SITUATION

Right after releasing last week's final Beta patch, the team dove into preparing a solid build for Gamescom 2013. By burning some weekend midnight oil, yesterday we had a build we were happy with - and it flew to Germany last night. Today the Bohemia crew is setting up the business and public booths: installing the games, configuring the settings, and running through their presentations. Representing Arma 3 are designers Jiří Zlatohlávek and Karel Mořický. They'll be showing off the cool release package starting tomorrow, so expect plenty of coverage. Both Arma 3 and DayZ standalone are hands-on playable at the public booth. Visit us in Hall 9.1 (booth 32) if you're there!

The rest of us are testing, testing and testing the release build. We're evaluating issues on a case-by-case basis and selecting the ones we need fixed for September 12th. What remains is investigated and logged for post-release work. What about Altis?! The mothership is inbound and visitors of Gamescom can explore it however they like. It is also ready to land on development branch the day after Gamescom closes - August 26th. With it comes a whole bunch of new static objects - from obviously required vegetation, roads, rocks and buildings - to some more dynamic objects for scenario design.

INTELLIGENCE

So far the Steam Workshop support for scenarios is really proving its worth. It is a good first step towards more extended support. We love getting to work in the morning, selecting a random scenario, and having some quick fun. There are even some scenarios with custom voice work and music already. We look forward to more and more, especially on Altis!

If you're unsure how it all works: you can browse the Workshop in-game via the Scenarios menu. The Workshop button at the bottom of the screen will open it in the overlay (it is also possible to browse and subscribe out-of-game via any browser). Then all you have to do is a pick a scenario and press Subscribe. The scenario will be downloaded into the game, and you can immediately start it. Once you're done playing, you see a button in the debriefing screen which opens the scenario in Workshop once more. Rate the scenario, leave constructive feedback for its creator and share it with your friends. Subscribing to multiplayer scenarios works in a very similar way, except you start by creating a new server and open the overlay there.

OPERATIONS

You may have noticed updated voice acting for those showcases which feature the CSAT faction. We've finally recorded all release (including Alpha and Beta) conversations in the Farsi language, and it really adds a nice immersive feeling to them. Note that the main thing remaining to do this week is to record the actual dynamic radio protocols. So, until then, you'll hear English for the CSAT radio protocol - and that includes the Gamescom build.

Users of development branch will have also witnessed tweaks to inventory capacities and fatigue. Lord of the Bounce, Petr Kolář, elaborates : " the current status is going to stay as it is for release of the game, but the designers are working on improvements in this field on daily basis. We have already reduced being able to carry a ridiculous amount of stuff without impending some notable drawbacks. Soldiers are still able to lift some heavy burdens (to a much lesser extent than before), but moving with them disrupts their aiming skills a lot. You may experience the changes best while fighting in a group with encumbered AI soldiers; they tend to slow down the advance to have at least some energy to shoot precisely."

LOGISTICS

It should be noted that not all of the work seen on development branch will make it into the 1.00 release version. Our team wants to continue their work, but some of the changes are too risky to merge into the release build during the next few weeks. Imagine an AI improvement that enhances CQB behavior for example. This is very exciting work, but it can also change the behavior of existing scenarios. From now until release we go through the fixes in development branch daily and pick those things that are needed / safe. The rest will be used for patches.

Before the official launch of Arma 3 on September 12, Bohemia Interactive has published a final update for the Arma 3 Beta. The absolute highlight of this update is the integration of Steam Workshop – which makes the sharing of user-created scenarios significantly more convenient.

Now, with Steam Workshop content sharing, players can upload and download both singleplayer and multiplayer scenarios. Arma 3’s in-game scenario editor is a powerful tool, allowing for the quick creation of missions, as well as more complex scenarios. Enhanced gameplay modules make life easier for aspiring designers to get started without having to learn the scripting language.

Having created a scenario, players can easily push it to the Workshop with a description and overview image. Other players can browse the Workshop for a scenario that looks appealing to them and subscribe to it. This will download the scenario and let players start it without restarting the game. Interacting with the author is made easy: players can leave comments, give a rating and updates are automatically downloaded. Authors themselves can post update notes and promote their scenarios with screenshots and videos.

