[OPEN BETA] [SP] bCombat infantry AI Mod

[ebarstad 18]

Damn it, this is great mod but i'm losing significant fps when i use this. I'm very sad that i won't be using this anymore.

What version of bCombat and what version of A3? How many AI are you playing with? What's your unmodded FPS vs FPS with bCombat?

[dostunuz 10]

I'm playing WLA mission and both are latest versions. I just realized when i load a savegame texture loading happens very slow (takes 5-10 seconds longer) with bcombat. And ofcourse when i advance in the mission more AI stuff means less fps. I approx. losing 5-10 fps (i have average 20-30 fps) which i can't afford.

[AbortedMan 1]

Thanks for all of your work on this mod...AI in ArmA3 is one of the biggest things that need improvement to make this an all around great(er) game. Your efforts are much appreciated!

I'd like to know where the focus of this mod is though as in squad level or high-command and enemy AI level...I've been playing with bcombat since Christmas and noticed behavioral differences in my squadmates when they're under my direct control, which was great...suppressive fire, better environment watching, quicker moving, etc...or at least I thought they were, until I just recently (yesterday) had an entire play session using the DUWS mission and multiple squads using high command only, and the difference was night and day. They moved so much more fluently than any squad under my direct command, used cover when moving like a human would, actually used overwatch (I know overwatch was featured for non-player AI squads only)...which made me think I've been using the mod wrong all along with unrealistic expectations.

So my main question, is bcombat intended for use in high command situations, mostly? I mean where you don't have direct control over a squad. It was apparent that any squad in direct control was definitely still taking queues from the vanilla AI routines, with some slight influence from bcombat, but now I can't be sure which is what, and where I'm suppose to be seeing bcombat shine.

Having used high command now and seeing how much better bcombat AI are, is it possible (modded by you or anyone else) to remove the red enemy icons in the hud and map from high command? It seems like the game is too easy if I know exactly where every enemy squad is, so much so that it ruins the feature for me...which limits me to using direct squad control, which (I'm imagining) limits bcombat.

Also, one more question, is there anything planned in the future that will advance bcombat AI's concept of staying behind cover when advancing? Or somehow improving the translation of the "go here" cursor and AI realizing we're advancing "that direction" so I should take cover from "that direction"? I often tell AI to move to (or right in front of) a waist-high wall, then I find them walking just over it and in sight of the eventual/potential enemy with no self-regard to cover until a shot rings out and one of them takes one in the face.

[KaneSvK 1]

Damn it, this is great mod but i'm losing significant fps when i use this. I'm very sad that i won't be using this anymore.

I have to admit im loosing lot of FPS as well. I tested it with and without b combat on mission armed assault. When we attack the first camp I have 38-45 fps around those parts WITHOUT bcombat. With bcombat i have 24-32. I didnt run it with other mods running, same results. Im using amd fx 6300, gtx 660, 8 gb ram and ssd disc. I wish BIS made their priority number one optimization of AI. I cant play without this mod anymore, game seems boring witouht it :)

Edited March 5, 2014 by KaneSvK

[XMDM 1]

Has anybody attempted to use this on a dedi? Curious as to the result...because this mod is insane!!!!

[thenach 10]

Has anybody attempted to use this on a dedi? Curious as to the result...because this mod is insane!!!!

I'm running this mode in my dedicated server since 0.15 and now I have 0.16

My missions does not allowed to client Spawn AI.

[bravo409 13]

Any one seeing any results with the new AI change BIS made today....AI skills configuration changed: added Presets and Precision, removed Enemy-Friendly, redid the UI.....http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?149636-Development-Branch-Changelog&p=2638953#post2638953

[fabrizio_t 58]

Thanks for all of your work on this mod...AI in ArmA3 is one of the biggest things that need improvement to make this an all around great(er) game. Your efforts are much appreciated!

I'd like to know where the focus of this mod is though as in squad level or high-command and enemy AI level...I've been playing with bcombat since Christmas and noticed behavioral differences in my squadmates when they're under my direct control, which was great...suppressive fire, better environment watching, quicker moving, etc...or at least I thought they were, until I just recently (yesterday) had an entire play session using the DUWS mission and multiple squads using high command only, and the difference was night and day. They moved so much more fluently than any squad under my direct command, used cover when moving like a human would, actually used overwatch (I know overwatch was featured for non-player AI squads only)...which made me think I've been using the mod wrong all along with unrealistic expectations.

