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

[tpw 2315]

5 hours ago, badanov said:

 

I gotta tell you: I love the domestic knock down-drag out sound for the Russians.  Very cool.

Yeah I kinda feel sorry for the guy!

[tpw 2315]

8 minutes ago, Biflioi said:

Not sure if that is you, so just leaving this here:

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=965267215&searchtext=

Thanks for spotting that one. No I didn't put it up there, and I was wondering when it was going to eventually happen. Not really sure what to do about it to be honest.

[Biflioi 8]

4 minutes ago, tpw said:

Thanks for spotting that one. No I didn't put it up there, and I was wondering when it was going to eventually happen. Not really sure what to do about it to be honest.

 

You can file a DMCA complain when clicking the report flag.

[froggyluv 2135]

12 hours ago, tpw said:

Sorry for the rapid turnaround. The most recent dev build caused a significant issue for TPW HUD, in which the relatively expensive per frame event handler for displaying unit icons kept being duplicated every 0.5 sec. This eventually bought the game to a crawl. I happened to be working on support for Bludski's incredible Prei Khmaoch Luong Cambodian jungle terrain, so you get that thrown in for free along with the bug fix. 

 

 Hey is there any more information on this bug - this would explain an addon ive been working on that uses the onEach quite a bit and i noticed the same thing

[tpw 2315]

1 hour ago, froggyluv said:

 

 Hey is there any more information on this bug - this would explain an addon ive been working on that uses the onEach quite a bit and i noticed the same thing

Hi mate. The bug was on my end,    ["tpw_hud","oneachframe", {icon code}] call BIS_fnc_addStackedEventHandler was being called twice a second. It seems that prior to the latest dev release this only resulted in a single "tpw_hud" event in the eventhandler stack, which allowed the bug to go undetected by its foolish author.     

[Zakuaz 195]

Question for you TPW =)

Is there a way I can specify the exact Civ faction to use in your mod?

Reason:

I've been running Alive on the Lythium map and I am using Massi Middle East WF units as Opfor.  

Obviously TPW is in use for all the ambiance.

I was seeing a lot of Civs with Euro/western clothing on - So I dusted off the old CAF Ag mod, I didn't want to see ambient Civs running around Afghanistan in swimming trunks and surf shirts.

But I still see some western looking Civs ( still see shorts on but no more bright looking "O'neill" style surf shirts) from time to time and never a very accurate looking Afghani/Middle Eastern  dude.  

 

I am using your latest version along with CAF but maybe the CAF civs you pull from are not what I expect them to look like =) Almost sounds bad hahah, stereotypes... 

 

 

[tpw 2315]

2 minutes ago, Zakuaz said:

Question for you TPW =)

Is there a way I can specify the exact Civ faction to use in your mod?

Reason:

I've been running Alive on the Lythium map and I am using Massi Middle East WF units as Opfor.  

Obviously TPW is in use for all the ambiance.

I was seeing a lot of Civs with Euro/western clothing on - So I dusted off the old CAF Ag mod, I didn't want to see ambient Civs running around Afghanistan in swimming trunks and surf shirts.

But I still see some western looking Civs ( still see shorts on but no more bright looking "O'neill" style surf shirts) from time to time and never a very accurate looking Afghani/Middle Eastern  dude.  

 

I am using your latest version along with CAF but maybe the CAF civs you pull from are not what I expect them to look like =) Almost sounds bad hahah, stereotypes... 

 

 

Hmmm. CAF AG civs should be spawned on all mid east maps if you have CAF AG installed. There should be no other civ type, and there isn't on my system. Can you show me what you have in your HPP for civs?

[Zakuaz 195]

At the office now, I'll open the HPP this evening.

 

I have an embarrassingly long list of mods so there is a good chance something odd is happening =)

[tpw 2315]

14 hours ago, Zakuaz said:

At the office now, I'll open the HPP this evening.

