Yomies 2, porting the infamous Yomies to ArmA2

[andersson 285]

The big benefit with yomies (talking about arma1) was that they are very lightwieght (not much of scripts) and they used good fsm's. The result was a lighweight MP compatible 25 days later type zombies.

They run after you if they see you, they kill you if they get to hit you enough.

There is no extra "zombie/horror/fantasy-bling", its all up to the mission maker what to do.

I loved them and I miss them.

[cyclone83 6]

Indeed, the problem with the zombies we got right now in ArmA II is, that mission designers are the hands tied. The zombies do what the creater wanted 'em to do, but there's almost no action flexibility, f.e. there cannot moves be assigned or stopping movements via disableAI. Quite a pitty :/

I also miss the old ones....

[charon productions 10]

Indeed, the problem with the zombies we got right now in ArmA II is, that mission designers are the hands tied. The zombies do what the creater wanted 'em to do, but there's almost no action flexibility, f.e. there cannot moves be assigned or stopping movements via disableAI. Quite a pitty :/

I also miss the old ones....

EnableAI is the root of the whole problem, that is what is causing the pathfinding issues for 5133p39.

What you say in regards to your hands being tied when using the Undead mod is just a consequence of you not having read the documentation and understanding how the mod works.

It`s all in there and it is of course possible to let them perform actions etc.

But enough for that here, as 5133p39 said, it is very unlikely that BI will revamp their pathfinding to make it easier for zombie mods.

Pathfinding is a very expensive, calculation intense process.

I tried to completely take over the pathfinding with checking for obstacles, but one iteration took like a minute.

Maybe in a couple of years the implementation of better pathfinding algorithms into games like this will be made possible with much much faster CPUs.

[5133p39 12]

Someone in the old ArmA1 Yomies thread made me to fiddle with the addon again,

and i thought it would be good idea to make a quick dirty port to OA and test it with the latest beta.

So i did, and i was surprised - the AI pathfinding looks improved - the Yomies were able to chase me through the whole Zargabad city!

Sadly they still walk slowly when indoors, but i wasn't able to escape them anyway!

I noticed one bug though, but it can be something wrong inside my scripts, or FSMs.

After some time the zombies stopped, they were looking at me, turning after me, but they stayed put, not moving, not chasing.

I run the mission few more times, and noticed it happens only after i kill few of them (let's say after 8 zombies killed).

So maybe it is their "fear" kicks in, and they want to start fleeing, which either collides with the yomie FSM control, or it shut down the FSM.

Whatever it is, i have a feeling i can do something about it.

I also tried the yomies on the desert island, inside a town generated by that city generator module.

And again, the zombies worked perfectly.

This looks very promising, i'll start to work on it.

The Yomies are not dead yet! ;-)

[Fox '09 14]

very nice, good luck! I hope this is a bit lighter than the undead mod..

[Spartan 163 0]

5133p39 Thanks for comming back to work on it again. If you need any help just ask. I need these for my Zombie Domination map.

Gonna get some of the guys together and see about working on the zombie vehicles again.

[Punisher5555 0]

Thank you 5133p39. I loved the slow (romero) type yomies.

[5133p39 12]

I'll post sample mission and sample addon soon.

There is a problem with the Town Construction Set module - some of the generated houses seems unaccessible by the zombies.

Not sure why, maybe my scripting is reponsible, because civilians generated by Ambient Civilians module doesn't seem to have the same problem (they are able to go out in front of the house and then back inside).

But on Zargabad it works ok - maybe because there are different types of houses.

[5133p39 12]

Problem with inaccessible houses fixed

Don't know what was the cause, but after major rewrite it was ok.

Only one house still causes problems for AI - when they are spawned on the roof, the ladder down seems to be inaccessible for them.

All FSM related problems fixed

All problems were caused by my sloppy scripting - fixed by rewriting the FSMs and scripts.

One new problem: Zombies are unable to attack motorcycles and static weapons

This already worked in ArmA1 to some extent, the AI had only to walk close to the motorcycle (driver) and start attacking.

Now we have problem, because the AI refuses to get close to the vehicle or static weapon - they allways stops about 2.5m away from it, so they cant "reach" the driver/gunner when attacking.

Any suggestions?

I tried the AttachTo command, to attach zombie to the vehicle when he gets closer than 3m to it,

but he can't move/turn when attached, so he cannot target the driver/gunner to hit him.

Also it looks strange when you see the zombie 3m away and suddenly BLINK! and he is standing right next to the driver/gunner.

Is there some way to force the AI get closer to a vehicle?

[andersson 285]

The Yomies are not dead yet! ;-)

I thought they were dead.. ;)

Good news!! Miss your yomies!

[Nickos 10]

I thought they were dead.. ;)

Good news!! Miss your yomies!

Well, they SHOULD be dead, otherwise they're nah yomies, homies!

[RogueScotsman 10]

Things I noticed using the Undead mod a bit.

Zombies and my team arent overly aggresive, even with independent turned to friendly to none.

Zombies over spawn and slow CPU down, so maybe allow for the user to set the maximum number of spawned zombies, like maybe 25, 50, 75, 100 and so on you know.

You think adding them to OPFOR would maybe help with the aggro?

Other than that, the main thing I'd like would be able to limit the spawn so your CPU doesnt get bogged down, having a constant of like 100 zombies surrounding you should be fine anyway, if thats what the user sets it to you know.

