Helicopters... disembarking problem

[abomb1508]

hello. i am not a newbie, but this problem has plagued me for ages now, since my first mission. and now i wish to ask your help of it... it's probably something really simple that i just overlooked.

i am in command of a ranger squad called mygrp. we must board a helo called chop2. there is a get in waypoint synchronised with a load waypoint to start with. in the activation field of the load waypoint is:

"_x assignascargo chop2" foreach units mygrp

and this works sweet as. the chopper powers up but waits, and when all guys are in, flies off. it then flies to the chopper FUP (thank you snypir) and waits until everyone is in position. it then flies to the LZ, and lands and drops me out as usual. but here's the problem. on dropping me out, i order my men out of the chopper, and the first 3 get out before the chopper decides to take of and fly to it's next waypoint, dropping my men out as it goes, making the mission very hard to complete with just 3 guys. so what went wrong? i've tried synchronising, using triggers, anything to hold that chopper back, but it just won't work. please tell me how to fix this because it will help me make a very cool mission for you to download.

cheers,

A-Bomb

[Tomb]

  Hi, sorry I am a n00b, but I hope you can use this anyho'

try and stay in the bird 'till ALL yer men are out, and THEN get out yerself, m8  :thumbsup:

[david-p]

that dont do much for the morale, does it soldier? as a good officer mine are always the first and the last feet on the ground yeah, u could argue the AI arent programmed in morale, but hey, THEY HAVE FEELINGS TOO!!! .. ahem..

[Wolfrug]

Hurm. Choppers. The bane of OFP existence. But also one of the coolest thing this game's got (gotta love 'em choppers...). Well, how about this old trick:

condition on some waypoint:

"_x in Heli_1" count Units your_grp == 0

heli_1= name of helicopter, your_grp= name of your group. Basically tells him to wait 'til there aren't any of you left inside. Although I'm not entirely sure on positioning  :-\ I.e, should it be on the get-in wp, maybe on a wp right AFTER the get-in wp...argh   I'd test it, but, alas, no time...

Also, have you tried using the command heli_1 land "get out" or heli_1 land "get in" ? Very useful when taming the beast

Right, do complain if you can't get it to work, and we'll be back on it (hopefully with OFP under my fingertips...). :thumbsup:

Wolfrug out.

[abomb1508]

cheers wolfrug, good to see some real scripting advice, not just waffle about who's feet touch ground first...

i will try some of your ideas. i understand the count command, seems like a good'un, but the

heli_1 land "get out" and "get in" string i've never seen before. how does that work? please explain more.

Cheers,

A-Bomb

P.S. my last posted mission at ofpec (called "for the motherland" and reviewed by Anmac, also  had heavy use of choppers. what a fiasco that was   )

[abomb1508]

Yes! i used that count string on the chopper's transport unload condition field, and it worked beautifully. rangers out, chopper waits couple secs, chopper flies off. lovely. but now there's another problem, thankfully not to do with choppers, instead with captives.

The objective of the mission is to capture a general named gen. i have removed gen's weapons, and he has this setcaptive true in his init field, so he is harmless and we can't shoot him, but for protection he is leader of a small group of two spetznatz. he basically just sits there while the spetznatz go off and kill stuff. so there's a small trigger around gen that says that whenever one of my squad step into the circle, here's what happens:

gen join grpnull, gen join mygrp; capture = true

of course the variable part doesn't matter, but i get an error with the first bit saying:

Error type object, expected Array

so does this mean i need to make gen an array or what?
i will experiment, but some help would be nice.

Cheers,

A-Bomb

[LCD]

u got it m8  ;D

gen needs 2 b an array so it will b

[gen] join grpnull  ;D

LCD OUT

[Wolfrug]

LCD there is correct, OFP wants people to join other people in big batches (party!). So even if it's just one people, it still wants the [] array. :toocool: same with, for instance, the orderGetIn command.

As to the land "get in" and land "get out" commands, well, here's the official comref's definition:

Force helicopter landing. Landing mode may be "LAND" (complete stop), "GET IN" (hovering very low, for another unit to get in), "GET OUT" (hovering low,for another unit to get out)

Basically, put one of these in a standard Move waypoint somewhere, and the chopper will attempt to land in the appropriate manner. Preferably on a nearby H-pad (use invisibles if necessary), otherwise it'll search around for a completly flat landing space somewhere about...
In any case, you'd have to experiment with how exactly to make it work, maybe a Transport Unload waypoint, maybe just a condition like the one I showed you...however, it does behave much better  ;D

Right, I think there's a pretty extensive chopper tutorial somewhere about, maybe try the Editor's Depot? It might be worth taking a look at :thumbsup:

Good luck in your future editing! Do remember to BETA test

Wolfrug out.

