New terrain reveal - Tanoa

[kbbw123 115]

In arma 3 they are acctually able to get out of an boat as a group and go to shore properly. they can't however drive a boat onto the shore. they will always stay a few meters away from it but they can do it ;)

[bad benson 1733]

watching them walk around in circles under water is disheartening also

do you mean literally walking underwater? if so, this might a ticket worthy issue worth addressing before the expansion. maybe something along the lines of "getout animations are missing transitions to swimming animations". but maybe i misunderstood. can't test myself atm.

[altis 12]

do you mean literally walking underwater? if so, this might a ticket worthy issue worth addressing before the expansion. maybe something along the lines of "getout animations are missing transitions to swimming animations". but maybe i misunderstood. can't test myself atm.

Yes from memory, last time I attempted a craft landing type mission in A3 AI would disembark out the back and to the sides and walk around in the water with weapons raised, it was at least up to their necks.. I notice the boat would always seem to reverse a bit once it reached it's waypoint as if adjusting or something.

Ill admit that maybe I'm just doing it wrong but it's very fidgety trying to get the waypoints right so the driver stops on the shore line and not over it where he cannot complete the waypoint because craft is beached and therefore they never get out or having it to far out and they end up taking an eternity trying to get to shore, I think they would sometimes get stuck and just keep walking around in circles in the water, have to test again.

[mistyronin 1181]

Water crossing has always been related to mission makers, you can use any of the air / amphibious / naval assets to allow fast crossing. So its just using waypoints.

Now you can even airlift vehicles.

Tho I agree that there should also be a way to transport vehicles with ships.

On the other hand why would AI on their own jump from island to island? I don't see any reason.

[altis 12]

On the other hand why would AI on their own jump from island to island? I don't see any reason.

to capture it?

The point is if AI are unable to cross on their own then it potentially renders a lot of mission types useless including missions created with Alive, cti and similar styles that require AI to be somewhat independent in there movement which is not the case with water, or anything for that matter, give them a 3km waypoint and they will run past all those shiny new trucks all the way to the waypoint, it would be great if they had some concept of transport and how to

[rübe 127]

it would be great if they had some concept of transport and how to

This is IMHO the sole responsibility of the mission designer, and totally possible (i.e. a non-issue) at that.

You don't want to have a general AI "decide" on their own to just take some/any vehicle to go somewhere. Either they were given a vehicle, or they were not given one. Someone "higher up" decides such things. :)

Plus: the the AI has already a concept of transport. Assign some vehicle to some group, give them a move waypoint and they will get in/get out as they see fit (e.g. there is an unloadInCombat attribute in the config of vehicles). And this work reasonably well for land-vehicles, as far as I remember it worked nice with amphibious vehicles too (e.g. bmp); guess not so much for (pure) boats. So maybe a small extension might be nice afterall, in case a boat is linked to a group, in order to automatically link and unlink a boat (while still keeping some reference/passive link to the vehicle). Problem here is that a boat typically is abanndoned once the shore is reached (unlike your bmp). And once a move waypoint comes for separated land, link up with the boat again... hmmm.

Edited July 6, 2015 by ruebe

[altis 12]

This is IMHO the sole responsibility of the mission designer, and totally possible (i.e. a non-issue) at that.

You don't want to have a general AI "decide" on their own to just take some/any vehicle to go somewhere. Either they were given a vehicle, or they were not given one. Someone "higher up" decides such things. :)

Plus: the the AI has already a concept of transport. Assign some vehicle to some group, give them a move waypoint and they will get in/get out as they see fit (e.g. there is an unloadInCombat attribute in the config of vehicles). And this work reasonably well for land-vehicles, as far as I remember it worked nice with amphibious vehicles too (e.g. bmp); guess not so much for (pure) boats. So maybe a small extension might be nice afterall, in case a boat is linked to a group, in order to automatically link and unlink a boat (while still keeping some reference/passive link to the vehicle). Problem here is that a boat typically is abanndoned once the shore is reached (unlike your bmp). And once a move waypoint comes for separated land, link up with the boat again... hmmm.

Yes i understand its on the mission maker, thats mostly all i ever do in this game.. good points, also regarding amphibious vehicles and at least mechanized units seem to understand when to unload/load in combat but it would be nice to have some autonomy so for example placing manned helos sitting at base will act as transport when required, i guess its hard picturing them managing this as at times they struggle on one land mass :) anyway i guess we will wait and see what we have in terms of islands.