I'm glad your working on it though :) Good luck man, I'm sure everybodies gonna be happy either way

EDIT: Another idea, I like the slow zombies, but maybe the fast ones could have less health or something? While the slow ones take more like a headshot to kill, that way it'd balance itself out

Edited July 15, 2010 by RogueScotsman

[5133p39 12]

@RogueScotsman: i don't know how the "Undead mod" works, i am not its creator and i never even tried it.

As far as my zombies are concerned, they are very aggressive, and so are any other units (Bluefor, Opfor, Civilians, and even the Resistance) towards the zombies.

Zombies are enemy of everyone (even of themselves).

Spawning of my zombies is controlled by the mission creator.

- you can place them in the Editor

- you can make different kinds of spawn points to spawn defined number of zombies when any non-zombie unit enters the area (and despawns them when the non-zombie unit leaves - if desired)

- you can spawn them individualy by createUnit command.

I am working on a demonstration video to put it on YouTube (i'll post the link once it's there).

...for now i will focus on the basics only, but if somebody decides to make slow animations, then he may also make the slow ones tougher (thats very easy).

[5133p39 12]

I just posted a new "proof of concept" video on YouTube, featuring zombies in ArmA2: Operation Arrowhead.

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With improved/fixed pathfinding in ArmA2: Operation Arrowhead it is possible to port the old ArmA1 Yomies to it.

This is a very simple "proof of concept" video, showing that the zombies are working (they still need much tweaking,

but you get the idea).

FYI: all zombies and soldiers are being controlled by AI, while the camera is switching from one soldier to another

when the actual one has been killed. I then only switch the camera between 1st person and 3rd person view.

(used ArmA2: OA beta build 71900)

[Nickos 10]

Your own creation has pwned you ;P

[arthur666 10]

Bring on the undead! Can't wait.

[ravenholme 50]

I notice in that video the soldiers seem a bit reluctant to open up on the zombies? (I can't remember that being a problem way back in ARMA, but I could be mad)

[5133p39 12]

I notice in that video the soldiers seem a bit reluctant to open up on the zombies? (I can't remember that being a problem way back in ARMA, but I could be mad)

They do not prioritize targets depending on proximity (the nearest zombie = the most dangerous = highest priority target).

Also, the group leader is assigning targets to his subordinates, and he also is evaluating targets in very non-zombie-warfare way.

The soldiers are also trying to find cover, which is also stupid when it comes to zombies.

That is why it SOMETIMES looks like they are not engaging the zombies

- if you would see this exact "demo" mission played with rookie difficulty where you can see all the HUD,

who is being target by the currently watched soldier, etc., then you would see they are not having problems

recognizing zombies as enemy and they are trying to fight them, but they do it the "soldier vs. soldier" way.

It would be possible to script the soldiers, or write some FSM to control their zombie targeting, but i thing the zombie FSM and scripts are already enough demanding, so it will be better to try some other way around this "stupid" AI behaviour.

Who knows, maybe some config tweaking could help with this.

...on the other hand, it's not a big issue as it doesn't happen too often, but i will look into this matter.

[Nickos 10]

I just had a thought: Since you're making it to work on OA, then shouldn't yomies be NOT visible in Thermal Imaging? (They're dead and cold, after all)

[andersson 285]

I just had a thought: Since you're making it to work on OA, then shouldn't yomies be NOT visible in Thermal Imaging? (They're dead and cold, after all)

So true!

[arthur666 10]

I just had a thought: Since you're making it to work on OA, then shouldn't yomies be NOT visible in Thermal Imaging? (They're dead and cold, after all)

Hmmm, the yomies seem more like "28 days later" zombies, not those of the "Night of the Living Dead" variety. You could go either way, I think.

[5133p39 12]

I was thinking about this thing with TI and to me it seems more logical to let them stay visible in TI, because as arthur666 wrote, the "28 days later" zombies aren't dead reanimated bodies.

...but i agree it can be either way, i don't have a problem with making two versions - i guess it's some simple config/model change to hide them from TI, right?

[Nickos 10]

I was thinking about this thing with TI and to me it seems more logical to let them stay visible in TI, because as arthur666 wrote, the "28 days later" zombies aren't dead reanimated bodies.

...but i agree it can be either way, i don't have a problem with making two versions - i guess it's some simple config/model change to hide them from TI, right?

Strangely, I was just watching this movie when I read your posts

[biggerdave 56]

I was thinking about this thing with TI and to me it seems more logical to let them stay visible in TI, because as arthur666 wrote, the "28 days later" zombies aren't dead reanimated bodies.

...but i agree it can be either way, i don't have a problem with making two versions - i guess it's some simple config/model change to hide them from TI, right?

TI textures are referenced in material files, like this: (from the German Medical pack, which is, I've just noticed, in desert DPM, rather than Desert Flecktarn, like you'd expect... how odd)

class StageTI
{
texture = "ca\characters_e\ger\data\tex1_ti_ca.paa";
};

From what I can tell, Thermal Textures are entirely red (r=255,g=0,b=0), and the alpha channel determines the illumination in thermal view.

The best comprimise would probably be half as bright as a normal human, that way you can explain it off as either! (Thermal signatures usually drop in some diseases, and it takes a significant time for a body to loose the heat it accumulates after death)

[mrcurry 470]

Please, multiplayer compatibility!

Just want to throw it in there because it was one of the things that made the Undead mod, in my eyes, a failure. The amount of bugs when playing multiplayer

Promising work *thumbs up*