[abomb1508]

i have seen the extensive chopper tutorial you are talking about, and to be honest, it's not that extensive. anything more complex than a paradrop isn't covered, and even then it took me a while to get that working.

but yes, the mission works like a dream now. Rangers secure area, men go in, squad captures general, whole team collapses to evac point. brilliant. now all i have to do is the last little bit, where the local AA (which has now been alerted) must be avoided, as the general is escorted to a new safe extraction point. in between you and the extraction point is a large group of spetznatz inserted to rescue the russian. a big fight ensues, during which the helo lands, and you have to make a break for it. Beta available soon.

Cheers,

A-Bomb

[abomb1508]

Ok, now i'm mad.

I install BIS's 1.85 patch, load up my mission, preview it and what happens? bug after bug after bug.

apparently BIS upgraded helo AI in the current patch. all i can see is less control over an already erratic system.

first thing: the choppers get loaded up as ususal, take off and sit in midair. occasionally, during testing one would take the initiative and fly off to his next waypoint. and then the other three helos get the message and follow suit. i think there's a bug in the scripting to stop them from hitting each other. somebody please tell what's wrong.

second thing: the problem i've had since square one, fixed and then all hopes dashed. here i do not know WHAT is wrong, i have tried to recreate the situation on a fresh map and everything goes perfectly. god knows what went wrong here.

i have a suggestion to current mission designers: finish making your mission and pbo it before upgrading! i think that maybe upgrading to 1.85 does funny things to your mission in progress, especially when helicopters are involved. i am now going to redo my mission from scratch, and see if that gets me anywhere. if there is anyone out there who has experienced having their missions fucked with like mine, please help.

Thankyou,

one very, very mad mission designer.

BIS, watch your back. I'm going to get you.  

[Azraell]

hey......I have spent countless hours coming up with ways to  make helos obey my commands...I had the same thing happen when i went to 1.85 on a mission i just submitted....upgraded, then the BH was acting all strange....had to totally redo that helo part with 1.85 in the end .....  If you want i can give you several diff example missions with squad loading/unloading from helos.... here is this 1 that i did for some1else here with helo woes....


http://www.ofpec.com/yabbse/attachments/setfuel_1.zip



your not in charge, but that can be changed...if this mission doesnt apply to you then perhaps i have another you can use.

[abomb1508]

cheers mate, it's good to know that it's just 1.85 and can be fixed, not something new. but maybe the improved AI will help in the long run though. It's not that hard redoing everything, but it is still a pain. i don't think i need any more help, it was just the assignascargo thing which sorted me.

But you think BIS could have done a better job from square one. never in my life have i known a commercial product with this many bug fixes in it.

Cheers,

A-Bomb

[Sui]

I take it you haven't played too many computer games then

The majority of BIS patches have added new features/vehicles rather than fixed bugs.

It's exactly this sort of attitude that disheartens developers into discontinuing support for a game. BIS have been excellent as far as support for OFP and Resistance (TWO commercial products), and it's due to their continued improvements that the game is what it is today.

Sure, a couple of problems have arisen every now and then (the nearestobject command is another example). But the fact is, BIS fix them.

[Tomb]

*echo*

...and not many other games (which have even sold better w.w.) have creators who
actually wanna spend years - litterally - on support; most developers just release
their product, earn money and move on, leaving the game behind with only two
or three patches! I think BIS have released 9 ( ) patches & upgrades now!  

And I can't see why a lil' Xmas present or a spring flower shouldn't make all of
us happy before we know it   :joystick: :thumbsup:

*starts to daydream*

...on the other hand, maybe Xmas is a lil' too early - I still haven't enjoyed
'Resistance' to its full extend  

*loggs out & put the RES-disc in the belly of beast at home*  :toocool:

[abomb1508]

ok, but maybe it's just because the bugs are noticable in ofp. this is probably because i try editing in this game rather than others. anyway, point taken.

(goes back to timesplitters 2, made by the people who made perfect dark, the most brilliant game this planet has ever seen.)

The Gamecube and i would like to be alone now, please.