Automated Pickup & Transport Service

[[UN]SGen.ViperMaul]

One of our goals is to be able to somewhat realistically keep players in the heat of the battle as well as move form location to location in a practical manner even if all your human pilots are on vacation for the weekend.

Therefore we are strongly considering testing and reviewing the following:

Airlift script updated to v1.6.4 beta (http://www.armaholic.com/index.php?m=single&id=2094)





http://www.armaholic.com/datas/users/4-airlift_1.jpg

Airlift is a fully dynamic and repeatable chopper pickup service that mission editors can add to their mission with great ease.

The scripts use six choppers and makes use of them dynamically.
So my firsts thoughts as these choppers probably should not count against your purchased one since the not so trusted AI will be flying them. But I haven't thought this through yet.


Overall this script should help any SP or MP missions that the mission maker would like some kind of automated pickup service. The benefit being that the player will not have to manage any group AI or cumbersome menu array since the waypoints are set with map click and the rest is handled with the action menu. The advantage of this system over other chopper scripts would probably be the depth in the options to abort and advance takeoffs and to plan special flightplans aside from a normal beeline to the LZ which might put the chopper in danger en route. The system uses waypoints with adjusting calculations to reduce travel time over long distances but still preserve the flight plan. The system is perfectly capable of fast direct pickup as well.


Notes: There is a Action added during the Airlift to Advance to next LZ or Advance to home base. This is to allow the leaving behind of any one in your group should the script caller need. Due to the actions menu changes while on board vehicles, the caller will have to exit the vehicle to access these actions.

The transport chopper will takeoff for next position when entire group is loaded/unloaded by default.

Airlift still only supports one side per mission. This will be updated in the near future!
So we will have to wait for an updated version! But I would be interested in what our players think about this.

[[IRT]Super64]

This is very cool. But i would be hesitant allowing a bot to fly a transport full of humans into a battle zone chocked full of armed humans looking to shoot them down. Where's the SAM avoidance script on this puppy? lol

[[UN]SGen.ViperMaul]

What is cool about that script is you with a simple map click you can designate way points. And hopefully cruise altitude.

Also with Mando Missile system we can add Automated Flare Script and bump up the flares from 3 to 6.

[[IRT]Super64]

What is cool about that script is you with a simple map click you can designate way points. And hopefully cruise altitude.

Also with Mando Missile system we can add Automated Flare Script and bump up the flares from 3 to 6.


Interesting. This would be worth trying out and testing. I still dont trust a bot flying me in a hot zone though! :eek:

[[8]72|Pvt.SnowMan]

I'd like to test it also. Like Super, I would'nt like to be in a helo piloted by a bot into a hot LZ.

[[ATOW]BarmyArmy]

To quote the more famous BA

"I ain't gettin' in no plane, crazy fool."

Certainly I ain't getting in no plane piloted by AI, after my experiences watching AI drive land vehicles developing the trainset, there is no way I'm letting AI pilot me anywhere.

BA

[[DI]I|Cpl.Dren]

hehe the picture of situtation popped to my head...
"Come on barmy jump to the helo, the whole squad is waiting!"
"NO WAY!"

[BazookaBoy]

Barmy, do you like to drink Milk ;)

[[UN]SGen.ViperMaul]

I agree. But who in their right mind would fly a full group of soldier into a known hot area.

As long as I am controlling the waypoints and the final LZ and I can abort at any time during the flight as well as force the AI to fly below the Radar, then I am willing to allow the AI to fly. Because I would have a educated guess at the safest route to fly and drop me off 250 - 500 meters from my destination.

These AI pilots are more for the times of the battle that there are no human pilots available for a transport mission.

[Raptor-6]

I think it's a great idea. And like ViperMaul says, if you setup the drop in a hot LZ you deserve everything you get!!! :p Until the time we have enough pilots so that we can have attack choppers and transport helos manned all the time, this looks like an acceptable stopgap to me. Given that it tests out ok.

Barm, I guess you'll just have to hoof it!! ;)

[[RET]Hooves]

WEll Honeslty if we can just get the Airlift script to work for lifting vehicles with the chopper, I would like to to keep the flying to humans. Trust me when I say computers are not to be trusted flying real aircraft, and I speak from experience LOL.

[[UN]SGen.ViperMaul]

Mando has an accurate flying script for enhanced AI piloting that I plan to add if needed.

In the end, just like a human pilot each army will have to practice with the AI pilots as well. And confidence will either abound or diminish. And each army, each unit commander will make a battleday decision according to that confidence.

