VFTCAS - Terrain Collision Avoidance System

[VictorFarbau]

Important - according to the community issue tracker ticket (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/show/5637) bad chopper behavior is supposed to be resolved as of beta build 73272 (-> will be in patch 1.55). I did try many scenarios and it looks very good; meaning choppers don't consistently hit tree tops anymore! You should only use this addon if you still suffer from frequent chopper crashes!
Edit: Choppers now tend to dive too rapidly and crash into ground. So you might still need it after all.

VFTCAS - Terrain Collision Avoidance System

Big name, small addon. I was getting annoyed with the amount of dead choppers in forests, groves and hills that were lying there for no other reason than pilot stupidity*.
Since I was tired of missing out on half of the choppers during my missions I wrote this small addon. It simulates a primitive terrain scanning radar that just scans the terrain level ahead and adjusts the vertical lift of the chopper to maintain a minimum flightlevel of 35m (min height to avoid treetops).

Updated to new build 20

Improvement: compensate loss of speed during terrain collision avoidance measures
Improvement: exit message (if publicVariable vftcasrun == 0) appears only once
Improvement: signed for MP usage

Updated to new build 18

Bug resolved: Choppers with dead pilots would not crash
Feature added: publicVariable "VFTCASrun" is checked. Setting it to 0 (zero) will immediately terminate the addon on all units

Updated to new build 14

Bug resolved: Choppers without pilots would not crash

Updated to new build 12

Bug resolved: players being dropped from high altitude and choppers won't land
Slightly optmized code

Updated to new build 06

Better download location (DevHeaven, thanks to Kju and Sickboy)
Introduced better timings in script (less CPU intensive)
Better check for human pilots


The VFTCAS Addon

Just goes into your addons folder, no modfolder required
Requires Extended Eventhandlers for Arma II (part of the CBA project (http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=78622))
Automatically starts on all choppers
Only AI pilots are supported (will pause on human player)
Will quit if the chopper cannot fly anymore (damaged or destroyed)
Will only look forward and not to the sides. Thus, strafing into treetops can still happen
Pauses on positive or negative speeds smaller then 30 kmh to allow landing and extractions


Youtube demo:
VFTCAS demo on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6RlAQamt5I)

Download:
VFTCAS download (http://dev-heaven.net/projects/list_files/vftcas)

Enough said - take it or leave it. Works well for me and reduces my blood pressure during chopper missions :)

Cheers,
VictorFarbau

* = Or so it seems at least; I guess the real reason behind this is more related to certain tree objects which seem to be invisible to the flight path algorithm. Choppers and planes keep bumping into the same sort of objects all the time.

[Uglyboy]

Amazing :) Just like all your other projects ;)

[Manzilla]

Thanks for this. I was hoping someone would do this.

[Drew]

holy spam? is it always like that in the chat like shown in the video? otherwise cool addon

[Uglyboy]

holy spam? is it always like that in the chat like shown in the video? otherwise cool addon

I think the chat is like that for a kind of debug mode.

[VictorFarbau]

holy spam? is it always like that in the chat like shown in the video? otherwise cool addon

Debug mode - not visible during regular gameplay.

VictorFarbau

[Binkowski]

Thanks! Been waiting for this. Downloading now.

[norrin]

This is an excellent and much needed addon.

Thank you. :)

Just one request - is there anyway you can recreate the addon without extended eventhandlers as apparently they are incompatible with ArmA2 1.04 and unfortunately I'm not sure a proper fix has been released yet, see: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=78622&page=13

All I know is that in 1.04 XEH is incompatible with revive (there's some problem with moving markers), whereas in 1.03 there was no problem.

[nikita320106]

what you think about change some heli class' config' params right as in fixed wing(base air class)
brakeDistance = 200;
steerAheadSimul = 0.500000;
steerAheadPlan = 0.800000;
when original is
steerAheadSimul = 0.500000;
steerAheadPlan = 0.700000;

[Tankbuster]

Victor,
Nice work. Will this work with Mando Heliroute?
Tanky -Paul-

[AnimalMother92]

brilliant! you've fixed one of my main complaints about arma 2 :)

[mrcash2009]

THIS JUST IN

Community modder fixes a fundamental problem that should have been addressed way before or included within patch 1.04 and should be patched and hard coded anyway!

