SLX Mod WIP

[cole 0]

- (IMO) Speedy animations are complete nonsense and should be removed from the whole mod. They don't look realistic at all, BIS did a good job with the timing.

- Safety [weapon] - could this be optional in a completely standalone .pbo? It's probably hidden in WeaponTransitions, which (from what I've seen) contain some other fixes too. Experienced users don't need this and it clutters the action menu which is sometimes hard to navigate in in vanilla ArmA2.

- SLX_ReloadShout is dependant on something else, isn't it? Because if I take just that and load it without rest of the stuff, soldiers don't shout reloading anymore. Would be nice if this was completely standalone too.

- SLX_Wounds blood flickers ALOT when a few drops are on the same place.

Just some things I found while playing around with the mod. It's great, but fixing the above would make it even better :) keep it up!

Edited August 26, 2009 by Cole

[Kr3v 10]

Hi,

I've tested the mod and I've some problems with it.

Firstly, the game sometimes freezes (3-5sec). Secondly, there are explosions when I shoot someone (even a civilian). A 5v5 firefight seems to be a 70v70 with this bug :D

I used to play SLX with ArmA and I've never seen that.

Have you got these problems too ?

[froggyluv 2136]

Nice!

-The animations might indeed be a little speedy edit: *retracted after further playing*

- My favorite part of SLX has always been the unpredictibility of the AI and I wasn't disappointed, right off the bat I was ambushed by unscripted AI from the windows of a house!

-Sometimes enemy AI when up close still have that 'freeze' moment and some were also aiming towards the sky although no aircraft were present.

All in all I'm siked as steamy SLX is what brought the magic back to me in OFP!

Edited August 26, 2009 by froggyluv

[Kr3v 10]

Wow. Now my game freezes everytime and crashes. I had to uninstall the mod and ignore these amazing gunfights and this ai :(

Can't wait for the future version :D

Edited August 26, 2009 by Kr3v

[manzilla 1]

Wow. Now my game freezes everytime and crashes. I had to uninstall the mod and ignore these amazing gunfights and this ai :(

Can't wait for the future version :D

Were you using the CBA Mod as well?

It's gotta be something with your set up. If it was specific to SLX then this thread would explode with reports. I've been using it just fine with in all aspects of ArmA 2.

If it is a problwm with SLX then don't you think you should provide a better report of the error then simply "Wow. Now my game freezes everytime and crashes."? This info could help Solus iron out any problems if they exist. Besides, if you don't report your error, set up, system specs, etc. then it's possible it may not be fixed in future versions.

Solus,

This is great so far and I haven't seen any visible errors. Damn it's nice to have SLX so soon for A2, thank you.

My only gripe thus far is the reloading shout. It goes of constantly even when I'm fully loaded and so is my team. I haven't tried to remove the SLX_ReloadShout.pbo but I'm doing this now. Hopefully is doesn't screw up the Mod.

Edited August 26, 2009 by Manzilla

[Kr3v 10]

yes, I'm using CBA.

My specs :

- Quad Q9400

- Ati HD 4890 1Go

- 3 Gb ram

- Win7 64Bits

ArmA vanilla 1.03 (with VopSound and AT GUI) works perfectly.

As I said before, I have freezes while doing nothing particular (walking or not, firing or not) in SP and MP.

Also when I'm shooting at ennemies, there are grenade detonations (of course no grenades have been thrown).

I don't use mods modifying the gameplay, just the vopsound and the compass, like other people playing with me who have not these probs)

Edited August 26, 2009 by Kr3v

[froggyluv 2136]

I know I always cry like a lil gherl about this but the bullet cracks still seem to much like a digital whip, and they're so loud and often that they lose their effect. I still love the ones from SLX/OFP days the best

Twas a cacophany of bass and bullets that sounded so sweet.

[r3volution 0]

I'm running vopsound plus a couple others and I'm getting the grenade explosion sound at random bug as well. Not sure exactly what is causing it though, but if I disable the sound mods folder all seems to be okay...

[Solus 1]

Thanks for the mirrors!

