[OPEN BETA] [SP] bCombat infantry AI Mod

[fabrizio_t 58]

There are ways aroud this.

About stance, bCombat uses this logic:

1) use default "AUTO" stance (= vanilla stance)

2) switch to crouch whenever lightly threatened, stay so for a handful of seconds unless something happens. Then back to 1)

3) switch to prone when under fire. Stay so for a handful of seconds unless something happens. Then back to 2).

Still units are made able to stand and sprint whenever needed.

Now, let's imagine some unit having a small wall between it and some unknown enemy.

When enemy opens fire this unit will immediately switch to prone, as a reaction to area fire.

It will stay prone or crawl around as long as its kept suppressed by fire (notice that this is useful for pin-and-move tactics!).

Then it will gradually raise its stance, clearing its LOS in the steps prone-crouched-standing.

This way it will progressively expose a target with the minimum size.

I remember having set a stance constraint in bCombat, limiting the possibility to switch to prone whenever height over terrrain is over some threshold (e.g. tower, upper floors).

I have to double check whether this logic is still in place, as i worked on this much time ago.

This is kind of a poor-man solution, but it's cheap and will work in most situations.

About the "massive LOS real-time checking" matter: bCombat does a lot of real-time LOS checking, especially in CQB.

Visibility checks are used for many purposes. Here are just a few simplified examples:

• A unit is issued a FIRE task (forcing it to open fire instantly) only if it has actual visibility on at least part of a target.
  
• If there's no visibility a SUPPRESSIVE FIRE task may be triggered instead, meaning unit will fire on the general area of the target.
  
• when some unit loses visibility on its target, but that's near,a LOB grenade routine is triggered. Grenade trajectory is then evaluated: bCombat makes possible grenade lobbing just a few meters away or well over a tall roof (
  ,
  )
  
• if some units loses visibility on a far target there's a chance that the CHASE or INVESTIGATE (
  ) routine are triggered, unit will stalk the enemy based on its last known position.
  
• Only if they've got visibility on enemy (plus other criteria) AI units will pop smoke to conceal themselves.
  
• Visibility of friendly units matters too. An example is the WATCH-MY-SIX routine: it basically work with triangular checking: if some unit is fired upon by some enemy and both them are in the LOS of a friendly, given some criteria this one will open fire on the enemy to protect its buddy.
  
• Triangular checking is also used in the case of OVERWATCH (
  ) routine. I won't go into detail, i think you got the picture.
  

Hope what i wrote makes sense, as you know i'm not an english speaker.

Good night.

Edited February 8, 2015 by fabrizio_T

[cholo 11]

just wow nice work the AI feels much better in attacking and defending ...

[Bouben 3]

Excellent, Fab, thanks for the explanation!

[fabrizio_t 58]

Steam version updated to v0.18 BETA.

Further changes to AI aggressivity being tested.

After skipping v0.17 final i wish to release v0.18 final ASAP.

[serjames 357]

Just FYI the Pw6 version is not configured correctly.

Fabrizio could you either point me to the post which clearly shows what we should see inside the @bcombat folder or tell us again ?

Sorry to be dense but I'm trying to re-configure this back on our dedicated servers and am struggling to make it work a little.

I tried grabbing it off of the GIT. But inside the "Addons\PBO" you get this "@bcombat\addons\bcombat\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3\@bcombat\Addons\bcombat\@bcombat\config.cpp"

That doesn't look at all right ?

help ?

EDIT : shouldn't it just be Addons\PBO then Config.cpp inside there ?

Edited February 9, 2015 by serjames

[fabrizio_t 58]

Just FYI the Pw6 version is not configured correctly.

Fabrizio could you either point me to the post which clearly shows what we should see inside the @bcombat folder or tell us again ?

Sorry to be dense but I'm trying to re-configure this back on our dedicated servers and am struggling to make it work a little.

I tried grabbing it off of the GIT. But inside the "Addons\PBO" you get this "@bcombat\addons\bcombat\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3\@bcombat\Addons\bcombat\@bcombat\config.cpp"

That doesn't look at all right ?

help ?

Hmm i didn't configure Pw6 version, it was done by Sonsalt i guess.

However, @bcombat folder should be placed into ArmA3 main directory. Remove any old contents.

