UPSMON - Urban Patrol Script Mon

[AZCoder 921]

When I tested the sample mission, the first thing the Marines did was chuck a bunch of grenades all over the place. Is that supposed to happen? :D

edit: I think it was ZeusAI, forgot it was running. Tried again without it and no grenade tossing occurred.

Edited March 16, 2011 by AZCoder

[demonized 20]

Is Ace required for this? It won't load due to Ace modules in the mission sqm.

edit; i deleted the ace modules and it loaded.

Are you sure it was ACE that caused the issue? can you confirm it by running a clean ACE with UPSMON and let us know?

When I tested the sample mission, the first thing the Marines did was chuck a bunch of grenades all over the place. Is that supposed to happen? :D

edit: I think it was ZeusAI, forgot it was running. Tried again without it and no grenade tossing occurred.

Same for you, ZeusAI and UPSMON worked fine together before, in fact they were a perfect match, can you confirm it was ZeusAI that messed up UPSMON?

This would be very valuable info for Rafalski who is pulling this train forward.

Uploaded: 5.0.8 R1

- CBA is no more required !!!

- Fixed problem 99%: reinforcement AI after getting out of the combat vehicle, often the vehicle did not move. (reported by seba1976).

If the problem still exists in your missions , provide me with a simple mission to reproduce it.

great work Rafalski, that was one of the major flaws of UPSMON lately, good to see CBA not required as well, no big deal but good for those that dont want it.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Demonized

[kremator 1064]

CBA should be standard for everyone. Not using it is bonkers! Can't see people's objection to something so useful!

Anyway good job Rafalski.

[AZCoder 921]

Retesting, if I run Zeus together with the latest UPSMON (the sample mission on Chernarus), where the player is Guerilla (friendly to all), and if you fire one or more shots into the air, several of the nearby Marines will chuck grenades around the perimeter.

Without Zeus, could not recreate that.

I wanted to add that UPSMON is awesome stuff. I use it frequently since it is so easy to configure with great results.

Edited March 16, 2011 by AZCoder

[styxx42 0]

Long time ago I used the Urban Patrol Script I think in Operation Flashpoint it was that long ago. I loved it.

Saw this on Armaholic the other day, downloaded it, merged the demo mission over to a small one I had on Ligor, moved some things around, copied init lines out of the units to other units I had on island. Addes some more of my own. Fired up Lost Keys and went into satalite mode and OMG.

I was floored at how easy, quick and configurable it was.

I feel this is the best AI addition I have seen in it's simplicity and scope.

I don't use any AI enhancement mods but I have to say using this small scripting suit makes the world of ARMA II seem almost real none of these scarecrow like entities standing around waiting to drop to the ground when enemies engage.

This is all from the perspective of not an expert but the one person in our squad that hosts a dedicated server, and configures missions for the squad to play in. So I would say a medium going towards low knowledge player.

What really caught me by surprised was when the Russian Motorized infantry that I put down with the addition of a BTR80 and some empty jeeps for testing out the reinforcement\get in features( that worked perfectly I might add), later in the battle the few surviving OpFors in that squad surrendered and got out of their BTR80.

My Jaw Dropped.

As a Domination and end user mission player this really was amazing to witness. Usually it is fight to the death, no quarter asked or given.

Thanks for continuing this awesome work and for making it so easy to use from a end users perspective.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Styxx42
clearer text and spelling

[seba1976 98]

Regarding ZeusAI, their last versions included more and more movement orders to groups and units (GL4-style). So even when you can play both UPSMON and ZeusAI at the same time, there are inevitable conflicts, where none of the mods have total or exclusive control over the resulting behaviour... and that's just awesome :D. But seriously, there are some situations where you see strange things happen.

I wanted for some time to integrate UPSMON with GL4 but gave up after some tests. I've got to the point though, of leaving OPFOR under GL4 control, and BLUFOR running UPSMON, and make them fight each other for an area (a town in Chernarus). Surprising as it may be, up to the point of my abilities to get conclusions, UPSMON beat GL4 troops every time.

