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  SITREP #00080 Official    

On October 29, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SITREP #00080 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: #MakeArma submissions closed, Launcher updates, Vortex Ring State
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION


We've entered the next big phase of the Make Arma Not War contest. The deadline for submitting entries has elapsed at midnight, and it's time to determine the finalists. You can still contribute to this by voting for your favorite Singleplayer entries! Do so by logging into the website using your Steam account, finding the relevant entry, and pressing the 'Vote' button. The recent Steam Free Weekend and huge 50% discount were at least in part organised to get more players to check out entries and vote. You managed to set a new peak of concurrent Arma 3 players during the weekend. We know not everybody is too happy about this new 'demo' approach, but now the dust has settled, we'd like to welcome all new players to the front lines. Enjoy the wealth of content, official and user-made alike!

INTELLIGENCE

People trying out the Arma 3 Helicopters sandbox content on Dev-Branch should now see it 'unlocked' if they are supposed to already own it (DLC Bundle or Supporter Edition). Producer Jan Kunt took the issue to Valve and together they worked out a way to 'pre-release' the DLC without actually opening the Steam store page. We are now preparing to stage the full payload to both Dev-Branch and Release Candidate branches. The content is undergoing heavy testing, driving certain Creative Directors slightly mad.

The winner of Captain Miller's "I Want You To Vote" competition is EnzaitHuse. His splendid video shows some spectacular scenes and makes us all want to play and vote. Also check out the runners up for more cool videos and funny posters.

Bohemia Interactive has launched its new website this week. The face-lift should be easier to read and navigate, work well on mobile devices, and generally just look better!

OPERATIONS


We have decided to indeed delay the introduction of Vortex Ring State simulation. It's a great feature which forces you to re-think and re-train your landings, but it needs more time in the oven. We are not able to easily branch the technology for the main branch and Dev-Branch. Therefore, the feature will be disabled even on Dev-Branch until Helicopters DLC (1.36) is out. We'll continue testing and tweaking after that.

At some point in the future we will want to try to make the Arma 3 Launcher the default launch option in Steam again. The previous attempt was reverted due to some people facing technical compatibility issues. We think most of these should now be resolved. Check out the troubleshooting page for more information and possible workarounds. Please let us know if you still have technical issues with the launcher (it not starting, its window being invisible, etc.).

LOGISTICS

Speaking of the launcher: we are close to supporting local (non-Workshop) mods. It's quite possible this feature will arrive in the update after Helicopter DLC - and on Dev-Branch ahead of that of course.

Did we mention your Singleplayer finalist vote in the #MakeArma contest is very welcome.

  October 29th, 2014 - 14:49 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00079 Official    

On October 21, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SITREP #00079 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Helicopters sandbox Dev-Branch, Vortex Ring State, DLC survey results
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

As of yesterday, Dev-Branch users have the first staged version of the Arma 3 Helicopters sandbox content (all assets without the multiplayer scenarios, VR training, showcase or challenges). We'd like to remind you that the DLC has not yet officially released, so there may be ownership issues for some users. That means that even if you own the Supporter Edition or DLC Bundle (and therefore Helicopters DLC), the game will try to convince you that you don't. Please be patient as we try to get that sorted out in the Steam configuration. At the latest, you'll have your ownership come November 4th.

Let's take a look at the list of secondary assets, besides the Huron and Taru helicopters. One additional helicopter is the civilian variant of the xH-9 family, the M-900. This is an improved and optimized version of a model from Take On Helicopters. It has a less spartan interior compared to its military siblings. There is also a weapon load-out / livery variant of the Orca, which we're using in the upcoming multiplayer mode: Support. Scenario designers will find a significant list of new ambient / decorative objects. There are helicopter base objects, military F.O.B. objects, office appliances and more. Get a preview of the list here.

INTELLIGENCE

Now that Jiří Zlatohlávek has read every single response to our DLC strategy survey, he's also posted a summary of the results on the forums. We have specific ideas for tackling the 'key findings', which we'll share when we're closer to rolling them out with game updates. Thanks again to all respondents for providing your valuable feedback and time.

