ARMA II Beta Builds Released: Latest version/build: 1.04.6xxxx

[^Th0mas^ 10]

Lots of AI fixes here, but hope they keep working on AI driving and path finding.

[Falco1.01 19]

Lots of AI fixes here, but hope they keep working on AI driving and path finding.

Yeah, path fiding should be more eficient. My Team never folows me precisely (at least one of them always gets in trouble by chosing a dangeours path while in stealth mode) For driving is quite better now, but there is always room for improvement

[thr0tt 12]

maybe maxframes-ahead has changed for you?

Maybe, as I am not changing anything this is what my config looks like, If its randomly changing items that will be fun:

language="English";

adapter=-1;

3D_Performance=93750;

Resolution_Bpp=32;

Resolution_W=1680;

Resolution_H=1050;

refresh=60;

Render_W=1680;

Render_H=1050;

FSAA=2;

postFX=2;

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1000;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=3;

HDRPrecision=8;

lastDeviceId="";

localVRAM=1065852928;

nonlocalVRAM=1475604480;

Windowed=0;

winX=16;

winY=32;

winW=1680;

winH=1050;

winDefW=1680;

winDefH=1050;

[santafee 10]

The latest Beta seems good so far. Got little better performance and the problem with the Squad Command, which i had seems to be fixed.

- Squad is trying to stay close to the leader now, like it was in 1.4.

[behaviour Safe or Aware; Crouch or Up;]

Still a Problem!:

-Copy my Stance

Is not working. Squad is not gettin crouch if player does. Squad is lying down AND crouching if player goes prone.

-Command Text Issue

I allways wondered why there is not "Copy my Stance" in the CommandOptions.

For me its just 2x the Crouch option. The last of it makes the player say "copy my stance"; pleaes fix that!

[Alex72 1]

Maybe, as I am not changing anything this is what my config looks like, If its randomly changing items that will be fun:

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1000;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=3;

1000 means its not even set. Try "1" on both. Or "0" on both. Various experiences on different PC's.

Alex

[maddogx 13]

1000 means its not even set. Try "1" on both. Or "0" on both. Various experiences on different PC's.

Alex

You can leave the DetectedFrames setting alone. It's just displaying the value that's being used by the game.

[jw custom 56]

Possible solutions:

+ increase AI spotting/scanning range for units with binocular and scopes (add a small delay to verify them as neutral or friendly or enemy)

+ increase the AI firing range according to their weapons but avoid 1000m sniper-headshots with assault rifles

And then make the setSkill command actually work:

_unit setskill ["spotDistance",1] // would make the _unit spot the enemy within long distance.

_unit setskill ["spotDistance",0.1] // would make the _unit spot the enemy within short distance.

_unit setskill ["aimingAccuracy",1] // would make the _unit a very skilled shot.

_unit setskill ["aimingAccuracy",0.1] // would make the _unit a very poor shot.

Just wanted to mention it again :)

[Colt45_GTO 10]

found my pilots get confused. also when i buy tank uints and get all to regroup, my tankees go the oposit way. if i select all tank units and command them to move to a certain location they reply but dont know how unless i select one at a time.

apart from that everything els seems fine.

[Bouben 3]

5 Steps to greatness

• Bounding Steps are too short
  -While the current bounding distance (and time) may be theoretically correct, in practice it often proves inefficient. Often an AI soldier will end a bound between covers, such as the middle of a road. This would not be a problem if they did 'quick bounds' and only crouching; but when getting down involves going prone. They spend too much time posturing and not moving.
  -Increasing bounding distance by some 20-40% would be a functional compromise of realism and utility. Not to mention greatly speeding combat speed.
  
• Immediacy of Commands (Get in, First aid, others)
  -When a commander orders a soldier to 'Get in' or 'Heal' whilst in combat mode; the AI will often spend an inordinate amount of time posturing, bounding, and messing about. With a human commander he will in a vast amount of situations have the foresight to provide area security before ordering any such thing. Finally in the dynamic nature of a firefight speed is often of the essence!
  -Therefore I suggest that AI commanded to perform those type of tasks; temporarily gets shifted to 'aware' mode.
  
• AI does not recognize crouched position
  -Going crouched, perhaps to peek over the ubiquitous grasslayer or a low wall, is a death sentence for your AI subordinates. The AI will cheerfully stand up (no matter the ROE) and possible expose themselves both to enemy fire and observation.
  The AI should ideally recognize this.
  