I think what do the most for UPSMON, are their flanking maneuvers and their suppressive fire. They are maybe the most simple part of the script, but the effect is another game. You become so used to be suppressed by enemy machine gun fire that when you play without it you wonder what the heck is OPFOR waiting for :rolleyes:.

The downside being, that they're not good with combat vehicles at all.

[Koshka 10]

o,o

Lost...so much sleep.

Thank you so much for this fantastic addictio-addition.

This is exactly what me and my friends have been looking for. An easy way to set the AI up on the fly so that we can have quickfire LAN all night!

Thank you so much again! <3

[Lonestar 11]

Hmmmm, I'm having trouble understanding this example mission. What are the 3 markers(Flank 1, Flank 2, target) for? Are they necessary for a certain feature? I don't see any units with those markers in their init line. Also what are the other zone markers for, who uses them? I see the airport zone is for the Russian troops, but where are the troops that use the other 2 zones? Lastly what do I do in the example mission?

My apologies for the dumb question but I'm having some difficulty figuring out how the mission is set-up and how I'm supposed to set it up in my missions. I'd like to, just can't figure out how?

I eventually found what these markers are for.

Flank1, flank2 and target markers are used for debug purposes in the sample mission. It may be related to the UPSMON enhanced AI feature.

Watch this video at 2:47 for instance:

fhobs13ynUI

In UPSMON.sqf:

if (KRON_UPS_Debug>0) then {
			"flank1" setmarkerpos _flankPos; "flank2" setmarkerpos _flankPos2; "target" setmarkerpos _attackPos;	
		};

You can use these markers in your mission to have a better overview of the AI behavior.

[Muahaha 10]

dumb question...Is this ACE dependent?

[Lonestar 11]

Not at all.

This script doesn't require any addon.

[Muahaha 10]

I am getting ace dependent messages while playing on a clean session.

[Rafalski 10]

UPSMON does not have any dependency to other mods but the sample demo mission (5.0.8 R1) may contain ACE elements.

pls note:

Although UPSMON does not have any dependency to ACE, it is tested on machine that runs ACE. And the code is optimized to run with ACE. ex: maybe without ACE AI will not behave in some situation as expected.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Rafalski

[Muahaha 10]

great, was hoping it's none mod dependent. Thanks

[Lonestar 11]

maybe without ACE AI will not behave in some situation as expected.

You mean in general or just in the sample demo mission?

I have nothing against ACE but why did you optimize the code to run with it?

Now that CBA is not required, I find out there's another "hidden" dependency. :oh:

Once again, I respect your work to improve UPSMON but can't we keep things the way they were?

In the meantime I'll stick to version 5.0.7.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Lonestar

[Rafalski 10]

First of all: this is not "hidden" dependency, it is optimization.

(as I think that most of the community use ACE now)

hypothetical example:

without most resent ACE, should be use: "sleep 1;" with ACE need to be "sleep 1.3"; before code goes further.

I will use "sleep 1.3", so without ACE: AI before does a move, will wait little bit longer, maybe the animation will not be smooth as it is with ACE etc.

If I use "sleep 1;", under ACE the AI get stucked. wrrr

I do not have time to test every UPSMON's function on clean Arma2 the same I don't do any tests how AI UPSMON runs when you use GL4, ZeusAI, FlexiAI, DAC or old ACE 1.3..... :)

I could say since version 5.0.8 "Runs best with ACE" (as it is tested with)

I noticed some problem with 5.0.7 (under ACE of course) so I did little fixes.

Maybe in 5.0.7 without new ACE these problems do not exist. I don't know.?

So if you do not want to run UPSMON 5.0.8 under Vanilia because of something, please stick with 5.0.7 as this version is not touched by me.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Rafalski

[Lonestar 11]

(as I think that most of the community use ACE now)

Really? Since when?

I do not have time to test every UPSMON's function on clean Arma2 the same I don't do any tests how AI UPSMON runs when you use GL4, ZeusAI, FlexiAI, DAC or old ACE 1.3.....

