[Release] BossAi Script! Units with custom Hit Point Pools, amount of lives/revives etc!

[LSValmont 789]

Hello dear A3 community! 

 

Today I present you my first ever script (released) so please be gentle with me, I am still a virgin! 

 

I've often run into players in my servers who complain about how Arma 3 and/or most of its missions do not offer incapacitated NPCs (a la Farcry 5).

 

Previously, most Arma 3 mission makers had to set important NPCs to be immortal so their mission's functionality could remain intact and/or use Objects such as Boards, stands, computers etc as Vendors/Traders etc. It was that or having extremely fragile NPCs that "evil" players could exploit to ruin other players' experiences. There was no middle ground and I often found these immortal NPCs and/or Objects as traders quite immersion breaking.

 

Another mayor complaint from Arma mission makers was the extremely high difficulty revolving around setting custom Hit Points (HP) for units. Mission makers often found their important characters dying faster than they wanted or perhaps even tankier than what the mission required. This script is the solution to both problems =).

 

It is also a solution that is both system resources friendly and Multiplayer compatible!

 

So with that in mind and since I couldn't find any script that does exactly that or what my players wanted I came up with this:

Spoiler

/* -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// In the init field of a AI UNIT on the EDEN Editor add:
// null = [this, 40, 2, 60] execVM "scripts\bossAi.sqf";
// Where: 
// "this" is the name of the unit that will have increased HP.
// "40" is the ammount of HP the Unit will have. (40 health means units can take ~4 shots).
// "2" is the amount of lives/revives the Unit will have. (0 lives disables the increased HP so 1 is minimum)
// "60" is the time in seconds the Ai unit will remain in Unconscious state.
// *******************************************************************************
// This script makes a specific Ai unit simulate having a larger/smaller healthpool than default Arma 3. 
// After depleting their healthpool the unit will go into incapacitated state instead of dying after taking fatal damage.
// After all its revives/lives are spent the unit will die normally (and permanently!).
// Additionally the script will:
// Makes it comunicate that it is "Down" via globalchat.
// Broadcasts the player/unit who attacks this special NPC via systemchat.
// Broadcasts the player/unit who kills this special NPC via systemchat. (After all its lives are spent).
// Removes All Actions from the NPC's dead body.(You should've protected your special NPC!)
// *******************************************************************************
// Script by Valmont
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */

if (!isServer) exitWith {};
params [["_unit",objNull,[objNull]],["_hp_unit",40,[40]],["_lives_unit",2,[2]],["_downtime_unit",60,[0]]];

_hp_orig_unit = 1/_hp_unit;
_hp_curr_unit = _hp_orig_unit;
private _myOwner = owner _unit;

_unit setVariable ["unit_orig_hp",_hp_orig_unit,true];
_unit setVariable ["downtime_unit",_downtime_unit,true];
_unit setVariable ["lives_left_unit",_lives_unit,true];
_unit setVariable ["unit_dam_total",_hp_curr_unit,true];
_unit setVariable ["unit_dam_incr",_hp_curr_unit,true];

_unit removeAllEventHandlers "HandleDamage";

_unit addEventhandler ["HandleDamage",{
params ["_unit","_hitSelection","_damage","_source","_projectile"];

_orig_dam = (_unit getVariable "unit_orig_hp");
_lives_left = (_unit getVariable "lives_left_unit");

_curr_dam = (_unit getVariable "unit_dam_total") + (_unit getVariable "unit_dam_incr");
_unit setVariable ["unit_dam_total",_curr_dam,true];

if (_lives_left < 1) exitWith {_unit removeAllEventHandlers "HandleDamage";};

if ((_projectile=="") or ((_unit getVariable "unit_dam_total")<1)) then {0} else {
    _unit setUnconscious true;
    _unit setCaptive true;
    [_unit,"I am down! Send help!"] remoteExec ["globalChat" ,0];
    _unit disableAI "ANIM";
    _lives_left = _lives_left - 1;
    _unit setVariable ["lives_left_unit",_lives_left,true]; // Stores the new lives left.
    _unit setVariable ["unit_dam_total",_orig_dam,true]; // Ai back to full health.
    [_unit] Spawn {
    params ["_unit"];
    _downtime_seconds = (_unit getVariable "downtime_unit");
    sleep _downtime_seconds;
    _unit setDamage 0;
    _unit enableAI "ANIM";
    _unit setUnconscious false;
    sleep 1;
    _unit setUnitPos "UP";
    _unit setCaptive false;
    };
}
}];