[[7]45|JSgt.The_Jag]

Two thumbs up for testing it!

[[IRT]Super64]

RB|Cpl.The_Jag;54103']Two thumbs up for testing it!

Excellent Jag. You will be its only passenger all day on the next Fun Test. lol I will be counting your respawns. :)

[{UN}Coolio (Retired)]

I would rather be knitting a scarf for the mecanic that does service on my car than spend time testing this Airlift script.

[[UN]SGen.ViperMaul]

LOL - you guys have no faith. I will be with you JAG. I have faith in giving a pilot a safe route to fly as I would never tell my AI pilot to go any where near the hostile front. :)

[[UN]SGen.ViperMaul]

By the way, we looked at this for Campaign One and there were some apparent performance issues in pvp and we didn't have the time to investigate. But we haven't ruled this out for Campaign Two.

[{UN}.Nurmdog]

As one of the grunts that would be transported in I agree that i do not like the computer dropping me in a HOT LZ. I don't mink the AI moving me into a warm LZ if it means a 1 minute flight instead of a 10 minute hump.

Did you guys check with ArmATec to see if his custom script for UAV nav would work with or be tweaked for Airlift?

[[DI]I|Cpl.Dren]

call lift (spawns bunch of different markers on map), call lift again "pilot dead" box appears and nothing happens.
If each squad leader could have one LB or UH-60 in use, it would be nice "touch" for boring lifts.
But this script alot of small fixing...

(well atleast the did do fast landing and take off. also managed to land between two building and lift off still :D )

[{7}21|MykeMichail]

I don't think the idea is really to put these things into the heat of battle.

But atleast it frees up human pilots to run the really important, hot LZ flights, and we can use the AI pilots to run the "Oh no I just died now I need to either walk 3 km or find a chopper pilot" insertions.

We all know how annoying legging it 3 km is. And we all know how annoying it is when the one chopper pilot you came to rely on gets shot down and is taking a long walk back to the airfield.

AI choppers would definitely reduce boredom and frustration associated with the long walks back to the battlefield.

[Spyder]

I like this idea. Just don't set your LZ anywhere near the target. Makes sense to me and it will work with precision. Plus at this point I think I'd rather fly with AI *cough* what! Did I just say that j/k :)

[[DI]I|Cpl.Dren]

basically as i stated earlyer, i suggest to really test this.
i prefer to run 3km's than try to order one of these lifts...

[Raptor-6]

RB|1Lt.Dren;59174']basically as i stated earlyer, i suggest to really test this.
i prefer to run 3km's than try to order one of these lifts...


You can run... I'll take the ride!!:D

[Highfox{RET}]

I think we should try it as well. Especially seeing as we don't have enough pilots.
Getting in and out by air is a fun part of this game.

[[AToW]wormeaten]

Why don't use truck's we can established from some town to the point you chose on the map and it can be continuously like bus line.

For me is only problem spec ops ambush. They will be continuously hunting transport routs more then try to find enemy on the ground.

[{7}21|Claesson]

This sounds like a really neat idea any news on this? Either Airlift or Wormeaten's bus suggestion :)

[BazookaBoy]

one downside of trucks is that the AI wont cross bridges :(

[[IRT]Super64]

one downside of trucks is that the AI wont cross bridges :(

LOL That could be a problem.

[PuFu_]

I wouldn't feel like being driven/flown by the AI that much ;) They can't backup more than 5 m, they can hardly turn 90 degrees without hitting trees and roadsigns, 180 being a real utopia. I don't even wanna go into landings, and take offs :(

[{RET}Snake Raper]

While I agree that it would free pilots/drivers from the tedium of shuttle runs, the OPFOR would definately ambush these AI controlled runs. Especially if they ran on predetermined paths, making them not very useful overall.

One of the ways I could see this working though, is to have the shuttles operate on the direction of a player (unit 2IC for example). That way, the route can be controlled as can the behavior of the driver/pilot. This would allow a very specific debussing point/LZ that can be altered based on the tactical situation.

There would however need to be a rule in place to keep from exploiting this, since AI is not allowed (by the rules) to drive/pilot vehicles. For example, the closest to the "front" you can get is 1km, or to the nearest linking objective or something of that nature.

Personally, I would never get into an AI controlled vehicle to head to the front.

[[IRT]Super64]

And imagine if an army got their SAM within range of the pre-determined paths of the robot-helo's. Holy chopper buffet batman. lol