 

I have an embarrassingly long list of mods so there is a good chance something odd is happening =)

Don't stress, I'm currently retooling the system so that you can in fact specify strings to use specific civ types on each of the regions TPW MODS identifies 

[tpw 2315]

TPW MODS 20170711: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mozj94n97juhnrx/TPW_MODS_20170711.zip

 

Changes:

• [HPP UPDATE REQUIRED]
• [BLEEDOUT 1.32, FALL 1.57] Finally squashed the bug causing completely frozen unresponsive units under certain rare conditions.
• [CIVS 1.53, CORE 1.42, CROWD 1.07] User may now specify mod specific strings to select civilians for the 6 civilian regions TPW CORE assigns : Mediterranean (Altis/Stratis/Malden), Oceanic (Tanoa), Europe (eg Chernarus), Mideast (eg Takistan), Africa (eg N'Ziwasogo) and Asia (eg Prei Khmoach Luong). Will fall back to BIS civs if no units matching the strings can be found.  
• [FIREFLIES 1.05] Reduced volume of mosquitoes and flies around player.
• [SKIRMISH 1.40] Massive performance overhaul: simplification of random spawn point and waypoint code - far less stuttering especially on extremely dense maps such as Prei Khmoach Luong. Removed binoculars from squad leaders to prevent them staying unmoving indefinitely scanning the surroundings. Frozen units (stuck on terrain etc) will be removed. 
• [SOAP 1.18] Slightly reduced chainsaw volume. Adjusted per map traffic volumes.

---

Okay this is a pretty big update, so please make sure to update your tpw_mods.hpp

 

Firstly, I finally managed to track down the cause of the intermittent frozen/unresponsive units bug when using TPW BLEEDOUT and FALL. It turns out to be the use of setunconscious - which I use to knock AI out and get them to ragdoll. Under certain specific circumstances remained on after the unit was down. I've really hammered this one and have yet to encounter a frozen unit in days of playtesting. Please let me know if you do.

 

On a related note, it pisses me off to no end (Big Trouble in Little China reference) when combat AI get stuck in the one place due to pathing issues on dense maps, or due to combat FSM shenanigans. TPW SKIRMISH relies on spawned combatant units being able to smoothly move around the map toward each other, which is seriously compromised if units get stuck. I've taken the cruel but kind approach of monitoring each unit and simply killing/removing them as appropriate if they remaining rooted to the spot for more than a couple of minutes. Removing their binoculars/rangefinders also prevents the issue where an entire squad remains immobile while the leader endlessly scans the vicinity. Additionally I overhauled the code for setting waypoints and spawn points for AI squads. Cba_fnc_taskpatrol and bis_fnc_findsafepos become increasingly heavy when map density (trees/buildings/rocks etc) increases, to the point where TPW SKIRMISH became overly stuttery when invoked on dense maps. The workaround was to simply a) spawn at any random location that is not water, and b) periodically assign each squad a waypoint at the location of the nearest enemy squad. This almost completely removes the system overhead for random placement and patrolling, and results in a smooth TPW SKIRMISH experience even with larger numbers of squads. Any units that end up where they shouldn't just get removed! Any performance hit is now largely due to the engine dealing with unit spawning, pathfinding and combat/ballistics - I get almost exactly the same performance manually placing the same number of patrolling squads in the editor.   

 

I also took the time to overhaul the way civilian types are assigned, to allow much greater flexibility. By default TPW CIVs are spawned using standard Arma3 civilians, with ethnicity determined by the 6 broad geographical regions that TPW MODS assigns:
Mediterranean (eg Altis, Malden); Oceanian (eg Tanoa); European (eg Chernarus); Middle Eastern/Central Asian (eg Takistan); African (eg N'Ziwasogo); Asian (eg Prei Khmoach Luong). You can however opt to use civilians from mods on any of these regions by specifying strings of text that are specific for a mod's civilians. Civilian units matching these strings will be used if found in the config. Default BIS civilians will be used if strings can't be found (eg if the mod isn't loaded). Some example strings/mods include:

 

African:
CAF AGGRESSORS: caf_ag_afr_civ
LEIGHT'S OPFOR: lop_afr_civ_man

European
CUP UNITS: cup_c
RDS CIVILIANS: RDS

Mideast
CAF AGGRESSORS: caf_ag_me_civ
LEIGHT'S OPFOR: lop_tak_civ_man

 

The default HPP is now:
tpw_civ_mapstrings[] = {"c_man","c_man","cup_c","caf_ag_me_civ","caf_ag_afr_civ","c_man"}; // civilian classname strings for Mediterranean, Oceanian, European, Mideastern, African, Asian maps respectively. "c_man" will use the Arma3 default civilians.

