UAVs: Feedback and wishes

[FrankManic 13]

I'm very fond of the UAVs. The little quad-copters are a massive asset, albeit *extremely* vulnerable. For forward spotting, though, they can't be beat. I'd like it if they could be made somewhat harder to spot and engage, but I'm not sure if that would be realistic.

I'm not quite as enthusiastic about the Stompers. They're still useful, but they lack the utility of the Darter - The Darter can fly and spot enemies for you, while the UGV mostly amounts to a heavy weapon turret.

I'd like to see more robots in the game. Specifically

- A small scale robot armed with a rifle or automatic rifle that could be packed up and carried, then deployed as a "point man", scout, or point defense.

- A small scale EOD robot equipped with a mine-detector and the ability to disable and disarm explosives

- Something I saw at university - A small robot in the shape of a cylinder, essentially just a pair of wheels stuck on either end of a camera. Soldiers could throw it over walls or through windows then connect to it and steer it around, looking through it's camera to check for ambushers or traps. The whole package was a cylinder about a foot long and six inches wide, making it very compact and easy to carry.

- A UAV equipped with a rifle or other light weapon that could be used for to provide limited fire support to infantry or deployed as an autonomous sentry.

- Stationary robots equipped with visual, audio, or seismic sensors that could be placed and used to observe a position. Bonus points if they can be tied to explosives and used to confirm a target before setting off a satchel or claymore.

I understand Bohemia is facing severe time and resource constraints, so this is just a wishlist.

[merlin 17]

The ground stabilization tweaks are amazing, I'm super grateful for whoever got this working. There's a mention in the SPOTREP about a keybind to toggle it but i can't seem to find it. Could this system be rolled out to attack helicopter optics (the lynx as well)?

Thanks again to whoever worked this out, it means a lot when these features get fleshed out and stand by themselves.

[exentenzed 2]

Yea, i havent used that button yet either.

Have a different problem with them now though, might just be something i missed or maby the button itself, but for the life of me i cannot set regular waypoints for the UAV anymore, the only ones i can place is when i right click enemy vehicles and i get the option to either "Follow target" and "Destroy target".

Are you currently reworking UAV waypoints at the moment?

I have also not quite figured out the correct procedure to control a fixed wing UAV in a way that i can designate targets for it and have it succesfully drop bombs on them. This might solely be due to the fact that when i am controlling the Fixed wing UAV's turret control and lase a target, it will fly erraticly and make me lose the target because i reach maximum rotation on the camera.

But yea, stabilization in itself is absolutely perfect now. Thanks alot for your efforts. :D

[vegeta897 13]

Have a different problem with them now though, might just be something i missed or maby the button itself, but for the life of me i cannot set regular waypoints for the UAV anymore, the only ones i can place is when i right click enemy vehicles and i get the option to either "Follow target" and "Destroy target".

Shift click to place first waypoint, ctrl click to place additional ones.

[DarkDruid 96]

The drones don't follow waypoints when the "autonomous" case isn't checked, they just stop where they are.

Also when not autonomous, you can't set or interact with waypoints

This is intended behaviour. When you disable the "autonomous" checkbox, AI inside of the UAV is disabled.

And I don't know why but I can't seem to set waypoints with just LMB anymore, just with Ctrl+LMB

Yes, this makes the terminal consistent with the map. You can create markers by double-LMB and create waypoints by Ctrl/Shift+LMB.

Are you fixing the laser accuracy and such... when you zoom in it goes off target for all uavs.... I ask this because I have released a UAV variant USAV and going to add more UAV's in the future, and would like to hopefully see this get fixed

So far all of my concerns have addressed aside from one minor issue, taking over the turret makes the UAV go crazy. Possibly make it possible so that we can set the flight path while in pilot mode, and then when we switch to the turret mode, the UAV maintains its flight path? Right now setting waypoints to line up a shot is a PITA and makes it very complicated to use it as a CAS unit.

