How is AI driving in the latest patch?

[^Th0mas^ 10]

Im about to pick up my copy of ArmA 2 again. Time to test out a few new mods and the game itself. Since I havent played the game for a long time I want to ask if the AI driving has seen any improvements, or do it still sucks? I like the AI to drive, so this has always been one of my most hated issues in this game. If not, any word on improving this in the next patch?

EDIT:

Driving Operation Flashpoint:

VS

Driving ArmA series:

Edited July 16, 2012 by ^Th0mas^
AI youtube

[gossamersolid 155]

I think it's pretty much the same as it's always been. Maybe tweaked a bit, but they still don't really know how to drive.

[^Th0mas^ 10]

Thats crap. Any word if BIS is going to fix this anytime? If not fixed in ArmA 2 its probably the same in ArmA 3 I think.

[chrisb 196]

Don’t really agree with the last two posts, however not sure regards the campaign driving, never done the campaigns, so it could still be bad there.

In the Editor I find the single ai driving has improved quite a lot. I can put an ai unit at one side of the island/map and a waypoint at the other side, set the unit to ‘Safe’ then run a test with no other waypoints and most of the time they get there without too much problem using roads and lanes, can depend on the island though. On the whole I find them pretty good, bridges can be a problem sometimes. However the group driving can still be a bit of a problem, but its not as bad as it used to be.

If you make missions, as I do, then plan around ai driving, its not hard to do, same with truck convoys etc, just a little planning..

[^Th0mas^ 10]

What if you put one barrel on the road? It used to be back and forward, repeat.. repeat.. repeat..

[chrisb 196]

Ah, then don’t put a barrel on the road.. They slow and stop now and wait for rabbits to cross, whereas they used to turn off road and go a km or two out of their way to get around.

Bagdad is a problem map, there are road blocks on there (built in), so using a little initiative goes a long way when planning a mission. Podagorsk on the other hand is great, I find. As said it depends on island used, most I test driving on are good, I have around 150ish islands inc the newer redone ofp & some arma islands (using caa1 etc). I would say two thirds of them are reasonably o.k. Infact the arma islands seem better still.

Obviously once battle commences and debris gets on the roads, then its anyone's guess..

[^Th0mas^ 10]

But I cant understand why this is impossible to fix. Look at GTA. Its a free open world game, and you can put anything in the road. In car chases the AI can get trough road blocks everywhere, even in very high speed.

[W0lle 1050]

But I cant understand why this is impossible to fix. Look at GTA. Its a free open world game, and you can put anything in the road. In car chases the AI can get trough road blocks everywhere, even in very high speed.

And look at FSX how much better flight model they have. Or look at <whatever> how much better <whatever> is there.

How many thousand dollars you are willing to pay for a game in which everything is just perfect. And how someone can compare GTA which is mostly about driving with ArmA2 which is mostly about infantry fights is totally out of my mind. And yeah the driving in GTA is so much better, either you never played it, or you never observed them driving over bridges where most vehicles are involved into crashes sooner or later.

[gunso 10]

It's pretty good i would say if they are on safe. I've been overtaken by my own AI a couple of times while driving the m113 ambulance. Getting them cross country is still a pain tho.

[Smurf 12]

Except from tight spaces, bridges, animals (including small ones, like rabbits) and other units near to or on the track, objects in general, T intersections, convoys, incoming and ongoing traffic, the AI behave quite well.

And look at FSX how much better flight model they have. Or look at <whatever> how much better <whatever> is there.

How many thousand dollars you are willing to pay for a game in which everything is just perfect. And how someone can compare GTA which is mostly about driving with ArmA2 which is mostly about infantry fights is totally out of my mind. And yeah the driving in GTA is so much better, either you never played it, or you never observed them driving over bridges where most vehicles are involved into crashes sooner or later.

That doesn't change the fact that ARMA AI driving skill is bad, and got worse throughout the series somehow.

[^Th0mas^ 10]

Except from tight spaces, bridges, animals (including small ones, like rabbits) and other units near to or on the track, objects in general, T intersections, convoys, incoming and ongoing traffic, the AI behave quite well.

That doesn't change the fact that ARMA AI driving skill is bad, and got worse throughout the series somehow.

Yeah, I dont remember problems with the driving in Operation Flashpoint. It started in the games after that.

I dont expect the driving AI in ArmA II to be perfect. But IMO its far from decent, and it always have been after OfP. And no, ArmA2 isnt mostly about driving, but driving takes a huge role in this game to be crap.

---------- Post added at 04:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:32 AM ----------

Driving Operation Flashpoint:

VS

Driving ArmA series:

Edited July 16, 2012 by ^Th0mas^

[W0lle 1050]

Uploaded by goooooller on Jul 7, 2009

That was three years ago...

And in that OFP video: No way that's the AI driving. I played OFP from the preview until the "end" and the AI never ever moved up to a truck, then overtaking them side by side. That video probably was recorded in MP.

Like said, obstacles in their way confuse the AI in ArmA2. That sucks, but I would say it was more worse in 2009 than it is now.

[^Th0mas^ 10]

Uploaded by goooooller on Jul 7, 2009

That was three years ago...

And in that OFP video: No way that's the AI driving. I played OFP from the preview until the "end" and the AI never ever moved up to a truck, then overtaking them side by side. That video probably was recorded in MP.

Like said, obstacles in their way confuse the AI in ArmA2. That sucks, but I would say it was more worse in 2009 than it is now.

Iron Front is based on the newest AI patch from ArmA 2, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpTiaiFueYY

If not I can probably find you a updated AI sucks from youtube that is vanilla ArmA 2.

