Lessons from the virtual world, for the real world, in LSPDFR 0.4.9

 

We're back with another update for LSPDFR 0.4 which introduces a small handful of new features, as well as a couple of changes to the way in which the core pursuit system within the mod works.  

 

Before we get to that though, the key headline of LSPDFR 0.4.9 - and something that we're really excited about - is that we've partnered with researchers at two major North American research universities: Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of British Columbia (UBC) to explore the real-world research potential of LSPDFR, and the role that it could play in helping to understand how people react and behave in a law enforcement environment.

 

I know this might sound like a big change from the sort of updates that most of you who follow our work will be familiar with - and it certainly is in many aspects, but this doesn’t represent a fundamental change to LSPDFR itself, nor does it imply any significant changes to the way in which players will approach or interact with the mod.  Instead, we've created an opt-in system, similar to the statistics features already integrated into the mod with LSPDFR Sync, where with merely an enhanced level of in-game stats tracking, you'll be able to contribute towards our research with two top institutions by simply playing the mod.  

 

To this end, we've added a new, simple call to LSPDFR that is used to support the survey data by following a more predictable pattern as compared to our traditional callouts within the mod.  Note that nothing changes in this regard if you choose not to take part in the study, and you can still play the new call as normal.

 

The new 'Arrest Warrant' call in LSPDFR 0.4.9 has you query the Police Computer and respond to a suspect's residence.

 

By gathering together these statistics with the player’s response to a couple of in-game scenarios, we’re hopeful that we can use this data to better understand how players, and by extension, law enforcement might react in certain situations in the real world.

 

There's more information about our research study over at https://research.lcpdfr.com/ where you can also opt in to take part.  I should note that as a thank you for helping with this, the universities have given us a couple of $50 Amazon gift cards that anyone who participates in the study will be entered into a lottery to win.

 

 

Changes to pursuits, a new apartment and more interaction.

 

Back on the topic of the other stuff in LSPDFR 0.4.9, though, one of the biggest changes that you'll notice affects the NPC police response to pursuits, bringing a new sense of variety to the way in which situations can be handled by responding officers.  Instead of all pursuits within LSPDFR being treated exactly the same, we've split up the system into two modes: Investigation and Chase.

 

A new 'confrontation' during an investigation, conducted entirely by NPC officers.

 

In the Investigation state, we no longer consider a Pursuit to be an actual chase - if that makes sense.  Instead, there's a little room for diversity in the actions of the officers and the suspects, rather than just someone running and the officers following.  So, in our initial implantation of this we've created a new response scenario where the responding officers will approach a suspect at a walking pace, usually with a hand on their holster.  They'll point at the suspect, call out for them to stop, and the system then takes over from there depending on the suspect's response, with the potential the suspect to either resist and escalate the Pursuit into the Chase state (which is what we're all currently familiar with), or for them to surrender peacefully and be arrested without any theatrics.

 

Moving on from this change, there's a couple of new features that've snuck their way in to LSPDFR 0.4.9 as well, including a new Downtown Los Santos apartment that not only boasts an absolutely killer city view, but is also conveniently opposite the FIB and IAA buildings - perfect for those of you that like your LSPDFR with a side of paperwork and federal bureaucracy.

 

You can also now seamlessly sit down on most chairs and benches throughout the game world with the tap of a button.

 

LSPDFR 0.4.9:

• Download and release notes: https://www.lcpdfr.com/files/file/7792-lspd-first-response
• Release Highlights: https://www.lcpdfr.com/lspdfr/04/highlights/

 

Our Research Study with BYU and UBC:

• More Information: https://research.lcpdfr.com/

 

We hope that you enjoy this update for LSPDFR and that you'll also help us out with our new research project, which we think is a really worthwhile opportunity for all of us and something that will be genuinely rewarding to take part in - it's not every day that major universities partner up with a game mod and we're thrilled to be able to take part in this.

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If you are having problems with LSPDFR 0.4.9, please do not post about them in this topic, but use the support forums instead.

Before you do, though, read through this topic: https://www.lcpdfr.com/forums/topic/89691-read-will-save-your-time-common-issues-fixes-and-bugs/

 

There are a lot of fixes for common problems in there.

The research stuff is super cool.  I don't really play LSPDFR anymore, but I will for this!

Edited May 10, 20214 yr by Rich

45 minutes ago, Rich said:

The research stuff is super cool.  I don't really play LSPDFR anymore, but I will for this!

 

Any new API stuff with the pursuit changes?

 

Yep, there are a couple of new functions.

@LMS has listed them in this API topic: https://www.lcpdfr.com/forums/topic/113995-lspdfr-049-api-update/?tab=comments#comment-687445

 

 

He will post a note explaining them soon.

I most excited about the sit anywhere feature 🤣

Oh boy all the plugins will be outdated. 

Shit

2 minutes ago, Krevbs said:

Oh boy all the plugins will be outdated. 

Shit

 

Don't worry, I'm sure you can be patient as they all update. 

I know, but oh boy its gonna be messy

 

I'm convinced the LSPDFR team has it out for me. This is the second time where I've recently reinstalled GTA V, LSPDFR, with all my plugins & callouts, and then a day-or-two later, there's an update for the whole plugin. Happened with 0.4.8, now 0.4.9.

Still happy though, no complaints. Just slight bitterness. 😒👌

A lspdfr update isn't terrible, in terms of just updating to the latest version... we are usually forced to wait on scripthookv and rage to update before we can play again. 