Weapons were moved to gunner, camera stabilization has been improved. Target marking should be easier now, feel free to post any feedback about these changes. Thanks!

hi,

please make the created waypoints movable like in zeus.

general i think the whole editing process of all different stuff (uav, zeus, etc. ...) should work in a same way.

actual generating waypoints for uav is completely different from generating waypoints in zeus. why not do it all in one same way. the user would profit from this.

i would prefer the zeus way.

and please add a new window in which you see, set, ... the whole waypoint behaviour.

settings for flightspeed in km/h and flightheight in m/above seelevel or groundlevel would also be welcome.

greetings

This is not planned for now. But feel free to create a ticket on Feedback Tracker. We can look at it and reconsider available options :)

- AV PiP view should use same level of zoom as the one selected on the Av's turret

- make Av's turret target object or position (this way PiP view will allow operator have a static view on the target/position and with selected level of zoom)

- cancel targeting/following an enemy unit when the unit is hidden from AV's view for some time (otherwise enemy player will be unable to hide from the AV, for instance, inside buildings)

=> also make AV try keep visual contact with he target (eg: when the unit goes behind a building)

These should be already implemented (that second item should be a part of dev branch soon).

- add fuel/damage alert for player connected to the AV (to avoid situation when player forgets to check the AV status) => maybe add this to the AV PiP view or as a second AV view

This is already in our plans, not sure when it will be exactly added though.

- I cannot control the distance from which AT/GBU Greyhawks engage the target (even if I use ALTITUDE parameter on MOVE/LOITER waypoints); the Greyhawk will enter range of fire of enemy tank and fly below 200m (what a player will generally do is use the "next target" action that does automatic locking and fire a missile or a GBU bomb from 2000m => why wouldn't a Greyhawk do the same thing?)

- restrict manual locking, automatic locking and fire actions not to work when more than the max view distance away from the target (this will force Greyhawk engage from closer distance and also give a chance to AA forces to fire back)

- waypoints created after a CYCLE waypoint will not work (even if CYCLE waypoint is cancelled)

- when a CYCLE waypoint is placed previous waypoints still disappear (would expect these to remain or at least make following waypoints work)

- add target filtering that allows the player to choose what category of vehicles an AV is allowed to attack by itself (eg: so it will not fire AT missiles on quadbikes but only on tanks/APC/wheeled vehicles/etc)

I will check these. Thanks for feedback!

Not sure if it's the right thread, but I noticed that recently, it's not possible for some players in an MP session to connect to UAVs. Basically, I place two UAVs on the map in an MP mission, but I can't connect to them (and no, they are not empty).

Anyone noticed the same ?

Could you please report this on Feedback Tracker in case you are still observing this issue? Thanks!

I tried today to kill a tank with a greyhawk. I selected the Skalpell E2 rockets and marked the target. I waited until the targeting beep sound changed to firering range beep and fired. But the rockets dont attacked the target. Bug or feature? Or did i someting rong?

Could you please report this on Feedback Tracker in case you are still observing this issue? Thanks!

Hmm, I'm not able to control UGV Stümper RCWS any more. Vanilla Arma, stable branch.

- Placed a UAV operator unit (nato player) and the Stomper on map

- Connect "UAV to Terminal" can be done when inside the UAV.

- In UAV terminal, nothing happens when I try to control gun or as a driver.

- Waypoints do not appear (shift+click)

- nothing, nada. I can connect/disconnect UAV from terminal, thats all

Maybe some basic misunderstanding on my side? A while ago, it was no problem to control them...

Same here. Could you please report it on Feedback Tracker? Thanks!

The ground stabilization tweaks are amazing, I'm super grateful for whoever got this working. There's a mention in the SPOTREP about a keybind to toggle it but i can't seem to find it. Could this system be rolled out to attack helicopter optics (the lynx as well)?

Thanks again to whoever worked this out, it means a lot when these features get fleshed out and stand by themselves.

That mention was removed from the SPOTREP. It is not in the game yet, it should be added into dev branch soon. It is new feature, we would like to get some feedback after some time of using it first. I guess we could reconsider the option to add it even to helicopters, but I can't promise it right now. Thanks for feedback!

[starlightman 10]

I love the new camera stabilization, it seems to work properly now. However, when I get the turret stabilized on a target area, I'd like it to stay like that when I exist the turret controls so I can see that target area in the PiP display on my HUD. Is it possible to do this right now? Or is this the feature the camera locking keybind will add that isn't in stable yet?

Also, a couple of minor issues:

1) The camera feeds in the UAV terminal map are always in visual mode, they don't reflect the current camera setting of each e.g. NV or Thermal. The PiP display in infantry mode does this perfectly though.

