Utilizing Ragdoll to throw the Player(s) via Explosion

[davidlasher 1]

I have been tinkering with scripting and creating some very unique missions with a thick storyline base to assist in a virtual training environment, which once a healthy showcase is complete I will pitch it to BI to get approval and a professional packet to present to officials (If you want something done, do it yourself, skip some heads, and they might not like it, but they can't reprimand you for it) and attempt to get a simulator based training environment available when time and resources for real world training are not feasable. This would span from the lowest to highest levels in tactics. I want the student(s) (player) immersed into these environment, as such I want them to be thrown by the concussion of an explosion. This will not only cause them physical damage from the initial blast, but also according to distance to knock them down or fling them respectively. This would increase the first person experience drastically. While the ragdoll system is a significant improvement to many other simulator softwares, some of which are not available for commercial use; I would like to seek assistance in creating something utilizing the already existing ragdoll to improve realism, or since I am limited in my time, if someone has the ability to create this I am sure many users would also be interested.

And also, on a side note can anyone point me in the right direction for an Arma 3 compatible version of ACE, or something similar for proper bullet drop and windage (Kentucky style and via zeroing)?

*Also, I am working on sound effects for muffled sounds + tinnitus which fades away after time after an explosion or gun fire. For example rifle fire will affect your left speaker more so with stronger tinnitus and muffled mechanization of sounds, if it's you firing, and your right less so, as with most rifles with a right side ejection port this is the case.

Edited April 10, 2013 by DavidLasher

[bigpickle 0]

Ragdoll is not finished yet

[sakura_chan 9]

Is this for an elaborate "how to die in an explosion" training simulation? Just script a nearby explosion and let the soldier get hit. Lol at posting the synopsis for the VBS series

[giorgygr 61]

Well..it's not necessary to die from a 'nearby' explosion.

We can have the effects of explosion dynamics (physics-player gets thrown some xx meters depending on various factors)+a percentage of wounding on nearby player (also depending on various factors)+post process effects simulating "disorientation"..

Pretty logical to me..

*edited later

lol..indeed it is copy pasted..

Anyway i wish someone can mod-it :)

Edited April 10, 2013 by GiorgyGR

[viper[cww] 14]

This just screams potential lawsuit.

[max power 21]

I don't think people get thrown meters by explosions then get up disorientated.

[rye1 21]

Well, with an explosion you have the primary effect of the blast and overpressure, the secondary effect of any 'missiles', shrapnel and fragments, as well as the potential tertiary effect of the persons falling to Earth. With that said you potentially have blast injury, penetrating injury and blunt force trauma all in the one incident but there has been cases where people not only survived without a scratch but got up again. In that sense disorientated to me simply means confused or shocked at a spontaneous event and where it has left them more so than 'How old am I?'. In ARMA case meaning the direction of contact, the direction you were and now are facing as an example. Certainly would be interesting to see, good luck with it.

[seamusgod 1]

an explosion with enough force to lift you off the ground is going to kill you. this crap from call of duty where you fall on the ground every 10 seconds because an rpg or grenade exploded 5 feet away from you isn't a good frame of reference.

[davidlasher 1]

@Rye - I was considering the possibility of trying to work in a shrapnel effect, even only by a non visual effect but also looking at the average specifications of most accessible computers for what I'm trying to propose, it would hog resources, heavily. It would have to injure dynamically around objects, through others, and determine a distance damage effect which in itself would cycle over and over - much like how the AI in previous Arma games would judge every piece of cover and take forever to choose the right one. Then, what if it was an airburst, groundburst, what was the velocity the explosive was travelling at, the winds effects on farther flung pieces, etc. Concussive damage that exponentially does less damage with distance is already in-built, therefore adding the parameters would have to be on the explosive effects themselves and then fed into ragdoll to percieve and visually implement. As for surviving explosions, if you couldn't survive them without more than a dropped jaw and a few scratches, as Rye stated, plenty of players of the Arma series, including myself, wouldn't be around to bs with you cats. So to everyone going to troll on about explosions not being survivable, get away from your movies, and go do something with your life - join the US Army (or USMC, but I'm bias ;)) Infantry, you'll figure it out for yourself.

@Bigpickle, great username. I'd still like some experience with the system so even when it is finished it's not such a steep mountain to climb to adjust as necessary.

@Sakura_Chan, negative Ghostrider, before your mentioning it, I've only ever heard of VBS and that was in 2008 at Fort Benning where the group participating in the project were complaining about how ridiculous the system was. I actually had to go Google it and after digging around in reviews did I recall it. And if First Army is implementing or running it, I PROMISE you it's terribad. Terribad like the smell of goat cheese that's sat out in the sun all day.

@GiorgyGR, pre-edit, yessir. Post edit, that is literally in my own words. If it's anywhere near what's on their promotion page, I can't apologize for something I did unintentionally however, I will make sure I educate myself on this. Your signature had me rolling, btw.

@Max Power, if you're thrown meters you're probably missing an appendage, minimum. If you're thrown up to (and generally no more than) about six feet, more often than not you'll lay there confused for a while, it takes the brain a while to catch up with the moment. "I'm standing, look at me!!!" *flash plus immemorable moment* "I was just looking at that guy, why can I see the sky? What just happened?" However, accompanied with this is not only a throbbing headache, concussion, and possibly either some partially disintegrated organs, or you're extremely lucky. Add in flash burns, depending on the heat your clothes have melted to your skin, etc. It's not a pleasant day.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how I can work around what you guys brought to my attention. I appreciate it, I really do. If I come across as a sarcastic arse, I can't help it.