:) Great job.


Just one request - is there anyway you can recreate the addon without extended eventhandlers as apparently they are incompatible with ArmA2 1.04 and unfortunately I'm not sure a proper fix has been released yet, see: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthrea...=78622&page=13

I think its a certain aspect of CBA not that event handlers don't work with 1.04, otherwise this place would flood with mod issues, half mine wouldn't work as they do now in 1.04 and this mod wouldn't work either from release if that was the case. Although I did post an update in that thread to see what wont work.

---------- Post added at 10:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 AM ----------

Please mirror! F**king cant stand filefront, zshare of mediafire all the way .. I just cant nab the file. :)

[nikita320106]

@<hidden> (http://rapidshare.com/files/299959900/VFTCAS_b03.zip.html)

[mrcash2009]

Thanks mate :)

I just dropped this in and went to Namalsk island (huge hills) and then set 2 Ah1z's in formation to move slow right through 3 way points direct over the snowy mountains (while following them in my own).

I set to slow to watch them study the terrain and they do it without effort climbing steady and navigating the huge snowy mountain tops, really good to see air AI looking like they are figuring something out :)

EDIT ... set a way points direct to each highest peak on the map set to full speed on all and again they think it through gather height (really high abrupt altitude) and work really well.

EDIT 2: Heres a test mission of it with camera set to AI so you can fly through it with them (just when you think your about to crash and burn ...) :)

http://www.zshare.net/download/67697103ef0a360b/

(needs Namalsk island and this mod obviously). Mission shows as "MRCASH - TEST".

[VictorFarbau]

@<hidden> - hm but this needs XEH because of the class init eventhandlers; only other option would be to start this manually on each single chopper. That would really suck. Edit: however, I will make a CBA-free version available, too. It would require manual start of the script, but if you don't mind init lines like that... up to you.

@<hidden> - I have to leave config tweaks to the config gurus. I don't think this would address the root cause anyway. No matter how careful but the pilots would probably still not "see" certain objects (yellow trees being amongst them).

I am awaiting my project space on DevHeaven for this addon. Then I will host the files there. The addon requires 1 or 2 more updates before I would consider it final.

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[Simon C]

This is brilliant, one small bug though:
Try setting some Hinds to fly over Island Panthera, as soon as they reach the hills, it's like they've got rockets attached to them, they climb so fast. :p

[Uziyahu--IDF]

This problem arises from a "realism" introduced in ArmA 1, I believe, the abandonment of the terrain-hugging A.I. of helos in OFP:R. While this allowed more manual control of elevation, it also requires constant correction over uneven terrain, making the flight model a bit more difficult for the human player...and apparently the A.I., too.

The sad thing about this is that my UH60 Instructor Pilot Army buddy told me that the Blackhawk will hug terrain much like it did in OFP:R. I flew the sim at Fort Rucker (a computerized simulator up on hydraulic stilts) and that seemed to be the case.

A civilian helicopter realism applied to an advanced military helicopter did not result in much better gameplay.

Thanks for at least fixing it for the A.I.

[cjsoques]

FYI...this stuff is really used (although the component goes by a different name) and have saved pilots lives in both helos and aircraft, particularly the AV8. Thanks for this addon!

[Richard Bruce Cheney]

Oh, wow! Look who just added more gameplay! Thanks, Victor!

Can you imagine hearing on the news that several choppers crashed due to trees? Thank you for helping out the AI pilots!

[[fg]]

Awesome work! Thx

[tcp]

Training wheels! Can a version of this be modified for human usage? I was thinking about being able to achieve ground effect. When you go under 35m, there should be a set percentage of vertical thrust added so that if you don't fight it, it will keep you above that altitude. However if you stay nose down and ride that "cushion" you can travel at greater speeds.

[anfiach]

Should have been implemented for AI for sure. For players, not so much. Sure modern birds have these systems installed but it makes for poor game play from a realism standpoint if everything flies on rails.

[Simon C]

Plus, 35m is too high to be flying as a pilot really, if you want your helicopter to survive any sort of AA. ;)

[tcp]

If its adapted for human usage, it doesn't have to hinder your flying low. Ground effect is more realistic. It will enable more maneuverability when flying close to the ground and will probably be appreciated by the more advanced pilots.

