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A3EAI - Roaming/Vehicle AI Patrols - Discontinued


Face

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What is A3EAI:

 

A3EAI is a general-purpose AI addon designed specifically around A3 Epoch and its unique features, built from a heavily modified version of DZAI 2.2.1. "A3EAI" simply stands for "ArmA 3 Epoch AI". For users of DZAI, you'll know exactly what to expect from A3EAI.

 

A3EAI Features:

 

  1. Automatically-generated static AI spawns: A3EAI will spawn an AI group at various named locations on the map if players are nearby.

  2. Dynamic AI spawns: A3EAI will create ambient threat for each player by periodically spawning AI to create unexpected ambush encounters. These AI may occasionally seek out and hunt a player.
  3. Random AI spawns: A3EAI will create spawns that are randomly placed around the map and are periodically relocated. These spawns are preferentially created in named locations, but may be also created anywhere in the world.
  4. Air and land vehicle AI: AI patrol in vehicles around the map, looking for players to hunt down. Cars and trucks may roam the road, and helicopters (or jets) search the skies for players. Helicopters with available cargo space may also occasionally deploy an AI group by parachute. Dynamic AI may also sometimes summon an air vehicle to their location for support.
  5. Custom AI spawns: Users may also define custom infantry and vehicle AI spawns at specified locations.
  6. Adaptive classname system: A3EAI reads Epoch's loot tables to find items that AI can use, such as weapons and equipment. Users may also choose to manually specify classnames to use instead.
  7. Error-checking ability: A3EAI checks config files for errors upon startup. If errors are found, A3EAI will use backup settings and continue operating as normal.
  8. Classname verification: A3EAI filters out invalid or banned classnames and prevents them from being used by AI.
  9. Universal map support: A3EAI supports any and every map for Arma 3 without changing any settings.
  10. Plug-and-play installation: Installing and upgrading A3EAI is a simple copy and paste job and does not require modifying any Epoch files.
  11. Easy configuration: A single configuration file contains all settings for A3EAI. This config file is external to the A3EAI pbo, so configuration changes can be made without ever having to unpack or repack the pbo file.

 

What's new about A3EAI:

 

A3EAI is intended to be a near-total redesign of DZAI in terms of how the three major AI spawning systems (Static, Dynamic, and Random) work together. In DZAI, the 3 systems worked mostly in isolation: Static AI was for cities and towns, dynamic was for everywhere else, and random was just... random.

 

A3EAI seeks to change things up by using "zero-configuration heterogenous spawning system" that lets all three major spawning systems to work together as one. Instead of having manual static spawn definitions for each city, town, etc, A3EAI will place a single spawn area at each city/town/etc directly. The upgraded dynamic and random AI spawning systems will fill in the gaps by spawning AI wherever necessary. AI group sizes, skill levels, and to a certain extent, loadouts, will be assigned to suit the location - small villages will have the lowest level AI, with larger cities having tougher AI. "Remote" areas such as factories and military bases will have the highest difficulty AI.

 

To put it simply, many changes have been made to A3EAI that I simply can't list here. You will have to see for yourself when it is released.

 

Where to download A3EAI:

 

Download at: https://github.com/dayzai/A3EAI

 

 

How to install A3EAI:

 

A3EAI install instructions are located in the download package as well as the A3EAI Wikia site: http://a3eai.wikia.com/wiki/A3EAI_Installation.

Edited by Face
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Thank you everyone greatly for your support. As a script writer it makes me happy to see how much people are looking forward to something I've been putting a great deal of time and effort into.

 

Because of the radical design changes made from DZAI to A3EAI, I have to caution that certain things might annoy certain people, especially people who want to micromanage every aspect of their addons.

 

As a script writer, I enjoy coding things that take care of themselves without the need for configuration or supervision (up to a point). It's my goal to develop A3EAI into a kind of "AI" of its own, and by AI I don't mean the units that are spawned ingame and shoot peoples' faces, I mean the addon itself as the Artificial Intelligence. This isn't exactly a practical way of thinking or coding so I understand if it doesn't sit well with every single person.

 

That said, I'm hoping the unified spawn systems will still provide the flexibility that micromangers are looking for:

 

  • If you don't like the static spawns and want to "disable" certain spawns - disable the static spawn system completely and bump up the dynamic and random spawn rates. Use the blacklist areas to allow spawns only where you want
  • If you don't like AI spawning out in the middle of nowhere, disable the dynamic spawns and maybe the random spawns as well.
  • If you are a super micromanager, disable all three systems and stick to the custom spawns, although this may be A3EAI's least-developed feature so far (just as in DZAI).

Enough rambling from me, just glad to see the positive responses and hope that A3EAI will at least meet peoples' expectations.

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Did I misread it or is this an AI script for Arma 3 with no Arma 3 map support?

 

I realize it's somewhat confusing, so I'll lay it out in a simple TL;DR format:

 

  • A3EAI is designed to support any and all maps
  • A3EAI is designed around not having any static spawn definition files
  • No new files were made for the A3 maps because A3EAI was made to not need these spawn config files.
  • The modified static spawn definition files for A2 maps from DZAI should still work with A3EAI using the AiA pack
  • The static spawn definition file pack is an optional addon that isn't officially supported. It's just there because it "should work"

The reason why the static spawn definition file pack even exists is because at this time, I don't know if this new redesign of A3EAI will work out in the end. There is a chance it could work and the file pack won't be needed ever again, if it doesn't work out, A3EAI will be redesigned to support static spawn config files as an absolute last resort, and this would be a huge step backwards for A3EAI, design-wise.

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Could you make an option for static / dynamic Zapper spawns?

you know monsters istead of armed AI

WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT :D

Only armed AI are to be supported. If sappers were to be used you'd have armless blind guys running around with rifles.
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I know there are going to be a lot of questions about "How do I configure..." and other "How do I" questions after release day, so here is a sneak peak to the main config file which will show all the features included in A3EAI: http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=46X3YKjY. Note that A3EAI is still in development and changes can and probably will happen between now and release day.

 

There will only be two files meant for user ending (the other one is a blank file for custom spawns, blacklists, etc), which means no navigating through this folder and that file, so hopefully this will cut down on the "Where do I edit..." questions, because it will be: Just. That. One. File.

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