• Stealth mode in its current form is near useless
  -The latest beta makes it possible to go prone without triggering combat mode. Even so an AI set to stealth mode is entirely overconcerned with getting into cover, and will might run or even sprint to achieve it!
  -This works entirely against the purpose of sneaking and breaks the visual immersion. A simple fix would be to force a limited speed while STEALTH mode is used. The AI might bound or seek cover; but only while sneaking or creeping forward at slower speed.
  
• Drop down to a knee
  -Sometimes when moving towards a possible enemy location I will order AI troops to take up overwatch positions. While they do so quite efficiently (often using cover in the process) they often stand up. When a squad leader orders someone to take a specific position; he often does so for a reason! In ARMA2 where weapons are accurate and deadly, being seen is often a death sentence.
  -It would be great if soldiers ordered to "stop" or "move-there" would prefer going crouched upon reaching their destination. Theyll be better hidden and better able to return fire.

Betas

The new changes to DELTA and LINE(compact) are welcome. Albeit the new 'soft' formations somewhat limit the effectiveness of these formations. It'd be great if the AI would prioritize staying close when these are used.

Also LINE(compact) seems somewhat broken. In a squad of six soldiers. If soldiers #2, #3, and #4 are set to move somewhere. Soldiers #5 and #6 won't stack up close to the squad leader. Instead occuping the spots they would normally be in; if the entire group was set to follow the Squad leader.

- k

+1:thumbs-up: very usefull input

---------- Post added at 01:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 PM ----------

And then make the setSkill command actually work:

_unit setskill ["spotDistance",1] // would make the _unit spot the enemy within long distance.

_unit setskill ["spotDistance",0.1] // would make the _unit spot the enemy within short distance.

_unit setskill ["aimingAccuracy",1] // would make the _unit a very skilled shot.

_unit setskill ["aimingAccuracy",0.1] // would make the _unit a very poor shot.

Just wanted to mention it again :)

Also very needed feature. +1

[NoRailgunner 0]

Sorry forgot to write that all infantry units were set in Pustoshka-test to the highest skill = 1. Didnt test it with SuperAI. ;)

As long as the default AI do have binoculars/scoped weapons they should use it to spot/reveal distant contacts. Its very strange to see both groups facing each other doing nothing - until their hear a shot. :confused:

Imho the AI should reveal infantry contacts if they're within 800m.

[Bouben 3]

Sorry forgot to write that all infantry units were set in Pustoshka-test to the highest skill = 1. Didnt test it with SuperAI. ;)

As long as the default AI do have binoculars/scoped weapons they should use it to spot/reveal distant contacts. Its very strange to see both groups facing each other doing nothing - until their hear a shot. :confused:

Imho the AI should reveal infantry contacts if they're within 800m.

Yes, I don't understand why this feature isn't used in ARMA 2 since at least OFP has it.

[TRexian 0]

800m is a LONG way - even with a scope. If you aren't sure where to look (and sometimes even if you are) that's too far to reliably make out someone in cover.

[jw custom 56]

Just played a little with newest beta and AI is a real pain to control.

AI doesn't seem to leave combat mode so when it's time to move on AI keeps proning, covering and whatnot. Since the 2 last betas AI has become extremely annoying and i really don't hope this AI behaviour will be in final patch :(

I gave up playing in Avgani with this new beta and the one before, it's next to impossible!

[.kju 3245]

You can easily return to an earlier beta.

Just rename it to betaXXXX. -mod=betaXXX

[jw custom 56]

You can easily return to an earlier beta.

Just rename it to betaXXXX. -mod=betaXXX

Yes i know but i'm reporting back on newest beta and expressed how much of a pain AI is now :)

[SnR 1]

60803 is out, got no idea what the change is ?

[jw custom 56]

60803 is out, got no idea what the change is ?

It was supposed to fix the AI problems brought by the previous patch but it didn't!

[Bouben 3]

Tested new beta 803 a little and found out this:

Nothing from previously mentioned problems in my longer post about AI behaviour has been fixed.

AI has still problems to leave DANGER mode while there is no more enemy around.

But it is not that simple. I've found this behaviour:

Your AI group will actualy leave the danger mode, if you or them killed an enemy. But to fulfil this an enemy mustn't fire a single bullet.

Simply: if your squad kill an unprepared enemy soldier - so the enemy soldier wasn't able to fire a single shot - so your squad didn't come under fire - they will come in to normal aware mode after the enemy soldier is killed.

But when the enemy soldier managed to take a shot (as I said, one shot is enough), your squad is then totally unable to go back into the aware mode (although the enemy soldier is dead already) and keeps bounding and scaning enviroment and going prone and crouch and finding some cover = they're slow as hell and you must wait. Problem is, that they will NEVER switch back to aware mode again if this situation happens.