Flarmapoint 2: Could you please write what the exact situation was where the game paused and lagged.

Explosions when shooting? Bizzare. Try running SLX and CBA alone, with no other addons and see if it still happens.

r3volution: It could be vopsound adding an extra explosion sound to the grenades which the blood droplets inherit from, I'll get vopsound and find the config entry and make sure the blood droplets replace it with a null sound.

froggyluv: Yep, the OFP SLX bullet based sounds were the best, the sound was positional so you could hear them fly past into the distance just like in real life, unfortunately the sound mechanics for the bullets in ArmA are different so the bullet based sounds get really high pitched when flying at you.

For freezing, I don't know if I've experienced this specifically but my game sometimes freezes but I thought it was just my laptop video card overheating. Try removing one of these addons and testing to see if it freezes again, and if it does then remove the next addon and test, and repeat until they are all gone, try them in this order of probability: SLX_ReloadShout, SLX_GL3.pbo, SLX_AI_TurnMove, SLX_ShotEffects, SLX_Wounds, SLX_SmokeGrenades.

Remember to restart the mission after removing one of the addons because the save files contain a lot of the code.

Also screenshots and gameplay video from working graphics cards would be very appreciated for analysis of combat simulation.

To do: Get Vopsound and fix blood droplet sounds, fix move in back dragging bug, fix blood flickering, fix reloading shout with save games, eventually fix script errors, check grenade launchers. Thanks for feedback everyone!

Addon descriptions:

SLX_AI_TurnMove.pbo: Make AIs move directionally toward their expected destination for a moment, instead of the default rotate and move forward, rotate and move forward.

SLX_AISkill.pbo: Change the CfgAISkill settings to be more dynamic and try to make the AIs more human.

SLX_Anim_Crawl.pbo: Make the fast crawl mode faster. Based on real life personal experience of crawling.

SLX_Anim_Death.pbo: Faster dying animations. Based on timings from real footage.

SLX_Anim_GrenadeThrow.pbo: Faster grenade throw transitions and animations, and slower turn speed while throwing so AIs don't throw grenades in crazy directions. Based on real life personal experience of throwing objects.

SLX_Anim_HoldSprint.pbo: Turns off continuous sprinting, so that the turbo key can be pressed to sprint and then released to drop back to running instead of stopping to go to jogging. Not sure if it's necessary after one of the patches.

SLX_Anim_Idle.pbo: Fixed idle animations so they don't have to finish playing to transition to the dying animations. Made the idle animations take longer between new idle animations so they have time to play. Added more default idle animations.

SLX_Anim_Jump.pbo: Faster jumping over things. Based on real life personal experience of jumping over obstacles, sometimes with over 100 lbs of gear.

SLX_Anim_MoveTransitions.pbo: Faster stance changes. Based on real life footage and personal experience of changing stances, sometimes with over 100 lbs of gear.

SLX_Anim_WeaponTransitions.pbo: Faster weapon switching and stance changes. Based on real life footage and personal experience.

SLX_Anims.pbo: Currently no effect. Attempted to make women use all animations.

SLX_Anims_PistolCivil.pbo: Adds the safety weapon action and allows pistols to be holstered.

SLX_Cartriges.pbo: Adds spent shell casings that fly out correctly, according to real life footage and personal experience.

SLX_Cloud.pbo: Custom cloudlets that can be used for config or drop effects.

SLX_Dialogue.pbo: Fixes missing words and adds larger voice pitch variations.

SLX_Effects.pbo: Rocket engine effects and eventually more effects.

SLX_FindCover.pbo: AI utility functions for finding cover and making AI's make a course diversion then continue on to their original destination.

SLX_GL3.pbo: Group Link 3. Helps AIs share information between groups, enter nearby buildings for better cover if they are in combat or aware mode at mission start, lay down suppressive fire, panic when recieving suppressive fire, call other groups for help in combat, conduct basic tactical maneuvers based on the situation for attacking, defending, and retreating, allows AIs to surrender if they are defeated.

SLX_GunSmoke.pbo: Gun smoke effects based on real life footage and personal experience.

