[Functions] UnitCapture/UnitPlay for Infantry Units in ArmA 3

[TedHo 53]

ArmA 3 UnitCapture/UnitPlay functions for Infantry Units

I was frustrated with the fact that the BIS unitCapture/unitPlay functions do not work well with infantry units. They would simply slide across the ground without any animation. I decided to make an improved version that also records and plays back infantry animations along with movements and weapon firing.

HLF_fnc_infUnitCapture and HLF_fnc_infUnitPlay allows infantry movement, firing and animation data to be captured and replayed on a player or AI infantry unit.

Instructions

1. Capture data

To capture player movement, call function "HLF_fnc_infUnitCapture". (If you are using it in your own mission, make sure to define the function in your "description.ext").

Function parameters:

Unit - Unit to capture movement data from

Duration - Duration to capture for

OPT:FPS - OPTIONAL: Frames recorded Per Second (default 20). Limit is 1 - 100

OPT:Firing - OPTIONAL: If true, will record the input unit's weapon fire data as well

OPT:StartTime - OPTIONAL: Starting time offset for the frame time

Example:

[player, 60, 20, true, 2] spawn HLF_fnc_infUnitCapture;

Once recording starts, you can move, change stances, fire weapons, etc... Hit "ESC" to stop recording.

Then hit "F1/F2/F3" to copy infantry unit movement, firing and animation data to clipboard.

2. Save data

Save the movement/firing/anim data to three separate variables in an .sqf file.

For an example, refer to "captureData.sqf" in the example mission.

3. Playback

To preload the captured data, add the following line to your mission "init.sqf" (assuming you stored your captured data in "captureData.sqf"):

call compile preprocessFile "captureData.sqf";

To make a unit called "joe" play back your recorded movements/firing/animations, run the following code.

{joe disableAI _x;} forEach ["ANIM","MOVE","FSM","TARGET","AUTOTARGET"];

[joe, HLF_moveData] spawn BIS_fnc_UnitPlay;

[joe, HLF_fireData, true] spawn HLF_fnc_infUnitPlayFiring;

[joe, HLF_animData, true] spawn HLF_fnc_infUnitPlayAnim;

Example mission

To see an example of the playback effects, run the example mission in mission editor and execute:

[joe] execVM "play.sqf";

The AI named joe should repeat what I did and recorded in "captureData.sqf".

Known Issues

1. Due to issues with the A3 engine, when playback is forced on an AI instead of a player, animations can appear laggy when BIS_fnc_UnitPlay and HLF_fnc_infUnitPlayAnim are run simultaneously.

2. Infantry actions that do not trigger an animation state change (e.g. Weapon switching, reloading, leaning, head movements...) do not get recorded. (Will fix these in the future).

3. Initial animation not recorded. Will fix in the future. If you find more issues/glitches or features you wish to be included in future versions, feel free to leave a comment.

Update Log

v0.1 - Initial release.

Allows for infantry unit movement/animation/firing events to be recorded and replayed.

Download Link

MEGA

[IndeedPete 1038]

Now that looks brilliant! Had the idea to create a script like that as well. I'm glad you made this one. Are there plans to expand it on ground vehicles in the (far) future?

[TedHo 53]

Thanks, IndeedPete. I'm a bit unfamiliar with animating vehicle parts (wheels, engine, dirt trails...). But I might do ground vehicles in the future if I ever figure out an easy way to do that.

[iceman77 18]

Wow I overlooked this. The title was a bit mis-leading to me because every time I glanced I thought it was a help thread regarding BI unitCapture & unitPlay functions.. Looks really neat in any case. Cheers.

[Guest]

Thanks for sending us the release yesterday :cool:

Release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

ArmA 3 UnitCapture/UnitPlay functions for Infantry Units v0.1

================================================

We have also "connected" these pages to your account on Armaholic.

This means soon you will be able to maintain these pages yourself if you wish to do so. Once this new feature is ready we will contact you about it and explain how things work and what options you have.

When you have any questions already feel free to PM or email me!

[TedHo 53]

Hey Iceman77, thanks for the comment!

I had imagined the thread title would be misleading but I couldn't really think of a proper title...

Anyway I'm glad you find this interesting. It's nowhere near complete right now, and I'll be making improvements along the way.

Thanks.

---------- Post added at 21:35 ---------- Previous post was at 21:34 ----------

Hi Foxhound!

Thanks for posting the armaholic page!

Much appreciated! :)

[seth0351 11]

This works awesome for the most part, thanks for your effort.

There is a slight issue I have been having, I dont know if its on my part or not, but the AI wont aim up when the script is running, they always are looking to the horizon. Is this on my side or script side?

[TedHo 53]

There is a slight issue I have been having, I dont know if its on my part or not, but the AI wont aim up when the script is running, they always are looking to the horizon. Is this on my side or script side?

