Difficulty Overhaul

[terox 316]

This is a welcomed implementation thankyou. How long are we looking before this is rolled out to the stable branch ?

[Jastreb 69]

Awesome, almost just as I suggested. Thanks for reading my posts and doing it.

 

:D

 

Also interested when will it be available.

[Azza FHI 50]

Forced difficulty is great!

One question and sorry if I have missed it in the thread, it seems like all the talk is focussed on the difficulty presets but I havent seen much discussion on the AI skill. Can someone please clarify the new way (if it is new) of defining AI skill and accuracy within a custom difficulty preset.

The only info ive seen are the 3 AI presets and custom where you define the values as was the case before the difficulty overhaul. Is this still the case or has it changed along with everything else?

Cheers

[ozdeadmeat 12]

Looking forward to this being on the main branch. Hopefully before Apex cause that seems so far away still.

[KoalaDSK 122]

Hey guys, what about some additional settings according to the ingame map?

For now the only difficulty dependent changes for the map are:
-positions of your own player, detected other players, NPCs, mines and vehicles are shown (necruit and regular) or hidden (veteran)
-map always centers near the own position if you press the map key (recruit and regular)

But two things are still available in all difficulty settings: the top right circle ("move map to player position") and the clock.
-my proposal: only show the wristwatch on the map (like in Arma 2) if you have one

In my opinion it would be great if the cirlce button and clock display would be hideable (at least on veteran settings).

What do you think about it?

[tmp95 16]

Forced difficulty is great!

One question and sorry if I have missed it in the thread, it seems like all the talk is focussed on the difficulty presets but I havent seen much discussion on the AI skill. Can someone please clarify the new way (if it is new) of defining AI skill and accuracy within a custom difficulty preset.

The only info ive seen are the 3 AI presets and custom where you define the values as was the case before the difficulty overhaul. Is this still the case or has it changed along with everything else?

Cheers

\

+1

[ozdeadmeat 12]

The Ability to allow External View in Vehicles but not when player would be a brilliant addition.

[weaponsfree 46]

Forced difficulty is great!

One question and sorry if I have missed it in the thread, it seems like all the talk is focussed on the difficulty presets but I havent seen much discussion on the AI skill. Can someone please clarify the new way (if it is new) of defining AI skill and accuracy within a custom difficulty preset.

The only info ive seen are the 3 AI presets and custom where you define the values as was the case before the difficulty overhaul. Is this still the case or has it changed along with everything else?

Cheers

 

Indeed, or more specifically how the two sliders (skill/precision) affect the various AI abilities (accuracy, aimingspeed, spotdistance, spottime, etc). This may have already been clearly defined, but have not found the information while going over the documentation.

I also had some related questions I posted earlier :

1. From the 3den editor, you can access the Game Options > Difficulty settings. When you set a specific difficulty there, are you essentially changing it for your entire game (same as if you went through Configure from the main menu). Or is it a setting that's only "baked" into the mission you are currently editing when saving, independent of what your global difficulty settings are outside of 3den. My tests seem to confirm the former.

2. I have some old missions that have an init script to set AI "aimingaccuracy". If I set the new AI "precision" value to something new in the game options, will AI accuracy be overwritten by the init script when I play my old missions with friends? Or will the new "precision" settings overwrite the "aimingaccuracy" script? Or something more convoluted like, the precision settings applying on top of the aimingaccuracy settings in my init script?

Any info would be appreciated!

[oukej 2911]

Indeed, or more specifically how the two sliders (skill/precision) affect the various AI abilities (accuracy, aimingspeed, spotdistance, spottime, etc). This may have already been clearly defined, but have not found the information while going over the documentation.

More info about the AI Level is in the AI page on community wiki . Also in AI configuration discussion here. That would also be the place to discuss this topic.

I also had some related questions I posted earlier :

1. From the 3den editor, you can access the Game Options > Difficulty settings. When you set a specific difficulty there, are you essentially changing it for your entire game (same as if you went through Configure from the main menu). Or is it a setting that's only "baked" into the mission you are currently editing when saving, independent of what your global difficulty settings are outside of 3den. My tests seem to confirm the former.

In Game Options > Difficulty settings is the AI Level, which serves as global (whole game) coefficient of AI Skills (these are set per scenario per individual AI)

2. I have some old missions that have an init script to set AI "aimingaccuracy". If I set the new AI "precision" value to something new in the game options, will AI accuracy be overwritten by the init script when I play my old missions with friends? Or will the new "precision" settings overwrite the "aimingaccuracy" script? Or something more convoluted like, the precision settings applying on top of the aimingaccuracy settings in my init script?