So my main question, is bcombat intended for use in high command situations, mostly? I mean where you don't have direct control over a squad. It was apparent that any squad in direct control was definitely still taking queues from the vanilla AI routines, with some slight influence from bcombat, but now I can't be sure which is what, and where I'm suppose to be seeing bcombat shine.

Having used high command now and seeing how much better bcombat AI are, is it possible (modded by you or anyone else) to remove the red enemy icons in the hud and map from high command? It seems like the game is too easy if I know exactly where every enemy squad is, so much so that it ruins the feature for me...which limits me to using direct squad control, which (I'm imagining) limits bcombat.

Also, one more question, is there anything planned in the future that will advance bcombat AI's concept of staying behind cover when advancing? Or somehow improving the translation of the "go here" cursor and AI realizing we're advancing "that direction" so I should take cover from "that direction"? I often tell AI to move to (or right in front of) a waist-high wall, then I find them walking just over it and in sight of the eventual/potential enemy with no self-regard to cover until a shot rings out and one of them takes one in the face.

Looks like you nailed bCombat mechanics.

Many of the AI enhancements are not applied to player led AI units.

This was not done by mistake, it's by design.

ArmA3 already puts much of subordinates' behaviour out of player control.

I thought about the matter a lot and decided that player has to retain as much control as possible, so some enhanced features were disabled.

Basically your subordinates retain suppression effects, morale, enhanced environmental awareness, enhancedtargeting and grenade throwing, mutual covering and returning fire.

They lose features such as investigate and move to cover behaviour.

About putting units behind cover : considering the way cover is handled in ArmA3 and how cluncky pathfinding is, i doubt i will be able to get serious improvements in that area.

---------- Post added at 23:07 ---------- Previous post was at 23:06 ----------

I'm playing WLA mission and both are latest versions. I just realized when i load a savegame texture loading happens very slow (takes 5-10 seconds longer) with bcombat. And ofcourse when i advance in the mission more AI stuff means less fps. I approx. losing 5-10 fps (i have average 20-30 fps) which i can't afford.

You'll possibly see improvements on WLA with upcoming v0.16RC2 .

---------- Post added at 23:21 ---------- Previous post was at 23:07 ----------

Just wondering ... nobody run a night battle involving units without NVGs ?

It should be more enjoyable on v0.16RC1.

Edited March 7, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[Tonci87 163]

[/color]Just wondering ... nobody run a night battle involving units without NVGs ?

It should be more enjoyable on v0.16RC1.

Not yet, I´ll run some tests tomorrow.

[AbortedMan 1]

Looks like you nailed bCombat mechanics.

Many of the AI enhancements are not applied to player led AI units.

This was not done by mistake, it's by design.

ArmA3 already puts much of subordinates' behaviour out of player control.

I thought about the matter a lot and decided that player has to retain as much control as possible, so some enhanced features were disabled.

Basically your subordinates retain suppression effects, morale, enhanced environmental awareness, enhancedtargeting and grenade throwing, mutual covering and returning fire.

They lose features such as investigate and move to cover behaviour.

About putting units behind cover : considering the way cover is handled in ArmA3 and how cluncky pathfinding is, i doubt i will be able to get serious improvements in that area.

Thanks for the explanation. I've been experimenting/comparing player controlled and non-player controlled squads more specifically and just recently came to the same conclusions, but it's great to know I'm not imagining things. May I ask what's the reasoning behind removing the move to cover functions of a player controlled AI squad? If that was by choice and not by a systematic limitation? I imagine that would provide more immersion for those snap moments where you come under fire and kind of rely on the mettle of your squadmates (AI or otherwise) to act on their own for the few seconds you have to hit the dirt before you assess the situation and start giving orders.

...And apologies if I'm being pushy about something out of your scope, but high command enemy icons are really killing the game for me. Since it will be my primary mode of orders now with my recent discoveries in bcombat, I'm feverishly looking for ways to remove the big red "shoot me!" signs above the spotted enemy squads in the HUD/realtime view. Do you have any guidance on how to make them disappear? Perhaps a future feature for an upcoming bcombat release?

[CameronMcDonald 146]

May I ask what's the reasoning behind removing the move to cover functions of a player controlled AI squad?