_unit addEventHandler ["killed", {
params ["_unit", "_killer"];

0 = [[_unit, _killer],{
        params [["_unit",objNull,[objNull]],["_killer",objNull,[objNull]]];
        removeAllActions _unit;
        systemChat format ["%2 has killed %1",name _unit,name _killer];
    }] remoteExecCall ["bis_fnc_call", [0,-2] select isDedicated,false];
}];

[
    _unit, 
    "Revive NPC", 
    "\a3\ui_f\data\IGUI\Cfg\holdactions\holdAction_reviveMedic_ca.paa",  
    "\a3\ui_f\data\IGUI\Cfg\holdactions\holdAction_reviveMedic_ca.paa",   
    "(_this distance _target < 4) && (lifeState _target == ""INCAPACITATED"")",                                                      
    "_caller distance _target < 4",
    {},
    {hintsilent format ["Healing Progress :%1 / 24",_this select 4] }, 
    { 
    params ["_target", "_caller", "_actionId", "_arguments"];
    sleep 0.1;
    private _orig_dam = (_target getVariable "unit_orig_hp");
    private _myOwner = _arguments select 0;
    _target setDamage 0;
    0 = [_target, {
        params[ ["_object",objNull,[objNull]] ];
        _object enableAI "ANIM";
        _object setUnconscious false;
        _object setUnitPos "UP";
        _object setCaptive false;
    }] remoteExecCall ["bis_fnc_call", _myOwner];
    _target setVariable ["unit_dam_total",_orig_dam,true];
    0 = [_target,"Thanks, I feel fine again!"] remoteExec ["globalChat" ,[0,-2] select isDedicated,false];
    }, 
    {}, 
    [_myOwner], 
    10,
    1000, 
    false,
    true                                                                        
] remoteExec ["BIS_fnc_holdActionAdd",[0,-2] select isDedicated,_unit];

 

 

I tried to make it as MP compatible as my limited knowledge allowed me to! (I've only tested on Hosted Servers). EDIT: Then came davidoss and fixed any locality issues remaining so not it should be fully MP compatible.

 

Usage: Inside a Unit's Init field in the EDEN editor add:

null = [this, 40, 2, 60] execVM "scripts\bossAi.sqf";

Where: 

"this" is the name of the unit that will have increased HP.
"40" is the ammount of HP the Unit will have. (40 health means units can take ~4 shots).
"2" is the amount of lives/revives the Unit will have. (0 lives disables the increased HP so 1 is minimum), Set it to 999 for immortal NPCs who for immersion's sake still go into incapacitated state!

"60" is the time in seconds the Ai unit will remain in Unconscious state.

 

Ver. 1.2 UPDATE 03/12/18: Completely rewritten the script from scratch!

Spoiler

 

- Added the much requested custom/increased Hit Points (HP) for Units feature: Finally you can easily set custom HP values for Units in Arma 3! 

- Heavily optimized the script by removing the while loop!

With this last update you can have for example boss battles where a unit with 200 health has to be taken down a few times before it is truly dead! Any Unit can become a predator, a super human and/or an important NPC who is harder (or easier) to kill.

 

 

Ver. 1.0 UPDATE 30/11/18: The davidoss update!

Spoiler

 

- Added improved Params to avoid potential errors (Thanks Davidoss!)

- Added HoldAction to revive incapacitated NPCs faster!

- Incapacitated NPCs are now also captives (So other Ais won't shoot them while down).

 

 

As always any optimization/improvement/request input is greatly appreciated!

 

PS: This my first ever script is dedicated to my first ever friends and idols here on the forums: Haleks, George Floros and Vandeanson!

This wouldn't have been possible without the knowledge I kindly received from the scripting/programming gurus Larrow, davidoss, pierremgi, phronk, johnnyboy and many others! So thank you very much guys!

[davidoss 552]

Hi there!

This could be written better but whatever if that works.

God for you!!

[LSValmont 789]

34 minutes ago, davidoss said:

Hi there!

This could be written better but whatever if that works.

God for you!!

 

Don't be greedy and teach me!

 

I've added this to 10 NPCs that act as traders on my mission and haven't seen any drops in FPSs but adding to more units should hurt performance I guess, because of all the EH + While loop! At least the loop ends when all the lives are spent =)

 

I am planning on adding a holdaction to the _unit when it is incapacitated so that players can make them stand up faster and without consuming a life!

