ArmA 3 Guide - AI Control Introduction

[Drumheller 19]

The AI in ArmA can be a great asset or a horrible frustration. If you know how to utilize it properly and well, you will really open up a side of ArmA that will enhance your gameplay experience for years to come. Learning to control that AI, however, can be pretty intimidating. Even this introduction video is 40 min long, but it's broken into segments for each section and is hopefully easy to follow, learn, and understand. It should help you begin to understand the expanse of what you can do with the AI in ArmA.

This first AI control video is a little long and drawn out, but I go over almost every command in every menu that you can give to AI. It's a good fundamental to know everything that the AI, and more importantly, yourself, are capable of doing while utilizing AI. Skip to the last 3 minutes to see me put it all together using Voice Commands instead of keyboard shortcuts.

Voice Activated Commands: http://www.dwvac.com (Many ArmA custom configs available)

4:23 Menu 1 - "Move" - Movement

8:25 Menu 2 - "Engage" - Targeting

10:28 Menu 3 - "Target" - Fire Modes, Engagment, Facing

14:38 Menu 4 - "Mount" - Vehicles, Turrets, Static Weapons

18:22 Menu 5 - "Status" - Almost never used - Report Status

19:02 Menu 6 - "Action" - Used for equipment/looting ammo and weapons and directing your medic to heal the nearest target. You can also make AI open doors, but you never know which door you're telling them to open

24:19 Menu 7 - "Combat Mode" - Very useful - Set Combat State and Stance

29:11 Menu 8 - "Formation" - Set Formation(sets for whole squad, not just selected individuals)

31:13 Menu 9 - "Assign" - Assign units to teams and select the teams.

33:05 Menu 0 - "Reply" - Communication - Access radio commands and call for in-mission support

34:03 - Conclusion and Voice Command Demonstration

-Mods Used in this video:

CAF: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=19420

SABRE US Marines: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=19321

Deadfast 3rd Person View: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=19328

Playthrough of a mission using much of the things I taught in the tutorial:

Edited April 7, 2013 by MacScottie

[Damacles 0]

That was excellent, thank you. You're right about once you've used VAC to control your A.I it's difficult to go back, VAC really is very good and much, much better since Win 7 came out.

How about posting your VAC profile, I'd like to have a look if that would be OK ? ArmA's command menus are potentially quite large/complex and it's nice to see how other people have set theirs up either to use as a base or as food for thought.

[Drumheller 19]

I use this profile almost completely stock:

http://www.armaholic.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=11956

[SaL_iOGC 1]

Great guide MacScottie. Thanks for putting this together. Like that quip..." you guys need more time on the range"

[Predator.v2 10]

Some tipps for your guide:

For using suppressive fire, it's important to keep in mind ...

... the following passage (from BI's Wiki):

AI uses suppressive fire when some enemy is known (was seen), but it cannot be currently hit (line of fire blocked by some obstacle). Suppression is done by firing at the last position where line of fire was clear, and only when line of fire from AI current position to this last position is currently clear.

Suppressive fire is used only when current unit behaviour is combat or stealth or when explicitly ordered. Moreover, firing must be enabled (there is no suppressive fire when unit is "holding fire", even when suppressive fire is ordered). Explicitly ordered suppressive fire is more intense.

Suppressive fire is done only by weapons firing bullets. The more bullets are available for the weapon, the more intense suppressive fire is used. Moreover, recently seen targets are suppressed more intensely than old ones.

You can even assign fireteams with ctrl + F1/2/3/4/5

When you have AIs selected and hold the "watch command" button (default: left alt), you can order them to watch a position you determine similar to the "move" order (actually the "watch" order replace the "move" order on the mousewheel menu). You will also find a "suppressive fire" order in your mouse wheel menu, when holding the default left alt button.

-"Fire" causes AI with a hold fire order to fire a single bolt/missile. I think this is only working with bolt action weapons and several vehicle weapons (Have already used "Hold Fire" with "Fire" to order my AI Apache to fire single hellfires on my lased targets in A2).

Still thanks for the great guide, finally i realized what flank left/right and advance do. ^^

Also the hint with the proximity on the "gear" order was new to me.

[wok 1]

An AI ran me over with a car yesterday :(

Anyway, nice guide, thanks!

[-Coulum- 35]

Nice job! Thanks

[dethica 3]

great video!

[Drumheller 19]

Some tipps for your guide:

You can even assign fireteams with ctrl + F1/2/3/4/5

When you have AIs selected and hold the "watch command" button (default: left alt), you can order them to watch a position you determine similar to the "move" order (actually the "watch" order replace the "move" order on the mousewheel menu). You will also find a "suppressive fire" order in your mouse wheel menu, when holding the default left alt button.

-"Fire" causes AI with a hold fire order to fire a single bolt/missile. I think this is only working with bolt action weapons and several vehicle weapons (Have already used "Hold Fire" with "Fire" to order my AI Apache to fire single hellfires on my lased targets in A2).

Still thanks for the great guide, finally i realized what flank left/right and advance do. ^^

Also the hint with the proximity on the "gear" order was new to me.

Nice I learned something from my own tutorial post! :)

I forgot about being able to hold alt down and have AI watch in that direction(because I use VAC I just always say "watch there")

The "fire" command I didn't know about though. That's cool. I'll have to tinker with it.

[gliptal 25]

Great, I'll definitely watch this!

Yay!

[Fuse 1]

Damn, Drum. How do you always know exactly what I want?

Can't wait to watch this.

[Andysim212 10]

anyone found a version of VAC that works with Arma2 ACE mod? i tried everything to get it to work but it wont =(

thanks in advance

[mmaruda 20]

This is one awesome tutorial! I always treated the AI commands as something clunky, but now I realised I just had no Idea how to use this stuff properly.

[Drumheller 19]

Damn, Drum. How do you always know exactly what I want?

Can't wait to watch this.

I'm impotent... or omnipotent... or something.

[Drumheller 19]

As promised,

of a mission using AI Command. I use VAC and I try to implement everything from the tutorial/guide in the mission.

[Arma3Admin 1]

Very, very well done sir.

[jcae2798 132]

Thanks!

[justposted 10]

This is an old thread but I have only just found it. After many hours faffing about in Arma I can finally use the AI to intelligently infiltrate a town rather than just getting confused (and then dead). Many thanks MacScottie.