Some members of the community were wondering why AAN site was not reporting back the last news from the P8H8 hack as well as the efforts made by the community to discover the truth ! During the last hours the AAN site has been down, perhaps hacked by the mysterious hacker group. But we are glad to announce that the site is back with astonishing news and questions :
Current status on the “hacker” situation.
Written by Jackson Irvine Monday, 16 May 2011 10:00
The issue regarding the hacking of Bohemia Interactive's website has grown to an enormous extent. The digital attacks continue in various forms. Fans of the military simulation game Arma 2 and its expansions gather at a community forum to find out what the attacks and the information left behind could mean. They gradually started to believe that rather than an actual hacker attack the whole issue is perhaps some kind of ARG, some kind of a puzzle game. They believe the developer’s studio will soon announce something big and are using this “game” to allow its fans to find out details about the upcoming project in advance. No one really knows yet what will be announced and when. The fans so far only have guesses and speculations.
The first “hack” took place on Monday May 2, 2011. A total of eight “attacks” happened so far, each at precisely 42 hour intervals – exactly as the hackers claimed in the first attack. The last attack happened on Saturday, May 14, 2011. The development of this issue is closely monitored by fan sites Armed Assault.info , Armaholic, OFPEC , an exhaustive overview was created by the players of this detective game themselves as a dedicated wiki page at ArmA Enigma. Here you can find information on the date, time and form of all attacks as well as conclusions drawn from these, overviews of unresolved questions, speculations and links to files and sites (some of which are, as we found out, already unreachable – possibly due to high traffic generated by players of this game and their unpredictable actions).
We decided to ask the developers themselves to comment on the situation. At first, they didn’t want to comment at all, even in the future. It’s quite clear the fans are really impatient and most importantly do not see any tangible results, so we convinced the developers to at least hint when they will shed some light onto the matter. We received only some sort of weird questions after they agreed. We have no idea whether to send back the right answers or wait for some explanation.
The quiz is reprinted here exactly as we received it:
Are 'binary' one and zero interpreted as yes and no?
Merkava Mk IV is the main battle tank of:
0: Czech republic 1: Israel 2: Brazil 3: Croatia
Has Bohemia Interactive developed any adventure games?
What is the name of the U.S. soldier who became famous thanks to his blog written during the Sahrani conflict in 2006?
0: Jeremy Slater 1: Ronald Corto 2: Stephen Harper 3: William Porter 4: Frank Carter
What is the capital of South Sahrani?
0: Paraiso 1: Bagango 2: Corazol
Was the Mk14 EBR deployed in the Iraq War?
Who was the commander of Takistani Army Central District during Operation Arrowhead?
0: Gen. Zaher 1: Gen. Sharif 2: Gen. Darya 3: Col. Popal 4: Gen. Rasul 5: Col. Aziz
Did the USA intervene (officially or otherwise) in the Nogovo crisis of 1982?
Which one of these islands is NOT a part of the Malden islands?
0: Kolgujev 1: Nogova 2: Everon
Bohemia Interactive has developed a battlefield simulation system VBS. What does VBS stand for?
Hello everyone. Bit of an update on the Vehicular front here!
I'm posting some work in progess screens of some of the vehicles set for the next major release. All that is left to do on these pretties is put them into the engine and plug them into our config system. Thankfully, due to Canukausiuka's awesome config layout skills, this is a simple plug and play task... kind of...
1st up we have the new Hetzer model, being worked on by Biiskaps, our newest member to the art team. Biiskaps is doing stirling work and I can't wait to hide in some hedgerows with this beast!
Next we have the Universal carrier model. You may have seen this on the forums already, however, it has been modified since then and is waiting to transport British troops to go kick some ass!
Next is the Churchill, this beast is all but ready to go crush some enemy fortifications and blow some...stuff up!
Finally we have the New Opel Blitz model, our old one needed an update and so we have this puppy, Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed the update guys, stay tuned to I44 and have a good one!
Mr Pedersen from Hell in the Pacific Mod released four new impressive screenshots of their work in progress Tarawa-Betio & Peleliu island on the BI Forums.
Today, at 04:00 PM, [~P8H8~]r3dp3ga5u5 has posted a message on the BI Forums, and reposted it 56 minutes later.
Following this message community members have checked account of guys present in the"OFPEC interview", then what appeared to be a code was found in each account signature :
Dedicated members of the community are trying to decode what look like a Caesar cipher, follow their progress on the BI Forums or on the excellent ArmA Enigma WiKi.