Captain Miller wants you to vote! If he has wronged you in any way, do it for the greater good! The Make Arma Not War contest will close for new entries on October 28, and your votes are needed. By voting, you will help select the 20 finalists in the Singleplayer category and support your favorite authors. As an incentive, we're hosting a little competition in which you can win a cool Arma 3 goodies package. Check out the details here, and VOTE NOW_

OPERATIONS

Our partners at RTDynamics have provided us with an update to the RotorLib libraries, which introduces the simulation of Vortex Ring State. This effect occurs when a helicopter descends into its own down wash and it can cause a rapid loss of lift. We'll now be tweaking the individual helicopter configurations to support this feature. However, there is a chance the feature will not be ready in time for the November 4 release. Library updates can be risky and we don't have direct control over them. It may very well be decided that we'll leave the feature out of the Arma 3 Helicopters (1.34) release, and add it via the next update.

Our designers have also done a rather big iteration of the Sling Load Assistant. This User Interface element is accessible via RCtrl + B by default and appears in the lower-right of your screen while you are picking up a load. The iteration should improve its usability by making the presented information more intuitive and easier to interpret quickly. Staying on the topic of UI, we've also updated the Advanced Flight Model gauges. They now have improved textures and support the changeable color profiles.

LOGISTICS

Just when we thought we had a good update (1.32), it became clear campaign progress for many users got corrupted. This was swiftly hotfixed, but we apologize to those users who had already discarded their old saves. Testing compatibility of campaign progress (not mid-mission saves!) is part of our build tests. It worked for our internal testers, but apparently not in all cases and we should have caught that.


  October 21st, 2014 - 20:26 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SPOTREP #00035 : Hotfix: 1.32 (Campaign saves) Official    

On October 15, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SPOTREP #00035 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
UNIT: Main Branch
ACTIVITY: Hotfix: 1.32 (Campaign saves)
SIZE: ~17 MB / ~7 MB

NOTES

  • Consider using the Steam client option to verify the integrity of the local game cache to avoid corrupted data after downloading this update.

  • A Legacy Build Steam branch is available for advanced users. It contains the previous significant main branch version (1.30). It can be used to compare specific changes between major releases. The access code for this branch is: Arma3Legacy130


CHANGELOG

  • Fixed: Incompatibility between some older campaign saves loaded in version 1.32. Our apologies for the inconvenience, especially to those who have already restarted or reverted their campaign(s) meanwhile.


  October 17th, 2014 - 14:52 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SPOTREP #00034 - Game Update: 1.32 Official    

On October 14, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SPOTREP #00034 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
UNIT: Main Branch
ACTIVITY: Game Update: 1.32 (Fixathon, New script commands, New event handlers, Weapon Inertia)
SIZE: ~1.2 GB

NOTE

  • Consider using the Steam client option to verify the integrity of the local game cache to avoid corrupted data after downloading this update.

  • Consider defragmenting your HDD after downloading large updates.

  • A Legacy Build Steam branch is available for advanced users. It contains the previous significant main branch version (1.30). It can be used to compare specific changes between major releases. The access code for this branch is: Arma3Legacy130

FULL CHANGELOG

  October 14th, 2014 - 11:23 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00077 Official    

On Octoberber 07, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SITREP #00077 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Full update testing, Headless Clients
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

After a string of hotfixes, it's time for a beefier 1.32 update soon. Connoisseurs of Dev-Branch will know there has been a lot of development since the last big update. We'd like to synchronize these branches ahead of Arma 3 Helicopters releasing. The three core new features will not yet be part of 1.32! Advanced Flight Modelling, Sling Loading and Firing from Vehicles are still in testing and will be part of the update released alongside the DLC. If you'd like to prepare yourself, your community or your mod for 1.32 - switch to Steam's Release Candidate branch using access code Arma3UpdateOctober132Splendid.

INTELLIGENCE

The October 2014 newsletter for Make Arma Not War is out! In it, you'll find Intel on a new winners announcement date and details on a special Steam branch of Arma 3. Said branch will provide competitors and the jury a proven and fixed target, and ensure future updates don't cause incompatibilities. This branch will be based on the 1.32 update, so it will not contain the Arma 3 Helicopters features. Best of luck to all participants during this last month before the submission deadline closes on October 28.

PSA for users of TrackIR head-tracking: due to its current implementation and default bindings in Arma 3 (the Z-axis is bound to zoom, not head movement forward / back), we recommend to turn off TrueView in TrackIR properties for the best zooming experience.