[Krycek]

Thank you for this mod,people like you make the game more enjoyable for me(you hear that BIS?).I was simply tired and frustrated with crappy AI flying and engaging armor(thank God that another mod fixed that problem too) and this fixed it for me.Like I said in another thread BIS doesn't really give a crap about old AI problems and they expect the community to do the work for them,well as always when I make a purchase I'll judge with my wallet next BI products.
Didn't want to bitch in your thread but I was simply furios and happy at the same time when seeing this mod,happy that someone finally has made the AI usable in air combat and pissed that such a problem still wasn't fixed by any patch.Thank you again,I sure as hell I appreciate your effort and this coupled with zguba's mod makes the AI air support actually "support" me.

[Pl4t0]

I think I might've found a bug: because of this addon (things worked perfectly before and after I had it installed) when you're supposed to be inserted via chopper, they generally drop you from at least 50 feet in the air to your inevitable death rather than something like 5 feet, perhaps because of the pilots' new-found fear of trees?

Otherwise, this is pretty awesome :)

[Buehgler_AS]

I think this AddOn is a really great idea. However, it seems to me that as it is currently implemented it will not work as expected in an MP setting or if a player enters an empty helicopter. In both cases the CAS feature will be enabled with a player-pilot operating the helicopter.

My suggestion/"fix" is to change the logic that wraps the core functionality as follows.


while (alive _myac) do
{
if {((damage _myac) > 0.2) or (not canMove _myac) or
(isPlayer driver _myac) or ((abs speed _myac) <= 30)} then {
sleep 0.5
} else {
.... CAS math here ...
}
}

Basically, this replaces the "_myac == player" checks with "isPlayer driver _myac". With this change you can also delete the "if ... exitwith {}" at the top, since according to http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/exitwith you should not use exitwith unless you are breaking out of a loop.

[AliMag]

Hi,

Great work!

My only request would be to make a script version that eliminates the need for the addon.

We have no choice to install a new helicopter or island addon but for behaviour change that does not contains any new model I would definitely prefer to deal with script that you can just include into your missions. The script could check if the addon is already active and exit if so.

Thanks for considering it and again great work.

Cheers

[Uziyahu--IDF]

Should have been implemented for AI for sure. For players, not so much. Sure modern birds have these systems installed but it makes for poor game play from a realism standpoint if everything flies on rails.

I don't know about now, but you could assign a flyinheight to a waypoint in OFP:R. A minimum altitude isn't a rail if it keeps the A.I. from crashing into things like they never made it out of Flight School. Additionally, I see little reason for human players to have to constantly adjust elevation if modern systems assist also-human pilots in flying NOE.

[NoRailgunner]

If the AI performs a hard turn to the right/left the aircraft moves like beeing "wired and lifted". This issue doesnt look nice and is an showstopper. Maybe it helps if the script controls the AI banking and if the angle is too steep it will recover it till TCAS will look/perform good. :)

[yanquis]

Training wheels! Can a version of this be modified for human usage? I was thinking about being able to achieve ground effect. When you go under 35m, there should be a set percentage of vertical thrust added so that if you don't fight it, it will keep you above that altitude. However if you stay nose down and ride that "cushion" you can travel at greater speeds.

uam i the only 1 who cant use this addon cuz it DOES work for human pilots?? i really want 2 use this mod but cant as long as it inhibits my flying

[VictorFarbau]

I knew it could happen but still released version 1. In the next release I will introduce a live pilot check. Seems easy but during tests this added a few cycles too many to the radar check loop which caused problems with response time in some scenarios.

