Wildlife & Civilians

[coderdfox 0]

So I starting this because the William Blog thread is getting off topic with wildlife. Currently BIS has said that there are wildlife in ARMA, but all we have see so far is bees, butterflys and birds.

Alot of people would love:

Dogs

Foxes

Sheep

Snakes

If BIS cant do this maybe a mod team could.

So lets talk about wildlife in ARMA along with civilians.

Here are some pics from VBS1 from Mr Reality

[Dockery 0]

I wonder if you could put them in a group. You know, like a herd of sheep, or like one or two deer.

[Spyder001 1]

I hope there are deer and ducks, we can have hunting events lol. Then you can interact with the dogs to go retrive it.

I think the coolest thing is civilians, it'll be pretty neat setting up checkpoints. Your have to stop them, seach their vehicle, or tell them to turn around.

[Ukraineboy 0]

A couple points.

Would this be a nice feature? Yes

Would this be a nice feature if it delayed the process of ArmA? No

If this can be implemented easily, and does not effect development time then this would be interesting as an option to have. I understand this has been implemented in VBS1, but I am not a BIS developer and thus I cannot speculate how hard or easy it would be to implement into ArmA.

As for this as an option, would be interesting sure. But once bigger computer hogging mods come out, will the majority of players have it turned on? Probably not.

[bravo 6 0]

I would like to have those kinda wildlife in arma.

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Real wildlife is a must. I can't see why they should leave it out of ArmA

[bravo 6 0]

Yes, they said it would be natural wildlife in ARMA but i just wounder wich ones..

anymore ideas then the ones showed up?

[Journeyman 0]

How are the wildlife placed onto a map in VBS1? Are they 'self functioning' or do they need waypoints like civilians etc in order to move around and 'do things'?

If the wildlife is 'self functioning' then this is definitely gonna give a huge fun factor into the game! Especially so if each animal was able to have it's own AI parameters. For example if you put several sheep into a pen they would behave normally grazing away like they do! But if you then put a dog into the same pen the dog would go crazy trying to catch the sheep while the sheep would be panicking and trying to escape!

.... Now that’s what I would call realism!  

Also do the animals in VBS1 have credible AI, or are they limited to a set of predefined animations and responses regardless of events around them?  

[bravo 6 0]

If the wildlife is 'self functioning' then this is definitely gonna give a huge fun factor into the game! Especially so if each animal was able to have it's own AI parameters. For example if you put several sheep into a pen they would behave normally grazing away like they do! But if you then put a dog into the same pen the dog would go crazy trying to catch the sheep while the sheep would be panicking and trying to escape!

.... Now that’s what I would call realism!

Nice idea!

i would add this:

chickens and foxes, rabbits and boxes with the same behaviour you mentioned. Would be nice.

[Spoock 3]

snakes in grass

[Commando84 0]

snakes on a airplane..

no but seriously ii think it would be very cool with animals, especially if they can do some sounds randomingly or to whats ahappening around them, wolves , rabbits, kangaroo's , camels , horses , dogs. Dogs should maybe even be in the east , west and civilian and res if there is one system.

vulture would be cool to or crows to add the right dark atmosphere to night patrols or guard duty missions or to zombie mayhem missions

[Heatseeker 0]

How are the wildlife placed onto a map in VBS1? Are they 'self functioning' or do they need waypoints like civilians etc in order to move around and 'do things'?

If the wildlife is 'self functioning' then this is definitely gonna give a huge fun factor into the game! Especially so if each animal was able to have it's own AI parameters. For example if you put several sheep into a pen they would behave normally grazing away like they do! But if you then put a dog into the same pen the dog would go crazy trying to catch the sheep while the sheep would be panicking and trying to escape!

.... Now that’s what I would call realism!

Also do the animals in VBS1 have credible AI, or are they limited to a set of predefined animations and responses regardless of events around them?

Most are self functioning when placed in groups, i.e. roos or rabbits running and hopping around with no waypoints, dogs and foxes are not agressive though. I think it would be hard to implement atack and bite anims for some animals and maybe not even worth the work since it would be hard.

I think atleast rabbits, dogs and sheep should be in Arma, ofcourse i wouldnt complain if they made more .

[Freshman 0]

Would be really great. No more ambient sounds just with a trigger. Real animals making them.

Or just think about what dynamic missions they may bring. Think of an animal that runs over the street and gets hit by an vehikle that takes dammage and needs to be repaired somewhere in the middle of nowhere on hostile terrain.

Just as an example.

[chipper 0]

Driving on the roads can be even more dangerous cause you have to worry about smashing into deer. Especially at night.

[sniper pilot 36]

How are the wildlife placed onto a map in VBS1? Are they 'self functioning' or do they need waypoints like civilians etc in order to move around and 'do things'?

If the wildlife is 'self functioning' then this is definitely gonna give a huge fun factor into the game! Especially so if each animal was able to have it's own AI parameters. For example if you put several sheep into a pen they would behave normally grazing away like they do! But if you then put a dog into the same pen the dog would go crazy trying to catch the sheep while the sheep would be panicking and trying to escape!

.... Now that’s what I would call realism!

Also do the animals in VBS1 have credible AI, or are they limited to a set of predefined animations and responses regardless of events around them?

Most are self functioning when placed in groups, i.e. roos or rabbits running and hopping around with no waypoints, dogs and foxes are not agressive though. I think it would be hard to implement atack and bite anims for some animals and maybe not even worth the work since it would be hard.

I think atleast rabbits, dogs and sheep should be in Arma, ofcourse i wouldnt complain if they made more .

