topeira

i've seen an AI take care of himself a couple of times. they bend over and treat their own wounds. i havent seen one AI take care of another AI, though... but if u play as a team and get injured than your commander will tell the medic to treat u, so if the AI knows how to command a "heal" process for your friendly teams, why wouldnt it do it for the enemy teams? p.s. - anyone knows how to get the AI to take care of teammates in the editor? is there a logic i need to place?

i am not sure it's a bug though... anyways i dont like the fact that standing up is more accurate... i know ARMA2 tries to be realistic but this feature is the complete opposite of every other shooter i know. the last time i fired an M16 was really long ago and i cant remember how it is in real life but it IS that way.... :\

i get a wrong cd-key when i try to install the final 1.01 patch. thing is - i could play online fine with my key and the beta 1.01 :( what's the problem?! any solution?! i tried disconnecting the internet cable but still got this error...

how do i send placebo the key?? plus, im a lil worried about sending the key over for obvious reasons. i used to play online quit a lot (most servers were in germany so lil lag for me. yeay) so the key is valid. how can someone who doesnt have internet connection update his game? i know what makes the most sense to say - if someone doesnt have internet than he cannot DL patches... i have no come back for that one :P self goal

AI MOD! i think it's obvious that a new FFN mod for better AI will be implemented. currently the AI seems to run too much instead of walk with the gun raised. or on the opposite note - crawl in places where it doesnt make too much sense to crawl. i think most humans dont crawl or run like that and if the AI behaves more like humans do than they will feel much better and less robotic. there are occasions where the AI is side-stepping slowly with the gun raised which mimics a human behavior the most since this is usually what we do. if there was a mod for the AI to make them use this moving behavior more often than that would help to convey a more real life like AI. same goes for moving while crouched. i almost never see the AI moving while crouched. this keeps them more low profile and, as before, more human like. last thing is make them react faster. i know it's a lot easier said than done but im too many cases on the hardest settings of the AI they stare at me for far too long before firing. now, no one wants an AI that fires and hits u in 1 second. usually the player can not aim that fast in medium ranges and above. i think if the AI aims fast and starts shooting fast than it will aim worse, but if the AI takes too long to shoot than when it DOES than it will shoot accurately, as if it took it's time to aim. another variable should be distance to target. if the AI is close to it's target than they will be more likely to fire faster. another factor for speed of firing seems too complicated to implement - if the AI's target is facing the AI than the AI, out of fear of being shot, will fire faster. if the target is aiming the other way than the AI will take its time to aim. i dont know how much control modders have over the AI, but since AI is , IMO, more important for the enjoyment of the game than sun glasses or a new texture of the uniform than i hope that a mod for the AI will not take too long. here's for hoping....

what are the differences between 1.01 beta and 1.01 final?! can anyone tell? are they worth the installation? cuz i do get occasional online bugs BUT i hardly play online (my friends with whom i'll be playing online will only buy the game in it's 505 release). mostly toying with the editor. basically im looking for AI improvements the most. MP glitches dont worry me too much ATM and will worry me after the 505 release.

this is a noobish question since i dont know anything about scripting and init' commands and diving into the manuals didnt help me with what im looking for. now perhaps the existing AI in arma2 is already doing that but still i'd like to ask how to do this: is there a way (either write something in the ini line or just certain waypoints do that) to make the AI leave their objectives (if it's a move order or sentry order or any way point for that matter) to attack the enemy , chase him around and hunt him down? say i tell a group of AIs to "move" with a way point. if i attack them on their way to the waypoint, will they (by the default AI of the game) leave their route and try and intercept me? if so, when will they return to their route to the "move" way point? if they wont intercept me than how can i make them do so? also if i have a unit (or a group, of course) that reached their destination, what will they do if they encounter an enemy unit? will they leave their place to engage or will they stay close to the destination area (the waypoint area) and just engage from there without moving much? how can i make them leave their area and dedicate themselves to search for the enemy? i hope u can help me. thanks :)

thanks, nemesis. i always tried putting a WP and dragging it over a unit. when u say i shouldnt attach a guard waypoint on an object, by object u mean an AI too or just something like an APC or a HOUSE? now, i understand that a guard squad will guard another unit\AI. in theory i know what that's supposed to mean - they will follow that unit. attack whoever is attacking at unit, if that unit is escaping or flanking than the guarding squad will follow the flankers etc, BUT how does this WP really work in practice? what is the difference between "guard" and "join"?