Summary:

It is said in the changeLog, that:

"[60718] Changed: AI now goes to Combat behaviour automatically only when under fire, not when player is prone."

- not true: each time when they found an enemy they will slow down a little, aim at the enemy and if you don't move a few seconds, then they go crouch and prone and often change a position as if they wanted to go to cover. They will not switch back though a situation has been solved (enemy is dead = safe) but the enemy managed to take a shot before died.

"[60718] Changed: AI follows leader stance, but does not switch to combat behaviour when player is prone."

- half true: they will not go crouch when you do and they will sometimes go crouch and stand up (that's critical - it happens mostly when you are moving and AI is not able to keep up with your movement, or when an enemy is found) despite you are prone and in aware mode.

EDIT:

Here is the test mission: http://leteckaposta.cz/963339909

And instructions in spoiler:

1. Start the mission.

2. Set your team to HOLD FIRE mode and DIAMOND (Ätverec) formation. You can choose either SAFE or AWARE mode. Impact on AI's behaviour is minimal.

3. Go straight ahead to the hangar's corner and lean out. You will see the enemy soldier standing near the fireplace and showing his back to you. He is not aware of your group at all.

4. Report him to your squad and watch what happens. Every member of your squad who doesn't have the enemy soldier in his line of sight will stay in normal, properly functional aware position yet.

5. So run closer to the enemy soldier (as close as you can get) and you will see that since your members have the enemy in their LOS they will start to act as if in the combat mode.

So when you're already close to the enemy soldier, your squad is delayed and you have to wait for them quite long time in a context of military action.

What you can find out from the mission is that your squad will follow you more properly with less bounding overwatching when you walk instead of running.

And sometimes but often happens, that if you or someone else from your squad have already killed the enemy soldier, they still tend to stay in somehow combat mode and are really slow (most often when enemy had shooted some bullets on your squad before got killed). And this could last for tens of minutes or forever I don't know exactly. But it is more likely to happen when number of enemies were higher than one but they are also all killed anyway. But it is not said, that it will happen everytime you try to reproduce it. Anyway, player has no possibility of forcing them back to calm status, because we can't say to our squad "area clear" or something like that.

And problem with taking cover can be reproduced in any situation in any time in any mission. AI will set to combat mode and start bounding overwatch. Proper behaviour IMHO should be AI taking cover as if in the combat mode (leaning, crouching behind walls etc), but not moving in bounding overwatch. They should run REALLY FAST as if in the careless mode and then hide and only after that start shooting from cover. They should not stop and scan in open, when bullets are flying around them. Priority is to take cover, not to shoot at enemy. But I think there have been some better articles about that with possible solutions too.

* Mission reproduced without any modifications running and with this config:

skillFriendly=0.89999998;

skillEnemy=0.89999998;

precisionFriendly=0.7;

precisionEnemy=0.5;

I've found one more thing.

When you NOT STOP on your way to the enemy soldier, your squad will actually stay in aware mode and they will properly follow you without problem.

Once you stop, your squad will start to perform what I've written = "...they will slow down a little, aim at the enemy and if you don't move a few seconds, then they go crouch and prone and often change a position as if they wanted to go to cover."

And just one important reminder: Please, turn the danger mode off, when you or AI leader order "take cover!". In this case is bounding overwatch counterproductive tactics.

Edited December 3, 2009 by Bouben

[jw custom 56]

Tested new beta a little and found out this:

Nothing from previously mentioned problems in my longer post about AI behaviour has been fixed.

AI has still problems to leave DANGER mode while there is no more enemy around.

But it is not that simple. I've found this behaviour:

Your AI group will actualy leave the danger mode, if you or them killed an enemy. But to fulfil this an enemy mustn't fire a single bullet.

Simply: if your squad kill an unprepared enemy soldier - so the enemy soldier wasn't able to fire a single shot - so your squad didn't come under fire - they will come in to normal aware mode after the enemy soldier is killed.

But when the enemy soldier managed to take a shot (as I said, one shot is enough), your squad is then totally unable to go back into the aware mode (although the enemy soldier is dead already) and keeps bounding and scaning enviroment and going prone and crouch and finding some cover = they're slow as hell and you must wait. Problem is, that they will NEVER switch back to aware mode again if this situation happens.

Summary:

It is said in the changeLog, that:

"[60718] Changed: AI now goes to Combat behaviour automatically only when under fire, not when player is prone."

- not true: each time when they found an enemy they will slow down a little, aim at the enemy and if you don't move a few seconds, then they go crouch and prone and often change a position as if they wanted to go to cover. They will not switch back though a situation has been solved (enemy is dead = safe) but the enemy managed to take a shot before died.

