PMC mission 4: Transportation FAIL. Client vehicles not following

[David Schofield 10]

I tried to edit the mission via the Arma editor, and of course, the file is supposedly "read only" so I'm just SOL there. How can I get this mission to play right? The client vehicles pause at the gate, or somewhere enroute to the destination, and I can't just jump in and drive them myself. I let the AI drive, and they get stuck still. How can I fix this stupid mission? :mad:

Edited February 11, 2012 by Foxhound
removed caps from title

[.kju 3240]

You seem angry. Maybe rightly so.

But we cannot understand what you mean this way.

Please explain in simple words what the problem is and step by step what you are doing.

PS: You cannot modify DLC missions.

[David Schofield 10]

You seem angry. Maybe rightly so.

But we cannot understand what you mean this way.

Please explain in simple words what the problem is and step by step what you are doing.

PS: You cannot modify DLC missions.

Ok, the issue with the client vehicles in the fourth mission was this:

They would occasionally stop following me entirely, even if I killed all enemies within an x-mile radius. They would not follow my SUV as they were supposed to. They would just sit in the middle of the road, and I would be left with no way to end the mission because I couldn't just leave them behind. I've never been very good at explaining this stuff with words, I'm sorry, lol.

I just used the "ENDMISSION" cheat code, because I was pissy enough to say to hell with it over the ordeal.

More recently, in PMC Mission 11: Deception, I have to bomb the UN convoy, and I need to use an IED to do so, but of course, another error occurs. I'm "spotted" by the UN forces every time I try, so really no matter what I do there, I end up getting gunned down by a helicopter. When I started playing this campaign, things just seemed so promising... It's been a complete disaster/disappointment. They're real dicks for not letting users edit this stuff, because there's some things they really screwed up on that we can't fix.

Edited February 11, 2012 by David Schofield

[kireta21 13]

If AI gets stuck, usually it's enough to suspend mission and load it, forcing AI to recalculate path.

If AI gets too good at spotting you may need to reduce visibility range (and yes, this affect AI's spotting range, a lot), probably because AI improvements in 1.60 patch screwed missions ballance a bit, and a lot if you use AI mods. While playing alternative mission (Elimination) I couldn't even get close to villa, because almost everytime I got one-shot-killed from 400m+.

Edited February 11, 2012 by boota

[OMAC 254]

David,

This is a common issue. Please bear the following in mind, and you will have GREAT FUN with this mission:

1) Editing official BIS missions in an attempt to "fix" problems is a total waste of time. Avoid at all cost, and concentrate on playing the game. You cannot change AI following behavior by editing, anyway.

2) You have no control over the client vehicles, and cannot drive them. Don't leave them unprotected, or mission will fail.

3) Don't worry about the client vehicles unless you hear from your squadmate that you shouldn't get too far away from them, or that they "don't have our kind of firepower". In that case, turn around and go back towards them, clearing any remaining enemies that may be threatening them (use UAV to carefully scan for enemies in area). They won't proceed if enemies are present, and they may get confused when you go off road, or by obstructions in the road blocking them (like destroyed enemy vehicles or dead men), but ~98% of the time, they will eventually follow you. If they are off road, drive back to the road near them; they should follow. In the rare case that they are really stuck, revert to autosave. If that doesn't work, restart mission.

4) Never use mods for official missions.

Have fun! I just played through again, and had a blast. I have never been unable to complete this mission, and have never used the endmission cheat for ANY BIS mission or scenario. Use beta 89223 (http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php) and try out very cool new mouse-driving and "look into turn" functionality. Report back if you still have problems.

Edited February 11, 2012 by OMAC

[160thSOAR 10]

What does the said "look into turn" functionality do exactly?

@boota: Certain missions do seem to have become far more difficult after 1.60. I've found that the first ArmA2 Vanilla scenario is largely luck of the draw whether you succeed or fail. Sometimes, my squad gets decimated when the BRDM-2 appears, and sometimes, they're pretty much all right and I can take out the BRDM with my machine gun.

@David Schofield: I have never had any particular trouble with this mission myself. I tend to drive and let the AI man the gun, then just switch to the gun when I encounter a hard target. Since I don't have to deal with the AI's poor driving in my own vehicle, I just stick close to the client vehicles. I prefer to dismount and take out the gunner of the ZU-23-2 Ural you encounter near the end with my own personal weapon, but the client vehicles don't give me trouble there, either.

Long story short: Stick close to the client vehicles and you shouldn't have any trouble. :)

[OMAC 254]

The "look into turn" is particularly noticeable in the PMC SUVs. As you are steering with mouse, your head turns in the direction you are steering to look into the turn. It's cool.

The minigun is so much fun that I always do all the shooting, but the AI driving is somewhat maddening at times. It's almost a bug how the driver of the SUV won't go straight backward when you order him to reverse (as is the case for other vehicles), but will turn the car to drive in the 180 degree direction, or something.

[160thSOAR 10]

Yes, I have found the non-reversing SUV's annoying myself. There have been several times when I come out of a hull down position, thinking I've eliminated all of the enemies, and a guy I didn't notice starts shooting at me. Then, when I try to order the driver to reverse, he starts trying to turn around and usually gets stuck. It's gotten me killed a few times from people with RPG-7's.

Miniguns are fun, yes. :) I prefer the CROWS or GPK HMMWV's though, because you can't get killed as easily in them. The SUV has paper-mache armor as well.

[OMAC 254]

Yep. But somehow, in the Transportation mission, the Black Betty can take a hell of a lot of damage and still keep truckin' on down the road.

It'd be cool if BIS came up with a HMMWV with a minigun on it (or dual miniguns ;)). There's always the awesome M113 APC with a Vulcan machine cannon in CWR2! The Vulcan will take down buildings, as all the buildings in CWR2 are now destructible. Kick ass.

[160thSOAR 10]

Really? I hadn't noticed that the SUV could take that much damage in that mission.

If the ZU-23 Ural ever engages me, my vehicle is often disabled within the first volley. That's why I take it out on foot. However, if I accidentally go over the hill in the SUV before engaging it, I tend to be fairly screwed. Even if I retreat back over the hill, then crawl over the rise prone, the ZU-23 will always rip me up. I have to be careful I don't go too far forwards. It's a balance between moving far enough to the right so that the infantry squad behind the rocks won't engage you, but not moving so far that the ZU-23 can see you. Can be hard to do sometimes.

[OMAC 254]

Well, even though the SUV damage indicators can be as high as orange and red for some features, the SUV still behaves quite well, and gets me where I need to go.

I've taken to heading left off the road just before the ZU-23 at Imarat, and inching forward just enough at the ridgeline so that I can safely take out the truck and the 4 soldiers down there with the minigun, often not receiving any shots from the opfor in the process.

Edited February 15, 2012 by OMAC

[160thSOAR 10]

Hmm. I'll try that at some point.