[OPEN BETA] [SP] bCombat infantry AI Mod

[Jackson Snow 10]

This mod is fantastic, thanks for all your hard work so far. We've been using it for only two weeks (on co-op dedicated server running Alive) and the style of battles we're having are noticeably so much improved. So for anybody wondering about using it with Alive in co-op, just give it a try.

[serjames 357]

TPW good to see you're trying it out... Lots of people often ask about the compatibility between your excellent scripts and bCombat - be interesting to see what works with what.

If I could point you to this thread... And Fabrizio too... http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?173430-MP-AI-Enhancement-Mods-(overview-list) it's a discussion on what AI mods are out there and their compatibility etc.

SJ

[tpw 2314]

TPW good to see you're trying it out... Lots of people often ask about the compatibility between your excellent scripts and bCombat - be interesting to see what works with what.

I disable TPW EBS in favour of fabrizio_t's suppression stuff, and TPW LOS just for good measure. There don't seem to be any other conflicts, but I'll report any that I stumble across. Most likely they'll be due to my shithouse coding - fabrizio_t is like the Leonardo Da Vinci of Arma scripting.

[fabrizio_t 58]

I disable TPW EBS in favour of fabrizio_t's suppression stuff, and TPW LOS just for good measure. There don't seem to be any other conflicts, but I'll report any that I stumble across.

I guess that disabling EBS and LOS should do it, both things are handled also by bCombat at core level, so i can't disable them.

---------- Post added at 18:40 ---------- Previous post was at 18:38 ----------

Not sure if this has been reported before but with bCombat running all the fatigue effects disappear - the player can run for kilometers and not breath heavily, no weapon sway, vision blur etc. Is this a design decision or just a consequence of your FSM wrangling?

As pointed out, that's by design, but optional.

You may want to change bcombat_allow_fatigue to true within config.sqf.

It's disabled by default, since i was concerned by how fatigue was implemented a while ago ( horrid slomo animations ).

Not sure if now is any better.

[tpw 2314]

I guess that disabling EBS and LOS should do it, both things are handled also by bCombat at core level, so i can't disable them.

---------- Post added at 18:40 ---------- Previous post was at 18:38 ----------

As pointed out, that's by design, but optional.

You may want to change bcombat_allow_fatigue to true within config.sqf.

It's disabled by default, since i was concerned by how fatigue was implemented a while ago ( horrid slomo animations ).

Not sure if now is any better.

Thanks mate. I've reenabled fatigue, and with EBS and LOS off it's all working really well.

[hlfritz 1]

guys,

what about asr_ai3 and bcombat? compatibility issues? any reason to run both? they do seem to have some overlap, but I am not sure of any conflict that may occur? if anyone could suggest some targeted testing, I would be happy to do so.

Edited February 25, 2014 by hlfritz

[ebarstad 18]

guys,

what about asr_ai3 and bcombat? compatibility issues? any reason to run both? they do seem to have some overlap, but I am not sure of any conflict that may occur? if anyone could suggest some targeted testing, I would be happy to do so.

I've tested running both and I'd say running with bCombat alone is the best option. With ASR running at the same time, the suppression and cover routines don't seem to go into effect, so soldiers just seem to stay out in the open too long.

[sttosin 67]

I also used both but did not notice any issues with suppression. I followed the settings suggested here. http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?p=2628747

[ebarstad 18]

For the sake of comparison, here are two videos:

ASR AI + TPW EBS

bCombat

There's some AI weirdness (likely vanilla) at the end of the bCombat video, but I prefer the overall behaviour of bCombat -- the way they move to cover, work in groups, and proceed to the waypoint.

[potemps 1]

Yeah, they work better with bcombat, there is no discussion about it :) But i think they behaviour are little worse after Arma got a new patch last month - im only hope that they're plan to do something with this. Also i found something like this http://dev.arma3.com/oprep-refactoring-animations

Regards

[fabrizio_t 58]

But i think they behaviour are little worse after Arma got a new patch last month

This is absolutely true. bCombat worked sensibly better on v1.08, especially in CQB.