No the script does not record/playback where a unit is looking/aiming. To my knowledge there isn't any simple way to record aiming/head movement in Arma 3. Not unless BIS comes up with cripting commands like "getHeadDir/setHeadDir" and "getWeaponDir/setWeaponDir".

Anyway if you need the AI to aim at something try using doTarget.

[Amit 17]

I have used the author's test mission to play back his sample data to make sure it works and it works great. The problem is that when I record my own data and replace the original with mine, the AI does nothing. Anyone have any idea what's going wrong?

 

EDIT: The problem was that the instructions did not say to add semi colons to the end of the data set after copying and pasting it. After adding them, the character moved as expected. 

[Erwin23p 34]

Hello,

 

I was wondering how to make and use different records or paths? in different units.

 

Thanks a lot.

[Gooch159 1]

Can anyone confirm whether or not this still works? Seems broken to me.

[lexx 1363]

Just tried it. Seems to work partly- running animation is wonky as hell. Rotating works, shooting too, changing animations when not moving around does seem to work as well. If the walking doesn't really work, then it's not that useful, imo.

[Erwin23p 34]

but how to run 2 or more path? just like with unit capture... I know with just movement of helicopter for example, I can record multiple paths and run them at the same time.

[RagingGamer 3]

Edit:

 

The ai won't shoot their weapon (RHS RPG7) even tho it's recorded. But it will shoot it's primary weapon (CUP AK-47).

Everything else functions properly, it just won't shoot the RPG

The target in question is a Blackhawk, with the code this setCaptive true; so that other enemy AI won't shoot at it before it gets to a trigger.

Would that make a difference? Because I don't know how else to make AI ignore it.

Edit2

Apparently RHS doesn't work well with this... for whatever reason.

That, or adding this setCaptive false; to the on deactivation tab in the trigger fixed it.

Edited February 7, 2017 by RagingGamer

[TMG_On_YT 2]

Spoiler

 

recording shooting doesnt work

[Rich_R 1087]

Just started using this script and I hope the more seasoned users can answer my problem.

 

Following the direction in the first post and other tutorials I can get the character to move, however them seem to have the jitters, most notable when in a crouch. Here's a video of what's happening. Any help would be appreciated!

 

 

[Bolitho3rdID 9]

Hey, whenever I try to follow this tutorial and go to record, the Movement is tracked fine however the Anim and Firing comes up blank, or just one line, any solutions?

 

 

Mission : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14OL8UbEm91K1DuFUCxrJ7kW8gINczH2D?usp=sharing

The mission does use RHS Models,However I also tried with just the vanilla game,same issue.

 

 

[Rich_R 1087]

Sorry I haven't replied to your PM and thanks for the tips with my issue. I wanted to try them before replying as well as helping with your issue, but I've been away from my PC for a few days.

 

Try this tutorial, its the one I followed and seems to work/fix your issue.

 

Good luck!

 

 

[Bolitho3rdID 9]

12 hours ago, Rich_R said:

Sorry I haven't replied to your PM and thanks for the tips with my issue. I wanted to try them before replying as well as helping with your issue, but I've been away from my PC for a few days.

 

Try this tutorial, its the one I followed and seems to work/fix your issue.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Hey thanks man, Personally I tried this already and I am still getting they issue where It only records the Movement and the first part of the Animation, and I'm struggling to see where the script has gone wrong.

[Rich_R 1087]

That's strange. Its works perfectly for me. My current versions are loaded with a bunch of mods, but I'll try your solution to fix my issue with just vanilla. If it works I'll send you the mission file via DM.

 

That'll happen sometime this week.

[Bolitho3rdID 9]

50 minutes ago, Rich_R said:

That's strange. Its works perfectly for me. My current versions are loaded with a bunch of mods, but I'll try your solution to fix my issue with just vanilla. If it works I'll send you the mission file via DM.

 

That'll happen sometime this week.

Oh okay thanks man, Ill keep trying, what mods did you have loaded I probably already use/have the mods/

[Rich_R 1087]

Just now, Chris Along said:

Oh okay thanks man, Ill keep trying, what mods did you have loaded I probably already use/have the mods/

 

A bunch of personal stuff....retextures for a (possible) new group.

[Bolitho3rdID 9]

4 minutes ago, Rich_R said:

 

A bunch of personal stuff....retextures for a (possible) new group.

Ahh okay. :)

 

[froggyluv 2136]

@0:38 of that video you see a bullet hole and blood appear at an exact location -how was that done!?

[johnnyboy 3795]

2 hours ago, Rich_R said:

That's strange. Its works perfectly for me. My current versions are loaded with a bunch of mods, but I'll try your solution to fix my issue with just vanilla. If it works I'll send you the mission file via DM.

 

That'll happen sometime this week.

@Rich_R, are you saying that replay of animations and firing is working for you?

1 hour ago, froggyluv said:

@0:38 of that video you see a bullet hole and blood appear at an exact location -how was that done!?

Good eye.  I'd like to know that too.