buddhiraja73

Of course i'd agree. My point is i haven't found trace of any function or event handler to check whether a unit is under fire (unless hit) . That would make obviously things a lot easier. EDIT: really, the only idea i have in order to check if a certain friendly unit is "potentially" under fire is looping through enemies and check if our unit is an "assignedTarget" for any of them. Pretty cumbersome and resource hogging. And that does not even check if any enemy is actively firing upon our unit ... nor it covers any eventual "engage at will" behaviour of enemies. As somebody has mentioned, the trigger for knowing whether 'an AI unit is under fire' could be any gun-shot sounds. Ofcourse it could be friendlies firing or somebody else being shot at but even then it would be a realistic trigger because that is what we ourselves react to. Very often we don't know who is shooting but any gun-shot sounds are heard and we become cautious and scan for targets or move near cover or hit the deck etc.

Hmm ... can't agree on that. Consider that an "under fire" event does not exist in AA to may knowledge. The best we can afford as trigger for cover is to know whether or not enemy units are in sight (heice i am so insisting on the LOS bug is a major issue). AIs need to react to both "bullets being shot at them" as well as "sighting enemies". I think you would agree that reacting to just "sighting enemies" is not enough.

That is very true. Looking realistic is as important. I think that overall the ArmA AI is more tactical and interesting than any other FPS so far. If only they could use cover better, take better firing positions and look more realistic, we might have as good an AI as is possible in 2007. It should be difficult to kill even one single trained soldier at the highest difficulty level because they would be trying to save themselves at all costs.

The AIs in ArmA have quite a few unique features that I have not seen in any other games. At the same time a few key improvements are very much required. PLUSES - AI groups make STRATEGIC DECISIONS like whether to advance, stay put etc. - AI groups use TACTICS like moving using bounding overwatch, trying to stay in formation and covering each other, pinning down and flanking etc. - They use grenades in appropriate circimstances. - They have REALISTIC ANIMATIONS and MOVEMENT SPEEDS. - On seeing enemies they hit the deck and shoot back immediately. This is a very realistic reaction especially in open area combat, like fields. - They try to hunt us down. I think it would be unfair to say that it is almost the same as OFP. A lot of improvement has been done. At the same time an improvement in the above-mentioned qualities would be nice as they are far from perfect in terms of implementation. IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED - The most important feature that this AI requires is -- whenever they identify any threat they should take FIRING POSITIONS NEAR EDGES OF COVERS ( like buiding corners, tree trunks, car bonnets etc. ) and expose as little of their bodies as possible. As the rules of engagement are fed to the AI using Agent technology, this might not be very difficult to do. This feature alone would solve many AI problems. - The AIs should STAY NEAR COVER WHILE MOVING, when any are present, and in general, recognise and use cover better. They should move from cover to cover more objectively. They should be more SELF PRESERVING. - They should have the ability to LEAN just like the player does. That way, they can check out the surroundings for threat before moving and would not run into a shooter. - IMPROVED PATHFINDING is required. They attimes zig-zag in the same area, sometimes run down the centre of a cross-road and sometimes go prone facing a wall. - Some improved COMBAT REACTIONS are needed. - Sometimes the AIs go prone in unnatural places and this needs rectification. - Improvement in URBAN WARFARE TECHNIQUES. Generally, they seem quite good in open area combat and often use the same in urban combat. I am not expecting a perfect AI but having realistic AI features is necessary in a military sim even if they are not perfectly implemented. Currently, ArmA AI has some realistic features and others need to be added.

I would like the 'kill the random enemy' too but also in SP. Enemies groups that appear in randomly different places, everytime we replay, can add a lot to the thrill of the unknown.

Some dangerous animals, in forested areas, would be great. They will be threats to both opfor as well as blufor. Usage of guard dogs by the armies will also be nice, like the K9 unit in the US army.

I like to play SINGLE PLAYER missions and like INFANTRY COMBAT only, preferably special forces action. A few types of missions that I would like to see are -- - A village is being experiencing strange things and some villagers are being attacked at night. My team is sent to investigate. We interact/talk with the villagers and a story develops during the course of which we have quite a few firefights with hostile forces. Maybe we go to investigate another village nearby and are attacked etc. Basically I want some story driven mods where there is sufficient interaction with civilians and information is extracted from them. There will be some tension, suspence, mystery and investigation along with quite a few firefights. The story will be open ended and may vary based on my actions. - A 'defending the village' type mission which is part of some interactive story like I mentioned above. A village maybe attacked but we won't know the timing or the direction and it will be upto my team to defend. We may have to pick up some clues, by interacting with villagers, about when the attack will come. Ther will be a lot of suspence before the attack comes with some much smaller attacks and false alarms. I may even take the option of attacking the attackers' base if I can find out where it is, by talking with the right people. - An 'escaping with a prisoner' type story where I will have to escape from North Saharani to South Saharani. I may use any vehicle and stop or hide at any place I choose. We may even masquarade as North Saharani soldiers. The North Saharanis will try to hunt down my team. Talking with NPCs, for enhancing the story, will be important. Please add the types of missions you would like to play. Thanks in advance to the mission or campaign makers who might make such missions.