2) When turning on the laser designator, it seems like the UAV stops obeying altitude settings. If I do a flyover of an area set to 500m altitude for example with the laser designator off then all is fine. However, as soon as I turn on the laser, the UAV seems to start diving down.

3) There doesn't seem to be a key binding option for the AV PiP display toggle? I know 2xTAB toggles it but I couldn't find an option to change that in the controls?

4) The Darter loiter command doesn't seem to work properly. The Greyhawk will correctly circle the target at the specified range but the darter just seems to fly right above the target and hover still, no matter what loiter distance you set

Edited June 19, 2014 by starlightman

[Greenfist 1863]

I haven't seen this mentioned pretty much anywhere before, but could you increase the UAV turret elevation limits a bit? The autonomous pilot rolls quite heavily when circling a waypoint and me as the gunner can't keep the reticle on the target because it doesn't turn enough. I have to set the altitude almost beyond reasonable object draw distance to maintain visual on a ground target.

I wouldn't mind if the plane's body blocked the view as long as the turret stays fixed on the target. Or would that make the UAV accidentally lase itself and receive friendly fire? Or maybe that would cause the view to clip into the plane body?

[St. Jimmy 272]

Good job on that turret locking! Now if we could set altitude above sea level if we want to prevent the jerking around because of mountains etc. because that makes the turret go off because the turret turning limit is reached. But at least the turret now aims back where it was before!

More altitudes would be welcome. MUCH better than before :)

Edited June 19, 2014 by St. Jimmy

[Maxzy 12]

Yeah, with this new turret stabilization system the only thing left for UAVs to be perfect is to have an ability to set a preferred altitude somewhere in UAV's terminal.

[AveryTheKitty 2626]

I've come up with something that might work for UAV lights, but I don't know:

Like the autonomous check box, their should be one for lights. You could even carry this a step forward for other things, like hold fire and what not. But basically you can check and un-check it to toggle lights.

Again, no idea if this would work but hey, just an idea for a major issue!

[FighterD1 10]

Not sure if its on my end, but the UGV that is unarmed would not follow units of any type (armor or infantry). I am going to give it another go just to be sure, I will edit with a follow up.

EDIT: On stable build 1.22, the UGV unarmed does not follow units of any type, while the UGV armed will immediately respond and begin following.

Would it be acceptable to provide friendly infantry/technical unit locations in the UAV terminal in a radius around a UGV (possibly UAV) when it is present? What use is the follow command if you have to right click guess where that unit is. Problem I see is revealing unit locations and a break of immersion, what do you all think? Possibly a very small radius so no issues arise?

Edited June 20, 2014 by FighterD1

[EddiePrice 16]

I must be missing something with this apparent new stabilisation. It seems the MQ4A in particular is actually less stable than before when tracking with the optics, and I am constantly fighting against the drone to get a stable view. Could some one please confirm what the new controls are, and any feedback on the stability of the MQ4A optics. Thank you.

[Variable 322]

I am shocked to find that the PIP AV Feed shows the feed from the front camera of the UAV instead of its payload feed! Is that on purpose?!

[Greenfist 1863]

I am shocked to find that the PIP AV Feed shows the feed from the front camera of the UAV instead of its payload feed! Is that on purpose?!

Payload camera? You mean the turret cam? Mine works fine on the vehicles which have a turret.

[Variable 322]

Payload camera? You mean the turret cam? Mine works fine on the vehicles which have a turret.

Yeah, the turret camera. It shows the front camera of the UAV instead of the turret camera. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?

[John Kozak 14]

Yeah, the turret camera. It shows the front camera of the UAV instead of the turret camera. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Works fine for me - shows turret feed. Maybe some mods screw something?

[Variable 322]

Works fine for me - shows turret feed. Maybe some mods screw something?

Hmmmm I need to check again when I'm back home. Maybe it shows your the last view you used before leaving the UAV?

[subs17 9]

The UAVs on A3 are awesome from what I've seen so far. Is there any plans for a A3 Predator of any sort?

[Maxzy 12]

Hmmmm I need to check again when I'm back home. Maybe it shows your the last view you used before leaving the UAV?

Don't know about dev version but on stable it does in the first millisecond when you leave, but then it just goes random i guess. It doesn't show niether zoom level nor direction you left it with. But I read somewhere here that devs are looking in to it.

