Patrol bike in pairs

[OutCAst 9]

Hi there. I was thinking of a mod or a way to make possible to patrol with a partner both with our own bikes. I really feel very unimmersively solitary driving a bike alone.

First I thought that it maybe could be done manually changing something in the TLAD dlc but I dunno. What can you tell me about this please?

Thanks.

 

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[CouthInk4 1,285]

I might be possible, since with TLAD your MC members ride their different bikes. And i saw a video on YouTube with a convoy type thing in singleplayer with an Ambulance following behind an Ambulance he was driving. So it could be possible.

[Cyron43 47]

I have asked for this quite a while ago

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but further down you see a response from Sam (LCPDFR developer). He thinks it's not possible.

However we can get it to work manually with the Simple Trainer. See my last post with the YouTube link. So I think it is indeed possible.

[OutCAst 9]

Im having some problems with the trainer. I tried it manually spawning some policeb but they wont ride it, they only pick cars to follow, and only if there is no space in my vehicle.

 

How do you do to fix this?

[Cyron43 47]

Im having some problems with the trainer. I tried it manually spawning some policeb but they wont ride it, they only pick cars to follow, and only if there is no space in my vehicle.

 

How do you do to fix this?

 

Sorry I was so unclear about it. We can't get bodyguards riding a police bike with the Simple Trainer. What I meant is that it's possible to let any ped follow you in any vehicle from a developer point of view. There are also those drug war missions where Armando and Henrique follow Luis in a black van. Having your partner follow you on a police bike should be pretty much the same.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Cyron43

[OutCAst 9]

I see, thank you for your answer. I hope that some modder decide to make such a mod, its currently on demand and would be fun to play.

 

Greetings

Edited July 3, 2014 by OutCAst

[DivineHustle 1,671]

I'd be afraid to ride a motorcycle beside an AI cop to be sincere. We all know how their driving is..

[Cyron43 47]

I'd be afraid to ride a motorcycle beside an AI cop to be sincere. We all know how their driving is..

 

True, I haven't thought about that. I was about to start a proof of concept but now that I consider this behavior I think it's better to scrap this idea altogether and save the time for something better.

[DivineHustle 1,671]

True, I haven't thought about that. I was about to start a proof of concept but now that I consider this behavior I think it's better to scrap this idea altogether and save the time for something better.

Don't get me wrong, I think it would still be an interesting and entertaining feature to add into the game. However, I just feel like the AI cops slamming into your motorcycle during a chase wouldn't end well. Or your partner constantly getting caught in traffic with the AI randomly changing lanes at horrible times.

[Cyron43 47]

Don't get me wrong, I think it would still be an interesting and entertaining feature to add into the game. However, I just feel like the AI cops slamming into your motorcycle during a chase wouldn't end well. Or your partner constantly getting caught in traffic with the AI randomly changing lanes at horrible times.

 

Well all those issues could be avoided.

- having the NPC cop crashing into you: drastically reduce the speed at a certain distance. The distance can be queried with each Tick event so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

- avoiding that the NPC cop gets too far behind. Again I would query the distance and if that exceeds a certain value he and his bike could be teleported near to you. We can see exactly this behavior with the TBOGT drug missions and with the VIP plugin.

 

I think the biggest challenge is the change of speed for the NPC cop. It has to adapt dynamically a) to your speed and b) in regards to the distance. He has to accelerate if he falls back and decelerate if he gets closer. Mathematically that's not a big problem either but to find the optimum values needs a lot of research, setting new values, recompiling, reloading of the script and facing game crashes every 5 reloads or so. That's always a pita.

Hmm that mod is pretty much done in my head already.  guess I give it a try in the next days but first I have to get a grip on the LCPDFR API. I hope there's a detailed documentation for it (CHM file or HTML). Furthermore there are some real life events which I have to care for first.

Well great, there is NO API documentation. There's a PDF file called "LCPDFR API Documentation.pdf" but it's really a "getting started writing LCPDFR plugins for beginners" only. An API documentation looks complete different. It contains detailed descriptions and (if necessary) code examples of all public members like classes, interfaces, properties, methods, events, delegates and so on.

Well, I need the LCPDFR API just for the police partner instance anyway.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Cyron43

[PhillBellic 541]

Cyron43, I wish you luck with your endeavour in bringing this aspect of policing to reality. I have tried the SNT method with bikes, and as is common experience your partner just stands there like an idiot. :)

 

Cheers.

[Cyron43 47]

Cyron43, I wish you luck with your endeavour in bringing this aspect of policing to reality. I have tried the SNT method with bikes, and as is common experience your partner just stands there like an idiot. :)

 

Cheers.