Thanks nemesis but i still have a few questions that this guide didnt answer: 1) GUARD - i know this is supposed to be attached to an object so the AI will defent it but i dont know how to link a guard WP to anything. the WP dont "snap" to units or anything :\ 2) same with "destroy". how can i tell a unit to kill another unit on the map? 3) TAMPLATES' AI (i dont remember this avilable in arma1) : In arma2 i can use tamplates of editor mission where the game places the AIs for me but i can move them around. is there a difference between the tamplate AI groups and any AI group i set mylsef with a "move" or "sentry" W.P.? 4) what are the lines i need to type to get units to use suppression fire? 5) how can i tell a mission to be over (trigger, i suppose) if a certain unit dies? i looked for this one up but i didnt find an easy answer. probably bad searching since im sure this is explained somewhere in a clear manner.

first - thanks a lot. im glad to hear the AI will engage enemies when they see them and not just stay where they were in their last WP. MortenL - u wrote "they will return to their original waypoint once the threat has been destroyed." how does the AI know when the threat is destroyed so they get back to their business? questions - i read explenations about what each way point is doing but didnt really get the differences between some of them: HOLD - what do u mean "hold" a WP? meaning the AI will stay there for time period i can set? that's it? GUARD - i know this is supposed to be attached (linked in init line, right?) to an object so the AI will defent it? is that currect? can the guard WP be done easily by just linking it somehow to another unit? i dont really get how it's done. SENTRY - what is the difference between sentry and guard and hold?! seek and destroy - as far as i could tell it just means that when the AI get to that point then they just kind of walk around it's vecinity looking for enemies. is that all or is there more to it? can i define how far from the way point they will go to seek enemies? CYCLE - good to know . didnt know that one. DESTROY - i assume this means "destroy and object". how can i tell the AI what to destroy? TAMPLATES' AI: In arma2 i can use tamplates of editor mission where the game places the AIs for me but i can move them around. is there a difference between the tamplate AI grouns and any AI group i set mylsef with a "move" or "hold" W.P.? p.s. - what are the lines i need to type to get units to use suppression fire? THANKS GUYS! :)

Hey guys. im pretty new around here. the thing that bothered me the most about ArmA1 was the horrible AI. are there articles or, better yet, Vids that show the AI in ARMAII? how is it supposed to be better? any proof in footage? (for some reason searching "AI" yield no results :P. maybe i just dont know how to search.)

thank you VERY much guys. i think this will be very helpful! :) will try that soon. thanks for the help.

thanks, dave. i didnt quit get it - im looking at this like: AA Specialist USMC_Soldier_AA what is the weapons name here? the USMC_Soldier_AA?? where is the magazine name? how can i add weapons that are not in use of the soldiers like the silenced MP5 (MP5SD something) ? can you, if u dont mind, use the MP5SD weapons and actually give me an example on how the line should look like for that weapon? or if u dont know the name of that weapon than some other weapon? so i can see an example of the lines i should put in the editor. thanks :)

im not judging by this video. im judging from the fact that i've read numerous previews, all of them said something bad about the AI. friendly AND opfor. making a good AI is usually something done only by large, well profound companies with one exception - GSC (made stalker). making good AI is something that requires a team and a lot of experience, and no disrespect to BIS but i dont trust them to have the best AI programmers around. I dont have high hopes from ARMA2's AI. mindd u, i am not talking about occasional bugs. im talking about the general way the AI is handeling itself in combat. u dont like my predictions - fine. im not trying to convince anyone. just giving a heads up. if im getting the AI from ArmA1 than i will be deeply disappointed. as i said - AI for me will make or break a game. it is my top priority in SP. i can handle clunky controls or mediocre graphics but having fun AI is what makes me enjoy a game or not. it's like if im playing basketball with 9 kids, about 8 years of age, or if im plaing basketball with skillful 20 something year olds. im not gonna enjoy my game with something that seems incompetent.

for me the AI will make or break the game. all the latest previews said bad things about the AI and i have no doubt that no major improvement will be noticed towards the gold master. this game's AI will be poor, like ARMA1's. i really hope i am wrong but if i am not than all eyes are on OFP2....

i think that seperating the release dates is really bad for the company (BIS). it gives a lot of time for pirates to crack the game from the first release while the other countries are waiting for the legal release. this will result in pirating the game in countries that have the launch in june... it would have been smarter for 505 to release it all at once in june. of course im sure "ze germans" will not agree :) and i wouldnt blame them , of course.

