Project Catalyst

Project Catalyst overhauls Arma Reforger's AI from the ground up so squads stop acting passive, walking in single-file down open roads, or freezing in combat. Built for Conflict, Game Master, and custom scenarios with dedicated server and console scaling in mind (150+ active AI).

WHAT IT DOES (CURRENT FEATURES)

1. Smarter, Faster & More Reactive Infantry Combat
- Sharp Threat Reactivity: Fast contact identification (0.12s), immediate squad wakeup on gunfire/bullet flybys (22m flyby & 600m acoustic awareness), instant orientation toward shooters when taking damage, and 250ms group cluster decision response.
- Active Road Avoidance: Squads stay off exposed asphalt and street centerlines using road-geometry snapping, Detour navmesh cost biasing, and dynamic Wedge/Line formations - moving along treelines, terrain defilade, and building walls instead.
- True Bounding Overwatch & Platoon Coordination: Squads split into assault and support/overwatch fireteams (~55-75m base of fire while assault teams flank), automatically promote overwatch if assault is wiped out, and share enemy contacts over platoon radio (500m) for multi-squad pincer maneuvers.
- Tactical Smoke, Anti-Armor Survival & Triage: Soldiers throw smoke grenades to screen exposed bounds, riflemen without AT actively evade enemy vehicle firing cones into hard cover while RPG/LAW/UGL gunners engage armor, and medics clear active killzones before treating casualties.
- Autonomous Sector Patrols: Idle military squads without waypoints do not stand around like statues - they run organic 45-100m off-road patrols with observation halts.

2. Urban CQB & Interior Building Warfare
- Full Building Topology (Rooms, Windows & Doors): AI squads prioritize enterable buildings over small street curbs, proactively open single/double doors while clearing door swing arcs, occupy multi-story windows and interior door-breach overwatch angles, and hold strongpoints before sweeping.

3. Autonomous Armed Vehicle Requisition & Mechanized Doctrine
- Emergency Armed Vehicle Manning on Alert: When a foot squad enters combat or confirmed alert near an unoccupied armed vehicle (<= 85m, such as HMMWV M2, UAZ DShKM, BTR-70, BRDM-2), two volunteers automatically sprint to crew the turret first and driver seat second, feeding group targets directly to the gunner and returning to foot duty once calm returns.
- Combined-Arms Escort & Overwatch Standoff: Drivers and gunners stay locked to their stations while operational. Armed vehicles pace dismounted infantry (18-26m escort) and hold unobstructed 80-150m combat standoff with frontal armor facing threats, while unarmed trucks stage safely in the rear. Smart 3D bumper clearance prevents vehicle abandonment on minor stuck/traffic obstacles.

4. Physics Helicopter Autopilot, 360-Degree Drills & 3D Game Master Orders
- 4-Axis Physics Flight: AI pilots fly via real rotorcraft physics (collective, cyclic pitch/roll, yaw, RPM spool-up before liftoff, coordinated banked turns, flare braking, hover auto-trim) - zero teleportation or fake rails.
- Full 3D Game Master Orders: Move/Hover, Get Out (prioritizes free Helipads <= 185m or scans safe tree/slope-free LZs), custom "All Get Out" command (lands, shuts down engines/rotors, disembarks full crew), Get In (ground or airborne pickup, multi-group shared boarding), Patrol/Follow, and Search & Destroy / Suppress circular gun-orbits (~125-220m) banked inward for side door gunners.
- 360-Degree Kneeling Security Drills: On Get In, Get Out, and All Get Out, squads form an outward-facing kneeling 360-degree security ring around vehicles and helicopters, boarding/exiting one by one through real doors before resuming patrol or combat.

5. High-Scale Performance
- Zero steady-state GC allocations in hot paths, desynchronized evaluation ticks with jitter, idle perception early-outs, and O(1) 2D spatial grid indexing for buildings.

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO YET (WORK IN PROGRESS / LIMITATIONS)

- No Attack Helicopter / Gunship Pilot Weapons Yet: AI pilots do NOT yet fire pilot-operated forward weapons (rocket pods, fixed/nose cannons, ATGMs) or fly diving gunship attack runs. Helicopter fire support currently relies strictly on crew-served side/door weapons (side miniguns and pintle machine guns) during orbits, hovers, and insertions.
- Order-Driven Airlift: Unlike ground armed vehicles (which squads will requisition autonomously on alert), AI will NOT autonomously take off in helicopters without explicit Game Master / scenario waypoints (Get In, Move, Get Out, etc.).
- Modded Airframes & Compatibility: Tuned around standard Cold War utility airframes (UH-1H, Mi-8MT); heavily modded helicopters may need PID tuning. Overrides core SCR_AI* classes and may conflict with other full AI behavior overhauls.