 

Lastly, I've done a lot of playtesting of the changes on the sublime Prei Khmoach Luong by bludski, which I urge you to try. I've been very fortunate over the last few weeks to have been introduced to three terrains (Prei Khmoach Luong, Lythium and Malden) that I would have happily paid $ for as DLC.

 

OK, advertisement aside, please let me know if you experience any issues with this big update. 

[Zakuaz 195]

Wicked update TPW!

 

Love the Civ update man, much more flexible with the ability for us to dictate what faction to use should we desire, bravo!

 

Looks like I might be able to turn bleed out back on =).  I'll miss throwing them up into the air via Zeus hah.

 

I've yet to fully embrace your Skirmish mode but your new approach sounds very promising.

[tpw 2315]

11 hours ago, Zakuaz said:

Wicked update TPW!

 

Love the Civ update man, much more flexible with the ability for us to dictate what faction to use should we desire, bravo!

 

Looks like I might be able to turn bleed out back on =).  I'll miss throwing them up into the air via Zeus hah.

 

I've yet to fully embrace your Skirmish mode but your new approach sounds very promising.

Cheers mate. I'd already eliminated the BLEEDOUT  issue that could be solved with Zeus acrobatics, the setunconscious issue was hidden under that and harder to track down. I'm much more relaxed now! Please give SKIRMISH a try, it's now a very fluid and dynamic system pretty much guaranteed to have you doing something interesting within a few minutes. 

[froggyluv 2135]

 

 Im not on the latest version (which looks awesome) but there was one problem with Bleedout in that it cause all units to have a standard skill level at start. Meaning i use a mod that adjusts all units by class aka Medic very low aim, Sniper very high -but with Bleedout enabled they all start at 2.5 or thereabouts.

 

Found the snippet at line 225 of Bleedout

 

Spoiler

//Speed and skill dependent on health    
           if (tpw_bleedout_affect == 1) then
                {
                // Initial speed and skills    
                if (_unit getvariable ["tpw_animspeed",-1] == -1) then
                    {
                    _unit setvariable ["tpw_animspeed",getanimspeedcoef _unit];
                    };
                if (_unit getvariable ["tpw_skill",-1] == -1) then
                    {
                    _unit setvariable ["tpw_skill",skill _unit];
                    };
                _speed = (_unit getvariable "tpw_animspeed") * (1 - (0.2 * damage _unit));    
                _unit setanimspeedcoef _speed;                 
                _skill = (_unit getvariable "tpw_skill") * (1 - damage _unit);
                _unit setskill _skill;
                };

 

[mikemhz 5]

Hey I am not about to use the Configure GUI. The desktop shortcut created by the install says it cant find TPW Settings.jar. Please help

[tpw 2315]

12 hours ago, froggyluv said:

 

 Im not on the latest version (which looks awesome) but there was one problem with Bleedout in that it cause all units to have a standard skill level at start. Meaning i use a mod that adjusts all units by class aka Medic very low aim, Sniper very high -but with Bleedout enabled they all start at 2.5 or thereabouts.

 

Found the snippet at line 225 of Bleedout

 

  Hide contents

//Speed and skill dependent on health    
           if (tpw_bleedout_affect == 1) then
                {
                // Initial speed and skills    
                if (_unit getvariable ["tpw_animspeed",-1] == -1) then
                    {
                    _unit setvariable ["tpw_animspeed",getanimspeedcoef _unit];
                    };
                if (_unit getvariable ["tpw_skill",-1] == -1) then
                    {
                    _unit setvariable ["tpw_skill",skill _unit];
                    };
                _speed = (_unit getvariable "tpw_animspeed") * (1 - (0.2 * damage _unit));    
                _unit setanimspeedcoef _speed;                 
                _skill = (_unit getvariable "tpw_skill") * (1 - damage _unit);
                _unit setskill _skill;
                };

 

Hi @froggyluv

 

The way the system is meant to work is that as any unit is assigned to TPW BLEEDOUT the initial skill of the unit is written into a variable ("tpw_skill"). Then as BLEEDOUT runs this variable is basically multiplied by the health of the unit and the resulting number written back to the unit's actual skill. If the unit returns to full health then it will return to its original skill. I can see now that this will interfere with a system such as yours which dynamically adjusts skill of units. Let me have a think about how to get around this.  In the mean time, please set tpw_bleedout_affect to 0, this will stop BLEEDOUT from affecting skill. 