hi there. im very new to ARMA and the editor and i want to start by trying something and cant seem to understand how. i've read some manuals on the editor and i dont think i understood what was written there so i ask. i am using the FFN mod and sometimes the ACE mod as well. FYI for the sake of the thread lets use these terms: FU = friendly units EU = enemy units WP = waypoints TR = triggers i want to create a simple mission, just for starters. mission A) a village filled with EU and i need to clean them all (all infantry) mission B) a battle between many EU and FU that clash on a certain ground but most of the FU are not under my command. they are on their own. (all infantry) concerning mission A: i know how to place EU and FU and the player. i know how to place a trigger that says that once opfor is not present i get end1 so the mission ends. i know how to link units to one character so it's the leader. i know that i can place WP but im not sure what to do with them and what they mean, even though i read about them in some online manuals (like wiki). so, my main issue is that even though i know how to populate a village with EU that will attack me if they see me i have this problem where the AI units do not actively search for me once im spotted by one of them. they just stay where they spawned, most of the time. sometimes they go to unexpected locations. just sometimes. the almost never really try and hunt me or my FU down. i guess i need to set behavior via WP for the EU so they do that but i dont know how or what type of WP. can i assign WP on myself, the player? should i? what's the difference between search&destroy and just destroy? there's a lot i dont know about how to make the AI search after me and my FU once one of us has been made out. i need some guidance... about mission B: again, i think i need to know more about WP to make the EU and FU engage one another until all are dead. how do i make a large number of EU to try and clear a certain area from all my FU and visa versa? gemeral questions: what is the difference between guard and sentry? what happens if i set guard WP on the ground? what will the AI do when they get there if the HAVE another WP after it or if the DONT have one? what does the AI do if i set Seek & destroy on the ground if they dont or do get WP after it? can i attach a WP to my own character? cuz it doesnt seem so. what will happen if that WP is seek & destroy? thanks for any help.

if i read u right, than u are saying a better solution is to make the designers place cover nods (IE - almost every Unreal engine game like GOW, R6VEGAS, BIA:HH etc)... while this might work in corridor shooters its not really working in open games, is it? also, if u ask me, GRAW1's AI is much much better than GRAW2. im talking about enemy AI, mostly. in GRAW2 they are too dumb, dont use cover and barely move. after playing 40% of the game i became very sure if this. after completing is i had no doubt in my mind that enemy AI in GRAW2 was 4 steps back. are u really sure it is working better???? plus, in BIA:HH the AI is so scripted that i give them no credit. same as MOH:A - they are mearly choosing a cover that was decided by the devs. the AI cant recognize cover on its own (unlike GTAIV's AI, as far as i can see) thus making them completely dependant on what the devs made ready for them. this method is completely inefficient with ARMA2, OFP2 or GTAIV or any other open game. weird thing is that in GTAIV, that somehow has the AI very autonomous and independant and have the ability to find cover themselves, YET the dev made vey linear and scripted mission. R* could have made non linear open missions and the AI is already ready for that, but they didnt. weird.

weird. i am pretty sure that FC2's AI is using forbidden areas for huts, shacks, rocks and steep mountins but no cover nods since they dont really use cover. and come one, nodunit - its obvious that FC2 and crysis ain't using the same engine. they look nothing alike (crysis looks much much better but the cry engine probably cant stream large areas like the dunia engine can). lwlooz, i agree that the interface and command method in arma is pretty damgn bad. its very detailed but its very hard to use quickly and in too many times i had to actually SEARCH the thing i wanted the AI to do. also its very NOT contact sesitive. it could have been done SO much better. the command method in OFP2 is probably gonna be a lot easier and a lot more effective since its more contact sensitive. u probably wont be able to tell the AI in OFP2 all the tiny things like in Arma2 but my guess is that you wouldnt need too either.

i can not, for the love of god, understand why ppl are competeing as if these are basketball teams. we all like realistic shooters. both games will be pretty realistic, even if one will be more than the other, they will both have large scale combats, even though one will have bigger than the other, they will both make us happy, though one will do that better than the other. in other words - i, for once, will get the games that i like. if both are awesome i will get both. some actually hope that "their" game will come off as better than the other cuz they feel like they are a part of the creative team. BS. i hope both are great so i will have TWO great titles instead of one. OFP2's new trailer looks good: http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/901428/operation-flashpoint-2/videos/OFP2_ego_Tech_021908.html even thogh its a PR trailer and not something i can judge the game by, but CM has about 5 more months to work on it and there's plenty of apportunities to see how that game is moving along. arma2 comes in a month, im excited and even if it's the best milsim ever, if OFP2 will be good as well, even if for different reasons, than i will get it too. good times. go 2009!!

i can not, for the love of god, understand why ppl are competeing as if these are basketball teams. we all like realistic shooters. both games will be pretty realistic, even if one will be more than the other, they will both have large scale combats, even though one will have bigger than the other, they will both make us happy, though one will do that better than the other. in other words - i, for once, will get the games that i like. if both are awesome i will get both. some actually hope that "their" game will come off as better than the other cuz they feel like they are a part of the creative team. BS. i hope both are great so i will have TWO great titles instead of one. OFP2's new trailer looks good: http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/901428/operation-flashpoint-2/videos/OFP2_ego_Tech_021908.html even thogh its a PR trailer and not something i can judge the game by, but CM has about 5 more months to work on it and there's plenty of apportunities to see how that game is moving along. arma2 comes in a month, im excited and even if it's the best milsim ever, if OFP2 will be good as well, even if for different reasons, than i will get it too. good times. go 2009!!

