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ty55101

Comprehensive Guide to Commanding and Reporting to AI

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So due to some reddit posts on the Arma subreddit and some youtubers and some people I have seen and basically everyone who has every complained about Arma's AI, I have decided to make an AI commanding guide. I suck at shooting closer, question my driving skills, and am possibly the worse pilot in Arma, but I can command the AI effectively and have yet to see a guide on AI that shows everything I know.  Now this is my first post so you may be questioning how much I know, but I assure you I have over 100 hours in game (not including editor) and at least 40 looking at arma related content and while that may not seem like a lot everything I do I make sure to know about. I have not included any of the commands from the dynamic menu since I rarely use it. This guide has two sections: command descriptions and interactions which are separated for ease of readability. Anything with the (important) after it are things that are commonly misrepresented/misunderstood.

 

Commands:

 

1: Moving

 

Spoiler
  1. Follow me: Follows the squad commander in whatever fashion is normal. (See Combat Modes)
  2. Advance: Moves selected units 20-50m forwards based on combat mode. (Note: only works when moving or in formation)
  3. Stay back: Moves selected units 20-50m backwards based on combat mode. (Note: only works when moving or in formation)
  4. Flank Left: Moves selected units 20-50m left based on combat mode. (Note: only works when moving or in formation)
  5. Flank Right: Moves selected units 20-50m right based on combat mode. (Note: only works when moving or in formation)
  6. Stop: Brings selected units to a halt as soon as they are able. Units are less likely to engage (not fire) when in this mode since stop is a continuous order.
  7. Wait for me: Units will wait for commander then follow him. (I may be wrong since I haven't used this one in a looong time)
  8. Find cover: Units will find high cover if available and if not will use low cover. At the very least they will go prone.
  9. Next waypoint: Will move to the next assigned waypoint. (shift + click on map) Useful for when moving teams since dynamic menu does not pop up after choosing a team.

 

2: Target

 

Units will target selected object/vehicle/man. (Note: Can be used on friendly and unknown units but friendly units will be listed in separate page from enemies)

 

3: Engage (important)

 

Spoiler
  1. Fire at will: Will fire when a shot is available.
  2. Hold fire: AI will not fire unless fired upon or enemy within 50m (Approx. distance)
  3. Fire: Will only fire on currently targeted enemy then go back to original fire stance.
  4. Engage: Will move to get into firing position for currently targeted enemy.
  5. Engage at will: Will move to get ready to attack any enemies seen by them. (Does not mean will fire)
  6. Do not engage: Will stay on current objective and will not move to attack enemies.  (Will still turn to fire)
  7. Scan Horizon: Will look in directions randomly until given an order.
  8. Watch Direction: Will watch in a certain direction until given an order.
  9. Suppressive fire: Expands acceptable shot reticle for Ai so more shots are put near an enemy. (May be wrong in how it functions but still has same effect)

 

4: Mount

 

1. Dismount: Units will exit the vehicle they are in. Is also used to have the AI land helicopters/planes. (Use on AI controlled planes at your own risk. It is more or less a 50/50 shot with runways)

2. Mount ___: Units will board vehicle. Will also have helicopters pick up units when under your command. (Effectively a get troops command for the helicopter)

 

5: Status (You can probably figure this one out on your own but if you need it, it is here.

 

Spoiler
  1. Call Support: Used for any supports which have been edited in using the support modules or scripted in.
  2. Fuel Low: Reports that your fuel is low to your commander so they deal with it. (Will call fuel support or direct you to fueling station if available)
  3. Ammo Low: Works same as 2, but when in vehicle will report about vehicle and when out of vehicle will report about self.
  4. Injured: Works same as 2, but when in vehicle will report about vehicle and when out of vehicle will report about self.
  5. Report Status: Will ask selected units for their location and status. (ammo/health/fuel) Useful for when squad HUD is disabled.
  6. Under Fire: Reports that you were fired upon by the enemy. (You better use this if you want help from your squad)
  7. One less: Reports than an enemy is down (Your squad will magically know which one. Don't question it!)
  8. ... is down: Reports selected unit has been killed. Use call out enemy button on dead friendly to call out if not commander. (Usually hold Right Mouse Button)

 

6: Action

 

Spoiler

Note: This is not the actual order of actions, but they are numbered for readability.

  1. Heal at ___: Will go to nearest selected location to heal themselves fully. (Medics do not heal fully)
  2. Rearm at ___: Will go to nearest selected location to restock their ammo.
  3. Refuel at ___: Will go to nearest selected location until vehicle is refueled.
  4. Repair at ___: Will go to nearest selected location until vehicle is repaired.
  5. Gear: Will go to nearest location at which storage is accessible (includes items on ground) and allow you to manage their gear.

Any else are options that you have access to and should be self explanatory. I don't want to make a huge list and if you are curious about another just ask and I will add it to this list.

 

7: Combat Mode (important)

 

Spoiler
  1. Stealth: AI will move from good cover to good cover, unless not possible where they want to go. If enemies are seen they will be prone. They will not fire unless they have a good shot. Vehicles may or may not use roads to where they want to go.

  2. Danger: They will move from cover to cover including light cover and just sitting prone on the ground. They will try their hardest to not engage except from a defensible position. When moving their path will be a straight line or close to with more cover. Vehicles will still take roads over long distances but they will travel very slowly.

  3. Aware: AI will move in the formation you have chosen and will not stray from that. They are also less likely to use roads to get to where they want to go depending on the amount of ground between roads.

  4. Safe: AI will move in columns no matter what. (until combat puts them in danger) Vehicles will take roads for as long as possible. Infantry will be very inclined to take roads.

  5. Stand up: Will stand until some script tells them otherwise.

  6. Stay crouched: Will be crouched till a script tells them otherwise.

  7. Go prone: Will stay proned until script tells them otherwise.

  8. Copy Stance. Will copy your stance until a script tells them otherwise. (Useful for either AI following you or moving beside you)

 

8: Formation

 

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/2D_Editor:_Waypoints#Formation

There are also some formation guides that have pictures of the different formations.

 

9: Teams

 

Spoiler
  1. Assign Red: Will assign the selected units to fire team red.
  2. Assign Green
  3. Assign Blue
  4. Assign Yellow
  5. Assign White

      9. Teams: Use to select assigned team and give orders.

 

0: Reply

 

Spoiler
  1. Done: Reports that you are done to the commander.
  2. Negative: Reports that you are unable to perform the selected task to commander.
  3. Ready to fire: Reports that you have a clear shot on your/a target.
  4. Cannot Fire: Reports that you are unable to fire for one reason or another.
  5. Repeat: Has commander repeat orders. Useful for multiplayer operations when you don't want to type or use voice.
  6. Copy: Used to say you understood an order.
  7. Supports: I believe it is for when your AI are able to provide supports (someone correct me if I am wrong)
  8. Custom: Custom communications that are made through scripting or otherwise. Useful when you want to use certain scripting commands from within a mission.
  9. Radio: I am sure there are other guides on this.

 

All of this is my creation from experience with the game, collective resources I have found, and experiences of others I have watched. Feel free to copy and paste this post, but I request that you link back to here. The only exception being reddit which has advertising rights to content I have copied from here: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/arma/comments/6jkq9j/arma_3_ai_control_tips/djfmg02/

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