I wish there were ways to connect animations/ models, ie: a dog latching on to your arm, or some one draging a wounded buddy to saftey.

[dmarkwick 261]

As long as it doesn't take up any of the AI slots necessary for the soldiers it would be cool. Probably the best implementation for it is to "spawn" random animals appropriate for the environment in an area localised around you, kind of a "bubble" of wildlife. And when things kick off no-one would notice if they all dissappeared, I mean how often do you see rabbits hopping around on a battlefield?

Keep it tied to framerates, lose them if it gets choppy too.

[Bloodnick 0]

I wonder if there will be civilian hunters It was a bit boring in ofp that only resistance hunters began with the shotgun

And I hope snakes and other poisonous animals can crawl onto your vehicle and your player completely freaks out and the get bitten

[mr reality 0]

If i made a mission including any of the VBS1 wildlife i would have them deleted when the players squad was past them so the FPS were kept down. I made a mission for myself which had kangaroos moving around in groups using there inbuilt scripts and it was quite hazardous while driving along a road as they could suddenly run out infront. It didn't damage the vehicle in anyway as similar to mowing down a civi but the immersion was great. I also had to clear an airstrip of wandering kangaroos which was fun as i hunted them down in this  

In MP it would be great if your squad were lying in a field and one of your team was pre-occupied by seeing a snake slither past him. Now if the snake could bite, that soldier would have to move and maybe give your position away. That was the main problem with VBS animals in that they don't react to any sudden nosies and the dog and fox especially has no Ai to speak of as they just follows the waypoints you give them.

One of my missions had a fox run across a field at night where the player had to cross but wether the player actually saw it or not is irrelivent as it was still there. Knowing there could be something in the bush or grass up ahead is what gives you the immersion of a living island.

Oblivion has butterflies flying around but they also fly at night which ruins the immersion for me personally so i hope ArmAs has atleast addressed some issues of no birds flying around the hours of 12am - 4 am. It seems a little too realistic but thats the way i am folks........

[Journeyman 0]

Most are self functioning when placed in groups, i.e. roos or rabbits running and hopping around with no waypoints, dogs and foxes are not agressive though. I think it would be hard to implement atack and bite anims for some animals and maybe not even worth the work since it would be hard.

Quote[/b] ]the main problem with VBS animals in that they don't react to any sudden nosies and the dog and fox especially has no Ai to speak of as they just follows the waypoints you give them.

So the animals in VBS1 have inbuilt movement scripts but can also be directed by waypoints? Do the movement scripts have adjustable/editable configs?

Hmmm, maybe if BIS does not include many creatures it will be possible to import/mod those from VBS1!

I would love to see a Jurassic Park mod for ArmA! The JP mod for OFP never really worked that well due to all the limitations of the engine, but was brilliantly scary to play! A JP mod for ArmA could kick some serious butt if animals are better supported!  

[Ukraineboy 0]

Real wildlife is a must. I can't see why they should leave it out of ArmA

I don't know if it can be called a "must". I don't think it's on the level with multiple gunners. Sure if they exclude animals, for a few days some people would complain. After the first few days, you'll forget about it completely.

[coderdfox 0]

I had made a basic scripts for a bunch of civilians. What they would do is randomly set way points between 0 and 100 units away.

Example:

wander.sqs

~2

#start

_this setbehaviour "safe"

_this DoMove [(getpos city select 0) + random 100, (getpos city select 1) + random 100]

~random 20

goto "start"

This caused the civilians to walk around. The next version of my script was going to be a player radius based script.

Now this could be done with animals if you could add

1. run away when loud sounds happen.

2 run away when people are nearby.

3. ect others

[Chunder 0]

Hmmm, what about cows you know, the things island populations usually have so they have a meat and milk supply? What about fences to keep the animals in? I always found a strange thing in any so called war simulation, how vehecles can just drive over open countryside without any fences, rivers etc. Apparently the civilian population just 'live' Without any food supplies, no supermarket, no civilian trucks, no water supply, no fences to keep what they own in, no markets or factories, no building equipment, They would have to be the slackest islanders ever all living off social security, Least there will be wildlife even if it's implementation is dodge, I can just imagine sheep wandering aimlessly over open countryside and people thinking 'wow this game is real' General wildlife that fossics about at day is cool enough though.

Kangaroos sleepp during the day and eat at morning and night

Foxes are up at dusk through the night till early morning.

Sheep and cows have fences to keep them in.

Snakes are out in summer and usually only when it's hot enough.

However wild goats and pigs deer as such could be cool enough.

[dreday 1]

Real wildlife is a must. I can't see why they should leave it out of ArmA

I don't know if it can be called a "must". I don't think it's on the level with multiple gunners. Sure if they exclude animals, for a few days some people would complain. After the first few days, you'll forget about it completely.

I agree. It would certainly be nice to have wildlife, but is more of a novelty...

Given a choice between developers spending their time on wildlife or developing functional field fortifications (just as an example); I would much rather go with the later.

Peace,

DreDay

[frederf 0]

Given a choice between developers spending their time on wildlife or developing functional field fortifications (just as an example); I would much rather go with the later.

Peace,

DreDay

Agree

[Spitfire23rd 0]

I'd like to see some children in OFP and definately more civilains, I mean in OFP people do inhabit towns but when you drive through one there not there. Have they gone out? Have they dug a massive hole to a diffrent country? I mean really, I'd like to see a town of people, fighting breaking out and civilians running away only to get mowed down by a machine gunner! Radical!