[davidoss 552]

First lesson: :-D

instead:

 private ["_unit","_numlives"];
_unit = _this select 0;
_numlives = _this select 1; 

you can use:

private _paramsCheck = params [["_unit",objNull,[objNull]],["_numlives",0,[0]]];
if (!_paramsCheck) exitWith {diag_log format ["exiting script - wrong params given %1",str _this]};

This makes sure you will never see most common arma low scripting logic error ""Undefined variable",

and defining your params into variables and this all at  once

[gc8 977]

I think this is a great idea. But testing your script I noticed it was not possible finish off the incapacitated enemies

[davidoss 552]

They need to run out its _numlives first, after author add this to while loop condition.

[LSValmont 789]

6 hours ago, davidoss said:

you can use:

private _paramsCheck = params [["_unit",objNull,[objNull]],["_numlives",0,[0]]];
if (!_paramsCheck) exitWith {diag_log format ["exiting script - wrong params given %1",str _this]};

This makes sure you will never see most common arma low scripting logic error ""Undefined variable",

and defining your params into variables and this all at  once

 

Nice one! I've added this to the script and also:

 

- Made the incapacitated Ai also setcaptive true so that it is not attacked during their incapacitated state (they do not take damage anyway).

- Added a HoldAction to revive the incapacitated Ai faster.

[LSValmont 789]

3 hours ago, gc8 said:

I think this is a great idea. But testing your script I noticed it was not possible finish off the incapacitated enemies

 

Yeah, the whole Idea is that those NPCs are special and should not die so easily! You can set their lives to 1 with null = [this, 1] execVM "scripts\specialAi.sqf";

 

That way they will only go incapacitated once and you will be able to kill them while they are down but since I've added the HoldAction to revive them you can revive the Ai again even if it has no lives left! If you don't revive it on time or shoot it again then it is dead for good!

[LSValmont 789]

6 hours ago, davidoss said:

First lesson: :-D

 

Thank you davidoss! Keep em coming if you can! I've seen lots of interest in this script and it has improved a lot since I first envisioned it.

[davidoss 552]

Lesson two: :-D

You can easily take away hit eventhandler and move its code into handledammage eventhandler

 

instead:

 _unit addEventHandler ["HandleDamage",{
_dam = _this select 2; 
if (_dam > 0.9) then {_dam = 0.8; }; 
_dam
}];

_unit addEventHandler ["Hit",{ 
systemChat format ["%2 has attacked %1", name (_this select 0), name (_this select 1)] spawn BIS_fnc_MP;
}]; 

Try:

 

_unit addEventHandler ["HandleDamage",{
	params ["_unit", "", "_damage", "_source"];
	if (!isNull _source && {isPlayer _source}) then {
		0 = [format ["%2 has attacked %1", name _unit, name _source]] remoteExec ["systemChat",[0,-2] select isDedicated,false];
	};
	if (_damage > 0.9) then {_damage = 0.8}; 
	_damage
}];

HINT 1:

Never use functions if there is engine command available which will do the same but quicker.

HINT 2:

You do not need to bother dedicated server with action/chat/radio/&&   and increasing network traffic because there are no human behind.

Quote

[0,-2] select isDedicated

Works like:

false = 0

true = 1

hosted server =  false = select index 0 ---> 0 means everywhere

dedicated server =  true = select index 1 ---> -2  means everywhere besides server

 

Next will be unlimited ammo, but first lets wait if you have more questions about this one.

[LSValmont 789]

20 hours ago, davidoss said:

HINT 1:

Never use functions if there is engine command available which will do the same but quicker.

 

Ok got it! Updated the script!

 

Loving the unified code inside the "HandleDamage" addEventHandler.

 

Now that we are optimizing the "HandleDamage" addEventHandler may I ask if you can direct me towards a reliable way to reducing the damage these special Ai takes?

 

I've tried lots of "solutions" I found here on the forums involving the "HandleDamage" addEventHandler but none seem to do the trick.

 

Currently the NPCs go into incapacitated state after 2 shots (Rifles, pistols, anything) regardless of what I add to the  "HandleDamage" addEventHandler. I want them to take 4 or 5 shots before reaching that 0.8 damage. Also grenades (explosions) should still do full damage.