I can't speak for fabrizio, but I'm glad he's done that. I recall mods in the past where the "move to cover" feature make it a royal PITA to get your troops to do anything. You'd be trying to get your guys to sit in a specific spot, mount a vehicle, or keep up with you, and all of a sudden, *BAM*, they get issued a silent "move" command by the AI mod that moves them from where you put them, interrupts what they were doing or otherwise slows them down.

[redarmy 422]

Hi guys,is there a way to cange ai skill(spotting) in the mod? i saw the sqf file but cant really understand what needs to be done to alter it and how to set it so AI have a better spot time/distance.

[fabrizio_t 58]

Thanks for the explanation. I've been experimenting/comparing player controlled and non-player controlled squads more specifically and just recently came to the same conclusions, but it's great to know I'm not imagining things. May I ask what's the reasoning behind removing the move to cover functions of a player controlled AI squad? If that was by choice and not by a systematic limitation? I imagine that would provide more immersion for those snap moments where you come under fire and kind of rely on the mettle of your squadmates (AI or otherwise) to act on their own for the few seconds you have to hit the dirt before you assess the situation and start giving orders.

...And apologies if I'm being pushy about something out of your scope, but high command enemy icons are really killing the game for me. Since it will be my primary mode of orders now with my recent discoveries in bcombat, I'm feverishly looking for ways to remove the big red "shoot me!" signs above the spotted enemy squads in the HUD/realtime view. Do you have any guidance on how to make them disappear? Perhaps a future feature for an upcoming bcombat release?

I've no idea on how to remove high command icons, really.

Glad you're interested in bCombat features.

I've removed "move to cover" routines for player subordinates basically due to 2 reasons:

a) units moving to cover will temporarily move out of formation (a domove order is issued), so when player is moving they may lag behind, or being unresponsive to formation related orders. ArmA Group handling and movement are cumbersome enough not to wish such an additional issue.

b) having AI units wandering around (looking for cover) makes commanding harder or uneffective: they may step out of an assigned position, ignore orders (e.g. board vehicle, heal, rearm ), etc.

---------- Post added at 12:27 ---------- Previous post was at 12:15 ----------

Hi guys,is there a way to cange ai skill(spotting) in the mod? i saw the sqf file but cant really understand what needs to be done to alter it and how to set it so AI have a better spot time/distance.

Spotting distance has been already tweaked, may i ask why you find spotting distance low?

Other than that you have some options:

a) Raise overall skill of unit manually, from editor, spot time and distance are indirectly affected;

b) Set spotting skill into some unit's init field, in editor, e.g.:

this setSkill ["spotDistance", 0.8];

c) Set spotting skill by script into mission init.sqf, e.g.

{ _x setSkill ["spotDistance", 0.8]; } foreach allUnits;

d) Tweak any skill at config level (CfgAISkill) from within /userconfig/bcombat/bcombat_config.hpp. Game restart would be needed. Not recommended unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Edited March 8, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[Tonci87 163]

I did some nighttime testing. Ai reactions without NVGs are on the spot!

[redarmy 422]

Thanks for fast reply fabrizio,

I am looking for long range engagements,currently when ai in editor has its skilled maxed out,and im using bcombat,the ai dont see me untill 200-250 meters.

Also il add im using mcc and alive,which have there own ai skill setting,but i never choose their option for it as it might overide bcombat,but when i tested it,it made no difference anyway.

Can i ask what distance is ai spotting you at with editor unit skill maxed?

Thanks again for the wonderful mod

[fabrizio_t 58]

I did some nighttime testing. Ai reactions without NVGs are on the spot!

Great to hear this!

---------- Post added at 17:32 ---------- Previous post was at 17:30 ----------

Thanks for fast reply fabrizio,

Can i ask what distance is ai spotting you at with editor unit skill maxed?

SpotDistance=0.6, which is exactly the same as in Vanilla.

---------- Post added at 17:39 ---------- Previous post was at 17:32 ----------

*** bCombat v0.16 RC2 is now available for download on Github ***

Find the download ZIP link there.

This version brings experimental architectural changes, in order to achieve better scalability for missions featuring 200+ units.

If you want give it a try please carefully read the readme and stick to installation instructions.

Any feedback appreciated.

Edited March 8, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[Tonci87 163]

I think you need to raise the spotdistnace since the vanilla one is generally pretty low.

Another thing: When I download a new version (zip archive) then the config.sqf isn´t formated at all. Everything is written without new lines and such. Is this normal?