thanks for replying, guys. the guids u gave me are guids that i know of. havent helped me and that's why i wrote here. stilton, special thanks to you, of course. i still dont get a few basic things: 1) if i set a sentry WP and that unit or group is going towards that WP, if they spot an enemy, will they go out of their way to find and kill it? that's what im looking for. 2) what is the WP i need to use in order to make units stand in a certain place but leave that place to engage enemies if spotted? i need a WP i can place, so AI that will go there will stay there, but if the AI spots me than they will leave that spot and maneuver on me. not just kinda stay where they were but chase me down. 3) seek&destroy seemed nice in the beginning but it seemed like the units that reach the WP just stay there eventually instead of going after me if i leave the area, not to mention that they stay so close to where they (or should i say "I"?) decide to be that they dont take cover, even. 4) i asked if i can give WP on units. can i tell EU to destroy my own unit? like place a WP on myself? cuz it seems like it isnt possible. the WP doesnt get locked on my (or my FU's) icon... 5) what happens if i set a DESTROY WP on the ground? what will the AI do with that WP if it's just a ground or a building? 6) what will the AI do if i dont give them any WP at all? if they spot an enemy, what will they do? 7) so how can i make a group of AIs to search a certain area for enemies? is the best way is just to set a patrol that has many WP on the area i want to cover and set them to SENTRY? if so than how can i make the AI to travel WP forever? can i make the AI back track on it's own WPs if they reach the last WP? or go from the last WP to the first and repeat it's course? thanks again, guys

baff1 - great post. well phrased and i agree bout everything. however i just appreciate AIs that had paths made for them less (FEAR). thafunkmaster - i thought about this too. why dont devs make objects and on their way from MAYA or 3Dmax or whatever dont they go through another program where they can place cover nodes on the corners so when an object is placed on the map than the nodes are attached automatically. in crysis it was the case with trees and barrels but not much more. the problem might surface when the objects is half sunk into the ground or at a weird angle, but it's still a decent solution, i would think. i am no programmer though. my opinion counts very lil nodunit - i know how crysis' AI works, kinda. i never got into flow charts and i even had troubles getting them into buildings. this is why i never gave it as a good AI example. its way too heavily scripted and not independant. i dont assume u saw the nev-meshes or nodes for FC2's AI, right? u r just assuming, i believe. i am positive completely that in order to navigate around they need to be restricted so they wont go into high hills or rocks or buildings, and of course they needed nodes for stationary weapons and such. that im sure of. this is why u couldnt place AIs in the editor - too complex for most of us. but since the AI in FC2 doesnt really use cover (they just kinda straf around and run around. they even never EVER EVER crouch, which is a shame cus a crouching enemy feels alive. just "feels" but it gives the impression he is being careful or stealthy. they never do that in FC2 and i dont understand why not) so i dont think there are cover nodes in that game. i am still curious to STALKER and GTAIV's AI. have u played those games, nodunit? can u guess how come the AI in GTAIV knows how to navigate everywhere and how come they know how to use cover so wisely? same with stalker? if i was to develop a way for the AI to find cover than i'd go with a "virtual-sensors" way - this way the AI "shoots" virtual sensors (many. around 50 o more) towards the position of their enemy. the sensors travels on the ground at crouch level (around 3 feet high) and wherever the sensor hits and object than it means it cover. then there are more sensors around the point of impact iwth the cover that shoot towards the enemy and these more fine sensors detect the edges of the cover. this way there's no need for cover nodes.

hi tony, is there a mod that makes the AI start firing faster? as it is now, the AI seem too take much longer than me , the human player' to open fire. once they do they are pretty accurate. accurate enough, but they take so long to start firing. if it was possible i guess the AI should have a spectrum of speed in which it opens fire - on one end of the spectrum it takes it's time to aim so it will fire after a lil longer, but once it does it's pretty accurate. on the other end of the spectrum it fires quicker but it doesnt take time to aim to it shooter with poor accuracy. u think this can be implemented? also - is there a way i can see how u made your missions in the editor? im completely new to the editor and i would love to see how u made the first mission (where u r in a village surrounded by 20 men at night) in the editor...

oh man.... no help :( what a pitty so no one care to share the secrets? i know the answers are really easy and almost everyone here knows, but no one cares to share? i'd really appreciate any input.