[froggyluv 2135]

 

 Ahh i see -ok no worries. My addon also had about an 8 second delay (to account for other mods adjusting skills) but that means TPW is just grabbing the value earlier. Its no big deal and thanks for checking it out

[tpw 2315]

20 minutes ago, mikemhz said:

Hey I am not about to use the Configure GUI. The desktop shortcut created by the install says it cant find TPW Settings.jar. Please help

MY apologies for this. The installer was actually written for me by Gliptal some time ago. He also wrote the TPW Settings.jar program  (which I have subsequently removed from the installation). I will remove references to the TPW Settings.jar from the desktop installer. 

 

You may consider using TPW_Settings.py which is a simple python interface for modifying the tpw_mods.hpp

[mikemhz 5]

I was just reading the PW6 readme about this. But how do I just enter free roam? Do I just spawn myself in the editor and the scripts do the rest? Or is there a mission?

[tpw 2315]

1 hour ago, mikemhz said:

I was just reading the PW6 readme about this. But how do I just enter free roam? Do I just spawn myself in the editor and the scripts do the rest? Or is there a mission?

Yep that's basically it. If TPW MODS is running then simply load a map into the editor, spawn yourself and whatever squad and assets you want. TPW MODS will then do the rest, and if you have TPW SKIRMISH enabled then there'll be ambient combat around you which you can take part in. 

[arma131 9]

Hi tpw,

 

I've been testing a dynamic mission in Tanoa which is supposed to go on for weeks in game time. So far, in every single attempt tpw civs stops working after a while with the following error:

18:24:44 Error in expression <ount tpw_civ_houses)));
_wppos = getpos _house;
_wp =_sqname addWaypoint [_wppos>
18:24:44   Error position: <_house;
_wp =_sqname addWaypoint [_wppos>
18:24:44   Error Undefined variable in expression: _house
18:24:44 File TPW_MODS\tpw_civs.sqf, line 196

I took a look at the script version in your addon, but I couldn't get it fixed. It always seems to run fine for a while until it abruptly throws this error and all civs go missing. Any ideas?

 

Another thing that I noticed is that tpw boats seems to have issues deleting boats and crews. I get empty or beached jet skis and boats all the time with a lot of their crew in the water covered in blood, presumambly after a collision? AI pathfinding is horrendous but shouldn't they be deleted after a while?

[tpw 2315]

1 hour ago, arma131 said:

Hi tpw,

 

I've been testing a dynamic mission in Tanoa which is supposed to go on for weeks in game time. So far, in every single attempt tpw civs stops working after a while with the following error:

18:24:44 Error in expression <ount tpw_civ_houses)));
_wppos = getpos _house;
_wp =_sqname addWaypoint [_wppos>
18:24:44   Error position: <_house;
_wp =_sqname addWaypoint [_wppos>
18:24:44   Error Undefined variable in expression: _house
18:24:44 File TPW_MODS\tpw_civs.sqf, line 196

I took a look at the script version in your addon, but I couldn't get it fixed. It always seems to run fine for a while until it abruptly throws this error and all civs go missing. Any ideas?

 

Another thing that I noticed is that tpw boats seems to have issues deleting boats and crews. I get empty or beached jet skis and boats all the time with a lot of their crew in the water covered in blood, presumambly after a collision? AI pathfinding is horrendous but shouldn't they be deleted after a while?

Thanks for the bug reports, they're very valuable. I'll have a look into this straight away.

 

EDIT: I think I've fixed the TPW CIVS error, but the BOATS error will need a little more tracking down. Boats and crew should be deleted if they're still for more than 60 seconds. I personally never see the dead boats and crew you're describing, but I'll see what I can come up with.

 

EDIT 2: OK I've added some additional checking code which should alleviate the dead boats and drivers. Nothing I can do about the !@#$ed A3 pathfinding. Well actually I probably could but these are just decorative boats not deserving of all the CPU cycles.  

[pognivet 151]

I have a funny glitch when using this mod.