Designer and Workshop caretaker, Jiří Zlatohlávek, expands:
“Even though we are dedicated to support the traditional ways of sharing content, used by many of the popular community portals - in the fast and easy to use world of app stores, streaming services and real-time feeds, we felt that sharing user content could be improved. What we see in the Workshop is a faster and easier way both for the creators to get their work out there to players and for the players to find and try it while providing feedback and encouragement, where it's needed the most.”

The last update for the Arma 3 Beta also includes a long list of other improvements and fixes (overview here), and will be downloaded automatically via Steam.

Last but not least, as part of the countdown to launch, and Gamescom, Bohemia Interactive has released 9 brand new screenshots featuring the 290 km² island of Altis. The studio invites everyone to their Gamescom booth in the public area, located in Hall 9.1, C-32.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Beta Users
INFO: Release plans, Workshop, Fixed-wing aircraft
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

Wow! Lots of things to go through this week, so let's get to it. We dropped some intense bits of news on everyone, including our campaign release plan and the primary release of the game on September 12th. It was hard to say all we wanted to say in one (rather lengthy) blog. We hope it answered some of your questions, and helped explain the situation we are coming from. We like the contents of the release package and look forward to unleashing it in exactly one month.

Meanwhile, we are pestering our Quality Assurance department with getting the final Beta patch out nicely - ideally this week. Besides a huge log of improvements, its primary focus is the Steam Workshop going live. Already enabled in development branch, you can now publish scenarios from the editor and subscribe to them from within the game as well. At the moment the Workshop contents is only visible to owners of the Arma 3 Beta, whereas it will become visible to everyone. Cool stuff is already actively being published, iterated, given feedback and enjoyed!

INTELLIGENCE

Arma 3 will have its primary release on September 12 2013 worldwide. Join the countdown to launch!

The campaign will be released in three episodes in the months following release. Do please take time to read our blog with further insights into how this came about.

Episode 1 of the new season of Community Guide videos has meanwhile gone live and takes a look at helicopter mastery.

There has been a lot of talk within the community about the release package and assets perceived as missing, most notably more fixed-wing aircraft. We are planning to release more content in patches, besides the campaign itself. Let's explain what's going on:

- During our project review last year, we significantly changed the direction of the project - we feel for the better (details in the blog). This included a significant iteration of what we refer to as the ORBAT - our list of vehicles and weapons. Our priorities changed: building the game up from the infantry level, to combined arms support, and now arriving at the larger war. This led to certain assets being moved down in the priority list, a few being removed, but also entirely new and splendid content being commissioned (Ghosthawk, Darter, Ifrit, Marid, Kamysh, Zafir, etc.). The setting and factions also changed - resulting in assets previously shown on screenshots as OPFOR to become BLUFOR (Hunter, Slammer, Panther, etc.), along with some more faction reshuffling.

- A few assets seen in screenshots and other media were taken well before the project review, when Arma 3 was a different game. We remain convinced the changes were for the better. It wasn't optimal to show placeholder and prototype content before we knew we could finish it. This has also led to a renewed stance to public statements - not confirming or announcing content before we are quite sure about it (starting October 2012). Specifically vehicles like the F-38 (as we called it), were only ever placeholder assets taken from Arma 2, and used to showcase flight and the new clouds, as well as to test fixed-wing PhysX. They were meant to be significantly updated or re-done to match, but due to a shift in priorities, not finished in time. There was no ill-intent when showing them - rather overly ambitious goals, enthusiasm and a desire to share development progress.

- Adding content post-release is not necessarily new for our games, and a tradition we've stuck with ever since OFP Cold War Crisis. Veterans may remember the free Ultimate Upgrade packages adding major vehicles such as the Su-25, Chinook, Vulcan AA, Kozlice shotgun and more. Another example was the addition of Warfare mode and USMC units to Arma 1. Some of the content will be brand-new and some is finished content shown in the past. Top priority for the artists now are two Close Air Support fixed-wing beasts, one for both primary factions. And there is more cool stuff to come!

OPERATIONS

With regards to the Steam Workshop - we knew there were modders who have expressed concerns about the license agreement. Because of this we've discussed options directly with Valve and pursued more agreeable terms. Note that we still view this as an optional (but very exciting!) service to share content. The old methods are still in place and we have no intentions of changing that.

Our drones (Darter, Greyhawk and Stomper) will miss the final Beta patch this week. Instead they will be added to development branch soon. A few functionality issues are being resolved, but we absolutely cannot delay the patch.