Edit 09:40 Here are the results of their searches according to MadDogX's wiki :
2003 belarus duffy bielski 2002 nogova bohemia troska 1991 nottinghamshire reynolds hood 1962 ottoman lean lawrence 1958 clara guevarra casillas 1943 neretva lohr tito 1814 madrid goya spaniard 1462 targoviste vlad mehmed
An interview with Lukáš Miláček,one of Bohemia Interactive's Executive Producers has been released on the BI Studio Developers blog. Here are some extracts :
Having his wings clipped today is Lukáš Milacek, who talks about modelling helicopters, discusses managing projects, and reveals the intended scale of Take On Helicopters (TKOH) ... Scale of the Project
Take On Helicopters is obviously going to require a number of different choppers, but can you give us an idea of the range or number of individual models?
Lukáš: There will be three base classes (light, medium, heavy). Each class will have at least one military - and a number of civil - variants (i.e. utility, VIP, SAR, law enforcement).
- So, will this range of helicopters have distinctive flight models, for example, can you feel the difference between any two choppers?
Lukáš: Each class should definitely have its own character. In the career/story mode, we'll allow the player to upgrade their base helicopters with more a powerful engine, fuel tanks or other components, like winches. Different engine and weight changes will impact upon the helicopter simulation, and thereby, affect the flight experience. We also have consultants - professional pilots that fly those whirlwinds in real life - to help us in tweaking the flight models.
- What about 'skins' for the models? Do you plan to have a range of liveries and will players be able to define their own custom variants?
Lukáš: Each model will have at least a few skin variants built in for the editor. If there's time, we may try to add support for easy custom skins. This might be similar to the way players can choose faces in the Arma series. We've got a lot of ideas, but - whatever we're able to achieve - our game will, of course, be open for modifications. We've got a well-established reputation for enabling custom-made content, and this project does nothing to change that fact.
Modelling Helicopters
- What level of detail can we expect with the models? Are they more advanced than the quality seen in Arma 2?
Lukáš: These helicopter models will be more detailed than any of our previous vehicle models. Most detailed exterior LODs are made from more than 25 000 triangles. Interiors will include detailed gauges and some interactive switches, which will be operable in 3D. There will be properly animated rotors, working doors and service hatches on the exterior. We've developed more damage "hitzones" with more simulated systems and sub-parts that should also be visualised.
- What about special equipment - for example, winch systems - will these be part of the models?
Lukáš: In the story/career-mode, the player can buy equipment for his helicopter, which, in turn, opens up new gameplay opportunities. These choppers can be modified for the wide range of roles that civilian helicopters can perform and which a player might want to try. You might equip sling-load components for construction or bringing reinforcements to the battlefield. Maybe a quality leather interior for VIP transport. A larger fuel tank would increase mission range. Searchlights, FLIR cameras, winches... and so on!
However, we're not putting up any barriers to gameplay. Outside of the story-mode, single-player scenarios will put the player within a particular context with a pre-defined chopper suited to the task. We're also developing an interesting free-flight mode, built upon procedurally generating missions depending upon whatever helicopter you pick. And, of course, the editor will support a range of helicopters for players to easily create their own scenarios. But, I think I've said enough for now! More details about our gameplay will be detailed later.
Zip informed us that Liberation 1944 released a series of high quality screenshots of their upcoming PC game "Iron Front - Liberation 1944", the game will run on the Arma II engine and is set for release Q3 or Q4 this year.
This fall, Deep Silver and X1 Software send fans of tactical gameplay and shooters back to 1944 in "Iron Front – Liberation 1944". The location? Southern Poland during the Soviet Offensive in the summer of that year, when the infantry and tank units of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht engaged in fierce combat. "Iron Front – Liberation 1944" is based on the engine of ARMA II Operation Arrowhead by Bohemia Interactive.
The player takes on the role of a Russian or German infantryman, using teamwork, tactical skill and authentic war machines to battle for victory. The German campaign focuses on slowing the advance of the Soviet troops, while the Soviet campaign is all about breaking through the enemy's resistance. However, the player does not have to do all this on foot: Using their computers, tacticians will control tanks, including the famous German battle tank Panzerkampfwagen VI or "Königstiger" and the Russian Stalin tank JS2, or fighter planes such as the Focke Wulf 190 and dive bombers like the Stuka or the Petlyakov PE-2.
Online is where the battle really heats up in "Iron Front – Liberation 1944": Players can either complete missions cooperatively or compete with each other in special multiplayer modes such as "Capture the Flag" or "Attack and Defense". "Iron Front – Liberation 1944" also includes an extensive mission editor, enabling players to intuitively create their own missions and share them with their friends online, thus guaranteeing that there will never be a shortage of new missions.
"Iron Front – Liberation 1944" is due to be released exclusively for the PC in the fourth quarter of 2011
Kju has informed us about the Fifteenth release of A&S ProMode (2011-05-11).