And something else I need to get off my chest:

This addon is only designed to improve gameplay - not to improve realism in any way. I want choppers to survive a bit longer and not crash into trees here and there. I didn't mean to create a real TFR or flight assistance system of any kind. Gameplay!
Before you freak out just because BIS doesn't have something like this built in consider this: compared to an Airborne-AI system this addon is just a stupid tiny hack. It forces Helis to fly higher with obstacles ahead, fullstop. It doesn't mean BIS did a bad job on their Air AI in general - VFTCAS only works around a small shortcoming there if at all. So better don't compare 150.000 lines of code with my 5 lines :)




uam i the only 1 who cant use this addon cuz it DOES work for human pilots?? i really want 2 use this mod but cant as long as it inhibits my flying

Cheers,
VictorFarbau

[Simon C]

I still maintain that people who fly more often would prefer to have the feeling of flying without any other systems interfering. It's more fun to know that you're keeping the helicopter there yourself, instead of a system doing all the work for you. :p

[tcp]

The current flight model is not realistic, so what do you have to lose? It's not hard to control the aircraft and I don't think anyone wants a dumbed down version except to assist AI. I just think ground effect needs to be worked on and this mod uses a similar effect except for different purpose.

[CarlGustaffa]

I must say I disagree. Ground effect simulation is a nice to have thingie that (for me) doesn't make it easier or harder to fly a chopper. They are easy enough for humans, I don't think I've had a single heli crash in Arma2 other than lag induced ones or practicing stuff in the editor. And I'm only on keyboard and mouse :)

Crash avoidance for AI (and I hope this addon works only for AI) on the other hand, is a necessity, if we're supposed to use AI helis in missions. Seing the output going on, the loops are extremely tight. I really don't want anything else going on, just for the sake of fancyness.

If anything, separate the addons. Our server needs all the frames it can get...

Btw, how many would be able to fly a chopper if it had a fully realistic flight model? :)

[caprera]

I loved this mod when it came out but last night in SP, i had troubles keeping my KA-52 low on the ground until it JUMPED skyhigh 2 times at the same time...

Maybe you should have a look on it...?

[mrcash2009]

VFTCAS only works around a small shortcoming there if at all. So better don't compare 150.000 lines of code with my 5 lines

That said, it took your 5 lines to correct it :)

[thyro]

Many thanks for this mod FIX...

It is really handy to have and to fly in a back-seat of a chopper knowing that it would avoid crashing on the nearest small hill.

Its quite thrilling to see it flying so close to the ground... really nice mod and I'm grateful for it. Cheers

[VictorFarbau]

New build released, all details in Post #1.

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[caprera]

Thanks!

[Cole]

The download page gives me a 403 error after I log in.

[VictorFarbau]

The download page gives me a 403 error after I log in.

For the time being I hosted the file in another project section until I figure out why the file space is restricted. Link updated.

VictorFarbau

[SpiritedMachine]

Even at a dead stop, my ai pilot drops me out of the sky when doing a transport unload, and will not land. If I attempt to force land first, then unload, he hovers around like he's trying to land but can't. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong here.

[Mr_Centipede]

Even at a dead stop, my ai pilot drops me out of the sky when doing a transport unload, and will not land. If I attempt to force land first, then unload, he hovers around like he's trying to land but can't. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong here.

i had that too, my workaround is put an invisi H on the waypoint. the helo will land, unload and fly off. everyone is safe and sound

[VictorFarbau]

That drop behaviour is odd considering that the script won't do anything while the speed is below 30 (which it is when hovering).
With that specific scenario that you had there - could you confirm it always works fine without VFTCAS installed? I'll do my own test as well.

Cheers,
VictorFarbau

[Stewy]

This is a great idea Victor - would you please consider an ArmA1 version too? I get lots of chopper crashes when AI is flying too.

Thanks for considering Victor
Stew

[VictorFarbau]

Bug confirmed - choppers with "Transport unload" waypoint stay still in mid-air. That's gonna be a interesting one to resolve. Will look into this later today.

VictorFarbau

[VictorFarbau]

Bug resolved in build 12 (see 1st page). Not the final state I guess but it runs stable and does what it is supposed to do.

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[Tankbuster]

This is odd. I've put this on my server, which is running CBA, and thus, XEH, but the server app reports VFTCAS requires Extended_EventHandlers.
They *are installed*, Fire and Smoke is installed and that needs them too and it works just fine.

Not sure if this is relevant but if the server machine is rebooted, this error crops up. But if I accept the error and stop and restart the game server app, it doesnt halt with this error.


EDIT>
Ignore above. I made a noob error! The there's a shirtcut to the server exe in windows startup folder and that didn't have the proper mod calls on it. The shortcut on the desktop did, which is why subsequent arma server restarts got all the addons, but the first server after a machine reboot didn't! Sorry for the confusion.

