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

[sparks50 0]

New in the log:

[60323] Changed: Formation direction now adjusts to human leader body direction, not a movement direction.

This may make squad control a bit less confusing. Gonna have to test it out.

[TRexian 0]

Yeah, I'm interested in how that will work. There are still some of us neanderthals who don't have TIR yet, so in-game we end up turning our bodies around quite a bit. :)

[fabrizio_t 58]

Yeah, I'm interested in how that will work. There are still some of us neanderthals who don't have TIR yet, so in-game we end up turning our bodies around quite a bit. :)

Suma said:

The formation never updates when leader is not moving. When leader is moving, it updates not to the movement direction, as before, but to the watched direction. This way when you are side stepping or back stepping, the formation is still updated (or kept) to your forward direction.

If unsure, try it and check if you like what you see. It is sometimes hard to keep changelogs accurate and brief at the same time.

[TRexian 0]

Thanks fab (love what you're doing with the AI)! It is hard keeping track of all the information around!

[maturin 12]

I'm not sure I understand how to read the change logs. The version numbers assigned to the changes don't match the most recent build and each log is nearly identical, including changes from weeks ago. I can't identify a change that the latest patch candidate has made. Are there improvements that are unlisted and should I just keep up with the betas regardless?

[neokika 62]

Hi there.

I've been testing the latest Beta and I found a big problem with choppers.

With all previous versions (in a custom mission) the choppers are fine, with the latest the choppers start engine when not asked to and start to hover like 20 m in the air for no reason and stay there. I'm not using any mod...Anyone else has this problem?

Thanks

_neo_

[mattxr 9]

Hi there.

I've been testing the latest Beta and I found a big problem with choppers.

With all previous versions (in a custom mission) the choppers are fine, with the latest the choppers start engine when not asked to and start to hover like 20 m in the air for no reason and stay there. I'm not using any mod...Anyone else has this problem?

Thanks

_neo_

this has been around for a long time. well ive always encountred when the AI are in a aircraft they tend to take off and wait hovering or flying if a plane

[neokika 62]

this has been around for a long time. well ive always encountred when the AI are in a aircraft they tend to take off and wait hovering or flying if a plane

Yes but, i dont think its the case, I've switched back to 60309 and everything is fine.

_neo_

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Something fundamentally wrong with waypoints, for some (kind of?) units:

1) Place an A10 on the lower left side of Chernarus, over land. Set it to flying, gve hime some rank.

2) Create a unit, and set it to player. A10 will be group leader, so set your rank lower than his.

3) Create the following waypoints:

* Wpt0 - MOVE, close to the A10 so that it flies right into it. Also over land.

* Wpt1 - MOVE, quite a bit to the north.

* Wpt2 - MOVE, quite a bit to the north east.

* Wpt3 - MOVE, quite a bit to the south east, but OVER WATER.

* Wpt4 - CYCLE, close to Wpt0.

Set all waypoints to "show always", and make sure difficulty settings have extended map info shown (just so you can see where the A10 is).

Preview the mission.

Observe how the A10 starts off well, but then becomes is really reluctant to go to the water waypoint. Instead it will circle the initial waypoint for a while. And the cycle will start over again. Note that the "move to" radio order is correct, but will be skipped by tha A10.

Something is messed up even at this point, no?

Now, create a boat or MH60 somewhere over water, and give it a square cycle of waypoints. In your own init field, this moveInCargo newunit.

Preview, and now look how the A10 is completing even the water waypoint.

Delete the boat/MH60, and remove your line from the init.

Now replace the A10 with a C130 just for a little bonus kicker :p

Back to the original setup, you and the A10. Rotate everything and flip around the waypoints so that the second waypoint (wpt1) is the one over sea. Note now how the move order is correct, but the plane will circle the first point instead. However, after a round, the sea waypoint will show up as completed (cross) even though the plane never went there.

Squads will still go into the water to the point of dropping their weapons, unless the waypoint is really far out in the water. In that case, AI will just respond "can't get there" to their AI leader.

[Snake Man 401]

And the changelog this time...

  [60323]  Changed: Formation direction now adjusts to human leader body direction, not a movement direction. 

If BIS says this is the changelog, then it is... but it just looks so weird when it is the same as before (only added in the beginning is the "Changed:" part and one 260 removed).

Why I'm so interested in changelogs you ask? Well I'm writing them all down into main ArmA 2 changelog like I did with ArmA too. But now the last two changelogs have been really just same stuff. Looks strange.

[zeep 3]

Suma said not all changes are in the log. In some way.. :s

Plus there was the 309 ctd issue which is resolved in this beta.

[fabrizio_t 58]

Squads will still go into the water to the point of dropping their weapons, unless the waypoint is really far out in the water. In that case, AI will just respond "can't get there" to their AI leader.

This is a thing i've noticed too.

Also ALL units just ignore waypoint completion radius.

[Scrub 0]

With all this stuff getting broken, it makes me rather excited that they are altering some pretty fundamental engine stuff! Can't wait to see what it will be when all the dust clears.

[Radnik 18]

Is it me or BIS have done something with building destruction system :). There's more building and houses which can be partly destroyed?...

