Give us the AI code. We can help.

[BeerHunter 0]

I sure the guys at BIS are up to their arm pits right now developing their new game (some space gamey thingy :p) while trying to maintain and debug their existing products.

The AI are an integral part of this game (SP and Co-Op) and deserve as much attention as the optimization and performance issues but these too are critical. It becomes a process of prioritization then and you aren't going to prioritize in the same order as the rest of us want you to.

There are , I'm sure , some members that frequent these forums that are proficient enough with the scripting/programming language being used that you could benefit from their expertise and reduce your work load. I'm also positive they would happily donate their services for just a wee bit of recognition.

Now I'm not saying hand out the code (or enlist the help) to everyone that e-mails but get a resume , references etc. and pick one or two of the best (btw - I'm not one of them :p ) and get them to help.(hey and don't forget the ND agreement either ;) )

We all benefit that way. BIS guys get a reduced work load and can concentrate on the critical performance areas of the game. Players get AI improvements faster.

It's win-win.

[PuFu 4600]

Give us the AI code. We can help.

1. You got the AI "code". It's in your game....sqf and FSM (plenty in A2) scripts.

2. "we" implies yourself as well. Can YOU help?

I'm sure , some members that frequent these forums that are proficient enough with the scripting/programming language being used that you could benefit from their expertise and reduce your work load. I'm also positive they would happily donate their services for just a wee bit of recognition.

hmmm...I always have this funny feeling when someone is trying to pass any type of workload to a very generic entity, and by no means to himself...Project Management FTW....

[InFireBaptize 0]

why some of you so anxious? give it sometime, have you not played ArmA previously. A large scaled game like this takes time to tidy up my friend.

[ActionMan 10]

1. You got the AI "code". It's in your game....sqf and FSM (plenty in A2) scripts.

2. "we" implies yourself as well. Can YOU help?

A lot of the problems with the AI would obviously go beyond the FSMs and related data. For example, crappy path-finding and obstacle avoidance, line of sight determination, audio sensors etc... All of this stuff I'm guessing is coded in the actual engine.

Other games like Half-Life 1/2, FEAR, etc have released their entire AI code-bases, which has been great for modders.

The issues that I mentioned above have been there since OFP, so I don't think they're high on BI's priority list. I for one would definitely lend a hand if I had access to the code for the AI's low-level systems.

[.kju 3245]

1) You can tweak AI values in configs. They have a very very big influence.

2) You can modify and tweak the AI fsm.

3) You can tweak AI control to a degree.

You cannot tweak AI pathfinding, formation (unless scripted) and other core parts.

[ActionMan 10]

You cannot tweak AI pathfinding, formation (unless scripted) and other core parts.

And that's why BeerHunter is asking for the code :p

[nuxil 2]

while your at it. why dont you just ask for the sourcecode for the game aswell..

[ActionMan 10]

while your at it. why dont you just ask for the sourcecode for the game aswell..

I know you're joking, but like I said, other games such as Half-Life 1 and 2 have released their games entire source code (not internal engine code though) and in return they've got some very high quality mods.

Counter-strike was originally a half-life mod, now it's massive...

[Big Dawg KS 6]

I know you're joking, but like I said, other games such as Half-Life 1 and 2 have released their games entire source code (not internal engine code though)

I would imagine that for the case of ArmA2, the AI code is what you would consider "internal engine code"... People need to stop comparing RV engine to other engines... rather stop comparing game engines at all. Different engine means (usually) different way of pretty much everything...

[BeerHunter 0]

Despite all the cynicism and sarcasm think you missed the point.

I'm fully aware that you can modify the values passed to the API via scripts but that doesn't help when it comes to getting the AI to stop trying to push that burning wreck off the road when all you want to do is get past it does it?

I wasn't suggesting in any way they post the code so it can be downloaded by anyone. I was suggesting enlist the aid of couple of EXPERIENCED programmers as more or less unpaid employees to help with the AI coding , at least until things settle down and some of the major performance bugs are worked out.

Maybe it's not even physically possible if the AI routines are hard coded into the engine itself.

Maybe no one would "volunteer" to help.

Anyway , t'was just a thought...:o

[Big Dawg KS 6]

BeerHunter, I'm not sure if you're aware of this but performance is also an important issue here. ArmA2's AI already require having a whole CPU core dedicated to them. While it may be possible to improve them, I ask at what cost to performance? Right now you can have quite a substantial amount of AI on the battlefield at once. Increase the amount of code (assuming hardware specs stay fixed) and you decrease the number of AI that can be active at one time.

Another thing... I think BIS are the most qualified to work on the AI for their game because they have been doing so longer than anyone else. If you start letting just anyone work on it they might do more harm than good. Just a thought.