The folder should contain exactly the files / folders shown here: https://github.com/fabrizioT/bCombat

Basically: 3 folders (Addons, fsm, lib), three .sqf files (bcombat.sqf, bdetect.sqf, config.sqf) as well as readme.md and some misc files.

[serjames 357]

Hmm i didn't configure Pw6 version, it was done by Sonsalt i guess.

However, @bcombat folder should be placed into ArmA3 main directory. Remove any old contents.

The folder should contain exactly the files / folders shown here: https://github.com/fabrizioT/bCombat

Basically: 3 folders (Addons, fsm, lib), three .sqf files (bcombat.sqf, bdetect.sqf, config.sqf) as well as readme.md and some misc files.

Thanks Fab - looks like PW6 have directly replicated your GIT structure - I guess my question is around the contents of the PBO - just looks really odd - I've never seen folders compressed within them like that ?

[fabrizio_t 58]

Thanks Fab - looks like PW6 have directly replicated your GIT structure - I guess my question is around the contents of the PBO - just looks really odd - I've never seen folders compressed within them like that ?

It is odd indeed, i'm double ckecking it. Thanks for reporting.

---------- Post added at 18:19 ---------- Previous post was at 17:15 ----------

Repackaged the .pbo for beauty, now internal path is a bit more streamlined ;)

It's available on Github (not critical to update, since it does not fix anything other than some ugliness).

[serjames 357]

It did seem to work before... but is MUCH prettier now :-) thanks Fab. ;)

[fabrizio_t 58]

It did seem to work before... but is MUCH prettier now :-) thanks Fab. ;)

You're welcome.

[lordprimate 159]

Just a heads up!!! i could be wrong, there is a small chance... butt

I've found a nice video showing bCombat v0.18 BETA in action (ArmA2 units):

* Much smoke popping at about 2:05

* A unit fleeing at 2:45

* Precision CQB grenade lobbing at 3:05, but action is clipped.

* Violent "cornering" at 3:26 ( some other mod kicks in, as the "killed" BLUFOR unit acts in a bizarre way )

* Nice grenade lobbing at 8:20 ;)

overall, a hail of gunfire and a prolonged fight.

Shame pathfinding looks sometimes troublesome on that map.

That other mod is probably AGM, I did some testing with the latest version and I must say you did a very nice job man. AI is very responsive and the firefights are much more enjoyable, thank you for your awesome work :)

Your both wrong on what happens with that Blufor...

That is an effect of GroupLink5. the blufor was shot and pretended to be dead.. I still have not been able to stop their movement after their "faking it" but that is GroupLink5 I can guarentee it!! if its not GL5 i can guarentte that its a copy and past of the code that i amended to work in ARMA 3 in GL5.. I use AGM often and i ahve never seen AGM do that only GroupLink. And as far as i know GroupLink has been the ONLY mod that makes AI simulate dead...

Edited February 9, 2015 by Lordprimate

[-ghost-tf 12]

Just a heads up!!! i could be wrong, there is a small chance... butt

Your both wrong on what happens with that Blufor...

That is an effect of GroupLink5. the blufor was shot and pretended to be dead.. I still have not been able to stop their movement after their "faking it" but that is GroupLink5 I can guarentee it!! if its not GL5 i can guarentte that its a copy and past of the code that i amended to work in ARMA 3 in GL5.. I use AGM often and i ahve never seen AGM do that only GroupLink. And as far as i know GroupLink has been the ONLY mod that makes AI simulate dead...

I did not have GroupLink 5 running in that video, the only mods that I had running and that change AI behaviour were bcombat and AGM. Its probably just AGM putting the AI in unconscious state and then something bugged out and made the AI rotate (or lock on) while being unconscious.

[lordprimate 159]

thats awesome!! i didnt know anyother mods did that!!

aand re reading that earlier post i didnt mean to come across that they copied grouplink's code, i didnt not mean that

[d4ni3l3 10]

Awesome mod but I have a serious issue. AI units do not hit me even if I'm at 1 meter from them. The bullets seem to fly around in random mode, I've tried in the editor, me vs 4 enemy units: they don't hit me even if I don't move.

Did you know if this mod conflict with others mod? I'm using many mods but this is the only one regarding the AI.

EDIT I found that the issue is caused by CBA, this make unusable every mod that needs it. Do you know why?

