Subscribe to download
Drongo's Better AI Gunners

tl;dr Better AI gunners in player vehicles (SP/MP)


DEFAULT KEYS
Designate target: space
Suspend system: shift+space
Become commander: alt+space


There is a detailed README in the mod folder.

Check my profile for a link to my Discord.

Discord for my mods[discord.gg]
My Artillery/Cruise Missile/Loitering Munition mod
My Air Support mod
My Active Protection System mod


OVERVIEW
This mod makes AI gunners in tanks controlled by players more effective in SP and MP. When a player is commanding (or driving) a vehicle with an AI gunner, the system checks if the vehicle has a cannon/coax weapon, has ammunition and is in either aware or combat mode. If so, any targets known by the player will be shared with the AI gunner. The gunner will assess available targets and attempt to engage with the following priorities:

Highest: cannon against armed land vehicles (anything from an MBT to a technical or static MG)
Medium: coax against dismounts (regardless of armament)
Lowest: cannon against unarmed vehicles

• Gunners will give priority to high level targets out of LOS over lower values in LOS
  
• If the gunner has no cannon available, he will attempt to engage soft vehicles with coax
  
• If no cannon or coax is available (or if out of ammo), the script will do attempt to find an alternative weapon (if none is found, the system will do nothing)
  
• ATGMs are not currently supported (take over the gunner position to use them effectively)
  
• The gunner will not use tank cannon against dismounts, but may use autocannons
  
• If an autocannon has AP and HE available, the gunner will try to use AP against vehicles
  
• Gunners will report their actions and status by groupChat
  
• There is an optional audio cue for when main cannons have reloaded
  
• Due to issues with vanilla AI cannon aiming, the mod uses aim assist (chance of each shot getting assist can be changed in CBA settings)
  
• If a unit has no cannon and is told to engage an armoured unit, it will not engage (even with coax)
  
• Players can override targeting with the Designate Target key (space by default)
  
  To use the system effectively, vanilla commanding functions are also important. Check your keybinds for these vanilla commands:
  
  Assign target
  Change vehicle weapons
  Force fire main gun
  Change cannon ammo (action menu)
  
  The mod is client-side. There are various CBA settings to customize the system.
  
  
  PLAYER OVERRIDE
  As commander, the player can override the AI gunner with the Designate Target key (space by default, can be bound under Options > Controls > Configure Addons > Drongo's Better AI Gunners). The cursorObject command is used to get the object the player is currently aiming at.
  
  https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/cursorObject
  
  If there is no object (for example, aiming at the sky), the gunner will cancel aiming and reset the turret. Otherwise, the gunner will attempt to engage the target (including men, vehicles, buildings and animals).
  
  The player can become effective commander of the vehicle using Become commander key (alt+space) by default. This is useful if the vehicle has no commander position of if an AI is group commander, etc.
  
  https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/effectiveCommander
  https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/setEffectiveCommander
  
  
  CBA SETTINGS
  Check under Options > Addon Options > Drongo's Better AI Gunners. Most options are self-explanatory.
  
  dbagAimedAt is based on the aimedAtTarget command:
  https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/aimedAtTarget
  
  dbagArmourThreshold is based on vehicle armour values in the config (eg. armor=200;). Anything with armour less than this value is considered a soft vehicle that can be engaged with the coax.
  
  As an example, a Hunter has an armor value of 200, a Marshall 320 and a basic Slammer 900.
  
  
  SCRIPTING
  You can completely exit the system by running this on a client:
  dbagExit=TRUE;
  
  You can temporarily halt the system by running this on a client:
  dbagSuspend=TRUE;
  
  You can start it again by running this on a client:
  execVM"DBAG\Scripts\Gunner.sqf";
  
  
  NOTES
  There are probably some modded vehicles that have trouble with the system. If so, please contact me with details and reproduction steps.
  Sometimes vanilla targeting overrides the system.
  
  
  KNOWN BUGS
  Sometimes a player has LOS on a target but the gunner doesn't. The LOS check uses the shooter's eyePos and the target's aimPos.
  The system has only be tested with vanilla vehicles.
  Sometimes the gunner chat doubles up, this issue is being looked into.
  
  
  CREDITS
  Drongo: Design and scripting
  VedKay: Cover art
  
  
  LICENSE
  Arma and Dayz Public License Share Alike (ADPL-SA)
  https://www.bohemia.net/community/licenses/arma-and-dayz-public-license-share-alike-adpl-sa
  
  In addition, nobody associated with tier1ops.eu may use, edit or distribute this mod or any derivatives thereof.
  
  If you need an exception to this license, contact me.
  
  Source code[drive.google.com]
  
  THEFT OF MY WORK
  My artillery mod was stolen, edited and re-released in violation of the license by BlackAlpha of tier1ops.eu. Here is a video showing my original work and his stolen edit:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe7G6WwxQVU
  
  Please share this video and let the community know that BlackAlpha and tier1ops.eu are thieves.
  
  
  CHANGELOG
  v0.02
  Added: Designate target key
  Added: Suspend system key
  Added: Become commander key
  Fixed: Various issues
  
  v0.01
  Discord test release