Edited November 24, 2009 by Radnik

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Under AI leadership, a fireteam member no longer gets the "rearm at" order when he reports that he is low or out of ammo. Currently playing with addons though, but default units and weapons (no mission addon requirements, no new "classes"). Can anyone confirm and make a CIT issue if it remains true?

[Alex72 1]

This is a thing i've noticed too.

Also ALL units just ignore waypoint completion radius.

What is completion anyway? Thaught it was linked to Seek&Destroy first. Like complete check of the total area of radius. But i use placement and it works equally good. To me "placement" sounds like something initial (like random positioning at start of units) and not "in progress" event. So what is it?

_________

Also noted the COMBAT WP will make AI do bad things. Like having them run past a house corner into the street. On the street is eAI. eAI shoot at the leader - leader does NOT tell the rest of the group to stand back. Leader dies. 2nd AI comes running into the same spot. 2nd AI dies. Etc etc.

Would be nice if the first AI to spot eAI could tell the others to stand back. So the rest of the group use lean or/and flank since eAI know they are there now. And ofcourse have the leader run back when overwhelmed. But maybe it needs to much CPU power?

AI has been made real good before with addons in ArmA 1 for example. But i remember some of them made it impossible to play for many due to laggy gameplay. Too much CPU sucking AI thinking. :)

[mr_centipede 31]

I think... placement radius is where the actual spot of the WP. while completion is how far away are you from the WP for the wp to be considered complete. So for eg, if the completion radius 0, you would have to be at the exact spot for the wp to be considered complete. Thats how I understand it.... dont know if its true. But I think it's logical

[cm. 10]

I think... placement radius is where the actual spot of the WP. while completion is how far away are you from the WP for the wp to be considered complete. So for eg, if the completion radius 0, you would have to be at the exact spot for the wp to be considered complete. Thats how I understand it.... dont know if its true. But I think it's logical

Yes that is how it works.

[suma 8]

I think... placement radius is where the actual spot of the WP. while completion is how far away are you from the WP for the wp to be considered complete. So for eg, if the completion radius 0, you would have to be at the exact spot for the wp to be considered complete. Thats how I understand it.... dont know if its true. But I think it's logical

The completion radius is currently important for units moving in the Combat mode. With default completion radius =0 the leader always finishes in the exact location of the waypoint. By providing a completion radius you allow him to plan his road to a cover nearby instead.

If I should attempt an exact definition of what completion radius is:

Definition: The completion radius allows units to call the waypoint completed once they are inside of given circle.

Notes: this does not necessarily mean the waypoint is complete once they are inside of the circle. The way it works now it is complete once unit is inside and does not think it would be reasonable to move any closer.

Edited January 28, 2010 by Suma
Fixed typo

[Alex72 1]

The completion radius is currently important for units moving in the Combat mode.

Thank you Suma for the explanation!

Mr.Centipede: I think... placement radius is where the actual spot of the WP.

But then having a radius with it doesnt make sense. Or? If i set 200m radius, placement. Then there is spots in a 200m radius for the AI to spawn/move in. Not just one specific spot. Or maybe i misunderstood you?

[mr_centipede 31]

Thank you Suma for the explanation!

But then having a radius with it doesnt make sense. Or? If i set 200m radius, placement. Then there is spots in a 200m radius for the AI to spawn/move in. Not just one specific spot. Or maybe i misunderstood you?

I was referring to the random placement of the exact spot within that radius. Just like unit placement radius. The wp could be anywhere within that radius... Sorry for not very clear

[Alex72 1]

Ah rgr gotcha.

Nice to find out the completion anyway. Was using it with COMBAT actually without knowing thats what its for lol.

[nomdeplume 0]

With the recent betas, the game seems to be starting to a completely blank screen - sound works okay but there's nothing displayed. I've been alt-tabbing out, right-clicking on the icon in the task bar and telling it to close ... which it does nicely. Then when I start it again, it's fine.

This time I tried just alt-tabbing out and back in, and it was fine. Anyone been seeing anything similar?

GTX 295, still on 190.38. Not sure when it started happening.

[fabrizio_t 58]

The completion radius is currently important for units moving in the Combat mode. With default completion radius =0 the leader always finishes in the exact location of the waypoint. By providing a completion radius you allow him to plan his road to a cover nearby instead.

If I should attempt an exact definition of what completion radius is:

Definition: The completion radius allows units to call the waypoint completed once they are inside of given circle.

Notes: this does not necessarily mean the waypoint is complete once they are inside of the circle. The way it works now it is complete one unit is inside and does not think it would be reasonable to move any closer.

Nice explanation.

I think it would be better to have AI "respecting" more the specified completion radius, though.

Actually AI units usually move to the exact waypoint position even with high completion radius, that leads to some clunky movements and gives very little flexibility to mission editor.

Edited November 25, 2009 by fabrizio_T

[InFireBaptize 0]

With the recent betas, the game seems to be starting to a completely blank screen - sound works okay but there's nothing displayed. I've been alt-tabbing out, right-clicking on the icon in the task bar and telling it to close ... which it does nicely. Then when I start it again, it's fine.

This time I tried just alt-tabbing out and back in, and it was fine. Anyone been seeing anything similar?

GTX 295, still on 190.38. Not sure when it started happening.

on start, which world do you see? are you adding .pbo addons directly to your game root addons or you make a separate folder for them?