SLX_Impacts.pbo: Bullet impact effects based on real life footage and personal experience.

SLX_LoadingBlank.pbo: Optional blank loading screens for a less militaristic atmosphere.

SLX_Mod_Veh_Core.pbo: Many features: Default vehicle values for hearing, human spotting ability, keeping formation time so AIs have a chance to do stuff before moving on, removed magic radar from commander view by default, extended view limits based on real life personal experience, lower default threat levels so AIs can determine real threats better, less minimum time spent firing on a target so AIs can do other things if they have to, more crouch probability in combat based on real life footage, changed human damage levels and armor based on real life footage and statistics (W. E. Fairbairn), vehicles should not explode by default when destroyed, most buildings should be referred to as "buildings" not "houses".

SLX_ModWeapons_c.pbo: Many changes to ammo, magazines, and weapons based on real life footage, statistics, information, and characteristics. Many values based on CAVS the Common Armor Value System which translates real life muitions statistics into game values, many of the sources and information are documented in the .cpp comments, most explsives values are based on actual explosives charge weight. AI settings changed to make AI use the weapons, ammunition, and fire modes effectively as humans would.

Default bullet values and calculations:

hit = 7; // Diameter in millimerters rounded up + 1? Should be about + 1.5-2. 5.45 or 5.56->6+1=7

indirectHit=3; // Indirect damage is applied to the hit points based on how far away they the hit is. The closer the hit is to the hit point the more indirect damage there is. This somewhat simulates the random damage effects that bullet hits seem to have. Some hits will be clost to the hit point and give more damage simulating hitting a vital area like hitting an artery. Some shots will hit far from any hit points and will have less damage simulating a flesh wound that doesn't hit anything vital like muscle or a grazing shot along the skin.

indirectHitRange=0.2; // Range to hit other hit points such as arms+torso, etc. Indirect damage is applied to all hit points within range. 2 indirect damage to arms + 2 indirect damage to torso + 2 indirect damage to head = 6 damage applied. Damage is scaled down for hit points further away.

SLX_ModWeapons_MGReload.pbo: Make machine guns have a longer reloading time.

SLX_ModWeapons_Sounds.pbo: Supersonic bullet sounds from real life footage.

SLX_NetCode.pbo: Simple network utility to execute code on all clients.

SLX_ReloadShout.pbo: Have people shout "reloading" when their magazine is empty and they need to reload. They don't shout when they are alone or someone in their group is in stealth mode.

SLX_ShotEffects.pbo: People throw close grenades away from themselves if they see the person who threw it, supersonic bullet "trace" vapor trail, RPG rocket and grenade launcher arming distance, rocket course deviation, vehicle weapons eject empty casings, AIs dodge away from bullet hits, tracers and explosives set things on fire (not implemented yet).

SLX_SmokeGrenades.pbo: Smoke grenades float above the ground so they don't disappear because of a bug in ArmA 2.

SLX_Wounds.pbo: Based on real life footage and statistics (W. E. Fairbairn, FBI, police, thehighroad.org, etc).

Location based wound effects on people when they are hit.

Arms - Small chance of an accidental discharge of their primary weapon. Small chance of dropping primary and/or secondary weapon when arms are very damaged.

Legs - Good chance of falling down prone if legs are very damaged. No effect when already prone.

Torso - Good chance of getting knocked down and out of breath for a second if damage is over 50%. If the torso is over 80% damaged and overall health is less than 60% then the person is critically wounded.

Head - 30% chance of temporary deafness and a 40% chance of temporary deafness, disorientation, and falling down if head is less than 50% damaged, most likely caused by grenade blasts. 90% chance of temporary deafness and falling if head is over 50% damaged.

If the person is hit in the head, body, or legs and overall health is less than the "SLX_Wounded" value then they are critically wounded.

Critically wounded :

The person drops their primary weapon and lays on the ground writhing and screaming until either they are healed or die. They are unable to shoot any weapons, but can still throw hand grenades, so watch out. Killing wounded people that pose no threat at the moment(haven't thrown a hand grenade) will deduct 450 rating points. So if you have 0 rating points and killing a soldier gets +200 rating points and you kill a wounded soldier you end up with -250 rating points.