Edited February 10, 2015 by D4NI3L3

[serjames 357]

What's the best way to increase the effect that supression has on Ai Opfor.

We noticed that the supression routine wasn't as immediate as we would like and even with two blufor hammering LMG rounds all around an Ai Opfor it actually took a few hits before his bubble changed colour and he went prone and tried to crawl away ?

Cheers for the advice

[Bouben 3]

What's the best way to increase the effect that supression has on Ai Opfor.

We noticed that the supression routine wasn't as immediate as we would like and even with two blufor hammering LMG rounds all around an Ai Opfor it actually took a few hits before his bubble changed colour and he went prone and tried to crawl away ?

Cheers for the advice

I am interested in this too.

[fabrizio_t 58]

What's the best way to increase the effect that supression has on Ai Opfor.

We noticed that the supression routine wasn't as immediate as we would like and even with two blufor hammering LMG rounds all around an Ai Opfor it actually took a few hits before his bubble changed colour and he went prone and tried to crawl away ?

Cheers for the advice

There are many ways.

Speaking of gaming style, these tips may be obvious to any experienced bCombat players, but still i think it is worth mentioning them:

• Split your forces and attack simultaneously from multiple directions at once. This will multiply the suppression effect, as fire from flank / back conveys more penalty (up to +100%).
  
• Identificate targets, then open fire from distance. Units attacked from unknown sources suffer an additional penalty. The most effective way to stay (relatively) undetected for longer time is putting in as much distance as possible, so machinegunners are most suitable for this task (given their better range).
  
• Attack from higher ground whenever possibile, as this adds another suppression penalty to the target. Things work both ways: be careful when attacking enemy sitting on top of a hill ...
  
• Suppress enemy by firing over his head, don't aim at nearby ground! That's important, as bullets hitting ground disappear quickly and there's a higher chance for them to be missed by the suppression routine. bDetect can catch bullets flying up to 6 meters over units' head, by default.
  
• Suppress enemies for long time and with short bursts, rather than with a high concentration of fire for short time. Suppression effect per-second is capped, not simply directly proportional to the number of bullets flying by in a single second.
  
• Suppress leaders! You'll hinder enemy group effectiveness and maneuvering. Also you'll provoke loss of leadership: this may cause units to surrender if you're close enough and their morale is shaken.
  
• Be careful when fighting skilled enemies, as they're harder to suppress. They may actually end up suppressing you!
  

My favourite tactic is to split my group into a "recon" and a "fire" section, the latter including the machinegunner(s).

I lead the "recon" section as we look for enemies. We find and identify them, while keeping undetected and holding fire.

Then i command the fire section to some position suitable for attacking from distance: on flank or back of enemy, at about 400 meters. Beware, it's crucial to pick a safe approach path for them!

Finally i order the "fire" section to open up, while i lead the "recon" section in a charge to point blank from a different direction. Usually i pop some smoke in order to conceal our initial movement.

Normally enemy suffers very high casualties by doing so ...

If that's not enough, you may choose to go the the hard way, by changing the config:

• Raise bcombat_penalty_bullet value, this directly affects the morale hit caused by any bullet whizzling by close.
  
• Reduce bcombat_incoming_bullet_timeout: any units won't register more than a single suppressing bullet within bcombat_incoming_bullet_timeout seconds. By default this means 1 bullet each 0.1 seconds = 10 bullets per second. Be warned that reducing bcombat_incoming_bullet_timeout may increase CPU load in pitched firefights.
  

There's a lot of other settings you may tweak, by these two alone have very sensible effects.

let me know if anything i wrote helps improving your playing experience. I hope so.

Edited February 10, 2015 by fabrizio_T

[serjames 357]

Wow - now THAT's a response - thanks so much for the detail Fab !!!

EDIT: added

Just to add Fabrizio we all commented on testing last night that the next thing bcombat really needs is some-sort of "Callout function" or "radio-function" whereby units in the same locality are attracted to the gunfire - or indeed contacted by friendly forces coming under attack... That reinforcement would be a superb addition to your Ai routines.

SJ

Edited February 10, 2015 by serjames

[fabrizio_t 58]

Wow - now THAT's a response - thanks so much for the detail Fab !!!