It's a flawed argument, you can't compare vanilla and addons. From the beginning UPSMON has always been compatible with vanilla, let's keep it this way.

Compatibility with ACE or other addons is a bonus as you can't make it compatible with every addon out there.

Seriously, I would really like to use the new features you added but I just can't for the time being.

The solution may be to release two versions: ACE and vanilla, if you really want it to be ACE compatible. But please don't sacrifice vanilla over ACE.

please stick with 5.0.7 as this version is not touched by me.

As said, I will.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Lonestar

[fencr0c 10]

Sorry got to agree, keep UPSMON vanilla

[Rafalski 10]

I would really like to use the new features you added but I just can't for the time being.

The solution may be to release two versions: ACE and vanilla.

Why can't you? :) If you found a new bug, you know what to do... don't just anticipate that only because I didn't test it on Vanillia, It will not run on it. The code does not use any ACE function etc.

Version specially for Vanilia tested , no problem......the person who help me do it is more then welcome.

at the moment:

I'll not do Vanillia tests myself (no time), but you do the tests and let me know what's wrong with it (Vanilia) and I'll try to fix it... ok ?

PS. future sample missions will be free of ACE elements :)

Edited March 17, 2011 by Rafalski

[AnimalMother92 10]

Thanks for the new version Rafalski, nice work :)

[Lonestar 11]

I don't know what's wrong Rafalski, I just read your words:

ex: maybe without ACE AI will not behave in some situation as expected.

So now you tell me, does your script work with vanilla or not?

Right now I can't play the sample demo mission because it requires ACE components.

"ace_sys_wounds",

"ace_sys_tracking",

"ace_c_vehicle",

"acex_ru_c_men_gear",

Start with fixing that.

[galzohar 31]

Just take the scripts and put them in your new mission. UPSMON never had any vital stuff in mission.sqm - Only thing you needed is initializing it on the server in init.sqf, which is easy to see by looking at the init.sqf in the example mission (and of course starting it for every group you want to patrol, but there are already instructions for how to do that as well). Plus he said next version will have the ACE stuff removed from mission.sqm... nm I read wrong

Edited March 17, 2011 by galzohar

[Rafalski 10]

That what I asking you (Lonestar), do test with missions (written under Vanilia) and let me know if it works. I do not expected many problems but you tell me, as I did not tested it with any mission writen for Vanilia.

Mentioned sample mission does not work with Vanilia, because the mission required ACE. The Sample Mission required ACE not the script UPSMON itself! but you know it, you just what to force me do it my self the tests ! :) don't you?

[Lonestar 11]

I know how to set up UPSMON Galzohar.

Plus he said next version will have the ACE stuff removed from mission.sqm...

When did he say that?

I'm just saying it's a real shame he favors ACE over vanilla, that's all.

This behavior doesn't really make me want to help him.

He should test the script first with vanilla.

Now I'm out...

Edited March 17, 2011 by Lonestar

[demonized 20]

As a big fan of UPSMON i agree with UPSMON staying vanilla.

ofc we could all just use 5.0.7 for that and miss out on any fixes made later.

maybe you could add different variables for ace and vanilla, fex the sleep mentioned of 1.3.

if (ACEMOD) then {_sleepTimer = 1.3} else {_sleepTimer = 1};

sleep _sleepTimer;

But this will result in alot extra work for you Raphalski, so i understand that you dont want to spend extra time in making it both.

That said, ACE is fun, but saying almost everyone uses it is a FALSE statement, as ACE users are very limited in total, maybe 50% is more accurate, but i think way less.

Not attempting to bash ACE or nothing, just saying, community mostly does without ACE.

Now that was said just on viewing the comments and not testing latest UPSMON myself fully yet in vanilla Arma, might be screams of hot air and it will work nicely no matter mod.

Anyways, keep up the good work.

[kremator 1064]

Although I appreciate all the work the ACE team have put in, I tend not to use ACE unless I have to. Really the only bits I HATE are the wounds and the blacking out (on tiredness or as a pilot)

I would certainly prefer nonACE versions for that reason, but I am also able to edit them out of mission.sqm if they appear :)