Dragging wounded/dead:

Wounded or dead people can be dragged to a safer location for giving first aid, corpse recovery, or item scavenging. Be careful of moving heavily wounded people though, moving them might kill them.

Giving first aid to wounded:

Giving first aid is based on the skill of the person giving first aid. If first aid is unsuccessful in stabilizing the wounded person's condition then you will have to wait for a while before trying again. Giving first aid gives you rating points proportional to the skill of the person first aid is being given to.

Taking captives:

If a wounded enemy is healed they will surrender. They can be taken captive and you can tell them to stay or follow you. If the captive is too far from you they will try to escape and continue fighting. Taking captives gives you rating points proportional to the skill of the person being taken captive. Killing captives suffers the same rating deduction as for killing wounded. For a zero skilled soldier you should get 200 points for giving them first aid and taking them captive, the same as if you had killed them, but if you kill them after giving first aid and taking them captive you still end up losing 50 rating points.

Moving dead/wounded/captives in vehicles:

Wounded, dead, and captives can be moved into vehicles by using the Drag or Follow action when in a vehicle. Make sure the action is in your action menu when entering the vehicle or you won't be able to use it. There must be free cargo space in the vehicle for the person to enter. Try moving the person to the other side of the vehicle from where you enter, then look at the person and the action should show up.

Dropped weapons:

Dropped weapons can be destroyed by using the action menu close to them or by damaging(by shooting, etc) them to 50%. They can only be picked up by the action menu. They are affected by physics and can get thrown into the air from explosions.

AI's helping wounded/dead:

AI's will automatically try and help wounded or dead people. They will attempt to drag them into a safer position before giving first aid or scavenging weapons. AI's immediately go into alert mode when someone is wounded or killed.

AI's taking secondary weapons and machine guns:

If someone with a secondary weapon or a machine gun dies then another AI from their squad will attempt to come and pick up the weapon.

Dismemberment:

If a person is killed with a high explosive and their velocity is high enough then they will be torn apart. Can be disabled by setting number of gibs to zero.

[bhaz 0]

All of the above

Pure brilliance, all that need be said.

Welcome back btw.

[Kr3v 10]

Thanks for the info Solus, I'll try to find the problem.

[OrdeaL 10]

Thanks heaps Solus!!

[Solus 1]

The explosion sounds are from vopsound, here's a fixed version of SLX_wounds.

http://www.filefront.com/14406437/SLX_Wounds.pbo

[r3volution 0]

Solus you legend. That was quick! :D

d/l'ing now.

---------- Post added at 06:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 AM ----------

After trying the update, I'm still getting the barrage of grenade sounds, I've disabled all other sound stuff (map reduced voices tracked sound mod and rh heli sound) to see if they were affecting it, but it seems not. Something is going on with vopsound that's still causing it, don't know what.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. That said though, i'm running umpteen billion other mods, so they could be messing with it.

[Nazul 10]

Fantastic Solus, why arn't things like "SLX_AI_TurnMove.pbo: Make AIs move directionally toward their expected destination for a moment, instead of the default rotate and move forward, rotate and move forward" in the game by default? It's quite an immersion killer watching them rotate, little things like this add up.

[OrdeaL 10]

Loving this mod, BUT! called cpt arcade i dont care but is there anyway to get my Xhairs back mate? i sorta need them for close quarters etc..

[Badassdom 0]

Nice work and so quickly

Did notice some stuff

The AI doesn´t want to leave buildings from time to time, in forests they tend to huddle up in deer stands/towers and they won't move even if orderd

As always the AI shoots captives

The sound is a bit of over the top

[mils 10]

test

Anyways badlands assault on novi sobor

Notes:

* AI is quite bad at finding me as I sniped them from afar, not one shot on me at 600 metres away.

* EDIT: 2nd(and 3rd) time playing through they nailed me while i was sniping them

* AI eventually all went into hiding i was unable to find a target after time

* When I moved in closer AI still missed me at 400+ range lots of bullets wizzing around my head.

