LSPDFR 0.4 - The Technology

This is the third part of our LSPDFR 0.4 Preview Series.  Not caught up yet?  Check out the initial announcement here: https://www.lcpdfr.com/forums/topic/81745-lspdfr-04-announcement-first-preview

So, this article is a little bit different than most.  Recently, a number of people have expressed an interest in hearing some more details about the technology behind LSPDFR 0.4, including some of the developments that we've made with respect to artificial intelligence in the mod and also perhaps some more information about the ways in which LSPDFR 0.4 can be customized through code.  While exact details like this are a little difficult to provide as plans can, and often do, change - we've gathered together a number of new systems and features to present here which we think both developers and players alike will be looking forward to.

The Crime System

To start with, one of the new systems that we've introduced in LSPDFR 0.4 is the not-very-originally-named Crime System.  The Crime System was originally developed as an expansion of what we had previously done in LCPDFR 1.0 where players could press ALT + E to 'call in' things that had happened, with the key example being a suspect taking off from a traffic stop - units wouldn't respond until it had been called in.

This is back in LSPDFR 0.4, but with a big twist.  The Crime System recognises a number of different events which could take place in-game (called Crime Events), such as a person firing a weapon, a car being stolen or somebody being run over.  Each time one of these things (and a couple of others) happens in-game, it's picked up by LSPDFR so that our systems can react to it.  This gives us similar functionality to LCPDFR 1.0, where if you're attacked by a criminal then you're able to report this and the criminal will be targeted properly by other units, but it also opens up some new possibilities that we've added for LSPDFR, including the ability for nearby civilians to actually call 911 if they witness a crime.

The Crime System allows for far greater interaction with GTA V's rich environment, providing a more dynamic experience during patrols.

The cool thing about this is that since GTA V is a very rich game in terms of the ambient environment, it's actually quite possible that crimes like this can take place in the game and we think it makes things a whole lot more immersive when you can actually react to them with the full support of LSPDFR behind you, rather than having to engage in a mad dash after someone in the vain hope that you'll catch up before they turn a corner and disappear! 

Plus, the Crime System will be available in the API for LSPDFR 0.4, easily allowing developers to add new Crime Events by specifying the crime, victim and suspect.  This could be useful, for example, in a drunk driver callout where the player searches for the offending vehicle.  Once they've found it, they'll be able to report this to dispatch and trigger a pursuit, without the need for any additional code - a lot more convenient than having to handle this manually.

Scenarios

Sticking with the topic of improvements to a lot of the technology that powers LSPDFR, we've added all new functionality throughout the mod for custom Scenarios.  In general, we like to think of Scenarios as short ambient sequences which can just spontaneously happen within the world.  In addition to this, though, we also support Scenarios across a couple of our other systems, like both pursuits and traffic stops.  This opens up a bunch of new opportunities for gameplay as just like in real life, there's now so much more that could happen during a traffic stop.  Perhaps they exit their vehicle while you're approaching?  Do they have a weapon, or are they just angry and complaining?

From 'routine' traffic stops gone totally wrong to suspects ditching their cars and bailing, Scenarios add all new depth to LSPDFR.

The best bit about Scenarios, though, is that we've also added them to the LSPDFR 0.4 API, and while we've come up with a few of our own, we know that there's many developers who will knock it out of the park in their attempts to find new and interesting ways of enhancing the experience with Scenarios.   Be it by creating new situations that can happen during traffic stops, devising new ways that pursuit suspects will attempt to elude officers, or even by taking advantage of some of the other additions to 0.4, like the Crime System for example, to add a bunch of new ambient crimes throughout the game, we think that the new Scenario system will add much more depth and variety to LSPDFR.

The scene after an escaped pursuit suspect's burned out vehicle was located.

Artificial Intelligence

Finally, in 0.4, we've re-worked a lot of our artificial intelligence.  We'll be sharing more details about these improvements, particularly as it relates to the overhauled pursuit system, in the near future but for now here's a taste of things to come, with some technical explanation, from our very own @LMS

30 minutes ago, LMS said:

Another big change is coming to pursuits, the AI for both, criminals and cops has been rewritten completely to allow for a much more realistic experience and more fine-tuning for specific behavior.  It is now based on behavior trees, similar to how many games or game engines define AI behavior.  We hope that by defining small parts of behavior and chaining them together to more complex actions, we will be able to maintain our code more easily and prevent it from growing too complex. 

 

We also tried to create a real challenge in terms of pursuits while still allowing the player to enjoy the chase.  This resulted in various different options for chases, for instance how well the suspects handle cars including possible boosts for their driving skills.  Some of you might know that GTA V limits the maximum speed for AI controlled vehicles allowing you to easily catch up and pass a sports car on the highway.  If you want, this limit is now gone resulting in a more realistic pursuit experience for fast vehicles.

 

Of course, while improving the suspect AI our cop AI started to show its age.  It has also been redesigned completely especially focusing on less aggressive driving behavior. Your fellow officers will now actually respect you and also only ram the suspect if the situation permits it. 

 

Finally, since we are now able to read data from the game’s internal pathfinding, we were able to introduce some interesting new features.  For instance, depending on the route of the suspect they might now also try to block the suspect from passing them, especially when called in recently as backup.  This also helps with clearing up traffic since we have a general idea of where the suspect and the cop cars are headed next and based on their vehicle type, the suspect will now also prefer different types of roads.

Stay tuned for more news about 0.4, coming soon.

This sounds amazing! We probably need a clean install of GTA (do we?) which is all set up and done. But now I'm really in the mood to go out policing again, but that would mean I need to reinstall again soon. What to do, what to do...

Edited May 14, 20188 yr by Cookooloo

Thanks for giving us some insight into the technical and API enhancements you're working on! Looking forward to using these as a developer and a player. 

It'd be interesting to know if since the AI is being reworked, if they'll be able to utilize all those alleyways and such that are in the city. I've always wanted suspects to really feel like they're trying to ditch me, rather than drive around the same block 100,000 times.