Sgt R. Nelson

Hello, people of Bohemia Forums. I am looking to set up a server utilizing the Iron Front lite modpack, and the idea of some measure of persistency for various templates appeals to me. What I'm curious about, are what options are available for me to use, which ones are generally stable, and how high end a server I'd need to ensure such stability. 1.) I know of ALiVE, and have used it in the past. It worked pretty well. However, I'm curious if there's other options other than ALiVE that would suit my purposes for a "living" template. What I'd like, is the map to have basically three areas. The first, is the known cleared areas. Places that are safe. The second, would be zones that may or may not be contested with enemy presence. The third, would be known enemy locations and such. I would also like such enemy forces to flex in strength and armament, in regards to how many players are in the prescribed area. If three or four people want to conduct a foot patrol, having them run into a platoon of German Panther tanks, is not ideal. If we bring in a plane, the enemy brings in a plane. We bring tanks, they bring tanks, etc. I'd like some measure of fair play with what spawns. Overall, how feasible is this idea? Am I better served with a script that spawns in missions at random, with different objectives? 2.) What options are out there that allow for a persistent kind of template? I know just enough to get confused. If any of you might share what you've used in the past, or seen used, or currently utilize, and just point me in that direction, I'd be happy to research them on my own. 3.) I imagine any form of persistence would be rather taxing on a server. If this were left on continually--with regular restarts--would any ol' server box do? Or, to ensure good frames and reliable and reactionary AI, with such a persistent template in mind, would I need to purchase a higher-end server? I fear my knowledge on that end of things, of Arma, is pretty lacking. Thanks for anyone who took the time to read, and pointed me in any direction of useful.

I appreciate your responses and explanation that the FSM routine is what sorts out the AI. That's well above my knowledge base to think about dabbling in. bCombat has been tried, and it does offer a HUGE boost over the standard Arma AI. VCOM is next on my list. I like what I've seen from it so far, though I am worried about server performance under load. Only one way to know for sure, I suppose. I haven't gotten to ASR yet, though it's on my list. I was just hoping there was some little thought about simple snip and copy of a line of code here to there, that would solve the issue without having to resort to additional mods, etc. I suppose that would be too easy.

Benevolent People of the Internet, My understanding on the topic of scripting is quite grim, so I hope you'll offer me a modicum of patience if my question has been asked and answered already, though I've yet to find the answer for myself. My understanding is that the Arma 3 AI utilize a simple "If this/than" type of approach. I know there are AI modifications out there (such a bCombat, VCom) and they work to varying degrees, depending on what one is looking for, and the scope at which they're playing. The issue that's encountered, is when anything hostile (bullet, aircraft, a mean nasty disparaging remark about their mothers) happens within that AI's continent, any movement order they may have been given, is immediately overridden by the "If this/than", and the units turn into gargoyles with guns (they stop moving). It's disheartening to watch via Ares/Zeus a group of OPFOR AI move up to BLUFOR players, and to watch the AI just stop their movement when a bullet zings by. Deleting the move order to re-issue doesn't change this, and moving the unit to try and re-set also doesn't change this. It's frustrating, as it keeps one in Ares from effectively being able to flank, or assault, a player held position. Is it possible to write, or tweak, the AI script where their movement isn't immediately halted, or an override that can be utilized in Ares/Zeus regarding the unit's behavior where they'll ignore the aforementioned hostility? Or, is it possible to edit the AI script itself (a script I've not looked at, as I wouldn't know what it meant) to snip out the part that says "When that mean ol' bullet is fired at you, stop immediately and don't carry out the order given"? I hope my post has made some sense, and I appreciate your time.

I signed up for the forums just so I could add my name to this list. Please BI, give your player base the tools we need to play the game we've bought.