Don't move but still shoot (OA)

[BritTorrent 10]

First of all, the sitation (ideally).

Group of infantry in a compound indside a town are under attack, eventually they have to evacuate so a convoy of 4 Strykers fights their way into the town, stops outside the compound, dismounts get out to provide cover (i'd like to do this but its not essential, might be too complicated), the troops in the compound load up and the convoy fights its way out and back to the main base, ala Black Hawk Down.

Now the easiest bit is getting the convoy to stop outside the compound, wait for the infantry to mount up and leave. Thanks to the improved driving AI in OA this actually looks pretty good. The problems start when i start mixing enemy troops into the equation. This completely stumps the convoy's AI, and they instantly start driving into walls, going in circles, exploding and generally acting very ARMAish.

Not to mention the fact that every taki within a 100 miles runs home to get his RPG and have a pop at them.

Now im quite inexperienced with mission editing but the solution i'm looking into at the minute works like this.

Just as the convoy approaches the town, i'll set their behaviour to 'Never Fire' so they don't start engaging the enemy and also set them to be invincible (so they don't blow up until i want them to). When they reach the compound i'll disable their movement AI so they will stay in position and also change their behaviour to 'engage at will'. (I'm not sure if disabling the AI will stop the turrets moving, haven't tested it yet). As soon as all the troops are onboard ill reverse the process and allow them to drive out as planned.

The obvious disadvantage with this is that they can't shoot on the way in, and if my disabling the AI trick doesn't work, they can't shoot at the compound either.

What i want to know is if their is a way through advanced scripting to force the the convoy to stay in safe mode (or at least act like it) so they stick to the road and remain in file, whilst at the same time blasting away at the enemy.

Is this possible, or have i just hit a limitation within the engine?

I've also looked at setting the convoy as captives which will stop the enemy shooting at them, but again they won't be able to shoot back either :S.

Any help would be much appreciated.

KaRsKiN

EDIT: Just thought on, i could remove all the fuel from the convoy when it stopped. But this wouldn't sound too good as the engines would turn off, also it doesn't solve the problem of them getting in and out.

Edited July 12, 2010 by karskin
After thoughts

[Jelliz 10]

unit forcespeed 0; unit disableAI "TARGET";

Now dont get me wrong here, disableai "TARGET" just makes them not move away and engage, they should stay where they are and still fire on the targets.(Ive done it tons of times in the editor for myself).

But setting their behaviour to "Engage at will" will make them break formation and pursue the enemy, dont do that.

Use unit forcespeed 0 if you need them to stand still.

[BritTorrent 10]

Now dont get me wrong here, disableai "TARGET" just makes them not move away and engage, they should stay where they are and still fire on the targets.(Ive done it tons of times in the editor for myself).

But setting their behaviour to "Engage at will" will make them break formation and pursue the enemy, dont do that.

Use unit forcespeed 0 if you need them to stand still.

This sounds promising, i'll give it a try thanks! If i apply 'disableai "TARGET"' to the convoy before it starts getting shot at will it stop them from breaking formation when they do?