

To keep the vehicles moving and firing.... to my knowledge that's a hard one.

[sander 14]

There are a few considerations for setting up AI convoys for ambush missions. It generally requires a few test runs of any convoy to determine the best set up with regard to vehicle composition, speeds and adjustments for terrain. Make yourself a passenger and drive along in the convoy for a few test runs, make notes of repeated issues: rabbits crossing the road are incidents that can be disregarded, vehicles making strange turns due to permanent fixtures such as signs, trees or rocks require attention.

A first consideration is the composition of a column. Experience has taught that the best results for convoys are achieved if all the vehicles in a convoy are of a similar type, either all wheeled or all tracked. It is possible to combine them, but this requires additional testing to ensure that the different AI behaviour when driving these types is appropriately compensated for. So for a truck convoy it is easiest to assign security elements composed of wheeled combat vehicles as these do not diverge too much in behaviour.

In my experience it is better to have each vehicle of a convoy in its own group and assigned its own waypoints. Preferably all driver groups are set to safe to ensure their best (best does not necessarily equate to good) behaviour. With each vehicle following its own waypoint, the rear will tend to continue their route in an ambush even if the vehicles in front are hit.

Groups for any passengers should be distinct from the drivers. As most vehicles are defined in the config to offload any passengers under fire, the driver may stick around his mates rather than drive out of the killing zone. With passengers in a separate group, the driver will stop to let them out before continuing his assigned route.

To maintain the order of march within a column I use forceSpeed statements to ensure that vehicles stay in their own place more reliably, with each vehicle assigned a slower speed than the one directly to its front. Each Arma II vehicle has different maximum speed values, so relying on limited, normal or full speed settings in a waypoint is a recipe for large deviations. Use of forceSpeed to set maximum speeds helps reduce such deviations.

Another consideration for reducing convoy trouble is to pick a reasonably flat route. Different types of vehicle (wheeled or tracked, heavy or light) are impacted in varying ways by roads that are descending or ascending. If an ascent or descent is unavoidable use triggers to adjust forceSpeed settings to appropriate values. The latter takes a lot of trial and error to get right.

Regards,

Sander

[Guest]

To stop the ai getting out of the vehicles, you could use

vehiclename lock true;