Uniforms vs. Stealth against AI

[Sunflower]

Quick questions regarding stealth. Whenever I Google it I see mostly people complaining about [realistic] AI being able to spot you [realistically] and mention of ghillies being effective, but I have not seen anyone mention camo or non-ghillie gear doing anything for you.

So I wonder, what goes into the stealth mechanics for the AI? Does color matching to the environment help? Do certain uniforms have different sound values? Does the CTRG stealth uniform do anything for non-IR detection? Does it even work against IR target acquisition systems used by bots? Does shooting from inside/outside a building make a difference to them?

Things I know work: Concealment such as bushes make a difference, LIGHT makes a HUGE difference, silencer at range work pretty well if you don't overstay your welcome at your shooting position. Movement pacing and height help a lot.

Also, the million dollar follow-up question: Does wearing the bright-ass surfer clothing detriment you in any way? Cos IFF is a billion times easier when your team is all running bright gear.

[jarrad96 [4SFG]]

I'm not certain, but I know that uniforms have an inherent 'camo value' for how easy you are to detect, based on the uniform.
Civilian clothes- Lowest values.
Military camo uniforms- Medium values.
Ghille suits- Highest values.
Stealth Uniforms? No idea.

The actual camo pattern does not work unless you are running some AI mods- Vanilla AI can't tell if you are wearing, say, Desert Camo in a fields area, it just goes 'is camo uniform? Yes/No, if Yes, you are slightly harder to spot. Note that often the AI will hear you or see movement, particularly at night, when they have less vision, before they make out your actual uniform, so the effects of camo may vary a bit.


But I do know some AI mods are attempting to have the actual pattern affect depending on the terrain you are on, similar to Metal Gear Solid 5, where some camo's are more effective in some areas.

[Sunflower]

Awesome info, Jarrad! Thank you!
Good to know civvie clothes are easiest to spot. I may just need to do some playtesting over the stealth suits.

[El Berl]

The question has already been answered by jarrad96 to the point, but I also want to reveal the four key components of stealth. These four pillars are four config values in the cfgvehicles of the units. They are Audible, Sensitivity, SensitivityEar, and camouflage.

For average soldiers, these are usually decimal values. Here are the four and what they do:

Camouflage is a general value, higher values make it easier for the unit to be spotted. Ghillie snipers have lower values. Massi's SADSOG mod has the units at extremely low values. Setting Camouflage to 0 makes it impossible for enemy soldiers to see the respective unit unless the unit fires a weapon.

Audible adjusts how easy it is for enemy troops to hear the soldier. Setting Audible to 0 makes it impossible for enemy troops to hear this unit.

Sensitivity boosts the soldier's spotting range and ability. This number typically stays at around 2-3, but increasing it will drastically improve the unit's spotting ability. This goes against the other side's Camouflage when the game performs AI spotting calculations.

SensitivityEar boosts the soldier's hearing range and ability. Special forces typically have this at a higher number than normal troops. This goes against the other side's Audible when the game performs AI spotting calculations.



Most mods do not take these four key values into account. It is an absolute walk in the park to go all Solid Snake on the AI if you have the right equipment.

[Sunflower]

Awesome detail V. Berlioz! Thank you very much for that, that's exactly what I was hoping for.

[El Berl]

No problem. I'm glad to be of service.

[vlfire]

Thanks, I was also looking for information about this.

[El Berl]

No problem VIfire, feel free to ask me if you have any further questions about Arma III's mechanics.

[Sunflower]

You wouldn't happen to know where to find it in the CONFIG in game, would you?

[El Berl]

Originally posted by Because Viking:

You wouldn't happen to know where to find it in the CONFIG in game, would you?

You'll find the config values in Cfgvehicles. If they're not there try Cfguniforms. This goes for any .pbo that adds new uniforms.

[Sunflower]

Gotcha. Thanks. I actually was specifically wondering where to find it on certain weapons. For example, I was curious if the CSAT integrated suppressor rifle was actually any quieter than anything else, for example.

[El Berl]

Originally posted by Because Viking:

Gotcha. Thanks. I actually was specifically wondering where to find it on certain weapons. For example, I was curious if the CSAT integrated suppressor rifle was actually any quieter than anything else, for example.

Oh, you will find the truth in Cfgammo for the ammunition and the ASP-1 Kir's entry in Cfgweapons. Cfgammo has the following qualities:

visibleFire = 6;
audibleFire = 6;
visibleFireTime = 5;
audibleFireTime = 5;

These are very low values, but they're easy to explain. visibleFire tells us how "visible" firing the ammunition is. audibleFire tells us how loud it is. visibleFireTime tells us how long it is visible for in seconds, while audibleFireTime tells us how long the shot is audible in seconds.

These values are not a result of the gun sound that the player hears. Most mods for this game do not take these values properly into account as well as the values for uniforms, so the AI seems all-knowing to many even though you can actually stealth past it with ease if you know what you're doing.

[Sunflower]

Ah! Awesome. Thank you so much once again!

[El Berl]

Originally posted by Because Viking:

Ah! Awesome. Thank you so much once again!

No problem. Feel free to ask any more questions you have. I am always glad to inform people of the truth of our often-underestimated AI mechanics.

[Soviet Gopnik]

I had a question about this. Does Viper uniform (similar to CTRG uniform) be able to be spotted by AI? The uniform is Anti-thermal and I was wondering if they have a hard time finding you even if you are in the middle of a field while kneeling/lying down, etc.

[El Berl]

Originally posted by Soviet Gopnik:

I had a question about this. Does Viper uniform (similar to CTRG uniform) be able to be spotted by AI? The uniform is Anti-thermal and I was wondering if they have a hard time finding you even if you are in the middle of a field while kneeling/lying down, etc.

The anti-thermal properties of the uniform do not automatically give it an advantage against AI spotting, I'm afraid. The effectiveness of the Viper uniform ultimately depends on the Audible, Sensitivity, SensitivityEar, and camouflage values in play.