AimingAccuracy value of the unit gets augmented by the AI Level - Precision value.

Let's say you have an AI with AimingAccuracy = 0.6. This number is not used for the AI calculations yet.

Then we take what AI Level you have - on Recruit it is 0.2, Regular 0.5, Veteran 0.7. Note we're looking at precision component in this case, because that is what affects AimingAccuracy subskill.

Now we get what we call "skillFinal". This number then goes into the actual calculations.

For our AI the final AimingAccuracy will be on Recruit 0.425, Regular 0.55 and Veteran 0.65.

It may seem as some magic and... it is ;)

If you have any further questions or notes - please put them in here. Thanks a lot!

[weaponsfree 46]

More info about the AI Level is in the AI page on community wiki . Also in AI configuration discussion here. That would also be the place to discuss this topic.

In Game Options > Difficulty settings is the AI Level, which serves as global (whole game) coefficient of AI Skills (these are set per scenario per individual AI)

AimingAccuracy value of the unit gets augmented by the AI Level - Precision value.

Let's say you have an AI with AimingAccuracy = 0.6. This number is not used for the AI calculations yet. Now we take what AI Level (Precision component in this case, because we're looking at AimingAccuracy) you have. On Recruit it is 0.2, Regular 0.5, Veteran 0.7

Now we get number is what we call "skillFinal". This number then goes into the actual calculations.

For our AI the final AimingAccuracy will be on Recruit 0.425, Regular 0.55 and Veteran 0.65.

It may seem as some magic and... it is ;)

If you have any further questions or notes - please put them in here. Thanks a lot!

 

This is EXACTLY the info I was looking for (even if some of it is magic :P). The info was out there for me to find, but thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I do have some questions, but I'll move it to the AI thread.

Thanks oukej

[TisovcikRasto 21]

Today's dev branch update contains a small update that is related to the difficulty:
 

Tweaked: The current difficulty on the Dedicated Server is now used as an initial difficulty on the Create Game screen

 

 

The change affects the Create Game screen that is displayed when you're selecting mission while playing on a dedicated server.

 

Previous state (1.58 stable): When the Create Game screen is opened, the difficulty preset in list box is automatically set to user's current difficulty preset that is stored in their local profile. This is currently the case in 1.58 stable.

 

Current state (dev branch, from rev. 136177): When the Create Game screen is opened, the difficulty preset in list box is automatically set to server's current difficulty. If you're playing a mission on Veteran, log in as admin and decide to change mission using the #missions command, the difficulty list box is automatically set to Veteran as well. In other words - unless you decide to change the difficulty yourself, it remains the same. The same applies to voting.

 

Finally, if the dedicated server uses the forcedDifficulty parameter, this change has no effect at all as the difficulty preset is forced by DS and list box that usually allows you to select difficulty preset is not available.

 

We hope that this change (along with previously introduced forcedDifficulty) results in less confusion and easier setup of MP games. As always, all feedback is welcome and appreciated! :)

[Meiestrix 25]

Hi,

does someone know how to set up the forced difficulty?

I have a dedicated server and my .Arma3Profile looks like this:

class DifficultyPresets
{
	class CustomDifficulty
	{
		class Options
		{
			groupIndicators=0;
			friendlyTags=0;
			enemyTags=0;
			detectedMines=0;
			commands=1;
			waypoints=1;
			weaponInfo=1;
			stanceIndicator=0;
			reducedDamage=0;
			staminaBar=0;
			weaponCrosshair=0;
			visionAid=0;
			thirdPersonView=0;
			cameraShake=1;
			scoreTable=0;
			deathMessages=1;
			vonID=1;
			mapContent=0;
			autoReport=0;
			multipleSaves=0;
		};
		aiLevelPreset=2;
	};
	class CustomAILevel
	{
		skillAI=0.5;
		precisionAI=0.5;
	};
};
sceneComplexity=1000000;
shadowZDistance=100;
viewDistance=3800;
preferredObjectViewDistance=3200;
terrainGrid=3.125;
volumeCD=10;
volumeFX=10;
volumeSpeech=10;
volumeVoN=10;
singleVoice=0;
maxSamplesPlayed=96;
vonRecThreshold=0.029999999;

And in my server server.cfg i have used the new parameter

forcedDifficulty = "CustomDifficulty";

When i connect to the server I can see that the difficulty is forced.

But my custom difficulty preset is not active.

I still have the crosshair and thrid person camera.

[R3vo 2654]

does someone know how to set up the forced difficulty?

 

I'd like to know too. I am currently searching the wiki, but there is different information on nearly every page.