[chrisb 196]

Uploaded by goooooller on Jul 7, 2009

That was three years ago...

And in that OFP video: No way that's the AI driving. I played OFP from the preview until the "end" and the AI never ever moved up to a truck, then overtaking them side by side.

That could quite possibly be ai driving, that’s how it used to look in ofp and still does if set on safe in A2 when a faster vehicle meeting another that’s slower overtakes. Very surprised you never saw this happen. I too have played from launch of series, even buying the original xbox so I could play OFP Elite, out of curiosity to see what the console version had. Driving in that version was o.k as well..

_____

(side note; I even bought a 360 for Dragon Rising, shame, nevermind).

_____

Anyhow, the ai do drive reasonably well when set on ‘Safe’, it changes on ‘Aware’ but only if they encounter enemy units, then it usually can go a little daft. Its ‘Safe’ mode that produces really quite good driving, but you do have to think before designing a mission i.e. road junctions that are bad should have speed reduced to ‘Limited’ just prior to the junction as they tend to overshot if driving something that moves quicker, (trucks are not so bad) then increase speed to normal after the junction (via waypoints) its not hard to form a list of bad points on islands if your making lots of missions and have set routes you want them to use.

Road junction manoeuvring has improved greatly imo with them taking a wider turn when turning right from a junction, but sometimes they can occasionally get hung up if they take the corner too short. Its all planning, if your going to make a mission for an island go on a drive with an ai unit and find out where he has problems, then plan around that, by either route, reducing speeds or better placed waypoints etc. Set them on ‘Safe’ when driving, we all know they will shift to another mode when they have contact with enemy units, but that’s just one of those things.

They are not perfect by any means but they have improved over time imo. Yes, I agree perhaps ofp had slightly better driving but its not that different to the ability they have now, with the right planning & mission design..

Lets face it they are never going to be perfect..

[krycek 349]

I remember quite well that in OFP the AI was driving much better after the last patches.Like someone said it turned out to be pretty crappy in A1 and A2CO.I didn't test the latest betas and I'm still on 1.60 which is a friggin mess concerning AI driving.If all they do in A3 is to concentrate on eye candy and ignoring AI I might have second thoughts.I expect the AI do basic things like driving and piloting good,not very good.Otherwise I'm getting closer to the scenario where I'm the one man army.

@Wolle,thing is GTA might be based on driving but BI had shitload of time to improve things from 2001 and present day.Even if these games are considered infantry sims,driving and piloting is still an important part of the game.

[W0lle 1050]

Hmm okay then, it's been a long time since I really played OFP I must admit. Might set up something like in that video and check their driving skills again. :)

I'm not saying that driving/piloting isn't important. But obviously things are a lot more complicated in 2012 than they were in 2001. Surely it should be improved, but I somehow doubt it will ever be anything close to GTA driving.

[^Th0mas^ 10]

I dont know why the driving AI has been worse over the last years. If they dont improve the driving in ArmA2 I sure hope they will get it right in Arma3. The movement in ArmA3 looks much smoother. Im no expert, but I hope this will make it easier to make better AI.

[HKFlash 9]

[krycek 349]

Yeah try that in 1.60 with another car following you and see the awesome driving skills of the second vehicle when it suddenly decides to steer left or right.Or try to add a convoy of 3-4 vehicles(even with column formation and safe behavior),freak show guaranteed.

[HKFlash 9]

Yeah try that in 1.60 with another car following you and see the awesome driving skills of the second vehicle when it suddenly decides to steer left or right.Or try to add a convoy of 3-4 vehicles(even with column formation and safe behavior),freak show guaranteed.

Convoys work fine, only problem is in towns sometimes they take a little more than usual when turning.

[^Th0mas^ 10]

Driving forward on a clean road for a few seconds doesnt prove much.

[W0lle 1050]

Well it proves that an obstacle free road is no problem for the AI. The problems appear when there's a rabbit or human character on the road or some other object. I said that before. So the only way to make the AI drive somewhat "normal" is to make sure their path is free of anything that could confuse them.

[krycek 349]

Well it proves that an obstacle free road is no problem for the AI. The problems appear when there's a rabbit or human character on the road or some other object. I said that before. So the only way to make the AI drive somewhat "normal" is to make sure their path is free of anything that could confuse them.

Ok but why if I have another vehicle follow me it drives well&smooth for a while then all of sudden he goes psycho and steers left and right entering the scenery?:confused:(btw no rabbits or humans or other creatures on the road)

Convoys don't work well for me,they keep the formation until one of the vehicles in the convoy change their speed,this causes the left&right behavior again until they slowly return to formation.The car in front waits the other cars to catch up then they drive again for a while and.....you know the rest.

[W0lle 1050]

Ok but why if I have another vehicle follow me it drives well&smooth for a while then all of sudden he goes psycho and steers left and right entering the scenery?:confused:(btw no rabbits or humans or other creatures on the road)

I'm not sure either what their problem is. Eventually they get too close to the vehicle in front and try to avoid it.

Convoys don't work well for me,they keep the formation until one of the vehicles in the convoy change their speed,this causes the left&right behavior again until they slowly return to formation.The car in front waits the other cars to catch up then they drive again for a while and.....you know the rest.

For convoys I always use Norrins convoy defense script. Works pretty well most of the time and makes even tracked and non-tracked vehicle move into a convoy at the same speed. Not a perfect solution but the 'breaking out attempts' are minimized and usually only at the beginning when they start moving.

[^Th0mas^ 10]

Convoys also worked great in 10 year old Operation Flashpoint. Before the ambush you can look have decent the convoy is driving: