JTD Tracker Dog

[Trexian]

This idea was conceived and implemented by DMarkwick and mentioned in this thread at BIS:
http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=75757

Basically, this will allow a player to play as the dog (and handler) to track units.  The gameplay is unique, in that "smells" are represented by particles dropped by the different units.

This vid kinda explains things better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQXf_cn_AHI

Still some stuff to sort out with it, but the thread here regarding the grouping of animals with humans is very helpful!

First usable version of a tracker dog, able to "smell" people and animals. Everyone gets their unique smell, and leave trails as they move about. Sometimes doggy can easily track, sometimes not

Dog starts off parented to a designated dog handler, and the player switches into the dog when the dog handler "uses" the dog.

Doubling back and using undergrowth can confuse doggy, or at least confuse the player which amounts to the same thing.

Smells are only visible within a set distance, and trails will disappear over time.

[DMarkwick]

We (JTD group, of which myself & Trexian represent two members) had a great time conceiving this idea it started off as a sort of goofy notion that became a nice exercise while we waited for the release of ArmA2 (we originated this project in ArmA). Trexian still awaits his ArmA2 copy so I get all the glory

I'm in two minds ATM whether to keep the current implementation (which is an initial attachTo command) or use the grouping solution posted elsewhere on these boards. The grouping solution has the benefit of having better & more natural dog movement, but is rather flaky in it's order obeying abilities or to stick with the attachTo command, which looks very professional at first but the dragging-the-dog looks a little goofy.

There's still a few niggles to overcome but we hope to have a release of this eventually.

[DeanosBeano]

 Nice  idea ,
 If i may ask what problems are you having with giving the orders to the dog ?
 I will be implementing similar components in my horse (cow for now) that will pull my Carts , i was hoping that once i create the grouped Horse (cow for now) i could monitor its FSM and if it tries to revert back into an independant animal then i could change it . but  now i read your having some problems i am wondering what problems your encountering ?

[DMarkwick]

Well actually this morning I discovered your animal grouping tip so I tried that out briefly. Seems to work OK but the dog seems a little flakey movement wise, randomly stopping and getting stuck more often than units. But I'll experiment more with it tonight. I noticed that doFollow does not work, which would have been a possibility, just to keep the dog around the dog handler. As it is, the dog is currently attached to the handler via attachTo. It's an OK solution apart from the goofy dragging-the-dog look, but having the dog 1m to the right and 0.5m forward looks very professional

I wish it could get over fences & walls though

I think having the dog on such a "leash" is a good way to use it. Its side is changed to "west" so it will be targeted, which means the dog should be tightly controlled in any case, I never heard of a dog being used in battlefield conditions. The dog will be used for tracking escaping prisoners, looking for IEDs, hunting down an insurgent among civilians etc.

[Trexian]

The dog will be used for tracking escaping prisoners, looking for IEDs, hunting down an insurgent among civilians etc.

Retrieving the morning paper, chewing up slippers and curtains, providing consolation in times of grief... that sort of stuff.
 

[DeanosBeano]

 whilst messing again with my cart i tried creating cfggroups in cfg but the bloody animal although it was connected with blue line was not in the group ,
 this gave me idea to twist logic and make the animal a man , only thing necessary to change is:

  moves = "CfgMovesCow"; ( for you dog)

 in setup for any soldier , it worked very well but alas as i thought when i looked arma.rpt, the model is missing sections so i wait for the mlods i think, maybe if i inherit from camanbase i can fix some but its lot of messing.
 good luck with your project.

 EDIT
 I decided to reconfig it and add the dogbones to the class , the rpt is now very minimal .
 i will attach to this post incase it helps in your quest i have made it a dog for you.
 i think now you just need to make some nice tight fsmformation .
 dbo_doghandler.pbo  press f2 groups and there is dbo_usmc = 1 dog and handler.

  goodluck

 cfg =

Code: [Select]

class CfgPatches
{
class dbo_man
{
units[] =
{
"dbo_doghandler"
};
weapons[] = {};
requiredVersion = 0.10;
requiredAddons[] = {


};
};
};

class CfgVehicleClasses
{
class dbo_handler
{
displayName = "dbo_handler";
};
};
class CfgVehicles
{
  class USMC_LHD_Crew_Blue;
  class DBO_doghandler :USMC_LHD_Crew_Blue
    {
      scope = 2;
      displayName = "dbo_doghandler";
       model = "\ca\animals2\Dogs\Pastor\Pastor";
       moves = "CfgMovesDog";
       icon = "\Ca\animals2\data\mapicon_animals_ca.paa";
       gestures = "";
      faction ="USMC";
      boneHead = "head";
      bonePrimaryWeapon = "head";
      triggerAnim = "";
            memoryPointHeadAxis = "head_axis";
      woman = 0;
       gestureNo = "";
      gestureYes = "";
      gestureFollow = "";
      gestureAdvance = "";
      faceType = "Default";
      boneLEye = "l_eye";
      boneREye = "r_eye";
      boneLEyelidUp = "eye_upl";
      boneREyelidUp = "eye_upr";
      boneLEyelidDown = "eye_lwl";
      boneREyelidDown = "eye_lwr";
      boneLPupil = "l_pupila";
      boneRPupil = "r_pupila";
      memoryPointAim = "aimPoint";
      memoryPointCameraTarget = "camera";
      extCameraPosition[] = {
        0,
        0.5,
        -2.5
      };
      side =1;
      vehicleclass= "dbo_handler";
      accuracy = 1000;
   
 
     
     
     

    };
   
};
                 class CfgGroups
  {
 
    class West
    {
      name = "BLUFOR";
      class dboUSMC
      {
        name = "DBO_USMC";
        class Infantry
        {
          name = "DOG_handler";
          class DOGSquad
          {
            name = "DOG_TEAM";
            faction = "USMC";
            rarityGroup = 0.5;
            class Unit0
            {
              side = 1;
              vehicle = "USMC_LHD_Crew_Blue";
              rank = "LIEUTENANT";
              position[] = {
                0.5,
                0,
                0
              };
            };
            class Unit1
            {
              side = 1;
              vehicle = "dbo_doghandler";
              rank = "SERGEANT";
              position[] = {
                1,
                0,
                0
              };
            };
        };
};
};
};
};


[loki72]

HA.. awesome.. i'm all over this one.  

edit:
works great!

its cool seeing the dog take off when you tell it to move...

now we can have dog patrols around bases.. so on.