[DarkDruid 96]

There are some new scripting commands related to UAVs:

• isUAVConnectable
  
• disableUAVConnectability
  
• enableUAVConnectability
  
• isAutonomous
  
• setAutonomous
  

[blackpixxel 53]

On DEV you can lock the turret to a certain position. When you leave the UAV your PIP-UAV-Feed shows the turret how you left it. The system is also able to track vehicles (and maybe units?). So you can let your UAV chase you to get an overview about everything around you.

I really like these new features!

[james2464 177]

Loving these enhancements darkdruid :)

[Variable 322]

On DEV you can lock the turret to a certain position. When you leave the UAV your PIP-UAV-Feed shows the turret how you left it. The system is also able to track vehicles (and maybe units?). So you can let your UAV chase you to get an overview about everything around you.

I really like these new features!

Cool! How do you lock the turret's boresight on a unit?

[Greenfist 1863]

Cool! How do you lock the turret's boresight on a unit?

Bind a key for it. It's under the Weapons section in controls.

Combining the lock, thermal view, follow command and UAV feed with Darter is indeed very tacticool. :cool: Too bad the enemies shoot it down so quickly and you can't set the altitude when following, only the distance.

[DarkDruid 96]

Thank you for all your positive feedback! We are really glad that UAVs are better and more useful even in your eyes

And now some answers :)

I love the new camera stabilization, it seems to work properly now. However, when I get the turret stabilized on a target area, I'd like it to stay like that when I exist the turret controls so I can see that target area in the PiP display on my HUD. Is it possible to do this right now? Or is this the feature the camera locking keybind will add that isn't in stable yet?

This is already available in dev branch, should be part of the next stable update.

1) The camera feeds in the UAV terminal map are always in visual mode, they don't reflect the current camera setting of each e.g. NV or Thermal. The PiP display in infantry mode does this perfectly though.

Noted, thanks!

3) There doesn't seem to be a key binding option for the AV PiP display toggle? I know 2xTAB toggles it but I couldn't find an option to change that in the controls?

There are "AV Camera" and "AV Camera (Toggle)" actions in the controls. At least I have them both in the Common category.

4) The Darter loiter command doesn't seem to work properly. The Greyhawk will correctly circle the target at the specified range but the darter just seems to fly right above the target and hover still, no matter what loiter distance you set

I am unable to reproduce this issue. Please wait for the next stable branch update and report it on Feedback Tracker in case you will observe this issue even after that. Thanks!

I haven't seen this mentioned pretty much anywhere before, but could you increase the UAV turret elevation limits a bit? The autonomous pilot rolls quite heavily when circling a waypoint and me as the gunner can't keep the reticle on the target because it doesn't turn enough. I have to set the altitude almost beyond reasonable object draw distance to maintain visual on a ground target.

I wouldn't mind if the plane's body blocked the view as long as the turret stays fixed on the target. Or would that make the UAV accidentally lase itself and receive friendly fire? Or maybe that would cause the view to clip into the plane body?

There is already a similar report on Feedback Tracker. It is not a priority right now, but we will definitely look at it. Thanks for feedback!

Like the autonomous check box, their should be one for lights. You could even carry this a step forward for other things, like hold fire and what not. But basically you can check and un-check it to toggle lights.

Something like this is already planned. If there won't be any unexpected issues, it should be in dev branch soon.

Not sure if its on my end, but the UGV that is unarmed would not follow units of any type (armor or infantry). I am going to give it another go just to be sure, I will edit with a follow up.

EDIT: On stable build 1.22, the UGV unarmed does not follow units of any type, while the UGV armed will immediately respond and begin following.

Should be fixed in current version of dev branch.

Would it be acceptable to provide friendly infantry/technical unit locations in the UAV terminal in a radius around a UGV (possibly UAV) when it is present? What use is the follow command if you have to right click guess where that unit is. Problem I see is revealing unit locations and a break of immersion, what do you all think? Possibly a very small radius so no issues arise?

It should already work this way. If you think current radius is too small or too big, please create a ticket on Feedback Tracker with your suggestion about the size of that area. I guess there will be more people who have some idea about that size and we can reconsider it. Thanks!

Edited July 7, 2014 by DarkDruid