TPW MODS: enhanced realism and immersion for Arma 3 SP.

[GShock 10]

No issue with you, issue with the CPU when using TPW MOD. :p

I am very curious about your analysis of the changelog and see if there's something that can be changed/improved thanks to the new code to keep using the mod.

BI did mention in the first line of the changelog that they improved the AI efficiency to avoid performance loss. Without the tpw mod it's a dead island.

[toxicsludge 12]

TPW, you are a freaking hero :) if I'm ever in Brissy, I'll buy you a beer :)

[sqb-sma 66]

TPW, you are a freaking hero :) if I'm ever in Brissy, I'll buy you a beer :)

Wait, TPW's from Brissie? Jeeze, next time I'm on a roadtrip up there the first shout's on me.

[GShock 10]

I think I've seen an improvement in the behavior of the AI which is a bit less reckless (playing infantry showcase) in vanilla.

What the mod could do is to give them some sort of human-like weaknesses they seem to have not.

The vanilla AI rarely misses a shot at elite level. Handicaps like fatigue, wounds, being under fire, in low light conditions or you (their target) being behind hard cover makes little to no difference at all. It's all about who shoots first and if the AI sees you, you have the handicaps it hasn't. No alternative it's all about the first shot but this is not how it should work.

They can hit you and sometimes pull impossible shots you'd blame on "bouncing bullets" off the cover. It's ok, I suppose in 3d view I'd see I am not that completely covered by that rock ahead... but then you stay down and as soon as you get up, you're headshotted. This while the whole battle is going on with my own team mates.

Is that AI soldier only taking care of me? Camping lied down disregarding its own safety? In order to do so a human should lie still and keep the right mouse pressed aiming. Sometimes at the quantum level I think the AI soldier can shoot 2 different targets with the same bullet. :)

They also seem to be impervious to grenade launchers, if you don't score a near direct hit. Sometimes you shoot entire clips and you can even see hitting... the AI just nonchalantly shrugs it off and hits you back, bum one shot one kill and you're dead.

Now if this lethal AI can also take cover, not necessarily with wwaicover mod it also becomes a lot harder to kill. Modding their "defense" without making humanlike mistakes and handicaps could make things even worse.

Tpwbleedou, fall and eps are the game savers to me. Vanilla sucks without tpw mod but I haven't enabled it after the patch bc I'm waiting for twp to publish his new release and see if there's redundancy that might be removed and save fps.

[thx1137 10]

Just a quick Q. Given the constant changes to ARMA do you have a cycle where you look to see if any of the modules needs tweaking? Like each stable patch or something?

There are at least a couple of things that this mod overrides that are listed as tweaked or fixed by BIS like AI LOS engagement (I find the default AI work really well now) and animals avoiding roads.

Thanks again for all the great work. To me the single biggest improvement on the default install is the ambient life modules :-)

[tpw 2315]

TPW, you are a freaking hero :) if I'm ever in Brissy, I'll buy you a beer :)

Wait, TPW's from Brissie? Jeeze, next time I'm on a roadtrip up there the first shout's on me.

Just not XXXX...

Just a quick Q. Given the constant changes to ARMA do you have a cycle where you look to see if any of the modules needs tweaking? Like each stable patch or something?

There are at least a couple of things that this mod overrides that are listed as tweaked or fixed by BIS like AI LOS engagement (I find the default AI work really well now) and animals avoiding roads.

Thanks again for all the great work. To me the single biggest improvement on the default install is the ambient life modules :-)

Thanks mate. I actually encourage people not to use the LOS, and have it disabled by default. TPW LOS made an enormous difference to alpha and early beta AI, but I'm not sure that the CPU it chews up is justified with the recent fast reacting AI. I might remove it altogether.

Animals supposedly avoid roads in newer dev releases but I still see them on there all the time and they take ages to move off.

I'm always evaluating and tweaking things trust me! I'll be 100% honest - if BIS changed things so that every single aspect of TPW MODS became redundant, I'd actually be a happy man.