[anfiach]

I don't know about now, but you could assign a flyinheight to a waypoint in OFP:R. A minimum altitude isn't a rail if it keeps the A.I. from crashing into things like they never made it out of Flight School. Additionally, I see little reason for human players to have to constantly adjust elevation if modern systems assist also-human pilots in flying NOE.

No, like I said, it is definitely needed for the AI, I was referring only to the human player aspect. It shouldn't be made impossible for the player to crash a heli short of turning off the engines. IRL the pilots know how to handle the bird without those systems and in-game I think there needs to be something that distinguishes between skilled pilots and someone that has never flown a chopper in ArmA 2. Removing the possibility for pilot error detracts from that IMO. I ask, if the thing is gonna fly itself, why not just climb in and click a waypoint where you want to go and enjoy the ride?

Again, just my personal opinion and not to detract from this great addon, simply how I feel about its implementation.

[VictorFarbau]

I was about to guess that it's the startup order of your addons. So apparently you put VFTCAS in your regular "addons" folder and the eventhandler addon is in the "CBA" modfolder.
Which makes me wonder even more - why is it not failing each time? Is the dependency check only done once all mod addons are loaded? This would be interesting - I think this was not the case in Arma 1 yet. Anyway, it works :)

VictorFarbau



EDIT>
Ignore above. I made a noob error! The there's a shirtcut to the server exe in windows startup folder and that didn't have the proper mod calls on it.

[Tankbuster]

If explain how I screwed it up, you promise you won't laugh? :)

I used to have an @<hidden> folder, which contained all the addons, but it was getting a bit unwieldy, so I added an @<hidden> addons (where VFTCAS lives) and an @<hidden> folder and moved the pbos around appropriately.

The problem was that I changed the rtarget field in the desktop shortcut to reflect these moves, but not the shortcut in the programfiles/startup folder.

So what would happen is the first time the PC comes on in the morning, it wouldn't load CBA because it had been moved from @<hidden> to @<hidden> and the shortcut in program files/startup had no reference to the new @<hidden> folder. Then I'd get annoyed, shut the ArmA II server app down and then restart it using the desktop shortcut that had in it's target field, working references to @<hidden> and @<hidden>

You promised you wouldn't laugh!!! STOP IT!!!! :D

[VictorFarbau]

Personally I second anfiach's statement. You don't want to imagine a bunch of rookies abusing this to go havoc in MP games - knowing they won't crash anyway.
I wanted AI choppers to survive flying over treetops - mission accomplished. I will create one more version that also supports planes (optional). After that I consider the addon finished. Unless somebody discovers another bug :D

Regards,
VictorFarbau


It shouldn't be made impossible for the player to crash a heli short of turning off the engines.

[NoRailgunner]

Hmmm...if the AI ejects TCAS is still active and the empty helicopter is bouncing up and down. Is it possible to check AI pilot/gunners health status and if they are in or out of the aircraft?
Looking forward for your next VF_TCAS update. :)

[VictorFarbau]

NoRailgunner - thanks, I missed that scenario completely. High time for an update indeed!

VictorFarbau

---------- Post added at 12:48 AM ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 11:50 PM ----------

New build 14 released - I fixed that bug rightaway.

[NoRailgunner]

Thanks too! :)
Somehow the AI needs a overhaul especially pilot/flying AI.

[VictorFarbau]

Updated to build 18. Should be the final one unless more debugging is required.

VictorFarbau

[Clawhammer]

Hm, when you now fix the bad AI driving Skills you are the man of the year :D

Nice Work :)

[caprera]

Yep... Fixing AI driving would assure you a lifetime contract at BIS :D

[maturin]

Which file do we download?

[Alex72]

Which file do we download?

VFTCAS_b18.zip <- this one is the addon. (Link: http://dev-heaven.net/projects/list_files/vftcas)

The other one (DEMO) is a demo mission with the addon active to show how it works i guess.

[CarlGustaffa]

Any hopes for key/sign files for this addon? It's brilliant and I'm naturally using it while editing as well, but having to disable it each time I have to use the server kind of gets in the way :)

[VictorFarbau]

I will need make two more modifications to this addon (likely today). Then I'll sign it, push it to DevHeaven and consider it done :) Hope that BIS will be able to fix the behaviour in a later patch.