[james2464 177]

Tanoa Campaign confirmed :)

https://twitter.com/Gekonn/status/618044923653320704

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

Tanoa Campaign confirmed :)

https://twitter.com/Gekonn/status/618044923653320704

As expected. I was 120% certain there would be a Campaign with Tanoa.

[ajsarge 10]

Combining that the AI is smart enough to A: effectively-ish use vehicles to move large distances and B: drive amphibious vehicles into/out of water, I figure it's already present that they'll jump into the APC to cross the water and then jump out again when they close on their waypoint. This just needs to be tested with a helicopter and a boat assigned to a group.

[rübe 127]

it would be nice to have some autonomy so for example placing manned helos sitting at base will act as transport when required

That's exactly the kind of thing the (general) AI shall not be allowed to do, just because they feel like they could use some kind of vehicle sitting around. Such behaviour would make mission design extremely hard and unpredictable. "Autonomy" on this level (pretty much anything above tactical level; and even that seems to be too much already in certain cases... e.g. the danger dance) is a big and bold NO. :angryfire:

But I don't really see what's stopping you (or anyone else) from writing a small script or FSM which you can run for your AI groups (or just some), scanning for empty/unassigned vehicles if one is needed. Maybe make a kind of queue at your base, where AI can register to board the next available chopper. Whatever. You can do it. :D

I figure it's already present that they'll jump into the APC to cross the water and then jump out again when they close on their waypoint. This just needs to be tested with a helicopter and a boat assigned to a group.

Yes. Problem is that APC's are not abanndoned/unlinked while reaching the shore. A boat is. That's different. Especially if that group is supposed to relink/reassign the boat upon being commanded to move to a different island. And with helicopters it's yet another story, for typically you have a different/separate group as pilots/crew. This probably can't be automated at such a low level in a general way, I'm afraid. But scripting such things shouldn't hurt too much either, hu?

P.S. I think we still might need a new script command that can tell if two land-masses (i.e. just two positions) are separated by water, or if they're on the same landmass and thus reachable by foot (I think I opened such a feature request once for A2... hmm). With the new map more than ever.

Edited July 7, 2015 by ruebe

[altis 12]

That's exactly the kind of thing the (general) AI shall not be allowed to do, just because they feel like they could use some kind of vehicle sitting around. Such behaviour would make mission design extremely hard and unpredictable. "Autonomy" on this level (pretty much anything above tactical level; and even that seems to be too much already in certain cases... e.g. the danger dance)

Maybe you mis-understood, what i mean is placing manned (AI) helos to act as transport when required or called upon, not AI running around using any vehicle available on the map although id actually like to see that in action just out of morbid curiosity also as mission makers theres an option to lock vehicles, if this does not work on AI then its surely easy to script as you mention, works both ways :) thinking on similar lines its like the AI having ability to call on artllery/air support etc, but i get theres a lot more involved when more thought applied but to have a type of AI central command that is able to manage these details such as the way Hetman and Alive attempt it to be will always be a wet dream.

Anyway the concern is only for the new island(s) terrain and certain (dynamic) mission types where depending on the make up of the islands how AI might be able to traverse them and not missions where events are more planned and linear so to speak, maybe much ado about nothing... and nothing set in stone.

is a big and bold NO. :angryfire:

ok.. lol :D

[rübe 127]

[...]what i mean is placing manned (AI) helos to act as transport when required or called upon.

Ah, now we're talking. ;)

That's actually pretty much how the SUPPORT waypoint is supposed to work!

...problem is, I don't think it works with transport-vehicles, given a group currently can't request such a thing - certainly not on its own (as in autonomously, like calling for a medic or fuel). But this might be indeed worth a shot, even if such requests would need to be called manually (scripted or by the player; or maybe indeed also for stuck AI that do not see a path from A to B, that'd be cool as hell :D).