* My team was near wiped out on the 1st assault.

* My AI moved VERY slowly in stealth mode, they moved at a much better speed at aware.

* My AI actually captured a strong-point when i pointed them to it (1st time that's ever happened to me on badlands)

* My AI Jumped out of a vehicle just before it was going to blow up, and then dragged one of the wounded to safey and healed him! (razor team)

* Some very annoying sound bugs with bad popping and strange sounds after someone fired (sounded like bad static)

* the binoculars worked, took me a bit to work out needed to alt-look around the binoculars to get what you meant.

* Had some crazy lockups for over 3-4 seconds rarely but they happened

Edited August 27, 2009 by mils

[DJH 10]

Great mod mate, few bits of feedback for an almost perfect upgrade of the game:

+ Lots of pauses for a second or two, usually at the start of firefights. Will have a play around removing PBOs and see what makes it better.

+ Safety func. is a bit annoying, it also [ironically] makes it very easy to shoot yourself in the foot [literally] if used on a rifle. So turned that off

+ Drag function sometimes causes units to get stuck 'in' eachother, they can't move until ordered to disembark

+ Speedy anims are a bit too speedy, though I much prefer the crawl speed in your mod, if somebody's shooting at you, you'd get a mooch on, prone or not!

+ I'm not a fan of the sounds, much prefer stock or VOP sounds

+ Vehicle crews sometimes get out of their vehicles to go grab a weapon, I've also had them refusing to get into a vehicle in a position where a teammate has died

+ The AI's cover taking ability is now about 4 million times better, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I was getting sick of watching people standing in the open next to ruined buildings, houses, blocks of flats, ladders, etc. and not using them

[Kr3v 10]

+ Lots of pauses for a second or two, usually at the start of firefights. Will have a play around removing PBOs and see what makes it better.

I agree. I think that while we are shoot at someone, SLX triggers the new ai and the game freezes for some seconds in order to load it.

Edited August 27, 2009 by Kr3v

[kremator 1065]

Like this VERY MUCH !

Some tweaking needed but its looking VERY good!

One major problem Solus that you could work on if enemyAI/players are <50m they should go into CQB mode and snap shoot ! As it is they are still standing still looking at eachother !

[Solus 1]

The other explosion sounds are from the path tester utility things in SLX_AI_TurnMove and SLX_ShotEffects. I will have to wait a while before updating them though so just run without those or the vopsound impacts addon until then.

arkengel: Can you please describe the situation where the AIs got into the deer stands/towers and didn't move? Was it a specific mission, etc?

OrdeaL: Read this book: http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/we-fairbairn---shooting-to-live/6261343 The firing practice principles are also applicable to rifles and real life and video games with free-aim. It is sometimes referred to as "point shooting."

To do: I'll look into the lag pauses and see if I can detect what they are coming from. Lower the supersonic bullet sounds when I get the chance to access my old files. Make crosshair removal a separate addon (done). Check that AI's don't overcrowd buildings.

[monty67t 0]

I was playing a quick random firefight I threw together and three enemy AI all climbed into the same little tower. It was after I gave them a "dismissed" waypoint, but they were together still.

I've experienced the pauses or whatever you want to call them as well.

Overall this is an outstanding start Solus. Once again you prove your skills. I look forward to the next version.

[Muahaha 10]

Gosh now I love this game even more because of mods such as these. It's not perfect but it's getting there... THANKS Solus!

[Shadow NX 1]

Tested a bit and the AI seems to be lot more active and searches cover lot better now.

On the negative side i noticed they tend to not follow objectives, for example in the "Counterstrike" mission my russians didnt meet the Chedakis but instead moved on directly to the last objective, also they took a long time till they decided to move on to it.

Also some anims look bit odd, the sidestep for example reminded me of some folk dancing ^^

Dunno if its related to the mod but when i used it i had some distorted sounds that had cracking and stuff in it and sounded like ym soundcard was about to die.

But thats just lil things, overall this goes into the right direction i think.