EDIT: added

Just to add Fabrizio we all commented on testing last night that the next thing bcombat really needs is some-sort of "Callout function" or "radio-function" whereby units in the same locality are attracted to the gunfire - or indeed contacted by friendly forces coming under attack... That reinforcement would be a superb addition to your Ai routines.

SJ

I'm already working on radios, i think they're a worth addition.

Please consider that any groups on the battlefield are "attracted" by gunfire already.

As long as bcombat_allow_hearing = true, bcombat_allow_hearing_coef controls how far units can hear gunfire ( distance = muzzle speed / bcombat_allow_hearing_coef, about 300-500 meters in average).

Then bcombat_investigate_max_distance controls how far groups are eventually allowed to dispatch units to check the source of gunfire.

There are some constraints to investigate behaviour though, for instance current waypoint proximity, waypoint type and combat mode are taken into account.

This means for instance that a group which is given GREEN/BLUE combat mode won't ever investigate, while a group with a HOLD or SENTRY waypoint will investigate in close proximity.

Groups with RED combat mode and a SAD waypoint, on the contrary, will investigate a larger radius (the hardcoded maximum radius is 1000 meters at the moment, in order to avoid firefights syphoning groups from all over the map).

I guess i'll have to write a post on the matter ...

Edited February 10, 2015 by fabrizio_T

[cholo 11]

I'm already working on radios, i think they're a worth addition.

Please consider that any groups on the battlefield are "attracted" by gunfire already.

As long as bcombat_allow_hearing = true, bcombat_allow_hearing_coef controls how far units can hear gunfire ( distance = muzzle speed / bcombat_allow_hearing_coef, about 300-500 meters in average).

Then bcombat_investigate_max_distance controls how far groups are eventually allowed to dispatch units to check the source of gunfire.

There are some constraints to investigate behaviour though, for instance current waypoint proximity, waypoint type and combat mode are taken into account.

This means for instance that a group which is given GREEN/BLUE combat mode won't ever investigate, while a group with a HOLD or SENTRY waypoint will investigate in close proximity.

Groups with RED combat mode and a SAD waypoint, on the contrary, will investigate a larger radius (the hardcoded maximum radius is 1000 meters at the moment, in order to avoid firefights syphoning groups from all over the map).

I guess i'll have to write a post on the matter ...

man you're the best keep up the good work me and all my squad love your AI mod and we are really exited to see callout in you mod this will be the best day of the year :D

[TuffShitSki 16]

Awesome mod but I have a serious issue. AI units do not hit me even if I'm at 1 meter from them. The bullets seem to fly around in random mode, I've tried in the editor, me vs 4 enemy units: they don't hit me even if I don't move.

Did you know if this mod conflict with others mod? I'm using many mods but this is the only one regarding the AI.

EDIT I found that the issue is caused by CBA, this make unusable every mod that needs it. Do you know why?

It's not CBA, you probably have some files from previous bcombat release lying around. Try delete the @bcombat directory and extract from fresh. It should fix it as I had the exact same issue when upgrade from 0.16.

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

[d4ni3l3 10]

It's not CBA, you probably have some files from previous bcombat release lying around. Try delete the @bcombat directory and extract from fresh. It should fix it as I had the exact same issue when upgrade from 0.16.

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

I'm using PlayWithSix, I'll try to uninstall the mod and reinstall it. I'm saying it's CBA because using only bComabt everithing goes well, using bCombat and CBA together seems to break bCombat, I'll let you know the result.

Thanks for your answer. :)

[serjames 357]

Something screwy with your install or Mod list there.... We use CBA and bcombat - works fine...

Post up a link to your RPT... normally the quickest way to tell what's up.

[d4ni3l3 10]

Now it's ok! I've just uninstalled and reinstalled the mod and now seems to work fine! Thanks guys! :)

[juhak 10]

Nope. With Six version is borked. Still 0.17 despite claiming to be 0.18 and screams for bcombat.sqf until you make a copy it's folder in the steam arma folder. Also starts in debug with balls over heads of everything etc.

Currently if you want to play 0.18 with SIX you have to download the armaholic one and make a copy of the folder in the steam Arma folder and library files arma folder as usual. Then just play without updating on WithSIX. Hope the author corrects this for SIX as it's quite annoying.

Would probably use the default launcher but the ,mod,mod,mod is much more annoying and creating a single singleplayer mod folder dosen't seem to work as theres always that special snowflake mod who hates it.