[LSValmont 789]

Update released!

 

Completely rewritten the script from scratch!

 

- Added the much requested custom/increased Hit Points (HP) for Units feature: Finally you can easily set custom HP values for Units in Arma 3! 

- Heavily optimized the script by removing the while loop!

With this last update you can have for example boss battles where a unit with 200 health has to be taken down a few times before it is truly dead! Any Unit can become a predator, a super human and/or an important NPC who needs to be kept alive.

 

Known issues

- Every time a unit is shot it will communicate it via systemChat too many times (A single shot is broadcast several times for some reason). I have commented this line until I find a solution. 

[GEORGE FLOROS GR 4207]

On 30/11/2018 at 5:50 AM, LSValmont said:

PS: This my first ever script is dedicated to my first ever friends and idols here on the forums: Haleks, George Floros and Vandeanson!

This wouldn't have been possible without the knowledge I kindly received from the scripting/programming gurus Larrow, davidoss, pierremgi, phronk, johnnyboy and many others! So thank you very much guys!

 

Congratulations for this LSValmont ! 

Keep up the good work !

[LSValmont 789]

Just now, GEORGE FLOROS GR said:

 

Congratulations for this LSValmont ! 

Keep up the good work !

 

I am just following your footsteps bro!

 

Thanks! I will!

[LSValmont 789]

Updated!

 

The script now includes various locality fixes by davidoss!

[JD Wang 352]

This looks awesome, should be perfect for a mission I've been wanting to make for a while where I needed some "super soldiers" 

[Rockapes 103]

I cant wait to give this a go. Thank you

[chewdog 12]

This script is outstanding! Really outside the box thinking here. I Just wanted to say BIG THANKS for this script. My health script was super lame. The below link is my mission I am using your script on.

 

Mission

 

I have had some real good laughs using this script. I made a captain you have to protect that cant move standing in a room with one door. If you leave the door open he will yell at you to "shut the door". If you leave the door open a sniper can kill him. This scenario has really made me and my friends laugh more then a few times.

 

<cheers>

[LSValmont 789]

3 hours ago, chewdog said:

This script is outstanding! Really outside the box thinking here. I Just wanted to say BIG THANKS for this script. My health script was super lame. The below link is my mission I am using your script on.

 

Mission

 

I have had some real good laughs using this script. I made a captain you have to protect that cant move standing in a room with one door. If you leave the door open he will yell at you to "shut the door". If you leave the door open a sniper can kill him. This scenario has really made me and my friends laugh more then a few times.

 

<cheers>

 

Thank you for your kind words chewdog, I am super happy to hear that the BossAi script was just what your mission needed and it is a lot of fun for your players. I am going to try it for sure this weekend!

[Jaden Vance 1]

This is a very interesting script, that would help my missions a lot. It also works on myself in singleplayer, as player, which I like it, but on multiplayer, my friends get instantly killed and not dropping unconscious, were I can revive/be revived until I run out of lives, which means the script works for me, but not at all for them (Except for AI's, there it works as it should)... Is there something I can do to make it work on other players as well? 

 

Edit: Also, Im not able to revive them, although the cycle fill up and the chat which thanks me appear, the player does not stand up and remain unconscious.

[mardoche1122 0]

Please help I did everything as you say but it doesnt work ..... pleas helpme

[LSValmont 789]

On 8/19/2019 at 6:34 AM, Jaden Vance said:

This is a very interesting script, that would help my missions a lot. It also works on myself in singleplayer, as player, which I like it, but on multiplayer, my friends get instantly killed and not dropping unconscious, were I can revive/be revived until I run out of lives, which means the script works for me, but not at all for them (Except for AI's, there it works as it should)... Is there something I can do to make it work on other players as well? 

 

Edit: Also, Im not able to revive them, although the cycle fill up and the chat which thanks me appear, the player does not stand up and remain unconscious.

 

This Script was made for Ai and not players and was not even tested in MP... but... I am working on another version that helps in multiplayer but is a lot more complex and also better.

 

Expect a release SOON TM 😉

[kremator 1065]

What about making a GIANT ai to be the boss 🙂

[Isiaah Daniel 0]

how is everyone doing?

[Gunter Severloh 4054]

You want to type @LSValmont

so the word is highlighted blue then it will actually send him a notice.

But anyways glad your here and took my advice to contact him, he was last on February 14th so, wait til he gets on again.