Internally we are going to be on a development lock down very soon and up to release. This effectively means we will only make important fixes to release content. This is done to ensure stability in the release version. It may mean the updates on development branch are less significant - although we do want to stage a lot of release content there ahead of September 12th! We will also need to re-skin the game from Beta to release, so don't be surprised if Beta logos and texts start morphing into their final versions.

LOGISTICS

Last Saturday evening we attempted to do a live-stream of release content. It was partly thwarted by our Internet connection, but ultimately a version went up two hours later. A few hours before the stream, we ran tests and things were green across the board. When we were just about to go live, we found the upload connection being interrupted frequently - causing dropped frames in the stream. We decided it would be better to record the same presentation offline and upload it immediately afterwards. Check out the results here!

Bohemia Interactive today announced the release date for its upcoming tactical military shooter, Arma 3. Available in digital and physical retail stores worldwide, Arma 3 will launch on Thursday September 12, 2013.



Benefiting from the splendid support of Alpha and Beta participants, Arma 3 ships with the large open terrains of ‘Altis’ (270 km²) and ‘Stratis’ (20 km²), 12 singleplayer showcases, 3 faction showcases, 9 multiplayer scenarios, 10 firing drill challenges, more than 20 vehicles and 40 weapons, 5 factions, the scenario editor and modding support. The Arma 3 singleplayer campaign will be released across 3 free DLC episodes after launch.

To launch the countdown, the Arma 3 devteam is hosting an official Twitch.tv livestream on Saturday August 10 at 17.00 UTC. Live from Bohemia Interactive HQ in Prague, everyone is invited for a sneak peek at Arma 3’s release package. The livestream is expected to last about one hour, and those who do not want to miss out can already enlist for the event via Arma 3’s Facebook page.

Last but not least, Bohemia Interactive has opened the Countdown To Launch web page. Here players can find a complete overview of the content available in Arma 3 – alongside descriptions and screenshots.

To participate in the final stages of pre-release development, people can purchase the regular Arma 3 Beta (34.99 EUR/29.99 GBP/44.99 USD) or the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition (44.99 EUR/39.99 GBP/59.99 USD) from Steam or Store.bistudio.com. Both editions include the full retail game and prices will increase upon launch.

Can you give us an overview of the campaign’s story and the player’s role?

Crowe: The player is a regular soldier, a Corporal who’s part of a NATO peacekeeping mission in the Mediterranean. Originally deployed in the wake of the total economic collapse of the Republic of Altis—a nation something like the size of Malta—a situation that flared up into a bloody civil war. It’s been a couple of years of uneasy peace following a cease-fire. This US-led force is now in the process of a staged drawdown, tasked to decommission the bases and coordinate the scrapping of military equipment and vehicles that they can’t afford to ship back home.

This withdrawal takes place in the context of decades of recession in the west and a rise in power and ambition of nations under the banner of CSAT, the Canton-Protocol Strategic Alliance Treaty. Stratis—the island where the player’s unit is based—is a key strategic position between east and west. But, with the US more concerned about its interests and influence in the Pacific and traditional European powers looking inwards at their flatlining economies and mass unemployment, it’s become something of an unaffordable operation.

The vacuum left by withdrawing NATO forces is being rapidly filled by CSAT, creating the conditions for, one might say, a flashpoint. The campaign follows the player from this point and examines his role across three distinct episodes: Survive, Adapt, Win.

How are the campaign episodes connected?

Crowe: Together, they form three parts of a single overarching story. Our “Episodes” are actually something like sets of interconnected missions—each a mini-campaign—related to the others in terms of the progression of a single timeline and in the gradual introduction of responsibility to the player.
“We ask the designers to think about what ‘winning’ actually means.”

van’t Land: The episodic design is not new. It’s not something that we implemented after deciding on these release plans. Though, admittedly, we originally intended to release them together.

Crowe: When we came to redesign the campaign, the game—the sandbox platform—was in a considerable state of flux. The episodic nature of our revised approach was partly geared towards managing that, and partly on trying to investigate some distinct themes.

van’t Land: Arma 3 is now built on a singular vision—combined arms military with an infantry core—but it’s still a very broad topic, so the themes help to focus that a bit more.

