[One Winged Angel]

Hey guys. There hasnt been much activity from us, I know. But now C&C Source has moved to the new Meaaov network, these forums won't be crashing any more. Now onto the mod updates!

danpaul88 has been slaving coding away and has come up with, none other than enhanced AI "What does this mean?" you ask. Well, for starters, the AI now prioritises targets and takes out the object that it considers to be the biggest threat. So if your AI Apocalypse Tank friend is busy blasting away at an IFV then a harrier comes overhead, it will switch targets to the harrier because it is more of a threat than the IFV. Neat eh? Also, this new AI can differentiate between armour types so if you were thinking that the AI Mammoth Tank was too stupid to think to use the rockets on you and your rocket soldier friends, think again. The AI like to ruin your day by making it's shots effective

>>>Here is a video of it all<<<

Now, you may or may not have seen our new userbars that we have been flashing around, courtesy of Merovingian. Check out the one he made for all you AR supporters

[url=www.ar.cnc-source.com][img]http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9775/aruserbarsspge6.jpg[/img][/url]

For one of the releases of Apocalypse Rising, we may include a training map for the n00bs to play before they come into an MP game. This mission will feature the mod devs as tactics instructers with all new voiceovers and maybe a few easter eggs thrown in. More on this in the coming month

Finally, we have something map shaped from, our 3d messiah, Ric. Remember the Ra2 map, Isle of War? Well here it is in it's 3d WIP form.

NOTE: This map is only a WIP example and will be heavily modified before it goes into Apocalypse Rising. The textures are an example of the climate this map is set in and are also not final.

Well, this has been a pretty good blog all round and before I wind it up, I have some personal news from me to give to you.

Next monday, it is my birthday!

This has been an Apocalypse Rising Dev blog brought to you by One Winged Angel. See you next week, when cfehunter makes his triumphant return!

Update: The main building of the Allied Forces, the Constructuction Yard, is ready to build!

A model by the VOA Team with a texture by Skulking_Ferrit.

That really is all until next week

[-= Nameme99 =-]

w00t!
I got ran over by a AI tank

[Phoenixx]

Quick get OWA some presents!!

[R315r4z0r]

YES!!!

FINALLY A decent vehicle AI script! Good work danpaul!

And w00t @ Isle of War!

[-SG-GummiBear]

good to hear about the AI thing, and that map looks very accurate too (although you kinda forgot one of the cities )

[Hydra]

Cool video.

It was kinda hard to see the tanks prioritize in the beginning, but you really saw it when Dan got into that apache and flew to the MRLSs.

[Venom Pawz]

razorblade001, on Feb 6 2007, 02:23 PM, said:

YES!!!

FINALLY A decent vehicle AI script! Good work danpaul!

And w00t @ Isle of War!

Actually, in October 2005, Neosaber developed a vehicle AI script that could prioritize infantry, vehicles, air threats, etc. that could be coupled with exceptions (never fire at ______), with a bias/threat rating settable for what kind of actual unit within the class it was. Additionally, aim adjustments could be made depending on the target. So suppose you had a basic ground defense turret, with a pillbox. To quote the old post,

'NeoSaber' date='Oct 16 2005, on 09:34 PM", said:

Right now the priority goes Player Driven Vehicle-> AI Vehicle-> Player Controlled Soldier-> AI Soldier. A tie in threat assessment is determined by whoever is closer.

So if you are camping a V2 in the distance to confuse a turret for your friends, trying to sneak another one right into the base will fail; the turret will detect the new threat and engage that instead. Additionally, once the V2 is dead, the turret will pick the next V2 to attack, while the pillbox shifts its attention to the infantryman out of the V2. Once he is dead, the pillbox rejoins the attack on the V2.

As soon as that V2 is dead and just men are left, the turret will automatically attempt to damage the infantryman with its splash damage instead of a direct hit, as most AI scripts are (with poor foresight towards actual gameplay conditions) designed. Ever noticed how easy it is to dodge turret fire in Renegade? That's because it is aiming at you as if you were a tank, and doesn't realize it can just drop shells at the terrain near you to hurt you.

Further, in terms of the global "what do I fire at?" calculations, an AI vehicle-- be it mobile or not-- will also factor in if you are player, an empty player vehicle (as in the human player hopped out and hid behind it), how much health or armor you have left, how "comfortable" a range you're at (do you fit well in between the max and min effective range for the unit?-- stops mammoths from trying to hit infantry that get too close to be hit)

Additionally, in order to require a switch to the next best target, there is a settable bias. The threshhold as of Oct 18 was 10%. Even if a slightly better target comes along, therefore, the AI vehicle "finishes the job" on its current target.

Also, suppose in the case above the infantry in the V2 jumped out before it died. The pillbox would automatically attempt to gun him down, while the turret would continue attacking the V2.

[danpaul88]

TBH the vehicle AI was more of a side project I felt like doing, and is not strictly an AR only script. They are a decent set of scripts, and I am sure saberhawks neosabers scripts are just as good if not better, but I don't think those have ever been made public.

And my scripts do support different priorities for infantry / vehicles / vtols / buildings, and also factors in max / min ranges, although in this case my scripts attempt to have the vehicle move to its preferred range, rather than pick targets based on a static location.

[Venom Pawz]

The heavy tanks in my test pack don't sit still either ^_-

Neosaber made them. Not Saberhawk.

[R315r4z0r]

@ Venom Pawz

You mean NeoVehicle_AI? (I think that was the name)

I know, I used it in a map of mine, DustStorm_Redux. (for those of you who saw the old ragdoll that is already in this sites download directory... I fixed it up... it is due for another tune up again now, however)

The vehicles worked great, except they didn't roam around like they should of, and they didn't prioritize. I had set the mammoth tank to fire its rockets at infantry and aircraft, but it would either not fire at them at all, or just use its cannons.

That is why I am excited to see this new script, and actually see that it does work.