[maturin 12]

TPW, maybe just turn the max range of LOS down to very low levels by default.

Bleedout does provide visual cues. Bleeding units continue bleeding, for a start! AI can't stand up. Players get saddled with the visual and auditory cues of extreme fatigue - reduced speed, panting, vision blur etc. Personally I'm not a fan of cheesy vignetting fx. If you can suggest something that doesn't involve the screen turning red...

Hmmn, roger that.

How's this for a suggestion:

Even a severed femoral artery take two minutes to cause fatal bloodloss, so I don't think you will 'nerf' the bleedout system if you give players more time.

Several times I have seen bleedout take place only 10-15 seconds after a serious wound. Other times, AI units will lie twitching on the ground for five minutes, not healing but also not dying.

What if the player's bleedout damage stops at 0.9, at which point they are forced prone, with maximum ill effects? This would drive home the fact that they are in imminent danger, leaving them to crawl dramatically towards the nearest medic. Death itself could then come at any point, but preferably 1-2 minutes later.

As it stands, with AI medics, we are just going to die on the way to help, a lot of the time. Realism is hard to pin down here, so the most dramatic and least frustrating outcome should be sought.

Edited September 28, 2013 by maturin

[tpw 2315]

TPW MODS v20130928 https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/481663/TPW_MODS_20130928.zip

Changes:

[FALL 1.20] Units continue to take damage while ragdolling.

[ANIMALS 1.17] Cat noises volume tweaking.

[RADIO 1.04] Radio object in houses playing radio (no other furniture yet).

@maturin. I'll continue to ruminate upon bleedout changes.

[GShock 10]

Is there a specific thread for feature requests from tpw mod or I can post here?

[oldy41 61]

With the new version I'm getting errors on game and mission startup:

"invalid number in expression" in tpw_fall.sqf, line 241

Is it just me?

[sttosin 67]

With the new version I'm getting errors on game and mission startup:

"invalid number in expression" in tpw_fall.sqf, line 241

Is it just me?

Not just you. Me too.

Latest versions of dev and tpw.

---------- Post added at 15:50 ---------- Previous post was at 15:49 ----------

Is there a specific thread for feature requests from tpw mod or I can post here?

You can post here.

He's been GREAT (one of the best on these forums) at incorporating feedback

Edited September 28, 2013 by sttosin

[GShock 10]

I haven't had the error you guys are reporting with the latest build but we did find out a bug in wwaicover 1.52 (check page 22 on transfer leadership): http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?161875-WW-AICover/page22

As of TPW:

I think the reload animation sequence should not allow sprinting or running while it happens. The max speed should be run +crosshair which is just a bit faster than walk. Since the timing of that animation is fixed, that shouldn't be too hard to do (don't look at me I couldn't even try lol). Thing is you can't put the new clip in the socket if your arm is moving and shaking.

I already mentioned the sound of the click is missing from the rifles when switching from single/auto/grenade launcher (and set distance for GL), also mentioned perhaps the HUD on top right shouldn't display the bullets remaining in the clip. Player should "feel" when he's squeezed too much. Also... don't rifles in ArmA 3 ever jam? Now that would be sooo cool (part of the animation of the reload could be used).

I love the bleeding mod and I think a random factor of injury severity would be great. You can die in seconds, minutes or hours. In some cases where wound is critical, I don't know there could be AI-managed EVAC missions running in the back (completely AI managed sub-missions to evac the wounded). tpwfall sometimes has me get up without me pressing the button... that puts me out of cover and killed for good. Occasionally, luckily. :)

[maturin 12]

I can confirm that. Sometimes I stand up automatically after being knocked down by a bullet. This is almost always fatal.

[Variable 322]

Edit: wrong mod! TPW MODS is not the cause of this behavior.