I hope we can use friendly AI in the co-op missions when we extract them to SP missions folder. Playing alone is not tactical at all and I would like to play with friendly bots.

A few types of 'mission mods' that I would like to see - A village is being experiencing strange things and some villagers are being attacked at night. My team is sent to investigate. We interact/talk with the villagers and a story develops during the course of which we have quite a few firefights with hostile forces. Maybe we go to investigate another village nearby and are attacked etc. Basically I want some story driven mods where there is sufficient interaction with civilians and information is extracted from them. There will be some tension, suspence, mystery and investigation along with quite a few firefights. The story will be open ended and may vary based on my actions. - A 'defending the village' type mission which is part of some interactive story like I mentioned above. A village maybe attacked but we won't know the timing or the direction and it will be upto my team to defend. We may have to pick up some clues, by interacting with villagers, about when the attack will come. Ther will be a lot of suspence before the attack comes with some much smaller attacks and false alarms. I may even take the option of attacking the attackers' base if I can find out where it is, by talking with the right people. - An 'escaping with a prisoner' type story where I will have to escape from North Saharani to South Saharani. I may use any vehicle and stop or hide at any place I choose. We may even masquarade as North Saharani soldiers. The North Saharanis will try to hunt down my team. Talking with NPCs, for enhancing the story, will be important.

There is no doubt that you can make them hit the dirt and pause their return fire. Â You can make them run away. Â They even use cover to a point. Â But do YOU just give up the second you get some incoming and hunker down?? Â I've had AI get down in a low spot, hang there for some time while some try to crawl out of sight to flank me. Â Maybe I'm not sure what effects of suppression you're looking for, could you explain a bit more? Scrub, I am glad to read the various effects of suppression that you have mentioned. I have started to like your posts a lot as they enumerate specific points and facts rather than just your opinion. From the videos in Iraq, when fighting on the city/town streets, the soldiers were staying close to buildings/walls when moving up and, when they were being fired upon or were sensing danger, they were going behind solid cover whenever possible, maybe standing with their backs to the walls and using corners to fire. From the videos of ArmA that I watched, showcasing urban combat, the AIs were very often moving down the centre of the streets and going prone when fired upon as buildings were not always closeby. In this way, their reaction to suppressive fire seems different from what actually happens in urban combat. It is always possible that the ingame videos were shot at a lower AI difficulty level and at higher difficulty, this behavior becomes more realistic. The AIs' reaction to suppressive fire in open terrain seems quite realistic, from the videos I have seen. Overall, infantry combat seems quite interesting in ArmA and I can't wait to lay my hands on it.

Col.Faulkner, this is a nice and informative post for infantry combat simulation fans like me, who has not got the game yet. AI getting suppressed when under fire, is something many many fans are waiting for in ArmA. Individual AIs trying to save themselves as a priority, would make the game very realistic and fun to play. I hope that this feature is introduced by a patch. Ordering a team-mate/mates to suppress an area, even when they cannot see any enemies, is something I would like to see as well.

Is it possible to tell color teams to go into a formation, or which Roe to use etc. ? Can all the commands be used on the color teams as well ? This can be a very useful feature if present.

Very well said, just my thoughts. BIS has decided to produce a game for pc gamers in this age of console mania, please the hardcore military sim group, stay true to it's original fan base and not go with the whims of a big publisher. That is something most other developers have not done. We should extend our full support to this very talented dev team in BIS. Bugs will be removed by patches shortly and that is not a major worry. ( One patch is out already ) ArmA has more potential and scope than any other game that is on the horizon currently. This is the only game which gives us complete freedom, a living world, simulation-type gameplay and realism in modern settings.

Thanks for the detailed reply Scrub. Â Â I also hope that 'AI leaning' is introduced by a patch in the near future.

That is a rather interesting and correct observation. Â What players ideally want is : the game is highly scalable, with many many options to tweak, so that people with low end machines can also play. Also, the game would not look too bad at lower settings.