Crowe: While each episode looks at a different theme, there’s a consistent thread between them all—yes, in terms of narrative—but, perhaps more importantly, in terms of gameplay. If you look at the Showcases, for example, they generally give the player an objective, a tool or a set of tools, and offer some freedom in terms of how to go about achieving that goal. In the process, one aspect of the game is “showcased.” They work because they’re simple enough for us to test, but open enough to allow players to enjoy completing them without being led by the hand. Our campaign episodes are similar, but—rather than focusing on a single “thing,” like “tanks” or “scuba”—they develop a single theme over the course of a few missions, deploying a range of meaningful and appropriate features that, hopefully, serve to create a consistent, enjoyable experience.

In September, we're launching Arma 3 across digital and retail stores worldwide with new singleplayer, multiplayer and sandbox content along with our crown jewel, the Altis terrain. You can check out the details of our launch content over here. Our campaign, however, will be made available across 3 free episodes after release.

Supplied as free DLC to everyone who owns the game, the first episode, Survive, will be available within the first 4 weeks of launch. The Adapt and Win episodes follow in the months thereafter. Read on for our rationale behind this move and for some new details about our release package.

Back To The Future

When Arma 3 was first announced in 2011, it followed a more 'traditional' structure: plan - implement - release - support. Since those early days, much has changed. During the course of development, it became clear to us that to deliver the best game we could - one worthy of being a true sequel in the Arma franchise - we'd have to rethink some of the initial plans.

One of the most important decisions we made was to push the game towards a public Alpha and Beta testing phase. This has been an extremely useful experience for us. It stands, without question, that now more than ever our company believes in the adopted project methodology. It cannot be overstated how much the feedback and widespread testing has helped to improve the stability of the Arma 3 platform.



Paradigm Shift

The focus upon small, quick deliverables, the advantage of rapid, targeted feedback, and the experience of putting a game out into the wild has matured the team and improved the overall quality of the game. This has translated into regular pre-release updates and the gradual refinement and extension of the platform. It's made Arma 3 a better game. Furthermore, it has energized our team, many of whom were fatigued by a lengthy, difficult project. We've all enjoyed seeing long streams of positive feedback and constructive criticism.

However, these benefits have also come at a certain cost. This was the first large project we've run this way and things weren't always perfectly executed. Making frequent - sometimes fairly significant - changes to the base game makes it a true nightmare to create, test and manage a big number of complex missions. Let's say a given designer has four scenarios under their direct control. It's not unlikely that, after finishing a quick iteration of all four, the first couple are already broken. Assets are changed, environment locations get updated, bugs pop up, AI tweaks result in different behaviour, placeholder content is finalized. The list goes on and on.

This, of course, is a challenge that faces most game developers; however, the more fundamental these changes are, and the later that the root causes are identified, the harder it gets to deal with them. Developing a good campaign on a settled platform is far more effective. In the past, Arma has garnered something of a reputation for instability. We've been single-minded in our pursuit of real improvements in this area. In the context of this development, our Showcases have proven themselves to be the most robust content to develop, publish and maintain. These focused scenarios set a benchmark for the diverse range of features in Arma 3. They enable us to share with players real improvements like fluid animations, new radio protocol, improved lighting, upgraded sound engine, etc., through challenging, open gameplay.

Quality Over Quantity

Combined Arms, Tanks, Gunships, SCUBA, Night, Supports, Commanding, Infantry, Armed Assault, Helicopters, Drones, Vehicles, when all these things come together - and when players aren't held back by silly bugs - we think it's an experience unlike any other. We've chosen to invest in these scenarios, as well as in the various multiplayer modes, the huge sandbox of weapons, vehicles, factions - not forgetting the Challenges, Faction Showcases - and, of course our Editor, which unlocks the full potential of the mothership: Altis.

Meanwhile, we've been empowered to further develop key pillars of the game. We've made refinements to the AI, important fixes to the terrain, extensions to the platform of weapons and vehicles, etc., without fear of breaking something like a campaign. Just releasing the Alpha and Beta without making frequent updates would have been pointless. Instead, we've tried to put some real effort into a two-weekly patching cycle and daily builds on the Development Branch. Our pipelines were evolving with us as we went, meaning things like automated changelogs were not ready straight away - costing manual labour every update. Going through these things now will benefit the release, post-release support and future projects alike.

Set alongside the openness of the platform - the potential to make and share custom content, itself already being created and refined - we hope Arma 3's release sets a new standard of quality for us, and marks a step in the right direction towards fulfilling the real potential that our series has long threatened to deliver.