Edited March 8, 2014 by Tonci87

[fabrizio_t 58]

I think you need to raise the spotdistnace since the vanilla one is generally pretty low.

Another thing: When I download a new version then the config.sqf isn´t formated at all. Everything is written without new lines and such. Is this normal?

I noticed higher values for spotDistance cause some issues.

AI units tend being more "glued" to their targets, they're slower in exiting combat mode, they prefer firing instead of maneuvering, etc.

Try opening config.sqf with either Notepad++ or Wordpad, it should read fine.

Edited March 8, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[Tonci87 163]

I noticed higher values for spotDistance cause some issues.

AI units tend being more "glued" to their targets, they're slower in exiting combat mode, they prefer firing instead of maneuvering, etc.

Try opening config.sqf with either Notepad++ or Wordpad, it should read fine.

Well that is a shame. Vanilla spotting distances are really low. Mostly your group needs to be quite close to the enemys until they start to see you.

[thenach 10]

[/color]

*** bCombat v0.16 RC2 is now available for download on Github ***

Find the download ZIP link there.

This version brings experimental architectural changes, in order to achieve better scalability for missions featuring 200+ units.

If you want give it a try please carefully read the readme and stick to installation instructions.

Any feedback appreciated.

oooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu yes

[dostunuz 10]

Lets see how it will go.

[serjames 357]

Cool will test - thanks Fabrizio !

[ebarstad 18]

I'm running 0.16RC2 on the Stable build. Two things I've noticed since 0.15:

1. Spot distance is (or at least seems) shorter than before. I run the exact same test for every version and the AI teams get at least 50-100m closer to each other before they spot each other.

2. My test consists of two AI teams walking towards each other (as seen in the videos I've posted). Previously, AI teams would spot each other, their bubbles would turn green, they'd crouch then begin firing and moving to cover. Now, they spot each other, bubbles turn green, they move to cover, then they sit there for up to 8 seconds and then they fire at each other. In other words, there seems to be a large delay before they start firing at each other, where they kneel down with their weapons resting.

I'm curious to know if anyone else is seeing this.

[LSD_Timewarp82 21]

Not at the moment.

You may opt for a "quick and dirty" fix, as long as you don't use a custom damage multiplier:

• open lib/common.sqf
  
• find line 738, which reads:

  _body_part_damage

  
  

• comment it, by changing to:

  // _body_part_damage

  
  

A proper fix needs further investigation, looks like there's some kind of issue with HandleDamage EH, when some return value is set.

Have i to change this in the RC2 or is it changed already? For Whole Lotta Mission of course

Edited March 8, 2014 by LSD_Timewarp82

[fabrizio_t 58]

Have i to change this in the RC2 or is it changed already? For Whole Lotta Mission of course

Should work out of the box, if it does not please let me know.

---------- Post added at 21:39 ---------- Previous post was at 21:31 ----------

I'm running 0.16RC2 on the Stable build. Two things I've noticed since 0.15:

1. Spot distance is (or at least seems) shorter than before. I run the exact same test for every version and the AI teams get at least 50-100m closer to each other before they spot each other.

2. My test consists of two AI teams walking towards each other (as seen in the videos I've posted). Previously, AI teams would spot each other, their bubbles would turn green, they'd crouch then begin firing and moving to cover. Now, they spot each other, bubbles turn green, they move to cover, then they sit there for up to 8 seconds and then they fire at each other. In other words, there seems to be a large delay before they start firing at each other, where they kneel down with their weapons resting.

I'm curious to know if anyone else is seeing this.

This sounds interesting.

By the description you gave issue looks indeed spotDistance related.

Would you mind to make a couple quick changes and test back for differences?

1) open bcombat_config.hpp and change

spotDistance[] = {0,0.1,1,0.3}; 

to:

spotDistance[] = {0,0.2,1,0.6};

2) open loop.sqf and change line 79 from:

_unit setskill [ "SpotDistance", ( _unit getVariable [ "bcombat_skill_sd", 0] ) * 2 * ( [_unit] call bcombat_fnc_visibility_multiplier ) ];

to:

_unit setskill [ "SpotDistance", ( _unit getVariable [ "bcombat_skill_sd", 0] ) * 1 * ( [_unit] call bcombat_fnc_visibility_multiplier ) ];

This rolls-back spotDistance handling to pre v0.16RC1 state.

Let me know if you see any sensible differences, other changes were factored in.

Edited March 8, 2014 by fabrizio_T