 

I am utterly confused.

 

It would be great to have a proper example of a server.cfg.

[WolfenswanFA 19]

I'd like to know too. I am currently searching the wiki, but there is different information on nearly every page.

 

I am utterly confused.

 

It would be great to have a proper example of a server.cfg.

 

In your server.cfg:

forcedDifficulty = "Custom";

[Meiestrix 25]

See my post above.

This does not work like it should.

I think even BI doesnt know how this works, there are multiple wiki sites with different informations.

[wraith676 5]

With the removal of the friendly AI + Enemy AI precision and skill options is there any way of changing the AI skill for opposing sides? For instance if i am using a squad of friendly AI vs say militia i would prefer the militia to have a lower skill level compared to my squad of trained vets. Is this possible anymore and if so how would i achieve this?

[WolfenswanFA 19]

See my post above.

This does not work like it should.

I think even BI doesnt know how this works, there are multiple wiki sites with different informations.

 

It works fine for us. The single line I posted is all that was needed. You did use "Custom" not "CustomDifficulty"?

 

Our .Arma3Profile for comparison:

class DifficultyPresets
{
	defaultPreset="Custom";
	class CustomDifficulty
	{
		class Options
		{
			reducedDamage=0;
			groupIndicators=0;
			friendlyTags=0;
			enemyTags=0;
			detectedMines=1;
			commands=0;
			waypoints=0;
			weaponInfo=2;
			stanceIndicator=1;
			staminaBar=1;
			weaponCrosshair=1;
			visionAid=0;
			thirdPersonView=0;
			cameraShake=1;
			scoreTable=0;
			deathMessages=0;
			vonID=1;
			mapContent=0;
			autoReport=0;
			multipleSaves=0;
		};
		aiLevelPreset=3;
	};
	class CustomAILevel
	{
		skillAI=0.85000002;
		precisionAI=0.30000011;
	};
};

With the removal of the friendly AI + Enemy AI precision and skill options is there any way of changing the AI skill for opposing sides? For instance if i am using a squad of friendly AI vs say militia i would prefer the militia to have a lower skill level compared to my squad of trained vets. Is this possible anymore and if so how would i achieve this?

 

You'll need an AI addon such as ASR_AI3 for this.

[oukej 2911]

With the removal of the friendly AI + Enemy AI precision and skill options is there any way of changing the AI skill for opposing sides? For instance if i am using a squad of friendly AI vs say militia i would prefer the militia to have a lower skill level compared to my squad of trained vets. Is this possible anymore and if so how would i achieve this?

You can adjust the skill of the individual AI or groups, compositions of AI in the Eden editor.

As for the changes in AI level - pls ref. to: https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/159485-ai-configuration-feedback

[drredfox 11]

Hi,

 

I'm having some issues with difficulty settings. I'm running three instances with different settings, each one with it's own profile, and the difficulty settings is being overwritten by the last profile edited for each instance.

E.g.: If the last profile saved as thirdPersonView=0, every server gets thirdPersonView=0. I've checked the files and they aren't modified (thirdPersonView=1, or whatever setting).

 

Command line sample:

-profiles=d:\GameCreate\arma3\Profiles\21100 -port=21100 -config=server21100.cfg -cfg=network.cfg -mod=...

As you notice, I'm running the servers through Gamecreate interface. No issues before 1.58/1.60

 

Any info or workaround for this?

 

EDIT (added info): each profile has this settings in common

class DifficultyPresets
{
    defaultPreset="Custom";
    class CustomDifficulty
    {
        class Options
        {
           settings for that server
        };

[galzohar 31]

Why was elite removed? It was almost perfect for hardcore-realism play, only missing the VONID enabled setting to help figure out who is spamming the VON.

Though it could use also stamina bar and stance indicator enabled, as hiding them does not really help making the game more hardcore-realistic.

 

Veteran has too many "casual player" options enabled, and I think it actually hides the stamina bar.

 

Right now I am using custom with just stamina bar, stance indicator, vonid and camera shake (I suppose camera shake is the only one where "enabled" is the more difficult option?).

 

Also, I wonder why the option to configure the specific options of "custom" was disabled on dedicated servers. Admin-configured "custom" presets should be possible to change and save/load from the menu (so that you can have several custom presets).

[papanowel 120]

Also, I wonder why the option to configure the specific options of "custom" was disabled on dedicated servers. Admin-configured "custom" presets should be possible to change and save/load from the menu (so that you can have several custom presets).

 

I can't agree more, we are playing coop on our private server and were happy when we could do that. 