Turbulent Times

This is not to say that the project has been without issue. Arma 3 started life with a very different team and a very different scope and direction. Since 2012, we've seen the number of developers working on the game double, absorbing the Mníšek studio and bringing in a bunch of talented new hires in key positions across all 3 studios. And, later on in the year, we found ourselves in a position to conduct a thorough project review, which fundamentally re-evaluated the direction that the project was taking.

This turnaround was made no easier by some of the unpredictable events of last year. The uncertainty that was produced and the impact it's had - on both a professional and personal level - cannot be emphasised enough. It made a tough time exponentially more difficult. In the end, this process culminated in the successful release of the Arma 3 Alpha, and, despite some tough, pragmatic choices, we believe that it's put us in a much better long-term position.

Furthermore, the project plans, which crystallised last October, did not sufficiently take into account the great impact that public development would have in parallel to our internal milestones. More time went into directly supporting the Alpha and Beta than was planned, leaving less attention for the full game content. While it pushed our relatively small team's resources further, we stiill fully believe in the early access release strategy, and the benefits it has wrought.

Task Force Campaign

So why deliver the campaign after release? Simply put: it's not ready. There are several factors - some of which we've touched on above - that have made it infeasible for us to finish our work to the level of quality we'd be happy with for this release. Why make it at all? Well, we like campaigns and we simply want to make and play them. We also know that we owe it to our community, who've backed us from the start. To those eagerly anticipating the experience, we sincerely apologize for the additional wait. While we would have loved to include the campaign at launch, we could not accept compromising on its quality.

How has it taken so long, then? As mentioned above, the project has experienced fundamental changes in terms of its vision, scope, scale, and setting. Put frankly, almost two years of work related to the original direction was binned. Through a process of playing, evaluating, and honest reflection, we found that the original plan was not headed towards what we expected from a legitimate Arma sequel. The changes that were necessary to put the project back on track have been costly and difficult but, ultimately, we feel, worthwhile.

As we approach the end of Beta, we are also faced with various things that lock us in creatively. One such thing is localization. The game needs to be translated for many regions of the world and that requires finalized source texts. Similarly, doing voice acting takes time. We can't wait and rush things in the last moments before release. Finally, games need to be rated in many markets, for which rating agencies need a solid and near-final playable build well ahead of release. Effectively this all means the campaign would have had to have been finished roughly two months ahead of its launch. It was not.



Countdown To Launch_

Even though it differs from the original planned launch strategy, we have full confidence in Arma 3’s release package. When the game deploys, players will be met with a set of 12 diverse Showcases and 3 Faction Showcases, 10 Challenges, 9 multiplayer scenarios across 4 unique modes. Together with a huge sandbox of weapons and vehicles, an editor to create and share custom missions, and the enormous canvases of Altis and Stratis upon which to make them.

Looking at the game from the perspective of players joining us at launch - even in the brief absence of the campaign - there's a big variety of out-of-the-box singleplayer content. For players that have already supported us in our pre-release development, we believe that commissioning the new Altis-based Showcases, adding new Challenges and multiplayer modes, expanding the sandbox, and unleashing Altis itself, means a wealth of great new experiences await them, too.

We think of the main release as a platform - the beginning of a long lifetime for the game. A platform that will grow with official content additions, fixes, improvements, as well as with user-generated content. Veterans of the Arma series know that previous games have matured and become better with time. Our team is committed to supporting Arma 3, and we already have lots of post-release plans. Your feedback has and will continue to shape prioritization. Looking back to 2012, reflecting upon the progress the game has since made, evidenced by the success of the Alpha and Beta programmes, we're proud of the upcoming release. It's a product of our team's hard work and of the unwavering support of our dedicated community.

Thanks for keeping the faith and see you on the frontlines!

Joris-Jan van 't Land, Project Lead
Jay Crowe, Creative Director

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Beta Users
INFO: Patch released, Dev branch highlights, Early release prep
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

After last week's release of the second large Beta patch, we are now storming towards what is likely our last patch opportunity ahead of release. The goal for that patch is still to include the second content package (sporting various aerial and ground-based drones), as well as Workshop support. The latter is ready to release from a technical point of view, but we are getting the publication side set up with our partners at Valve. Read more about how the final stages of development and patching will work further on in this report. Oh, and later in the week we should have the first episode of a new season of Community Guide videos ready for you; a spectacular look at rotary wing flight!