On a different matter - has anyone else encountered difficulties controlling your AI team using TPW MODS? What I experience is that immediately once an enemy is detected (even if enemy is not aware of us, no shots fired yet), the AI immediately becomes somewhat hysterical and moves (I think) to cover. Their status, as reflected in the command bar changes to "WAIT" and sometimes "BUSY". When that happens they become somewhat (as in not all the times) unresponsive to "move" and "return to formation" commands. Sometimes one or two of them will not be able to move anymore and will not obey to commands (although replying "Roger").

In any case, wonderful work TPW, I've played three or four custom missions with TPW and I don't think it will be easy for me to play without it anymore. I really hope Ollem and Fabrizio will make this working on dedicated servers as was the case on Arma 2 :) That would be paradise!

Edited September 28, 2013 by Variable

[ebarstad 18]

On a different matter - has anyone else encountered difficulties controlling your AI team using TPW MODS? What I experience is that immediately once an enemy is detected (even if enemy is not aware of us, no shots fired yet), the AI immediately becomes somewhat hysterical and moves (I think) to cover. Their status, as reflected in the command bar changes to "WAIT" and sometimes "BUSY". When that happens they become somewhat (as in not all the times) unresponsive to "move" and "return to formation" commands. Sometimes one or two of them will not be able to move anymore and will not obey to commands (although replying "Roger").

In any case, wonderful work TPW, I've played three or four custom missions with TPW and I don't think it will be easy for me to play without it anymore. I really hope Ollem and Fabrizio will make this working on dedicated servers as was the case on Arma 2 :) That would be paradise!

That sounds like wwaicover not tpw's mods.

[Variable 322]

That sounds like wwaicover not tpw's mods.

Oh damn! Just confirmed that. TPW MODS is not causing this. I made a mistake, sorry!

[tpw 2315]

I think the reload animation sequence should not allow sprinting or running while it happens. The max speed should be run +crosshair which is just a bit faster than walk. Since the timing of that animation is fixed, that shouldn't be too hard to do (don't look at me I couldn't even try lol). Thing is you can't put the new clip in the socket if your arm is moving and shaking.

Sorry to disappoint, this sounds easy on paper but would be rather difficult to code in. It's actually not easy to affect the player's movement speed. I tried it with bleedout and threw my hands in the air.

I already mentioned the sound of the click is missing from the rifles when switching from single/auto/grenade launcher (and set distance for GL), also mentioned perhaps the HUD on top right shouldn't display the bullets remaining in the clip. Player should "feel" when he's squeezed too much. Also... don't rifles in ArmA 3 ever jam? Now that would be sooo cool (part of the animation of the reload could be used).

I can have a go at a click sound, there's one I can use if I can hook in. I'm not about to start programming UI changes sorry. Gun jamming or overheating is possible butprobably outside my experience at this moment.

I love the bleeding mod and I think a random factor of injury severity would be great. You can die in seconds, minutes or hours. In some cases where wound is critical, I don't know there could be AI-managed EVAC missions running in the back (completely AI managed sub-missions to evac the wounded). tpwfall sometimes has me get up without me pressing the button... that puts me out of cover and killed for good. Occasionally, luckily. :)

Bleeding is the response to the damage the unit takes. And that damage is determined by the projectile/explosion. If a unit gets clipped with a 9mm pistol round and takes 0.1 damage, then he'll bleed slowly. If he cops a 7.62 in the chest and takes 0.6 damage, he'll bleed out quickly. TPW FALL should not be making you stand up after any fall, there's simply no code in there.

---------- Post added at 08:09 ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 ----------

TPW FALL v20130929: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/481663/TPW_MODS_20130929.zip

Changes:

[FALL 1.21] Bug fix - thanks Oldy41 for spotting that stupid bug which made it past my now sacked QC team.

[denco 16]

Is it possible to implant grenades and explosion shock waves?

[dmarkwick 261]

I'm seeing a momentary doubling-up of individual units when they're hit and ragdoll down. Since last release I reckon.

[tpw 2315]

Is it possible to implant grenades and explosion shock waves?

That probably falls more under Blastcore A3's remit IMHO.