 

Can someone give me a comple new server.arma3Profile so we can have a proper one to begin with (we have an old one from A2, that we modified throughout the time)?

 

Thank you in advance.

[TisovcikRasto 21]

Tuesday's dev branch update brings a new functionality of the server command #mission. In this post, I'd like to shed some light on the changes that were made.

 

• Tweaked: Server command #mission now supports an optional difficulty parameter. If not set, difficulty remains unchanged.
• Fixed: Server command #mission would reset the server difficulty to Regular

 

 

What does the command do?

 

An already existing server command #mission can be used by admin who is logged in to a dedicated server to change mission that is currently being played. The command has been around for a while and many of you are probably familiar with it.

 

Previous state (1.60 stable)

 

In the current stable, the command is simply used to specify a particular mission. Once you log in using the #login command, you can use it in the following way:

#mission MP_COOP_m01.Stratis

However, the command also changes the server's difficulty to default preset (Regular) which may be - to put it mildly - not always desired.

 

Current state (dev branch, from rev. 136795)

 

From now this revision, the #mission command supports an optional difficulty parameter. This parameter allows you to set the difficulty preset that you wish to play the mission on. If the difficulty is not specified, the difficulty will remain unchanged and you will play the mission on the same difficulty as the previous one:

// Changes both mission and the difficulty
#mission MP_COOP_m01.Stratis Veteran

// Changes mission and keeps the current difficulty
#mission MP_COOP_m01.Stratis

[terox 316]

I think there is a need to have more than 1 custom difficulty class.

Because you cannot edit the standard difficulties (Regular, veteran) leaving only one Custom option, and since the last patch removed the ability to dynamically modify this, then i believe there is a very strong argument to allow multiple Custom difficulty presets and be able to set which preset is loaded by default without having to "forcedifficulty" via the server.cfg

 

Of the top of my head I can see one good reason for this and that would be to have the option to switch "1st person only" On or Off.

I am assuming other community servers would also like to be able to switch between their own custom presets and it just makes sense not to limit these options to 1 instance, which requires a server restart for an edits to the  arma3profile to take effect.

 

I do not understand the logic behind restricting the difficulty system in its present state.

[terox 316]

@Papanowel

class DifficultyPresets
{
    class CustomDifficulty
    {
        class Options
        {
             // Simulation
             reducedDamage = 0; // Reduced damage

             // Situational awareness
             groupIndicators = 0; // Group indicators (0 = never, 1 = limited distance, 2 = always)
             friendlyTags = 0; // Friendly name tags (0 = never, 1 = limited distance, 2 = always)
             enemyTags = 0; // Enemy name tags (0 = never, 1 = limited distance, 2 = always)
             detectedMines = 0; // Detected mines (0 = never, 1 = limited distance, 2 = always)
             commands = 0; // Commands (0 = never, 1 = fade out, 2 = always)
             waypoints = 1; // Waypoints (0 = never, 1 = fade out, 2 = always)

             // Personal awareness
             weaponInfo = 1; // Weapon info (0 = never, 1 = fade out, 2 = always)
             stanceIndicator = 1; // Stance indicator (0 = never, 1 = fade out, 2 = always)
             staminaBar = 1; // Stamina bar
             weaponCrosshair = 0; // Weapon crosshair
             visionAid = 0; // Vision aid

             // View
             thirdPersonView = 1; // 3rd person view
             cameraShake = 1; // Camera shake

             // Multiplayer
             scoreTable = 0; // Score table
             deathMessages = 0; // Killed by
             vonID = 1; // VON ID

             // Misc
             mapContent = 0; // Extended map content
             autoReport = 0; // Automatic reporting
             multipleSaves = 0; // Multiple saves
        };

        //aiLevelPreset is counted from 0 and can have following values: 0 (AI Level Low), 1 (AI Level Normal), 2 (AI Level High), 3 (AI Level Custom).
        //When 3 (AI Level Custom) is chosen, values of skill and precision are stored to the class CustomAILevel.
        aiLevelPreset=3;
    };
    class CustomAILevel
    {
        skillAI=0.85;
        precisionAI=0.5;
    };
};

[terox 316]

detectedMines

 

At the moment this reveals mines to everyone if anyone comes across a mine regardless of their skill set or equipment, which I think this is a poor implementation of this difficulty setting.

For this reason we have it disabled.

I believe a better implementation would be.

 

Engineer/Explosives expert equipped with a mine detector, detects a mine, IED

The mine is then revealed to all players and AI on that side and a marker showing the location of that mine is then created at that position on the map for that side.

 

This I believe is a much better and more realistic condition for this difficulty option