VictorFarbau

[VictorFarbau]

Update to build 20. This should be the last stable build; entering bugfix-only phase now.

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Thanks for the update VictorFarbau!
You may want to tweak the performance like this:


class Extended_PreInit_EventHandlers
{
VFTCAS_PreInit="VFTCAS_tfr = call compile preprocessFileLineNumbers '\VFTCAS\tfr.sqf'";
};
class Extended_Init_EventHandlers
{
class Helicopters
{
VFTCAS_Init = "_this spawn VFTCAS_tfr";
};
};

PS: Hopefully its correct like this. Double checking. :bounce3:

[VictorFarbau]

Thanks for the update VictorFarbau!
You may want to tweak the performance like this:


Perfectionist :) Nothing wrong with precompiling but honestly here I didn't spend a second thinking about it.

Hypothetical calculation based on my usage statistics:

Speed gain using a precompiled miniscript like VFTCAS = assumed 0.1 seconds delta per event
Max choppers during a mission = 30
Mission duration = 30 min
Win with precompiling = 30 choppers * 0.1 delta = 3 seconds
Efficiency gain = (3 seconds of 30 min) = 0.16%
Investment = browsing scripting reference, building a new config, pbo'ing the addon and starting the game at least 3 times before last syntax error is gone = 20 min = 1200 seconds
1200 seconds / 3 seconds = 400:1


Hence I can play 400 times my 30 min mission (200 hours, /8.3 days) before starting to even think about this investment. That amortization period is too long for me to start my brains :D Just to put it into perspective.

VictorFarbau

[.kju [PvPscene]]

You have a good point, agreed.

For me its just the standard way of doing it. :)

PS: What your equation is missing so far, is that the creator to user numbers relation. ;)

[Charon Productions]

Now that was long awaited. Always wondered why BI never cared for this.
Excellent job!
I have worked on something similar trying to calculate an optimal path using the terrain as cover against enemy AA, but the pathfinding algorithm just takes too long to calculate stuff in non-hard-coded scripting language.
So your approach is much more simplified and faster.

[Manzilla]

I just want to say how much this has changed the air support I get in missions. I didn't realize it until just now while I was playing with some heli air support scripts in the Editor. I haven't seen a heli simply crash for no reason in a while. Then I remembered that's must be due to the fact I've been using this AddOn. It's so nice to be able to call in some CAS and actually have the heli's take care of business.

Thanks for this VF!

[Krycek]

Hmm not sure if I'm just unlucky but the planes still tend to crash,choppers are doing great in CAS btw.
Tested this with Su-25 and the MQ-9 Reaper drone,gave them an guard waypoint and after flying around they crashed,could be the loss of speed after some tight turns?No enemy around,latest VFAI version.
Other than this no probs,the choppers are really useful now.

[KaBoNG]

...planes still tend to crash,choppers are doing great...

Isn't this a choppers-only mod? VictorFarbau?

[VictorFarbau]

Choppers only... I have done some tests and it turned out to not work very well for planes. Those typically rush into obstacles with such speed that the corrective measures are way too exaggerated.

VictorFarbau

[maturin]

I wonder how I lived without this.

[Krycek]

Choppers only... I have done some tests and it turned out to not work very well for planes. Those typically rush into obstacles with such speed that the corrective measures are way too exaggerated.

VictorFarbau

Thx for clearing that out and too bad you can't make the mod also for planes.
Since BIS decided to fix the AI driving in the latest betas I hope in the future the flying part will receive some love too.

[maturin]

Warning Message: Addon 'VFTCAS' requires addon 'Extended_EventHandlers'
Exe version: 1.04.59026
I get that error message in my arma2.rpf file even though VFTCAS is disabled in my launch options and the @<hidden> modfolder (including the Extended_EventHandlers files) has been removed from the Arma directory entirely. Why is the game trying to load an addon that does not exist?

[VictorFarbau]

Not that this belongs here, Maturin, but you might be looking at an old log entry of your rpt file. Just empty the contents, save it and have a look after the next game start.