AI wise ArmA3 v.1.10 is a step back, in my opinion.

guys,

what about asr_ai3 and bcombat? compatibility issues? any reason to run both? they do seem to have some overlap, but I am not sure of any conflict that may occur? if anyone could suggest some targeted testing, I would be happy to do so.

I think bCombat would have problems coping with ASR_AI, as both rely on some custom danger.fsm ( asr_ai3_sysdanger ? ).

So you may get either bCombat or ASR_AI fully working, not both.

Robalo commented this issue as well:

I don't know, but I would expect conflicts. For instance, if bcombat uses a customized danger fsm, it would be either that one of the one from asr_ai3_sysdanger that would be loaded.

No easy way around, unless BIS gives more flexibility (stackable danger.fsm ).

Edited February 25, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[Tonci87 163]

This is absolutely true. bCombat worked sensibly better on v1.08, especially in CQB.

AI wise ArmA3 v.1.10 is a step back, in my opinion.

I think bCombat would have problems coping with ASR_AI, as both rely on some custom danger.fsm ( asr_ai3_sysdanger ? ).

So you may get either bCombat or ASR_AI fully working, not both.

Robalo commented this issue as well:

No easy way around, unless BIS gives more flexibility (stackable danger.fsm ).

Or if you guys do a combined danger.fsm

That would be awesome, having the best of both mods!

EDIT:

For the sake of comparison, here are two videos:

ASR AI + TPW EBS

bCombat

There's some AI weirdness (likely vanilla) at the end of the bCombat video, but I prefer the overall behaviour of bCombat -- the way they move to cover, work in groups, and proceed to the waypoint.

Nice comparison, but what happened in the BCombat video at 3:50 AI ignoring enemys right next to them?

And please take a look at 3:40 Do you see that the Blufor soldier is aiming/hitting above his target? I see that a lot with Bcombat.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Tonci87

[ebarstad 18]

Nice comparison, but what happened in the BCombat video at 3:50 AI ignoring enemys right next to them?

And please take a look at 3:40 Do you see that the Blufor soldier is aiming/hitting above his target? I see that a lot with Bcombat.

Ignoring enemies came in with the last stable build. I'm not sure that has to do with bcombat.

[greengriffon 12]

Nice comparison, but what happened in the BCombat video at 3:50 AI ignoring enemys right next to them?

And please take a look at 3:40 Do you see that the Blufor soldier is aiming/hitting above his target? I see that a lot with Bcombat.

I see quite a lot of wonky behavior with Bcombat, to the point where I have set it aside until the next release, to see where it goes.

As for that video comparison, I don't think it's a particularly flattering example on which to judge either mod. Both have their strong points, and it's not an apples-to-apples comparison that can be measured by a single 4-minute meeting engagement.

[fabrizio_t 58]

Ignoring enemies came in with the last stable build. I'm not sure that has to do with bcombat.

ArmA 3 v1.10 build brought further AI problems, such as randomly unresponsive units.

This has nothing to do with bCombat, as it's easily noticeable playing vanilla ArmA3 (yes, i double checked my facts).

There are reports about this issue as well.

This is one of the reasons why i commented v1.10 was a "step back", AI wise.

---------- Post added at 17:46 ---------- Previous post was at 17:43 ----------

I see quite a lot of wonky behavior with Bcombat, to the point where I have set it aside until the next release, to see where it goes.

As for that video comparison, I don't think it's a particularly flattering example on which to judge either mod. Both have their strong points, and it's not an apples-to-apples comparison that can be measured by a single 4-minute meeting engagement.

More videos available in my youtube channel (see signature).

May i suggest to just try it out now? It's not broken, just limited by some vanilla issues.

Just pick "Assault on Charkia" mission on Steam Workshop and give it a run with and without bCombat.

I think you should be able to spot some difference.

---------- Post added at 18:09 ---------- Previous post was at 17:46 ----------

Just a small note: until BIS fixes selectWeapon related issues, please disable custom grenade / smoke grenade behaviour.