 

I made a mission on Malden. I put down FIA and used the eden arsenal to make them into something else. I gave them waypoints to get in a truck, drive across the map and get out. When I started the mission they instead went inside buildings to the ai points and stood in there like civilians would. They do this every time. If I use RHS units or something this doesn't happen. I don't know why.

[Mifune.N 0]

@TPW, awesome mod, thanks for all the work!

 

I'm wondering if there's a way to fine-tune the HUD detection values? How does it work now? I assume it uses default LOS checks, within a range parameter, and then multiplies that by deterioration %. Is it possible to degrade it further? For example to have slower recognition, even slower friendly/foe recognition, require a larger percentage to be visible or for multiple checks, factor in camo and IR, etc. possibly create false positives on animals, etc. 

 

Just wondering if all this is even possible, or if it's hard coded in ARMA. Thanks!

[tpw 2315]

5 hours ago, k0zm3k said:

@TPW, awesome mod, thanks for all the work!

 

I'm wondering if there's a way to fine-tune the HUD detection values? How does it work now? I assume it uses default LOS checks, within a range parameter, and then multiplies that by deterioration %. Is it possible to degrade it further? For example to have slower recognition, even slower friendly/foe recognition, require a larger percentage to be visible or for multiple checks, factor in camo and IR, etc. possibly create false positives on animals, etc. 

 

Just wondering if all this is even possible, or if it's hard coded in ARMA. Thanks!

Hi @k0zm3k

 

Firstly, thanks for the kind comments and the interesting suggestions. Pretty much everything you've suggested is doable, and most of it I've even considered previously! None of it can be done without me writing extra functionality into it though.  

 

The detection stuff doesn't quite work as you've described. It basically sets a detection threshold which a unit must be under in order to be reliably detected. This threshold shrinks further in rain, fog, at night, and when a unit is prone. Then there's some randomness sprinkled on top for good measure. It all runs from a function called tpw_hud_fnc_effectiveness, which runs every 10 seconds or so:

 

 

// EFFECTIVENESS OF HUD REDUCED AT NIGHT, IN RAIN, IN FOG, PRONE UNITS
tpw_hud_fnc_effectiveness =
    {
    private ["_unit","_dist","_dropout","_thresh","_uthresh","_cta"];
    _thresh = 8;
    if (tpw_core_sunangle < 0) then 
        {
        _thresh = _thresh / 2;
        };
    if (rain > 0.2 || fog > 0.2 ) then 
        {
        _thresh = _thresh / 2;
        };
    
    if (count tpw_hud_nearunits > 0) then
        {
        for "_cta" from 0 to (count tpw_hud_nearunits - 1) do 
            {
            _unit = tpw_hud_nearunits select _cta;
            _dist = _unit distance player;
            if( !isNil "_unit" && {!isnull _unit}) then
                {
                if (stance _unit == "PRONE") then
                    {
                    _uthresh = _thresh / 2;
                    } else
                    {
                    _uthresh = _thresh;
                    }; 
                if (vehicle _unit != _unit) then
                    {
                    _uthresh = _thresh * 20;
                    };
                    
                // Magic formula to determine likelihood of unit not being detected properly     
                if (random _uthresh < (_dist / tpw_hud_maxrange) ^ 2) then
                    {
                    _dropout = time + random (_dist / 100);
                    _unit setvariable ["tpw_hud_dropout",_dropout];    // how long till unit is fully visible again
                    };
                };    
            };
        };    
    };    

 

 

There's certainly scope to add additional stuff like camo etc, and I will look into it for you 

[tpw 2315]

On 7/16/2017 at 1:57 AM, pognivet said:

I have a funny glitch when using this mod.

 

I made a mission on Malden. I put down FIA and used the eden arsenal to make them into something else. I gave them waypoints to get in a truck, drive across the map and get out. When I started the mission they instead went inside buildings to the ai points and stood in there like civilians would. They do this every time. If I use RHS units or something this doesn't happen. I don't know why.

If you can please be a bit more specific then I might be able to track down what the issue. What do you mean by "something else"? And, which of the TPW MODS were you running?

 

TPW MODS does not change waypoint behaviour for any units other than those it spawns itself (CARS, BOATS, CIVS, CROWD, SKIRMISH)