How to Make Civilians Walk On Roads? -- For a Machinima

[krytosss 1]

I am trying to get my civilians to run and/or walk down the middle of the road. They will not do it and I believe it's because the roadways are designed for civilians to avoid walking on them and let vehicles drive by instead.

I've tried every combination in the waypoint system I can think of (careless, safe, never fire, full, normal, etc.), and still my civilians will always default to run along the side of the road.

The only solution I can come up with is to force dozens of very small waypoints to keep them on the road.

Is there some sort of behavior I need to turn off? Disable roads pathfinding or something? Thank you in advance! :)

[Horner 13]

Unfortunately for you ArmA 2 AI are pretty much hard coded. There are a few AI mods out there that alter their behaviors but these were made by very talented developers. I'm not sure if ASR has some sort of function like this. If I would expect anything to have this it would either be that or UPS/UPSMON.

[kylania 568]

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/AIBehaviour

[Horner 13]

Hmm, using safe/careless never seemed to work for me for keeping people on roads. I was in the same boat as krytosss.

[blackmamb 2]

That function here comes from ACR. I guess it's specifically designed for cinematic stuff.

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// RUN ONLY ONCE SAFE-CHECK
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
if !(isNil{BIS_FncInitialized_ScriptedMove}) then {
if (BIS_FncInitialized_ScriptedMove) exitwith {};
};
BIS_FncInitialized_ScriptedMove = true;


BIS_scriptedMoveEnabled = TRUE;

//[_unit:object, _positions:array, _execCode:code] spawn BIS_movingProc;
BIS_movingProc = {

_guy = _this select 0;
_wps = _this select 1;
_walkAnim = "AmovPercMrunSrasWrflDf";
_animLength = 7.07243;
_code = {};
if (count _this > 2) then {_code = _this select 2};

_guy disableAI "MOVE";

//calculate total distance to walk and how many times we need to play the walk animation
_dist = _guy distance (_wps select 0);
_i = 1;
while {_i < count _wps} do {
	_dist = _dist + ((_wps select (_i - 1)) distance (_wps select _i));
	_i = _i + 1
};
_animLoops = ceil (_dist / _animLength);
textLogFormat ["SCRIPTED WALK: %1 will walk %2 meters using %3 animations '%4'.", name _guy, _dist, _animLoops, _walkAnim];

[_guy, _wps] spawn {
	_guy = _this select 0;
	_wps = _this select 1;
	_i = 0;

	//procedure for smooth turning
	_turningProc = {
		_this spawn {
			_guy = _this select 0;
			_wp = _this select 1;
			_dir = [_guy, _wp] call BIS_fnc_dirTo;
			if (_dir < 0) then {_dir = 360 + _dir};
			_degs = _dir - direction _guy;
			if (abs _degs > 180) then {_degs = _degs + (360 * (_degs / abs _degs) * (-1))};
			_step = _degs / 20;
			while {(abs _degs > abs _step) && BIS_scriptedMoveEnabled} do {
				_guy setDir (direction _guy + _step);
				_degs = _dir - direction _guy;
				sleep 0.025
			};
			_guy setDir ([_guy, _wp] call BIS_fnc_dirTo)
		}
	};

	//make sure the unit faces its first waypoint
	[_guy, _wps select 0] call _turningProc;

	//turn the unit at each waypoint
	while {_i < count _wps} do {
		waitUntil {[(position _guy) select 0, (position _guy) select 1] distance [(_wps select _i) select 0, (_wps select _i) select 1] < 0.5 || if (_i > 0) then {(_guy distance (_wps select (_i - 1))) > ((_wps select _i) distance (_wps select (_i - 1)))} else {FALSE}};
		[_guy, _wps select (_i + 1)] call _turningProc;
		textLogFormat ["SCRIPTED WALK: %1 just reached WP #%2 (of %3).", name _guy, _i + 1, count _wps];
		_i = _i + 1
	}
};

waitUntil {[_guy, _wps select 0] call BIS_fnc_relativeDirTo < 30};

//playing walk animations
_i = 1;
while {(_i <= _animLoops && !(isPlayer _guy)) && BIS_scriptedMoveEnabled} do {
	_nic = [objNull, _guy, rPLAYMOVE, _walkAnim] call RE;
	_i = _i + 1;
	sleep 0.5
};

//a code can be executed once the unit finished walking
waitUntil {speed _guy < 0.25};
_guy enableAI "MOVE";
call _code;
};

Looks complicated, but it's not.

[krytosss 1]

Kylania - Those behaviors I believe work just for BLUFOR and OPFOR, not civilians.

Blackmamb - Yeah that does look intimidating! Do you know how I am supposed to use it? Do I simply just put it into a script file, then execute the script file in my init.sqf file and civilians SHOULD automatically be ok with walking on roads?

Thanks for your help!

[blackmamb 2]

Nah, not THAT simple , though!

First, this function is already somewhere in your game if you have ACR or ACR lite.

Basically the point of this is to hard-script movement for a unit following an array of positions.

It is called this way:

[_unit, [[i]array of positions[/i]], {[i]code to execute after finishing walking[/i]}] spawn BIS_movingProc;

Where _unit would be your civilian name.

You could create a few markers you want your guy to pass by, and have it look like this

[myCivilian, [getMarkerPos "mkr1", getMarkerPos "mkr2", getMarkerPos "mkr3", getMarkerPos "mkr4", getMarkerPos "mkr5", getMarkerPos "mkr"], {hint "I'm there!"}] spawn BIS_movingProc;

The unit called myCivilian would walk to each of those markers, and when he gets to the last one you would get a hint.

Note that I haven't tested that one out yet, just stumbled across this the other day.

It will probably be a resource hog, so use it with moderation (don't try and have fifty units executing this at the same time, i guess. But that's cinema, right? Special effects and suggestion, plus montage, buddy).

Edit: just tested it, works fine but is designed for a running animation. It would need a bit of work to do it with a walking animation (basically just finding the corresponding animation length).

Plus i forgot to mention, for people interested, it needs a functions Module on the map, and another function must have been called first:

[] call BIS_fnc_initWLib;

Edited October 3, 2012 by BlackMamb

[krytosss 1]

I'm a noob to modules. How exactly do I do a functions module?

My current understanding is (which is probably flawed):

I simply use the code you used [myCivilian.... spawn BIS_movingProc]; the BIS_movingProc is already inside Arma2 you're saying, right?

Do I simply put this in my init.sqf file?

[] call BIS_fnc_initWLib;

Also, can I ask another noob question? I often see the "_" in code such as "_unit". What does the _ mean? Is it to just generate a local variable within that section of code that will get rid of it later? I have a hard time understanding when I need to use a _ and when I don't. Thank you so much again!! :)

[mach1muscle351 30]

Not sure if this would work or if its even good enough for you but, make a border/boundary on both side of the roads which only civs cant enter?

[Gunter Severloh 4070]

How exactly do I do a functions module?

Go to the editor, press F7, or go to modules, then in the list look for functions, place it, and your done.