INTELLIGENCE

The Artwork tab on the Arma 3 Steam Community Hub has been enabled. Show us and the rest of the world some of your cool Armart!

The deadline for submitting details for the Supporter Edition credits has ended. We are doing final checks on the submissions and are integrating them into the game. For those unaware: the first 2500 purchasers of this edition will be seeing their name in the credit listing - as a thanks for their investment into Arma development.

Development branch has been seeing some rather sizable improvements recently. There's been work done on a new style collision envelope (for characters with rifles only at the moment). Helping with issues like clipping, sticking and general handling, the animation team is continuing to do apply fixes. Most recently going up steep stairs has been tweaked. Other changes target the flight models of helicopters (more below), and there's been a cool change to the RPG42's sights and implementation. Give it a go if you don't mind the risks and frequent data transfers on dev branch.

We've officially announced our attendance of the Gamescom expo in Germany this year. Go hands-on with one of the Arma 3 Release Candidate iterations - including Altis, Main Battle Tanks and new showcases. DayZ Standalone will also be available, showing off the improvements since E3.

Our colleagues are releasing the next entry into the Take On series this Thursday! Take On Mars will be available via Steam's Early Access for all aspiring Mars Rover engineers, and can be pre-ordered via our Store!

OPERATIONS

A while ago we disabled rain because we were not satisfied with the graphical state. In the meantime, we've investigated some options for improving it, and identified a modest set of refinements we hope to include for the final game. A more significant overhaul is desired, but we're rather saturated with other tasks right now.

Task Force ROFLcopters, comprised of virtual pilots like Ondřej Kužel and Ivan Buchta, spotted several slow-moving helos on the horizon and decided to re-tweak them. New parameters were added thanks to joint effort of Vojtěch Hladík and Petr Kolář. It is no longer needed to handle distribution of mass in the model, and hope for better results by shifting a few pounds around the vehicle. Some issues have arisen while using strange values - beware of AI getting into endless spirals upwards while tweaking your own helicopter. This still has to be disposed of by moving the center of mass.

LOGISTICS

Moving into the final stages of development for the Q3 release will have impact on our patching cycle and Development branch updates. More details are going to be announced, but in general: we need to stop patching the default Beta branch at some point. One reason is the re-skinning of the game from Beta to full release. Once we start this, we cannot easily keep the Beta updated. Therefore, after the release of the third patch, further changes will only be made available on dev branch (some of which you will welcome with open arms - without a doubt!). The first update of default branch after that point in time is to be the game release.

Internally we are going to also apply what we refer to as 'data locks'. Hated by many of the team's developers, they are a necessary evil to be able to assure quality of the critical Q3 release. We cannot continue development right up until release day. Every little change has the potential to affect other parts of the game. No realistic amount of testing can cover this effectively. The data lock means our developers focus entirely on testing and fixing critical issues that prevent release. Every change needs to be authorized before it gets accepted into the Release Candidate. Then, after a hopefully successful release, we continue to a fairly similar pattern of patches and daily dev branch updates.

Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday 25th July 2013

Calling in the support of two extra vehicles and the BattlEye anti-cheat engine, Bohemia Interactive today released a major new update for the Arma 3 Beta. The ‘APC Package’ adds the BTR-K Kamysh and IFV-6c Panther, while the integration of BattlEye (BE) aims to improve the Beta’s MP experience.

The first vehicle in the APC Package, the OPFOR's BTR-K Kamysh, serves as a prime example of first-class Russian engineering, The Kamysh is equipped with a CTWS turret fitted with a 30mm cannon, coaxial machinegun and 2 guided AT missiles, making the vehicle significant in the infantry support role.

Its NATO counterpart, the IFV-6c Panther, boasts strong armor to achieve maximal protection for the transported crew. A standard Panther is armed with a RCWS HMG, 40mm grenade machine gun and smoke flares. They can take up to 8 soldiers in the cargo area.

Another highlight in the update is the much-anticipated arrival of BattlEye - the anti-cheat software developed by BattlEye Innovations. Providing a new layer of multiplayer security, this anti-cheat software helps server hosts detect and respond to multiplayer hacks.

Combined with various other improvements and fixes, players will download the new Arma 3 Beta update automatically via Steam. The complete overview of changes is listed in the changelog and/or can be found on the official Arma3 website.