I love that the LSPDFR community is now being looked at by a university to make studies, that could possible be used in real life law enforcement in the field or for training purposes... Its brilliant❤️ Thanks for all the hard work you guys put into getting LSPDFR where it is to day. Just another dev, JB-Designs

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we’re hopeful that we can use this data to better understand how players, and by extension, law enforcement might react in certain situations in the real world.

 

I like the idea behind it, I'm just concerned because I know there's a lot of casual LSPDFR players who do tend to fuck around and not take it seriously like a lot of us do.  I'm really hoping the end result is helpful.

Edited May 10, 20214 yr by Reddington

Very excited! Thank you!

3 hours ago, Krevbs said:

Oh boy all the plugins will be outdated. 

Shit

Due to the minimal changes in the LSPDFR API within this update, and there being no change in the RPH API (die to the lack of an update) there should be minimal disruption.

 

The only thing I will say is mods with an “expected version” kill-switch might cease to function, but in most mods - this won’t affect your ability to play. 

 

Obviously, there might be some minor disruption, but don’t expect anything too massive - and even then, authors will update the mods over time, so it’s not a massive issue. 

 

Have a good one :)

4 hours ago, Rich said:

The research stuff is super cool.  I don't really play LSPDFR anymore, but I will for this!

I have to second this. 😂

Thank you for your continued hard work, people! 😎

Sounds great! Hopefully the research stuff doesn't just demonstrate how many players will gleefully gun people down because it's a video game. I'm curious how the video game aspect of it will relate to real life law enforcement, since LSPDFR is not exactly in the "simulator" category for Police work despite the depth of systems.

I'd love more detail on the new pursuit "Investigation" state. I'm not sure how this works from your explanation? Is it saying you can call a "pursuit" on a ped who isn't already actively fleeing, and then NPC cops will arrive Code 2 or 3 as usual, but won't chase or taze the ped unless they actively fight or flee, they'll just approach and arrest calmly?

6 hours ago, Reddington said:

 

I'm just concerned because I know there's a lot of casual LSPDFR players who do tend to fuck around and not take it seriously like a lot of us do.  I'm really hoping the end result is helpful.

 

I don't typically put too much thought into these updates, but this one I couldn't help but think about exactly this. I would say a majority of players are probably the total crazy people, or ones that don't 100% follow the rules. The two universities better have a pretty good system to remove that bad data, or the entire study quite honestly is going to be a pile of garbage and a waste of time.

 

 

31 minutes ago, GTAStephen said:

 

I don't typically put too much thought into these updates, but this one I couldn't help but think about exactly this. I would say a majority of players are probably the total crazy people, or ones that don't 100% follow the rules. The two universities better have a pretty good system to remove that bad data, or the entire study quite honestly is going to be a pile of garbage and a waste of time.

 

 

 

I would say virtually all studies have to deal with outliers, and any good study will have a process for taking outliers into consideration.  However, if the majority of data is what you describe, then the research will just show that LSPDFR isn't a good litmus test for "helping to understand how people react and behave in a law enforcement environment."

49 minutes ago, GTAStephen said:

 

I don't typically put too much thought into these updates, but this one I couldn't help but think about exactly this. I would say a majority of players are probably the total crazy people, or ones that don't 100% follow the rules. The two universities better have a pretty good system to remove that bad data, or the entire study quite honestly is going to be a pile of garbage and a waste of time.

 

 

 

We certainly share the concerns mentioned by you and others. However, even if most people behaved "crazy" like you said, there could still be a lot of value in it when looking at tendencies. Is someone even crazier/less crazy when facing event/situation X? It then does not really matter what their overall playstyle is, because you can see nuances depending on the situation. That would still be a very valuable insight.

 

1 hour ago, Hyfrith said:

I'd love more detail on the new pursuit "Investigation" state. I'm not sure how this works from your explanation? Is it saying you can call a "pursuit" on a ped who isn't already actively fleeing, and then NPC cops will arrive Code 2 or 3 as usual, but won't chase or taze the ped unless they actively fight or flee, they'll just approach and arrest calmly?

 

This is the first iteration of the new system and we plan to add more interactions by the AI such as verbal warnings or ticketing. Those did not make it into 0.4.9 just yet. The only way for you to trigger the new system in LSPDFR itself currently is when calling in a crime. We now consider non-violent, on foot crimes for the new investigative mode. For instance, if an angry pedestrian shoves you (but not punches/fights) and you were to call that in, it would not turn into a full-blown chase where the suspects immediately starts sprinting away followed by police. Instead, they would walk off not knowing they have been reported. If you then were to call in backup, they would slowly approach and confront the suspect just like in the video. There is a chance the suspect might surrender on sight or resist. 

 

We have many more plans for the system to "de-pursuit" the whole of LSPDFR in upcoming updates, so stay tuned 🙂

7 hours ago, Reddington said:

 

I like the idea behind it, I'm just concerned because I know there's a lot of casual LSPDFR players who do tend to fuck around and not take it seriously like a lot of us do.  I'm really hoping the end result is helpful.

That was one of the concerns I brought up as well, but I think that people who do dick around can also provide excellent data since there are cops who do mimic that kind of behavior.

8 hours ago, Krevbs said:

Oh boy all the plugins will be outdated. 

Shit

Yeah, as Max said, there shouldn't really be any disruption with the update. You should still be able to play previous versions of callouts and plugins till I believe 0.4.7 now.

i have a question : in wich situation or when an Investigation response by NPC starts?

4 hours ago, GTAStephen said:

 

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  im to old for thisii

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

 

fixed it

 

sry i have to chated in 356575756 days

what i was trying to say is that they will not tell people not to do that if they do some bad stuff like me cause im a corrupt cop when i play but equal corrupt

 

 

I am surprised 🙂