VictorFarbau

[maturin]

Not that this belongs here, Maturin, but you might be looking at an old log entry of your rpt file. Just empty the contents, save it and have a look after the next game start.

VictorFarbau

Err, it doesn't belong here?

I didn't even bother checking the .rpt file from the last test because I got an error popup before the game even finished starting that said the same thing. So that can't be outdated.

It only happens with the steam version, which I ran without any addons or beta patches.

[Grizzle]

I use it, but have actually found myself ocassionally wishing that the enemy choppers would just crash already :D (especially when my team has no more stingers)

On a side note I've noticed the elevation gain to be somewhat abrupt at times, more like simply moving the object higher without using the physics of flight. One time the Heli actually shot way high up into the sky in a split second. Very unrealistic. Though the point of the mod is well taken and appreciated.

[Caxton Gibbet]

Thanks Victor. A great solution for a tedious problem.I suffer far less puckering of the rear end during heli rides now.:D

[Tankbuster]

puckering of the rear end

Is that some sort of tail rotor authority thing? :D

[franklin]

Just wanna say, Excellent work Victor! This was much needed, and the functionality is perfect as is! I dont care if the choppers zoom into the air a little too quick, the fact that they are still flying after the first run on a target is amazing!

I remember back in a lil ol game called OFP we had to use some imagination as far as graphics and animations went, but nobody cared because it was the gameplay that mattered. Some of the people in this thread need to remember that fact. If you want graphics go play COD or BF, if you want good gameplay, stick around and appriciate the work that Victor does for all of us... without pay i might add.

[VictorFarbau]

I think it's quite obvious that this addon was not meant to reinvent flight physics. It uses tricks to avoid immanent heli crashes to improve gameplay. The core problem (engine pilot behaviour) needs to be resolved by BIS, I can't do that through an addon.


I remember back in a lil ol game called OFP we had to use some imagination as far as graphics and animations went, but nobody cared because it was the gameplay that mattered
Amen to that - I am concerned this got a bit lost on the way. The success of the COD series shows that people don't care too much about bugs as long as they get out of the game what they like. It's really great BIS is so comitted to developing this further and that they provide betas regularly.
If I would be CEO I would print this office banner: We developed the best game ever. Now we must supply game contents (= dynamic missions) that knock people/reviewers off their chairs rightaway. Because you never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression :)

My 2 cents,
VictorFarbau

[[FRL]Myke]

@<hidden>

Take note of the latest beta patch:


[60902] Changed: Helicopters crash into the ground condition improved.
[60902] Fixed: Helicopter with automatic gear control open gear earlier when main rotor failure.

You might have to check if those improvements does affect your addon or even made it obsolete (which i doubt a little).

[Grizzle]

I think it's quite obvious that this addon was not meant to reinvent flight physics. It uses tricks to avoid immanent heli crashes to improve gameplay. The core problem (engine pilot behaviour) needs to be resolved by BIS, I can't do that through an addon.

Agreed. I don't think anyone is implying the mod isn't worth having or that it should reinvent the AI pilot behaviour!

[VictorFarbau]

My tests with beta 60902:

Using the demo mission I uploaded here:
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/list_files/vftcas
In this mission I just placed to Mi-8 with "Full Speed" waypoints just across the hill.

Result East with 60902:

Mi 8 - always crashes into these treetops
Mi 24 - crashes with 50% probablity
Ka 52 - never crashes

Result West with 60902:

MH60 - always crashes into these treetops
UH1Y - never crashes
AH-1Z - never crashes


My conclusion: the AI pilots behaviour has been improved but the heavier choppers will still crash (MH60, Mi-8, sometimes Mi24).
Looks like the values for pilot behaviour based on vehicle type still need to be fine-tuned. Alternatively, reducing the virtual weight of these choppers could also work. Dirty trick but who would notice and it would work with the current pilots flight skills :)


VictorFarbau



@<hidden>

Take note of the latest beta patch:

You might have to check if those improvements does affect your addon or even made it obsolete (which i doubt a little).

[mrcash2009]

Victor, I couldnt see this in the beta section, this is probably even more worthy of a post in that section (unless I missed your post in the beta area).

[VictorFarbau]

Indeed I haven't posted it there - it was just a reaction to Myke's post about a new 60902 feature. But I will do so now...