After one non promoted release a few weeks ago, this updated turns out quite large again.
Most importantly you will modsets for AAW, I44 and VME PLA (needs the soon-to-be-released MOD update) as well as a couple new worlds supported in the random mode: DBO Deluxe Terrain, ElephantIsland, I44 Omaha and Qom.
Finally more options for the random mode and various AI improvements and fixes.
From now on you will find a second pack in the file base called AnS_ProMode_OA_AI_DATE.7z. This one has the AI mode active by default. You can see the planned additions for the next release in the roadmap. I am looking for people interested to submit new modsets for community mods, like ACE2, FDF and others. It is a easy job - you only need to define the unit class and its equipment: west side or east side.
2011-05-11 changelog
* Added: AAW modsets. * Added: I44 modsets. * Added: VME PLA modsets. * Added: Make AI medic type units heal other friendly AI nearby. * Added: parameter to show AI kills. * Added: Make it possible to select the number of zones in the random mode. * Added: parameter to limit the total amount of random vehicles. * Added: parameter to set the zone size in random mode. * Added: quickstart action to randomly generated planes.
* Changed: Add random mode version for DBO Deluxe Terrain. * Changed: Add random mode version for ElephantIsland. * Changed: Add random mode version for I44 Omaha. * Changed: Add random mode version for Qom. * Changed: Change intro text to show only the mission daytime. * Changed: Hide vehicle summary in the notes section when random vehicles set are active. * Changed: Improve system to determine vehicle type. * Changed: Make AA/AT AI classes not use combat vehicles. * Changed: Make AI choppers not spawn directly at the flag in X Ray. * Changed: Make AI dead bodies stay until they respawn or get revived * Changed: Make AI to react on the event of a zone getting decapped to zero. * Changed: Make sure the complete zone area is not in water in the random mode. * Changed: Make vehicleRespawn script use set/getVar and one loop to check all. * Changed: Reduce smoke grenade use of AI on hit. * Changed: Remove obsolete reload anim over network system.
* Fixed: TerrainGrid and viewdistance not reset, if you die inside a plane. * Fixed: AI selection of AA/AT classes does not handle random vehicles. * Fixed: Vehicle features are not getting initialized for dynamically created vehicles. * Fixed: At mission start defenders do not spawn in the first zone they control, if more than one zone is contested.
The optional AI mode can be used for enjoyment while waiting for the server to fill or as training. See the details in the features section of the wiki.
Early this morning OFPEC site has released a mysterious Bohemia Interactive Interview featuring 4 characters : Barel, Talho, Roamer, Exorcist. Here are some extracts from the excellent ArmA enigma WiKi site showing the detection work made by the community to reveal the hidden secrets of P8H8 site :
There are 4 new users registered on the same date(05-09-2011), using the nicknames of the BI developers from the OFPEC interview ... Each user -Barel, Talho, Roamer, Exorcist- has a profile picture with a QR Code in it
Each is part of the full code . The correct barcode which scans as: /Programs/TimeSeeker/Seeker.exe :
... Results Program seeker.exe shows an incrementing search ... Increment_1 "18OCT07: Ten Rules of War established" Refers to: Ten Rules of War Established at the Second Hague Peace Conference on October 18th of 1907 Increment_2 "10OCT11: Effective end of the Chinese Empire" Increment_3 "28JUL14: Outbreak of World War I" Increment_4 "03SEP28: Discovery of penicillin" Increment_5 "15JUN35: Persia becomes known as Iran" Increment_6 "07JUL37: Outbreak of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War" Increment_7 "01AUG39: Outbreak of World War II" Increment_8 "09OCT41: Franklin Roosevelt approves the U.S. atomic program" Increment_9 "06AUG45: First deployment of atomic bomb" Increment_10 "12AUG49: Geneva Convention established"
Edit 12-05-2011 : last increments displayed in the seeker : Increment_11 "25JUN50: Outbreak of the Korean War" Increment_12 "01NOV55: Outbreak of the Vietnam War" Increment_13 "12SEP58: First integrated circuit is constructed" Increment_14 "16MAY60: First functioning laser is constructed" Increment_15 "13AUG61: Berlin Wall built" Increment_16 "29OCT69: Birth of the Internet" Increment_17 "30APR75: Vietnam War ends" Increment_18 "22SEP80: Outbreak of Iran-Iraq War" Increment_19 "03JUL88: Iran Air flight 655 is shot down by U.S. missiles" Increment_20 "09NOV89: Berlin Wall torn down" Increment_21 "22JUN92: Scott Miller born" (the counter stopped there)
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