But then it looks like this support stuff is currently broken anyways (see above, "As of Arma 3 v1.36 this waypoint type seems to be semi-functional..."). Well... yet another reason to have a look at this implementation and tune it up a notch. :cool:

[kbbw123 115]

Maybe you mis-understood, what i mean is placing manned (AI) helos to act as transport when required or called upon, not AI running around using any vehicle available on the map although id actually like to see that in action just out of morbid curiosity also as mission makers theres an option to lock vehicles, if this does not work on AI then its surely easy to script as you mention, works both ways :) thinking on similar lines its like the AI having ability to call on artllery/air support etc, but i get theres a lot more involved when more thought applied but to have a type of AI central command that is able to manage these details such as the way Hetman and Alive attempt it to be will always be a wet dream.

Anyway the concern is only for the new island(s) terrain and certain (dynamic) mission types where depending on the make up of the islands how AI might be able to traverse them and not missions where events are more planned and linear so to speak, maybe much ado about nothing... and nothing set in stone.

ok.. lol :D

If i remeber correctly zue_ai in arma 2 did exactly that. it made the ai go into the closest vehicle when there was hostile contact wich screwed allot of my missions up... had on where we had to recover some vehicles well let me tell you there is nothing more awefull than being shot to pieces by vehicles you want to recover

[Wiki 1558]

Tanoa Campaign confirmed :)

https://twitter.com/Gekonn/status/618044923653320704

Uh, how does it confirm campaign?

[Sterlingarcherz101 15]

Uh, how does it confirm campaign?

Yes James, you cant just assume shit.

Not that you are wrong ;).

[altis 12]

Ah, now we're talking. ;)

That's actually pretty much how the SUPPORT waypoint is supposed to work!

...problem is, I don't think it works with transport-vehicles, given a group currently can't request such a thing - certainly not on its own (as in autonomously, like calling for a medic or fuel). But this might be indeed worth a shot, even if such requests would need to be called manually (scripted or by the player; or maybe indeed also for stuck AI that do not see a path from A to B, that'd be cool as hell :D).

But then it looks like this support stuff is currently broken anyways (see above, "As of Arma 3 v1.36 this waypoint type seems to be semi-functional..."). Well... yet another reason to have a look at this implementation and tune it up a notch. :cool:

A notch or 2 :D - as you say it can be done via scripts and FSM but i can only grab scripts from where i can and 'mess' with them to suit a mission, its always nice when the game can provide :)

If i remeber correctly zue_ai in arma 2 did exactly that. it made the ai go into the closest vehicle when there was hostile contact wich screwed allot of my missions up... had on where we had to recover some vehicles well let me tell you there is nothing more awefull than being shot to pieces by vehicles you want to recover

Do you mean Zeus, i cant remember zue_ai in A2.

[Defunkt 431]

Uh, how does it confirm campaign?

Narrative = Story = Campaign. Seems pretty straight-forward to me.

[Wiki 1558]

Narrative = Story = Campaign. Seems pretty straight-forward to me.

It can be only SP missions / showcases.

Even if I do hope it's campaign.

[Sterlingarcherz101 15]

It can be only SP missions / showcases.

Even if I do hope it's campaign.

Get your hopes up.

[Gekon 2]

Tanoa Campaign confirmed :)

https://twitter.com/Gekonn/status/618044923653320704

Sorry guys, a false lead there, this was related to a mobile game concept I'm trying with couple of friends outside Bohemia :-)

[CaptainObvious 95]

Sorry guys, a false lead there, this was related to a mobile game concept I'm trying with couple of friends outside Bohemia :-)

Thank you very much for clearing that out.

[bonchie 39]

It can be only SP missions / showcases.

Even if I do hope it's campaign.

In the interview they mention placing specific assets for BI's mission designers to use. So we know there will be official missions. It'd make no sense to spend resources on a bunch of uninteresting showcase missions instead of simply doing a campaign to continue their story-arc (which they left open-ended on purpose). The showcase missions where specifically to show the engine off pre-release before the alpha came out.

And has BI ever released a major expansion with no campaign?

But if people want to be obtuse about it and wait for 100% confirmation, then they can.

Edited July 7, 2015 by bonchie

[Sterlingarcherz101 15]

Sorry guys, a false lead there, this was related to a mobile game concept I'm trying with couple of friends outside Bohemia :-)

Too late we have a runaway hype train. Facts can't stop this now choooo chooooo.

Scratch that its a hype monorail, like the Springfield one.

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

I still stand by claims even before Tanoa was released. There will be a Campaign. They've lead into it, for many games now, South Pacific, and it's finally here. They wouldn't dare give us the South Pacific without it's rightful campaign.