Arma 3 Beta
To participate in the Arma 3 Beta, people can purchase the regular Arma 3 Beta (34.99 EUR/29.99 GBP/44.99 USD) or the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition (44.99 EUR/39.99 GBP/59.99 USD) on Steam and Store.bistudio.com (both editions include a Steam version of the full retail game upon release). Prices will increase once the full and final game becomes available.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Beta Users
INFO: Upcoming patch, AI tweaks, Firing Drill improvements
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

As the working days slowly start to melt together, we are preparing the release of the second Arma 3 Beta patch. This update will bring the BattlEye anti-cheat implementation and tracked APCs to the main game branch. Speaking of these armored vehicles: in the full version of the game, both will have Anti-Air variants as well. Sneaking up on us after that is the next content addition, which you probably have spotted a glimpse of in the official Beta trailer. Another huge focus is the full game and its release. All personnel is being mobilized, we are working with our external partners, and finalizing the release schedule. Within weeks you should know the specifics of the Arma 3 Q3 release, as well as some of our plans beyond that.

INTELLIGENCE

Visit the Arma 3 website for another cycle of the Community Focus widget. Shown off this time are two cool Beta videos and an impressive-looking mod package adding Private Military Company content. We look forward to seeing this mod continue development of even more equipment, as well as progress on other quality mods out there! Finally, we reach out to one of the German community hubs over at Armed-Assault.de. Incidentally we are today hosting a small studio visit for a German game website and magazine. They are getting a sneak peak at full game content, so stay tuned for coverage.

Programmers Vojtech Hladik and Krzysztof Bielawski have taken on the effort of communicating the Artifical Intelligence work we have done and are still doing in this Captain's AI log on the forums. Not everything is as visible as adding a new APC or helicopter, and these changes are fundamental to gameplay. It might give players a better understanding of what it takes to develop and improve AI for a game as big as Arma 3.

OPERATIONS

Thanks for your feedback on the Firing Drills added with the Beta. In the full version you'll find a few additions that some of you have mentioned would be nice. The mode will be enhanced with optional bonus targets, adding a trade off between speed and bonuses collected by finding and engaging these. There is also more emphasis on bonuses for accurate target engagements. Will you go for the quick hit on-the-move, or do you take your time to aim and get a center-mass shot off. The types of targets are expanded with steel, popper targets and skeet clays. After we finish the full game's Courses of Fire, we may try to trickle some of this into the Beta drills.

Today our audio team has begun recording the final actors for the Radio Protocol - bringing more variety to the collection of voices. They are also improving the use of the direct speech channel now that the overhaul of the protocol itself is complete. This aims to bring back hearing radio communications nearby as well as over the radio. It would also move combat shout messages back to this channel rather than a squad's intercom.

LOGISTICS

Senior Designer Karel Mořický has started a useful page on the Community Wiki to track documentation relevant to modders. We'd like to eventually integrate these updates into the (now) Beta hub as well, especially after release. This is when we intend to step up our game when it comes to tools and documentation. Recently, Karel has been documenting enhancements to the editor module framework. How to use it as a scenario designer, how to design and configure your own modules, and more.

Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday 18th July 2013

Bohemia Interactive has released a brand new trailer for Arma 3. Presenting the new SP showcases, MP scenarios, firing drill challenges, faction, vehicles and weapons available in the Arma 3 Beta, the video also teases vehicles and military hardware that will be added in the near future.

The Arma 3 Beta features the 20 km² island of Stratis, 20 weapons, 18 vehicles, 3 factions, 8 showcase missions, 4 multiplayer scenarios, 4 challenges, the scenario editor and modding support. To participate in the game’s development, people can purchase the Arma 3 Beta (34.99 EUR/29.99 GBP/44.99 USD) or the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition (44.99 EUR/39.99 GBP/59.99 USD) on Steam or Store.bistudio.com. Both editions include a Steam version of the full retail game upon release. Prices will increase once the complete game becomes available.

Starting with the successful Arma: Cold War Assault (originally titled Operation Flashpoint*: Cold War Crisis) in 2001, Arma 3 is the latest installment in Bohemia Interactive’s award-winning tactical military shooter series for PC. Set in a massive Mediterranean sandbox of over 290 km², featuring 40+ weapons and 20+ vehicles, Arma 3 provides an authentic, diverse and open combat experience - supported by a wide variety of singleplayer and multiplayer gameplay.

*Operation Flashpoint™ is a registered trademark of Codemasters Software Company.