**Edit - just found out BI also makes VBS - Eeeeek! But then again I was slamming the First Army Div, not BI.

Edited April 11, 2013 by DavidLasher
mispelling

[max power 21]

@Max Power, if you're thrown meters you're probably missing an appendage, minimum. If you're thrown up to (and generally no more than) about six feet, more often than not you'll lay there confused for a while, it takes the brain a while to catch up with the moment. "I'm standing, look at me!!!" *flash plus immemorable moment* "I was just looking at that guy, why can I see the sky? What just happened?" However, accompanied with this is not only a throbbing headache, concussion, and possibly either some partially disintegrated organs, or you're extremely lucky. Add in flash burns, depending on the heat your clothes have melted to your skin, etc. It's not a pleasant day.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how I can work around what you guys brought to my attention. I appreciate it, I really do. If I come across as a sarcastic arse, I can't help it.

If a person is moved six feet (!!!) directly by a blastwave, he would be dead at very minimum from pulmonary edema. Your nervous system would be agitated by the blast wave, and so you would be unconscious or demented. Your eardrums would be burst therefore you would have no equilibrium and be experiencing vertigo and nausea as your lungs filled with fluid. Possibly also your lungs and exposed skin would be burned. I don't think there is any luck involved. If you weren't killed by a shockwave capable of moving a person six feet, you weren't hit by it.

[davidlasher 1]

I was trying to keep it gentle, not a lot of folks with a proper imagination will handle what goes on inside the body all too well.

** There's a big difference between the mental and emotional capacities of those with first hand knowledge with desensitization training and Joe Snuffy on the block.

---------- Post added at 03:53 ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 ----------

Let's put it this way, I didn't want to fully elaborate, but so I don't get slammed all over the forums - if you were even quite a distance away from an explosion like the one in the video below, the shockwave will still throw you like... well.. a ragdoll. However, even though you go flying, it's not instant death. Of course the hellfire and brimstone shrapnel raining down on you will cause some serious wounds if you don't seek cover, you're still alive. Damaged, but functional.

Stranger things have happened, you'd be amazed at what can really happen in the world. Things are not nearly as black and white as we're taught.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/25/hiroshima-nagasaki-survivor-japan

Edited April 11, 2013 by DavidLasher
Additional information and references.

[rye1 21]

If a person is moved six feet (!!!) directly by a blastwave, he would be dead at very minimum from pulmonary edema. Your nervous system would be agitated by the blast wave, and so you would be unconscious or demented. Your eardrums would be burst therefore you would have no equilibrium and be experiencing vertigo and nausea as your lungs filled with fluid. Possibly also your lungs and exposed skin would be burned. I don't think there is any luck involved. If you weren't killed by a shockwave capable of moving a person six feet, you weren't hit by it.

That's suggestive of penetrating trauma, specifically thoracic trauma which does not always occur with associated blast events as stated by David. If only there was a way to make people really 'combat ineffective' then you wouldn't have to worry about life and death events but more if it takes them out of the fight BEFORE they die or need attention. Do you know of any way to do this? Shaking say from a GSW is more a secondary solution I reckon. Maybe an injured animation? Hmm. I'll look into this.

[davidlasher 1]

That's suggestive of penetrating trauma, specifically thoracic trauma which does not always occur with associated blast events as stated by David. If only there was a way to make people really 'combat ineffective' then you wouldn't have to worry about life and death events but more if it takes them out of the fight BEFORE they die or need attention. Do you know of any way to do this? Shaking say from a GSW is more a secondary solution I reckon. Maybe an injured animation? Hmm. I'll look into this.

I believe there is an injured animation however, it's immobile as far as I have found and it's so close to death that it's extremely difficult to achieve and it's not like you can drag yourself away to treat yourself. I.e dragging a wounded soldier who is unable to get up, out of the line of fire, which I've encountered once; and the bloody fading in and out black screen where all you can really do is wait for a medic since at this point you're immobile. The threshold needs some revamping so that this occurs a little more often in game, with a slightly mobile variant as well as the immobile, as it happens pretty often in real world given similar conditions we seem to always get our characters stuck in hahaha. After all of my testing with an exploding Offroad I can't find that cherry where this happens in an in-game explosion. I've tried standing on a balcony above, varying distances on ground, even dropping a truck on top of an ai from boredom of doing this for so long. I did find some configs for varying injuries on different body parts, but from what I recall off hand it was both legs or none, both arms or none, torso, and head. I'll have to hop in the editor real quick and see if I can find it again and give an actual answer.

***********************************Edit

There is a spot in Object Modifiers to do as I said above however, setting leg damage to 1 just stops you from being able to go any faster than walking, and adds ketchup stains all over your legs. However, I did find something, the threshold from living to death for the whole body is 0.99999997, btw you will still be walking, this could be good info for the zombie mods to bloody up characters and units:

unit setDamage 0.99999997;
unit allowDamage false;

At 0.99999998 you immediately collapse and die. Now onto animations and seeing if it's a modified stance or an action for tactical casualty care.

Edited April 11, 2013 by DavidLasher