This can be achieved from within config.sqf, by setting:

bcombat_allow_grenades = false;
...	
bcombat_allow_smoke_grenades = false;	

Unless you do it AI units behave like they're able to throw scripted grenades / smoke grenades, while they actually can't (throwing animation does not play).

This makes them vulnerable.

Edited February 26, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[LykosMactire 298]

this mod made the marines from the NB-USMC mod go trigger happy with SMAWS on infantry.....me like

[greengriffon 12]

May i suggest to just try it out now? It's not broken, just limited by some vanilla issues.

Just pick "Assault on Charkia" mission on Steam Workshop and give it a run with and without bCombat.

I think you should be able to spot some difference.

Sure, I'll give it another run. I'm writing up a guide to AI that I will be posting on my site, so I've been testing different combinations to see what works best.

Thanks for the heads up.

[fabrizio_t 58]

Sure, I'll give it another run. I'm writing up a guide to AI that I will be posting on my site, so I've been testing different combinations to see what works best.

Thanks for the heads up.

Glad to help.

Let me know your findings, take care.

EDIT:

by the way, please run bCombat v0.16 DEV version, available here: https://github.com/fabrizioT/bCombat (follow installation instructions).

It added some fixes as well as features.

Edited February 26, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[greengriffon 12]

EDIT:

by the way, please run bCombat v0.16 DEV version, available here: https://github.com/fabrizioT/bCombat (follow installation instructions).

It added some fixes as well as features.

Will do, thank you Fabrizio.

[ebarstad 18]

@fabrizio_T: Have you tried using forceWeaponFire for frags and smoke grenades?

EDIT: It works! I edited task.sqf to use forceWeaponFire and units are throwing frags and smokes again. The only issue I saw is that the smokes weren't as well placed as before (or didn't seem to be, but that could be my imagination).

Edited February 28, 2014 by ebarstad

[fabrizio_t 58]

@fabrizio_T: Have you tried using forceWeaponFire for frags and smoke grenades?

EDIT: It works! I edited task.sqf to use forceWeaponFire and units are throwing frags and smokes again. The only issue I saw is that the smokes weren't as well placed as before (or didn't seem to be, but that could be my imagination).

I'll check it out, thanks for the heads-up.

EDIT:

Tried it. While animation works, throwing range tweaks are not working.

This means that we lack most of the improvements, being the ability to throw grenades on a wide range (from 10 to 40 meters).

I'm looking into this, without such improvements custom greade throwing is almost useless.

EDIT2:

got range fixed ;) Thanks ebarstad.

Looks like we've got our grenades and smoke back working.

I'm planning to test a bit and to stage fixes on GitHub, possibly in the WE.

Edited February 28, 2014 by fabrizio_T

[sttosin 67]

I'll check it out, thanks for the heads-up.

EDIT:

Tried it. While animation works, throwing range tweaks are not working.

This means that we lack most of the improvements, being the ability to throw grenades on a wide range (from 10 to 40 meters).

I'm looking into this, without such improvements custom greade throwing is almost useless.

EDIT2:

got range fixed ;) Thanks ebarstad.

Looks like we've got our grenades and smoke back working.

I'm planning to test a bit and to stage fixes on GitHub, possibly in the WE.

Sweet!

[ebarstad 18]

I'll check it out, thanks for the heads-up.

EDIT:

Tried it. While animation works, throwing range tweaks are not working.

This means that we lack most of the improvements, being the ability to throw grenades on a wide range (from 10 to 40 meters).

I'm looking into this, without such improvements custom greade throwing is almost useless.

EDIT2:

got range fixed ;) Thanks ebarstad.

Looks like we've got our grenades and smoke back working.

I'm planning to test a bit and to stage fixes on GitHub, possibly in the WE.

Awesome! I definitely can't take the credit, though. The idea was posted here:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=173549

[SteveJA 12]

Great to see a work around to the issue. look forward to the release!

[fabrizio_t 58]

Doing some testing just now.

I see plenty of grenade and smoke throwing now, enough to put my laptop on its knees.

Also i'm witnessing some really pitched combat down to Charkia: i'd say brutal even for bCombat standard ;)

More updates to come.