Visual cover in grass over distance.

[KeyCat 131]

True, a setknowsabout value would be ideal. But I tried to find solutions using the tools that we have, not the tools that we should have.

Agree I was somewhat hoping to see a new "setKnowsAbout" in ArmA but maybe BIS thought deeper and setTargetAge can be used instead?

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

player setTargetAge "UNKNOWN"

However I can be totally wrong here since I haven't got time to test it yet but it's on my to-do list and it would still be nice to have a setKnowsAbout command. Also hopes BIS do something with the concealing in grass so no additional scripts are required for that!

/KC

[dentist guba 0]

my suggestion for making the AI react to concealment realistically, in terms of firing randomly, would be to make a kind of universal "supression" mode, triggered by certain conditions. this would allow AI to supress people behind full cover, partial cover, and concealment. obviously this would have to be unit specific so that machine gunners are more likely to use it. i suppose you could have a value set for each unit type and some calculations to figure out when they should be in supressive mode.

the problem with this is that AI use of cover would need to be sorted otherwise they would get slaughtered.

the problem with spawning targets around the player is that the AI would probably just fire at one of them, as if they are certain it is the player.

[KeyCat 131]

Seems I was totally wrong! setTargetAge did squat to a units knowsAbout value

/KC

[MamiyaOtaru 1]

Looks really good in Joint Operations.

They just draw the parts of the body that are over the height of the grass.

However, Novalogic has at last solved the problem of snipers and grass. A 3D engine won't render incidental foliage like grass at long ranges. So a sniper lying in grass that might obstruct his own vision is just going to look like he's lying out in the open when someone sees him from a long way off, say, through a sniper scope. But in Joint Operations, when you lay down in grass, your character model turns the same color as the ground when you're viewed from a distance. You won't be entirely invisible; an astute observer scanning the terrain with his binoculars can pick you out. But the average Joe running and gunning with an M-14 isn't going to spot you and pick you off from 500 meters. - http://pc.gamespy.com/pc....p1.html

Here's a picture of the effect applied to someone standing in grass (not prone) with the lower half of his body colored like the ground http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?....sg4.jpg

That seems a good way to do it, no messing around with transparency, simply applying the local ground texture (wholy or partly) to the parts of him that are lower than the grass level.  It also won't make him invisible.  If he moves it will stand out a little more, as it would IRL.

Now, in some ways transparency would be better, as illustraded by the linked pic.  The "concealed" lower half of him stands out against the road behind him, while if his lower half was transparent it would not.  Still, it seems a good tradeoff since applying a different texture seems like it would be easier than making half of him see-thru.

Really, without some method of concealing people in grass from a distance, the grass is useless.  Something has to be done, and this seems a good way to do it (it would obviously have to be combined with AI not being as likely to see the player in grass).

[Rhodite 3]

By way of interest pertaining to the grass in ArmA and the known issues.

I hear these issues have been addressed, although I cannot confirm wether it will be in the forthcomming patch or not.

[MamiyaOtaru 1]

I hear these issues have been addressed, although I cannot confirm wether it will be in the forthcomming patch or not.

Excellent news.  Here's hoping they didn't put a lot of effort into a substandard solution, but rather were able to fix it very well with a minimum of sweat and cursing!  Eagerly awaiting more specific info.

[Zendjir 0]

Good news indeed. But I don't mind whether an amount of sweat and cursing was involved, just that they fixed it .

[KeyCat 131]

I hear these issues have been addressed, although I cannot confirm wether it will be in the forthcomming patch or not.

Great indeed! ArmA matures like an old fine single malt and I'm sure it will be another classic when all wrinkels are ironed out.

To bad for the impatient whiners that are leaving, but hey it's their loss

/KC

[znashin 0]

Quote[/b] ]Patch 1.05 is an important release, it will feature new improvements such as the ability for [...] players to hide in grass.

From the interview with Marek at Armed Assault Info.

I'm sure it will be the alpha blending seen in Joint Ops. There were pre-release screen shots that clearly showed it in effect. It just didn't make it into the release. I hope it works on the ai in some shape or form.

[Maddmatt 1]

There were pre-release screen shots that clearly showed it in effect. It just didn't make it into the release. I hope it works on the ai in some shape or form.

Could you link to those screens? I never noticed that myself and I would like to see it.

[znashin 0]

There were pre-release screen shots that clearly showed it in effect. It just didn't make it into the release. I hope it works on the ai in some shape or form.

Could you link to those screens? I never noticed that myself and I would like to see it.

Sorry Matt, no. I've tried looking for the thread and the shots loads of times with no joy. The thread had a similar name to this one but was on the old boards, not sure if they are still in the forum's database. The shots had soldiers in grass upto their boots, shins and knees with a very clear blurring/blending effect obscuring the covered part of their legs. Very impressive effect, much better than that JO shot. If done well this could be a real seller for a alot of people so fingers crossed it's well implemented.

[Maddmatt 1]

Sorry Matt, no. I've tried looking for the thread and the shots loads of times with no joy. The thread had a similar name to this one but was on the old boards, not sure if they are still in the forum's database. The shots had soldiers in grass upto their boots, shins and knees with a very clear blurring/blending effect obscuring the covered part of their legs. Very impressive effect, much better than that JO shot. If done well this could be a real seller for a alot of people so fingers crossed it's well implemented.

I'll take your word for it then, I've seen it mentioned before .