I'm seeing a momentary doubling-up of individual units when they're hit and ragdoll down. Since last release I reckon.

I'm pretty sure it's due to me using bis_fnc_mp to make the ragdolling work for MP. Sometimes you see it, sometimes not. In the original implementations the ragdolling didn't use bis_fnc_mp and the transitions to/from ragdoll were instantaneous. See what happens when I try to keep MPers happy :)

[GShock 10]

Question about setup for tpw: you said in order to have correct setup, you must have /arma3/@TPW/*.* but also arma3/userconfig/@tpw/tpw.hpp.

What I do then is just take the .hpp from the @TPW folder (in the archive), and copy it into the arma3/userconfig/@tpw.

When you release a new version, is it mandatory to also copy that .hpp into the arma3/userconfig again? because I've noticed that this has never changed so far throughout the updates.

Ahm i think it's safe to assume the AI has much improved with this dev patch. The fps drop when running aicover+tpw is less heavy now for me and it looks like it only happens in particular moments, not linked to the actions of the player (it doesn't necessarily happen when you shoot or when you walk to some place, it's seemingly random). For example you get some slow downs at the start of a scenario and then no more for ages (and there's cars, boats, animals, etc all the way long) so I think it's a great deal if you consider what you get in return.

Even if the AI has improved, these 2 mods make the game a lot lot better.

AI is cautious now, deadly as always but since it takes cover engagements last a lot longer and they are much more tactical and fun.

As of tpwfall: I think the problem of autostand up when you're hit and fall down is inherent to the terrain you are in when you're hit. It happens a lot when you're crouching behind rocks so that you occasionally "enter the rock" when you're hit. I think this is why it's happening, you get pushed up and back standing because the engine doesn't allow you to be inside that object. It probably happens when you're behind walls or any other object if you are too close.

Theoretically the engine shouldn't allow you to even bring up the sights when you're so close to an object (that's another thing the mod could take care of, if possible). Imagine you standing with your face 5cm from a solid wall. You can't put your eye behind the sights because all you can do without hitting that wall is stand to attention. :)

Perhaps taking care of this "frontal distance issue" would solve this problem too. Otherwise maybe the tpwfall had better push a bit back the soldiers who are hit by default.

It is sure death otherwise. The AI is still aiming for you and as you auto stand up you're dead. :)

Ah, final thing.

I can't help the other squad losing a man in "Combined Arms" because I don't control it but that a soldier gets killed by a civilian car that sucks big time. Player "spawns" from copter and thus civ car spawns ahead and comes forward to us as we advance. Theoretically, a civ should slow down a lot when soldiers of either side are in proximity. Soldiers don't know who the civ is and could shoot him so he should slow down or even stop when in very close proximity.

That would save lots of troubles with AI killed by civ cars. :)

Edited September 29, 2013 by GShock

[old_painless 182]

Yes you should copy the new .hpp file over as well. IIRC, my userconfig folder is not called @TPW, just TPW? Perhaps something to consider...

[GShock 10]

Yes you should copy the new .hpp file over as well. IIRC, my userconfig folder is not called @TPW, just TPW? Perhaps something to consider...

Yes just typed the shorter version of the name. Lazy in sunday morning. :)

[tpw 2315]

@Gshock, feel free to copy the hpp over every time there's an update. It will only take 3 seconds out of your life. What I do though is flag when a particular update requires you to update your hpp. You'll know all about it if an update requires a change to the hpp and you don't do it - the mod will just exit and you won't see it in the mod hint.

You may well be right regarding FALL and terrain. Not sure what I can do about that. I might experiment with FALL scanning for nearby objects.

CARS actually causes civ traffic into LIMITED speed mode when closer than 150m to the player. It won't make the drivers any less stupid though.

[GShock 10]

Wait. maybe it's not the solid object ahead but perhaps the sloped ground when you fall sideways that makes you auto-stand up after being hit. Anyway yes, just to be sure I always copied the new .hpp onto the old one in the arma3/userconfig... you never can tell. :)