Well SNT hasn't the capabilities of the .net scripthook but anyway would you mind if I just teleport the partner onto the bike in case anything else fails? But I doubt it fails because it's simply

_partner.Task.EnterVehicle(_partnerBike, VehicleSeat.Driver);

That works with any vehicle which has a driver seat and there is not one which lacks of it. ;) Edited July 5, 2014 by Cyron43

[OutCAst 9]

I want to thank you for considering this to get done, and for the work you contribute.

 

www.lcpdfr.com/files/file/5219-vippu/

 

In this mod you have some npcs who follow you to a destination, and the following system actually works (besides the crashes). It can maybe help somehow.

I wouldnt mind if the partner gets teleported back if he gets too far, it isnt so gamebreaking compared with some other things we see (AI).

Edited July 5, 2014 by OutCAst

[Cyron43 47]

Thank you OutCAst.
I know that mod as I have it in my plugins folder.
Well honestly there's an unwritten law among developers that forbids to just copy&paste code from others. In case it's claimed as on copyright anyway but it's also a matter of honor. I have the ambition to develop the code on my own. I hope you understand.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Cyron43

[OutCAst 9]

I see, about credit and dignity. Can't be reproachable.

 

[Cyron43 47]

For anyone interested in the progress: You can watch what currently happens by visiting my project repository. The description (right there on the main page) has a section "current project status".
https://bitbucket.org/rainerhilmer/policepartneronbike

[Cyron43 47]

So here it is, my proof of concept. You can find the download at the bottom of this post. This is NOT an LCPDFR plugin, so install it in the Script folder just as any other .net mod.

(How can I resize pictures here?)

POLICE PARTNER ON BIKE

----------------------

Hi there,

what you got here is not a real mod yet but just a so called "proof of concept".

Please do not install this dll if you expect something which runs flawless and fun.

I made this because some GTA IV players requested a mod which enables your police partner to go on bike patrol with you.

Some people think that's not possible but here you go. :)

A "Proof of concept" showcases the feasibility of an idea for a software solution and is a very very early version of a software product.

Does it work? Yes but expect a lot of bugs and glitches.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

---------------------

- Optimize the driving behavior of your partner.

- Eliminate the bugs

- Remove debug messages

HOW TO USE

----------

Please follow these instructions to get a first glimpse of what you will get in the future:

- Place Luis (TBOGT only) anywhere on a pavement or a street. (1)

- Spawn a police bike for you.

- Spawn a cop ped with the simple native trainer. (2) (3)

- Sit on your bike.

The next thing that should happen is that another police bike is automatically being spawned.

Now go on a ride. Your partner will sit on that other bike and follow you all along. (4) (5)

When you want to stop and get off your bike he will do the same after he approached near you.

You see there is no special keystroke or configuration involved with this. The intention of this mod is to "install and forget". It just ought to work as if it never has been any different.

LEGAL INSTRUCTIONS

-----------------

Please respect my work by not copying it and claiming it as your own somewhere else. This includes the code.

WHERE TO REPORT BUGS

--------------------

Nowhere yet. This is indeed a proof of concept and the code is not fully fleshed out yet. I know of the bugs already. :)

FOOT NOTES

----------

(1): The partner bike will most likely not spawn if there is no street or pavement nearby (i.e. if you are on the big parking lot at Northwood).

(2): Please use "Spawn Ped" but not "Spawn bodyguard". The latter one has a different behavior which probably leads to unexpected results.

(3): You can also make him your partner if you wish (Activate LCPDFR, aim at him with a pistol and press G).

(4): At the moment your partner enters the bike you will see the first glitch. He enters, gets off the bike, enters and so on. Just drive 20 meters or so away and you will see he will begin to drive also.

(5): As I already said, the driving behavior needs optimization. At the current project state your partner just attempts to drive with 50Mph and he may probably crash into you if you drive much slower than this. On the other hand he will fall way behind if you drive any faster than 50Mph.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Cyron43

[OutCAst 9]

Wow thanks good work, i'm going to try this out right now ^^

[Cyron43 47]

Hi OutCAst, sorry for the inconvenience but I just found out there's a reference to a Donex.dll which was missing in the Zip. I have uploaded a new zip right now which contains the Donex.dll. I need this for debug logging. Just install it along. It does not phone home, promised, but I can't actually provide a mod version without it because the code for debug logging is all over the place. Just remove the Donex.dll along with the mod when you don't want to use it anymore.

[OutCAst 9]

Not working for me. Its correctly placed in scripts folder.

I tried both being a cop model and with Louis model, tried spawning a fbi model (replaced with a traffic one) and with the normal cop, trying both as ped and bodyguard, all in middle of the roadway. Did all this on the bike and on foot. No changes perceived.

 

Ok im trying now with the Donex.dll.

 

Edit: Sadly same result.

Edited July 10, 2014 by OutCAst