The use of smoke nades?

[kingbengan 10]

What am I doing wrong? I think I'm clever and throwing bunch of smoke between the enemy and me. I can't see anything past the smoke but as soon as I poke my head out or trying to run the enemy spots me through the smoke and instantly drops me.

This is getting really annoying. Me and some friend had a go last night but smoke didn't work one single time.

Are we doing something wrong or is the smoke just broken?

ps: love the new weapons btw.

[Jackal326 1158]

As far as I'm aware default smoke grenades do not obstruct AI view, and un-modded, should only be used for marking purposes. There are mods (Blastcore I think adds view-obstruction based on smoke amount and wind direction etc, also AGM/CSE and probably ACE3 too come to think of it also) that add view-blockers to the smoke.

[rübe 127]

As far as I'm aware default smoke grenades do not obstruct AI view...

I'm pretty sure they do (other mods might make this work better/more extreme though, no idea).

The thing is, AI isn't that stupid and they still have an estimate of your position, which they keep updating with any information they have (e.g. last known position and movement vector, sound, ...).

[Greenfist 1863]

I'm certain the smoke obstructs AI's view. (Unless it somehow broke in 1.42 patch)

The stickied Weapon tests thread has a post about smoke: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?175240-Weapon-tests&p=2702521&viewfull=1#post2702521

[vegeta897 13]

I always thought smoke did obscure AI view, but I just did a simple test in the editor and it appears to have no effect at all.

I remember it working in Arma 2, but I believe I was using ACE2.

Edit: I couldn't recreate the behavior shown above at all, I think there's a good chance some patch since then broke this.

[infiltrator_2k 29]

I always thought smoke did obscure AI view, but I just did a simple test in the editor and it appears to have no effect at all.

I remember it working in Arma 2, but I believe I was using ACE2.

Edit: I couldn't recreate the behavior shown above at all, I think there's a good chance some patch since then broke this.

This kind opens a debate of what AI can and can't see. For example: does wearing a Ghillie suit make you less obvious to the AI? Can the AI see through any objects/structures etc?

[Greenfist 1863]

This kind opens a debate of what AI can and can't see. For example: does wearing a Ghillie suit make you less obvious to the AI? Can the AI see through any objects/structures etc?

I think ghillie suits do make you harder to spot. Some developer even claimed so here on the forums, IIRC. Couldn't find the post though. I think they only affect AI initial spotting/recognition, so after they've already know of your existence the ghillie suit becomes useless.

But there's no debate in AI's seeing through objects. It has been proven multiple times that they indeed can't see through objects/vegetation/structures etc. Although, some vanilla objects have abvious bugs/leaks in their view blocking geometries.

[kingbengan 10]

I'm pretty sure they do (other mods might make this work better/more extreme though, no idea).

The thing is, AI isn't that stupid and they still have an estimate of your position, which they keep updating with any information they have (e.g. last known position and movement vector, sound, ...).

I see what you mean but this can't be right. for ex. I walked behind one building and AI wasn't aware of my presence. I popped a couple of smoke nades between my building an another big complex. Totally filled with smoke.

I then crouched between those two buildings and when I was between them I got instantly shot by an AI approx 150m away.

This all took place in vanilla. No AI enhancement or nothing. :)

Takes away a bit of the fun actually.

[kbbw123 115]

For me it did work. There was a vehicle overwatching a position i poped some smoke to mo e from co er to cover and he didn't find my position till i looked over a co er whitout smoke being infront of me got an instant headshot at that moment. I think smoke works aslong as the distance it has to cover is not that big.

[enex 11]

The other thing is that AI can hear you.So the way you move is important (speed of movement)

[Greenfist 1863]

The other thing is that AI can hear you. So the way you move is important (speed of movement)

Also, there's a bug regarding the detection of a quickly turning enemy: https://youtu.be/Jg1-QC0ExFk

Because there's a small offset between unit's pivot point and its actual position, turning fast while standing still is considered as movement by AI.

So, avoid any sudden movement if you want to stay undetected.

(I don't know if this was fixed in 1.42)

[rübe 127]

I popped a couple of smoke nades...

You see, maybe there's your problem. :p

Or don't you think that could have given your position away in the first place (visually, or by sound even)?

[Healbeam 10]

Leaving AI aside, I think they are also quite useless in a PvP (or TvT, whatever term you prefer) enviroment. I obviously don't know anything about real smoke grenades, but the ArmA 3 versions are only really useful when throwing at least five of them. And if there's even a light breeze, what could have been a nice smoke screen is completely blown away. It just seems overall tiny and useless (except when using as marks).

[Greenfist 1863]

I tried the smoke in the current stable version:

(Numbers above the AI: knowsabout/distance. The arrow is the position where he thinks I am.)

Seems to be working fine.

A slight wind (around 30 in the editor) did make the smoke screen more see-through for the AI.

[sniper pilot 36]

Thanks for the video! Pretty satisfying!