Suppressive fire?

[jepzilla]

Hey guys, I've been thinking about gameplay recently and I've been wondering... where's the suppressive fire? It seems like we're not using suppression tactics much in game, relying mostly on stealth and sniping to engage.

Life is expensive, ammo is cheap.

[Turbo]

I dont know how suppressive fire works against the enemy AI, never really saw it used yet.

[Dslyecxi]

The AI in ArmA AFAIK does not currently react to suppression.

Once you start playing player-vs-player, or using a mod like WGL, you will find suppression and area-fire to be of much more importance.

[Shiner]

Unfotuantely the enemy AI goes prone and snipes you

Hopefully we will see improved AI scripting like what was produced for OFP that will be used in missions. Fleeing to cover is not something the AI does well atm.

[Rick_the_new_guy]

Team Demo

You know, I was just thinking how I need to get the sniper teams more amo when leading a team.

Having practiced and being a good shot with the AT kit... uh, you know what I mean. I take four rockets and two clips with my rifle (one clip inside rifle). Hell, I do not even go through two clips on a mission. Granted I average about 7-10 kills, 2-3 are from the BDRM. I should carry a couple of cartigrides (5 rounds per cartridge).

Due to the fact that supressive fire is not needed at this stage with the AI (they generaly lay down when taking fire), I recommend that those who carry the SAW should carry two extra belts (200 rounds/belt) max and then load up on sniper rounds and frags.

The snipers are the team's best assett on the demo coop mission. Making sure they are stocked is top five.

[tHa_KhAn]

I pretty much play a support fire role in every FPS that has such a thing. It's the one thing that is not modeled well in big online FPS games. Rainbow 6: Las Vegas on the 360 the AI responds to supressive fire so it's possible just never included. Most PC based games supressive fire just shows where u are at and the enemy just goes prone and snipe. America's Army added some where when bullets whizzing by you lose a little accuracy which represents the fear of a hail of bullets coming at you, instead of the Rambo attitude that is used most of the time. At the end of the day, it's just a game and not real ife so the threat of respawn will never be as big as the threat of death which is what makes real life supressive fire work. In the game everyone knows just about every other weapon is more accurate so just drop, aim and shoot and more than likely you will outshoot the support weapon.

[Shiner]

I wish more games would model "fear" or "stress" into the game. I know that isn't an easy concept to translate into math, but if you can make my reticle wider and lower my accuracy because I've been sprinting or just got shot, can't you use some of my dual core cpu cycles to calculate my morale? Some RTS games have done a great job of modeling these things.

For example, I'm taking withering fire form a support gun and though they might not hit me, my character should be crunched over barely able to move.

Or perhaps I've been spotted by 5 guys and I'm all alone.. the fear should be there in my accuracy, but if I'm near my squad of 5 friendlies then it isn't.. thus I'm REALLY encouraged to stick with supporting squads for the some of the same reasons we do in real life.

I'm sure this will happen in the future...

[BigGaayAl]

America's army set the benchmark in reaction to suppressive fire. I really hope this sort of thing will catch on. I have noticed though e.g. in project reality, that when the support guns are realistically modeled in accuracy and damage, they DO suppress players, they do scare. From the looks of it, the saw in Arma will definitely scare people enough. If you get a good view from long distance of an band of enemys, you can cut down ten in no time, without the rediculous overheating fantasy from battlefield. Would you take a bf2 saw to a fight? Bring a truck of barrels.

[Rick_the_new_guy]

Originally Posted by BigGaayAl

. From the looks of it, the saw in Arma will definitely scare people enough. If you get a good view from long distance of an band of enemys, you can cut down ten in no time, without the rediculous overheating fantasy from battlefield. Would you take a bf2 saw to a fight? Bring a truck of barrels.

Yeah, really.


When I first tested it out, I was pleasenlty surprised that it shot all 200 bullets without even overheating.

Furthermore, I do not see any sprinting disadvantages with it.

Also, players seem to do well with it in urban close fighting. Granted, I have never used it when on the demo coop myself.

[Evil Koala]

I always thought Red Orchestra was the best in terms of soldier simulation.. (simulating the capabilities and weaknesses of a human soldier). You can use any surface in game to stabilize your weapon, suppressive fire shakes your view and lowers your accuracy. Then there are the technical aspects, such as requiring barrel changes for machineguns.

[Shiner]

Originally Posted by Rick_the_new_guy

Also, players seem to do well with it in urban close fighting. Granted, I have never used it when on the demo coop myself.

IMHO the gun does not have enough kick when crouched. I have used the SAW in MP and it tears up the enemy. I don't believe a normal person in RL could fire a SAW reliably from the crouched position.

[tHa_KhAn]

Remember the saw doesn't have to fire all out all the time. A very short burst would be very accurate. After all it is a rifled weapon shooting a good round. I was watching a military special on fire support. It's interesting. They measure fire support in minutes. Example, the leader of the fire support team tells all other squads that he has 6 minutes of fire support available. When the go code is given the fire support team fires in a predetermined sequence to maximize effectiveness. Not all guns all go the whole time. Every weapon was fire in bursts and alternating so the effect on the target was constant fire. This could be used in teh game with a small fireteam 2 or 3 man providing accurate cover fire with a pair of support weapons.

[CouchMonkey]

As mentioned before, suppression fire does not seem to affect the AI. They just zone in on you and kill you. However if you are playing a CTI and you just done humping it for 20 minutes to your objective, the last thing you want to do is die. You will find cover and perhaps run like a little girl. The AI does not use suppression fire against you either (unless they were scripted). If the enemy has a SAW, they will just snipe you with it. You need team on team action to fully utilize the act and art of suppression fire.

[tHa_KhAn]

We did some testing with moving and firing in the demo and in most cases this holds true. We fired silenced weapons and the enemy does nothing. We fire short burts from saw or rifles and the enemy takes cover and begins to move. We were repeatedly flanked and never directly attacked when using short bursts. However long bursts or consistent short bursts got us identified and attacked directly.

[boudreux]

Has anyone here played Full Spectrum Warrior? That game modeled suppressive fire the most accurate of any. Granted, it was originally developed as a training tool for the Army, but it was always measured in minutes, just as Khan is saying.