Player AI Caps And Role Balance

Player AI Caps And Role Balance

This page documents the live player group-size cap used by the buy menu and RHUD, plus a Discord-ready balance table for the default server setting.

Scope: current master source mission, Missions/[55-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.chernarus.

Source Formula

The default multiplayer lobby value is WFBE_C_PLAYERS_AI_MAX = 15 (Rsc/Parameters.hpp:62-68). If no lobby parameter supplies it, Init_CommonConstants.sqf falls back to 16, so always state which baseline you are using.

The live buy menu and RHUD use the same shape:

Source	Behavior
Client/Module/Skill/Skill_Init.sqf:49	Soldier-slot players multiply local WFBE_C_PLAYERS_AI_MAX by 1.5 with ceil. With the default lobby value, 15 becomes 23.
Client/GUI/GUI_Menu_BuyUnits.sqf:112-122	Barracks upgrade scales the cap as round(max/4), round(max/4)*2, round(max/4)*3, then full max.
Client/GUI/GUI_Menu_BuyUnits.sqf:123-128	If the player's group is the commander team, the cap gets +10.
Client/Client_UpdateRHUD.sqf:312-325	RHUD mirrors the same visible max-units formula.

The cap is checked against live group units plus queued units. A solo player already counts as one live group unit, so the number of AI followers is usually group cap - 1.

Discord Table

Default lobby baseline: GroupSizePlayer = 15. Values below are AI followers for a solo player.

A2 Wasp Warfare - player AI follower caps

Barracks        Normal player   Soldier slot   Soldier + Commander
Level 0         3 AI            5 AI           15 AI
Level 1         7 AI            11 AI          21 AI
Level 2         11 AI           17 AI          27 AI
Level 3         14 AI           22 AI          32 AI

Barracks level	Normal player	Soldier slot	Soldier + Commander
Level 0	3 AI	5 AI	15 AI
Level 1	7 AI	11 AI	21 AI
Level 2	11 AI	17 AI	27 AI
Level 3	14 AI	22 AI	32 AI

Group-slot version, including the player:

Barracks level	Normal group cap	Soldier group cap	Soldier commander group cap
Level 0	4	6	16
Level 1	8	12	22
Level 2	12	18	28
Level 3	15	23	33

Balance Suggestions

The current table gives Soldier commanders a very large late-game squad. That is fun for infantry leadership, but it can become expensive for server FPS when many players fill their groups.

Suggested direction:

Role	Suggested cap style	Reason
Normal roles	Keep lower, around 8-10 AI at full barracks.	Engineers, medics, spotters and specops already bring utility; lower AI reduces background simulation load.
Soldier slot	Keep the big squad identity, around 16-20 AI at full barracks.	Soldier should be the role for players who want to lead infantry pushes.
Commander	Add a smaller fixed bonus, such as +5 instead of +10, or only apply the full bonus to Soldier commanders.	Commander already has strategic power; too many personal AI can pull attention away from base/economy work and add server load.
Specialist commander	Consider normal-role cap plus +5, not full Soldier-scale cap.	Keeps commander survivable without making every commander a frontline platoon.

For a public server, the cleanest tuning lever is the lobby WFBE_C_PLAYERS_AI_MAX parameter. Code changes should come later if the project wants role-specific caps rather than the current Soldier multiplier plus commander bonus.

Development Notes

• Do not use the unused WFBE_C_PLAYERS_SKILL_SOLDIER_UNITS_MAX = 6 constant as proof of current behavior. The live Soldier cap path uses ceil (1.5 * WFBE_C_PLAYERS_AI_MAX).
• If Skill_Init.sqf ever runs more than once, Soldier cap inflation can compound. Current source calls Skill_Init.sqf once before WFBE_SK_FNC_Apply; keep Client skill init idempotency in the smoke plan.
• Vehicle crew counts also consume group slots when selected in the buy menu.

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