"[60718] Changed: AI follows leader stance, but does not switch to combat behaviour when player is prone."

- half true: they will not go crouch when you do and they will sometimes go crouch and stand up (that's critical - it happens mostly when you are moving and AI is not able to keep up with your movement, or when an enemy is found) despite you are prone and in aware mode.

EDIT:

Here is the test mission: http://leteckaposta.cz/963339909

And instructions in spoiler:

1. Start the mission.

2. Set your team to HOLD FIRE mode and DIAMOND (Ätverec) formation. You can choose either SAFE or AWARE mode. Impact on AI's behaviour is minimal.

3. Go straight ahead to the hangar's corner and lean out. You will see the enemy soldier standing near the fireplace and showing his back to you. He is not aware of your group at all.

4. Report him to your squad and watch what happens. Every member of your squad who doesn't have the enemy soldier in his line of sight will stay in normal, properly functional aware position yet.

5. So run closer to the enemy soldier (as close as you can get) and you will see that since your members have the enemy in their LOS they will start to act as if in the combat mode.

So when you're already close to the enemy soldier, your squad is delayed and you have to wait for them quite long time in a context of military action.

What you can find out from the mission is that your squad will follow you more properly with less bounding overwatching when you walk instead of running.

And sometimes but often happens, that if you or someone else from your squad have already killed the enemy soldier, they still tend to stay in somehow combat mode and are really slow (most often when enemy had shooted some bullets on your squad before got killed). And this could last for tens of minutes or forever I don't know exactly. But it is more likely to happen when number of enemies were higher than one but they are also all killed anyway. But it is not said, that it will happen everytime you try to reproduce it. Anyway, player has no possibility of forcing them back to calm status, because we can't say to our squad "area clear" or something like that.

And problem with taking cover can be reproduced in any situation in any time in any mission. AI will set to combat mode and start bounding overwatch. Proper behaviour IMHO should be AI taking cover as if in the combat mode (leaning, crouching behind walls etc), but not moving in bounding overwatch. They should run REALLY FAST as if in the careless mode and then hide and only after that start shooting from cover. They should not stop and scan in open, when bullets are flying around them. Priority is to take cover, not to shoot at enemy. But I think there have been some better articles about that with possible solutions too.

* Mission reproduced without any modifications running and with this config:

skillFriendly=0.89999998;

skillEnemy=0.89999998;

precisionFriendly=0.7;

precisionEnemy=0.5;

I've found one more thing.

When you NOT STOP on your way to the enemy soldier, your squad will actually stay in aware mode and they will properly follow you without problem.

Once you stop, your squad will start to perform what I've written = "...they will slow down a little, aim at the enemy and if you don't move a few seconds, then they go crouch and prone and often change a position as if they wanted to go to cover."

Read this :)

Confirmed. AI in a group where player was leader was never able to switch back from combat to aware (or even from aware to safe).

Bug introduced in 60718

Fixed in 60818

[mattxr 9]

thats what he is saying its still not working :) but I'm glad he made a detailed post. The Collaboration in this thread is good!

Edited December 3, 2009 by MattXR

[Bouben 3]

Read this:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suma View Post

Confirmed. AI in a group where player was leader was never able to switch back from combat to aware (or even from aware to safe).

Bug introduced in 60718

Fixed in 60818

Cool! But that is only a one part of the whole problem, so please consider the rest of my input.

Good news anyway!

Edited December 3, 2009 by Bouben

[NoRailgunner 0]

@TRexian only default waypoints used with formation line - AI were walking and finally standing vis–à–vis and they should have seen the opponent even without binocs or scopes. Seems that the AI is blind and not able to use default basic features (binocs, scopes) in a proper way for their advantage. Perhaps reducing the perfect "echolocation" and increasing the "visual-locating" according to day/night/fog setting and if binocs/scopes in gear/use?

Definitely AI needs some more attention and testing by devs and community!

[suma 8]

Cool! But that is only a one part of the whole problem, so please consider the rest of my input.

If you really want to contribute, please, consider using Community Issue Tracker instead, be sure to report single issue for each problem which can be separated and always add repro mission and repro steps. Tracking issues and their progress in the web forum is very hard and it is very easy to miss or forget something here.

[Bouben 3]

If you really want to contribute, please, consider using Community Issue Tracker instead, be sure to report single issue for each problem which can be separated and always add repro mission and repro steps. Tracking issues and their progress in the web forum is very hard and it is very easy to miss or forget something here.

Allright!

[neokika 62]

Beta 60819 out.