Durg's Vegetation Fix

[durg78 0]

<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>Durg's Vegetation Fix</span>

The purpose of this mod is to fix the AI's ability to "see through trees/bushes". ***There has been much debate on these forums

on this topic. ***The AI's vision is indeed blocked by vegetation, however not very well. ***While their vision is blocked,

it's not blocked in the same way that our vision is. ***This following images should clearify things a bit.

This image shows the tree "str lipa" as we see it in game.

This is the same tree as the AI see it. This is the tree's View Geometry.

I have modified the View Geometry to better match how we see the trees.

To further show the difference, the following images show the two different View Geometry's superimposed over the textured tree.

Here you can see poor coverage of the top, left and right sides of the tree, while the bottom is slightly over covered.

Here you can see a more accurate coverage. ***While it's not perfect, it is a major improvement.

Not all (but most) vegetation have been fixed in this way, as some had a fairly decent View Geometry already. Grass has not been modified.

<span style='font-size:23pt;line-height:100%'>Results</span>

Performance: Amazingly, there is no noticable impact on performance.

Gameplay: You can now use trees and bushes as cover without worrying if the AI can see you when they shouldn't be able to.

<span style='font-size:23pt;line-height:100%'>Installation</span>

1) Open the .rar file and copy the "@DurgsVegetationFix" folder to your ArmA directory.

2) Go to the ArmA\@DurgsVegetationFix\tools directory and run the Durgs_Vegetation_Fix.bat file.

3) Add -mod=@DurgsVegetationFix to your ArmA shortcut OR use the Kegetys ArmA Launcher.

This procedure does NOT modify/replace your existing plants.pbo.

<span style='font-size:19pt;line-height:100%'>To make this mod work with Kegety's LowPlants</span>

NOTE: When I make a reference to the "ArmA" folder, I'm refering to the folder where ArmA is installed. ***If you have the Atari version, this would be C:\Program Files\Atari\ArmA

(assuming you installed to your C: drive)

1) If you've already installed lowplants, then delete the Arma\lowplants folder.

2) Install Durg's Vegetation Fix (Refer to the installation instructions above)

3) You will now install lowplants. However, when it asks for the location of your ArmA directory, choose ArmA\@DurgsVegetationFix

This will create the following directory structure:

ArmA\@DurgsVegetationFix\lowplants\addons

4) Copy the 2 pbo's in that folder to ArmA\@DurgsVegetationFix\Addons

When asked if you want to overwrite the existing plants.pbo choose yes

NOTE: This does NOT overwrite the original game's plants.pbo!!

5) Delete the ArmA\@DurgsVegetationFix\lowplants folder

6) ENJOY!

<span style='font-size:23pt;line-height:100%'>Download</span>

Download from:

Aramholic

Edited August 8, 2009 by durg78

[manzilla 1]

Alright. Checking it now

[-duke- 0]

Loox great but I do have a question, is this only SP compatible?

[william1 0]

most interesting

[durg78 0]

Loox great but I do have a question, is this only SP compatible?

According to the rules of Locality.  In a MP scenario, this mod will effect ALL AI with the exception of the AI that are under the command of a client who is not running the mod.

If both Server and all Clients run this mod, then there is no problem.

If A client runs this mod, but the server is not, then any AI under this player's command are effected by the mod (while others are not).   This can be considered cheating, so Please don't do this.

[durg78 0]

To further demonstrate the changes (and how bad some of these trees were), here are a few more comparison pics.

Tree: hrusen2

Before

After

Tree:jablon

Before

After

[Snake Man 407]

I'm interested to know in more details how did you create/edit the objects?

[rowdied 44]

Will this work with Kegetys lowplant addon?

Excellent work by the way.

[Dwarden 1125]

another gem ... early xmas  

(...for server side AI this is nice way to go ...)

Will this work with Kegetys lowplant addon?

Excellent work by the way.

they replacing same files so i guess answer is no ...