OPERATIONS

Programmer Marián Krivda has recently been able to take an existing feature and iterate on it quite a lot. Headless Clients are special instances of the game without a graphics renderer. These instances can be used to do distributed computing in complex scenarios or modes. One example is to offload Artificial Intelligence computing to another PC. The version inherited from Arma 2 was quite rough albeit usable. Further work on this was not originally planned, but we feel it may benefit community content. HCs are now (Dev-Branch) easier to run, less hassle to integrate into scenarios and they are a real entity in the MP lobby. Take a look at the documentation here, and please share your feedback on this feature here.

LOGISTICS

Mods now have access to the Sling Loading constants in CfgSlingLoading. The tolerances for hooking and aborting are configurable via hookMinRange, abortHeight and abortRange in meters.

Inspired by community member Nullrick, a new module was added to Zeus. It allows Game Masters to accelerate the day-night cycle and go through an entire day in one hour for example.

Several script commands added on Dev-Branch were renamed to make them consistent with existing commands.


  October 7th, 2014 - 12:44 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00076 Official    

On September 30, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SITREP #00076 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Helicopters release date, Multiplayer update
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

The release date for Arma 3 Helicopters has been announced as November 4th of this year. Initially estimated as late September, we've determined we need an extra month of tweaking before the package is splendid. Ahead of release, we will be staging the content on Dev-Branch (more details on how that will work in an upcoming report). Besides the release date, we also unveiled the second brand-new helicopter: Mi-290 Taru. This heavy coaxial utility helicopter fits the CSAT faction well, and brings some unique logistical options to the sandbox in a different way than the CH-67 Huron does. Taru variants make use of the modular design by joining various mission pods to its frame. Alternatively it can carry heavy Sling Loads when flying without pod at all. The mission pods available are: regular closed passenger transport, special-purpose passenger benches, fuel, ammunition, repairs, medevac and cargo. Its advantage over the Huron is the ability to quickly fly supplies as part of its aerodynamic shape, rather than needing to fly more carefully with an externally slung container. On the other hand it has no defensive weapons besides countermeasures. Oh, and since we didn't specifically mention it in the press release: owners of the Supporter Edition will of course get the DLC without extra charge.

Yesterday we've updated main branch of the game with the 1.30 hotfix that had been tested and iterated for a while. As the term 'hotfix' implies, this is not a full update; it targets multiplayer optimization only. With great help from various community groups and mods, we see improvements in this version. That's not to say we're done. As with many optimizations, they may only benefit specific mod(e)s, servers or players. For example, some types of multiplayer scenario do a lot of initial scripted setup or send a lot of data during a Join-In-Progress. Such cases should be helped by these changes. More optimizations will be pursued based on logs gathered from other test sessions.

INTELLIGENCE


Version 1.30 adds the extended netcode diagnostic options to main branch. Willing server admins may help us gather even more data to base future optimizations on. Command-line parameter -networkDiagInterval=X will poll the status of bandwidth, traffic and similar data every X seconds. We'd like admins experiencing desync or other netcode issues to try and enable these diagnostics and send us the results on Feedback Tracker. The parameter is disabled by default because it may reduce performance when used.

Yet another livestream was hosted last Friday. Matt Lightfoot invited Creative Director Jay Crowe and Encoding Lead Petr Kolár along for the bouncy ride. Together they risked a sneak peak on Dev-Branch to have some fun with the new features arriving for everyone alongside Arma 3 Helicopters. The mad ordeal involved Sling Loading rubber boats under helicopters and having people inside said boats engage each other mid-flight. Several issues were still observed, but that's why they are still being tested and fixed for several weeks. There's a lot of potential for both authentic and completely crazy concepts!

OPERATIONS

Our Encoding department has added a parameter to asset configurations which can assist modders in determining what features are supported by specific assets (livery randomization, camo selections, Sling Loading, Firing from Vehicles, etc.). Config parameter features is also used in the exported asset listing on the Community Wiki. The configuration and export process is still a work-in-progress, so other categories will be done over time.

LOGISTICS

What's new for scripters on Dev-Branch? There is a set of commands to deal with various types of vehicle lights: isLightOn, isCollisionLightOn, setPilotLight and setCollisionLight. Secondly, a series of commands for vehicle turrets and their weapons were added: addWeaponTurret, removeWeaponTurret and turretLocal.

Tools Commissar Julien Vida reports on a potential work-around for modders who are experiencing difficulties with their P-drive. It may be that your system's PATH enviornment variable is not configured correctly. Please take great care when trying to adjust it as is described here.


  September 30th, 2014 - 19:15 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  



 
 
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