EDIT: Developer BXBX confirmed the mentioned feature resolved a different issue (choppers not exploding when crashing into ground) and was not meant to address crash-into-tree issues. Hence, leave VFTCAS installed for the time being.

Thanks,
VictorFarbau

[AnimalMother92]

Chopper issues seem to have returned with 1.05. I had been enjoying worry-free helo fun, but as of 1.05 they seem to enjoy crashing into trees again even with VFTCAS on. :(

[VictorFarbau]

Interesting - I will check after xmas and do some testing. If flight physics were changed in 1.05 it might well be VFTCAS needs adjustments as well. I too had the feeling that in the beta versions closer to 1.05 I started seeing choppers crashing in treetops again.

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[spangg]

Thx, would be great Vic.
Btw, is there a chance for an update with the equipment mod u wrote. And the bug(?) that if u change drop weapons it changes back automatically after some time. Do we need it still with ace2? Sry for posting here, but it's addressed to you anyway.;)

[VictorFarbau]

VFTCAS - can't find a way to reproduce the crashes when VFTCAS is active. All choppers crossing hills and treetops just fine. If anyone finds a way to crash them reliably then I can work on it. Maybe the new crashes are not height related...

VFAI - I will post a maintenance version soon (including ACE compatibility). I will check for the self-enabling bug there!

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[Grizzle]

Chopper issues seem to have returned with 1.05. I had been enjoying worry-free helo fun, but as of 1.05 they seem to enjoy crashing into trees again even with VFTCAS on. :(

I haven't noticed this with or without VFTCAS. In fact I find I don't need VFTCAS anymore as they helis seem to fly much, much better now.

[AnimalMother92]

Hmm, I'll do some more testing and see if I can reliably repro it. I just noticed choppers clipping trees more recently, kinda odd.

edit-seems the problem occurs only on the Podagorsk island oddly.

[domokun]

Hi I'm really interested in this mod but I can't find any reference to its MP compatibility.
So is this mod server-side only?
Or do all players need to have it installed?
Finally can you confirm it requires CBA?

[VictorFarbau]

The addon needs to be present on the machine spawing the choppers. MP game - server. Local game - client. Not mentioning special situations here.
CBA is required as stated in post #1 for the extended eventhandler functions.

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[Uziyahu--IDF]

Yeah, I'm finding that the MH60S will somewhat snake through valleys on its way towards a destination kilometers away. (I'm not using the most recent beta patch. I'm using the most recent official patch.)

I'm not sure VFTCAS is needed, anymore.

[VictorFarbau]

I'm not sure VFTCAS is needed, anymore

Feel free to do some statistical research, place 100 choppers with repeating waypoints all over the map. After 10 min, count the survivors. If consistently > 95 I'll retire the project :)

VictorFarbau

[the charlie team]

BI should take this mod and upscale it to work in all directions like they do with most other great comunity mods, great job.

[VictorFarbau]

I believe soon this project can be retired - see 1st post. Good to see the improvement in flying skills :)

[Imperator_Pete]

AI pilots cannot cross valleys properly, as soon as they clear the first descending slope they want to pick up as much speed as possible so point their nose down resulting in a fireball on the other side of the gorge.

[VictorFarbau]

Avoiding treetops seems to work fine now but indeed dive manoevres are kind of suicidal at the moment and often result in crashes. I will review this and see in how far I can adapt the code to intercept this specific behaviour.

Regards,
VictorFarbau

[.kju [PvPscene]]

This is obsolete nowadays with the more recent fixes, right?

[Krycek]

Kinda,the choppahs are better at flying,but planes are still stuck in WW2 with the diving although they were improved(just a bit).

[.kju [PvPscene]]

?

The addon does not help planes.

[maturin]

This is obsolete nowadays with the more recent fixes, right?

I still use it. VFTCAS goes after the problem with a very big stick, which means it is still going to prevent some crashes that would have occurred even with the patches. But I'm not sure if it's worth the potential to disrupt AI landing procedures and the strange false-positive bouncing it can cause with choppers.

[domokun]

The download link in the first post (on Dev Heaven) now requires you to login.
Could anyone correct it and/or point me to an alternative download?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

http://dev-heaven.net/projects/vftcas/files