[LeftSkidLow 1]

AHHH! So that means I have to choose between better FPS or better gameplay, how could I ever make a decision?

[ArmaVidz 0]

right on congrats

[Dwarden 1125]

AHHH! So that means I have to choose between better FPS or better gameplay, how could I ever make a decision?

just pray for addon makers cooperation

[wolfsblut_ 0]

To further demonstrate the changes (and how bad some of these trees were), here are a few more comparison pics.

Tree: hrusen2

Godamn ... so helpfull to get realistic sneak-feelings also against the AI.

But c'mon, it must be fair. You should not block the free sight at the tree-border. So i prefer smaller block-squares at the tree-edges.  

Nevertheless this is a beautiful fix.

[Sevan 0]

very nice! I'm really like the recent batch of mods being released.

Too bad it does not work with lowplants.

[Rocco 0]

Is it confirmed that it doesn't work with Kegetys? Would be a huge downside. Another problem are the edges of the tree, the ai doesnt seem to see you, even though your half body is visible.

[raedor 8]

This hardly can't have an effect on performance...

[ArmaVidz 0]

To further demonstrate the changes (and how bad some of these trees were), here are a few more comparison pics.

Tree: hrusen2

Godamn ... so helpfull to get realistic sneak-feelings also against the AI.

But c'mon, it must be fair. You should not block the free sight at the tree-border. So i prefer smaller block-squares at the tree-edges.  

Nevertheless this is a beautiful fix.

Well, considering soldiers do have camo, and assuming that they are smart enough not to use desert cam, in north island, one would expect a woodland cam, being the dark green it is, not be very visible when sticking out from a dark green bush. Call me an pessimistic-realist?

Context I would expect a desert cam to stick out like sore thumb, thusly dictating a change in the modification whereas we have cam to match the scenery so perhaps we just change the cam to suit the surroundings. Call me crazy lol.

I would rather have the trees with the viewblock on the outter edges of the plants, simply because any human would know, or could infer, how visible they are by judging the distance of their body to the position they are at, near the bush. Otherwise, there could be a huge guessing game as to where the geometry ends and where the soldiers pasty-colored butt begins!

[Thunderbird 0]

Quote[/b] ]Will this work with Kegetys lowplant addon?

Yes, it works, simply replace the original plants.pbo by the new one generated by kegetys (make a backup if you don't trust the addon's authour enough, heh) in ArmA\Addons.

Then install the new vegetation Fix, it would use kegetys lowplants to get installed.

regards,

TB

[Guest]

Frontpaged at the Armaholic.com homepage.

The Armaholic.com download page can be found here:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=2314

This will be a difficult choice choosing which "improvement addon" to use

I vote for co-operation as said above as well  

[edit]

Oww, it seems you can use them both. Well I will have to see that when I get home and can try this myself

[Panda-PL- 0]

Won't it work in MP Coop if you just use this fix on server and Lowplants on clients?

In which case you'd have the best of both.

[dmarkwick 261]

OK, this is great I see that we are both on the same page as far as VB goes

As far as performance goes, I've yet to see this in action but as I got a speed boost with Lowplants recently I'm sure things, at worst, will balance out. I can only say that my VB smoke does affect performance, but only in intense battles. VB in general is quite "cheap".

[malick 0]

This is great if it can be used in conjunction with Kegety's replacement vegetation...

Thank you for your time ! Gonna test this tonight

Malick

[whisper 0]

This hardly can't have an effect on performance...

Considering the amount of calculation of LoS with these new LoD (3D geometry looks way more complex with this mod), it may impact CPU

Beware also, this does not change the second reason behind the "AI sees through bushes" syndrom, ie supernatural audio-power of AI soldiers They should still be able to spot and track you by ears.

[Shins 0]

Can we get some clarification on how this could be used on dedi servers? If one ran this on thier server, would that then effect all clients or would each client need the addon to avoid conflicts?

[raedor 8]

If the server has the addon installed, the AI (beside the AI in player-lead groups) sees the new Geo LODs, no matter what the clients have.