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  SITREP #00067 Official    

On July 22, 2014 , Jay Crowe has reported a SITREP #00067 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Creative Director
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: DLC Survey, Launcher Updates, Splendid sounds
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

Development on our forthcoming Helicopters DLC has picked up some pace and, alongside it, our goal to bring RotorLib's flight dynamics to Arma 3's development branch draws closer, too. Although we've recently experienced some hiccups that have prevented us from publishing the very latest dev-branch executables, we're still on course to deploy the new flight model at the beginning of August.

All of our 'vanilla' helicopters should be ready to fly soon™, and we're keen to give all players the time to try them out and and offer up their feedback. Unleashing this new feature early will, we trust, provide enough time for mod makers to prepare their own precious assets, too. The configuration of the flight model XMLs should be mostly the same as it was for Take On Helicopters, and custom-created assets should work fine in Arma 3.

INTELLIGENCE

Back in May we released Arma 3 Karts DLC with the intention of testing out our new approach to Downloadable Content. Since then, we've received a variety of feedback and now we're ready for even more! Eager to know your views on this important tech, Platform guru, Jiří Zlatohlávek has put together a splendid questionnaire regarding our DLC strategy: http://arma3.com/survey. We'd really appreciate your continued feedback!

Next up, we can report further progress on the Arma 3 Launcher, which now supports a news service. You should be able to find this SITREP directly in its feed (or, indeed, you may be even reading it there right now, hello!). We hope this will further help players to stay in touch with improvements, adjustments and additional features. Of course, the Launcher itself remains work-in-progress; currently, we're progressing with localisation and, in the near future, we hope you'll find it in your own game language .

OPERATIONS

Last week, we managed to add sounds to opening and closing doors in game. The work is still in progress - all doors currently have the same sound - but we're looking to add different samples for distinctive types of door. Although it's a fairly minor feature, it's something that's been omitted for many years. Furthermore, this (relatively) safe/simple work has been a good learning experience for our new audio designers, who are still getting to grips with the engine. With this in mind, Audio Lead Jan Dušek has started work on a blog that outlines the recent changes in his department and communicates his vision of the future of audio development in Arma 3.

Aside from that, for your video-configuration-variety pleasure, our programmers have also added the 'sharpen' post process as a separate option. However, please note, due to some potential conflicts with older configurations, if the game suddenly appears too blurry, the sharpen setting may need to be changed to a different value.

LOGISTICS

Some more updates are on the way to the Arma 3 Tools development branch. Tools engineer Julien Vida is working on a new tool called Game Updater, which aims to improve the experience of switching between branches of the game by avoiding the fuss of additional downloads every time you change. Artists may use another tool - Bulldozer Configurator - which enables users to configure the Bulldozer viewer for Object Builder. We plan to release the new version of Arma 3 Tools at roughly the same time as we deploy RotorLib integration to the development branch.

Last but not least, Senior Designer Karel Mořický continues on his tireless crusade to improve Arma 3's documentation for the community. This time, he's taken aim at the script functions and broadened the documentation for all of them.


  July 29th, 2014 - 16:11 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  F3 v3-1-1 Released - ACRE/TFR/AGM Ready Editing    

fer has informed us about F3 v3-1-1 release

The F3 team is pleased to announce the release of v3-1-1 of its mission development framework, with optional support for popular mods ACRE, TFR - and now AGM too.

We've added and improved many features; highlights include:

  • New Medical Systems Support component: select vanilla, AGM or F3 Simple Wounding System via mission parameter.
  • New pre-placed attachments for all factions: HMG, Heavy AT, Mortar, SAM and sniper teams.
  • Revised, more flexible AI Caching component for improved MP performance.
  • Revised spectator script places less load on CPU.
  • Revised ORBAT Notes component highlights player's own group.
  • Fixes to weather conditions (lightning now works correctly!).
  • Fixes to Radio Systems Support to make TFR spectator mode work correctly.

To make it even easier to start using F3, our fully illustrated online tutorials for making adversarial and coop missions can help you build your first F3 mission in 1-2 hours.

The core development team for v3-1-1 has been: Wolfenswan, Head, Cam, cptnnick, Linux and Fer. We would also like to thank the following communities in our wider review and testing team: Folk ARPS | Basterd ArmA | Black sh33p | Bourbon Warfare | Phantactical | Pointfire | Project Awesome | Team One Tactical | The Company

If your community uses F3, we'd love to hear from you.


From the README.md file:


3-1-1 | 26 JUL 2014

Added Medical Systems Support component:
- Incorporates F3 Simple Wounding System
- Adds support for AGM medical supplies.
Updated AI Caching component:
- Workaround for vehicles being frozen if moving and cached at the same time.
- Caching completely run server side using global commands.
- New variable to set aggressiveness of caching.
Updated F3 Folk ARPS Platoons component:
- Added Heavy MG attachment.
- Added Heavy AT attachment.
- Added Mortar attachment.
- Added Medium SAM attachment.
- Added Heavy SAM attachment.
- Added Sniper Team attachment.
- Attachments are now led by the spotter.
Updated F3 Folk ARPS Assign Gear component:
- Tweaked MAT loadouts (gunner now starts with rocket in tube).
- Added support for unit types in new attachments.
Updated F3 Folk ARPS Assign Gear Clothing component:
- Component allows units to wear uniforms from any side or faction.
- Added new FIA uniforms, made various other tweaks.
- Changed CSAT small bag to correct camo.
Updated F3 Folk ARPS Group IDs component: added support for unit types in new attachments.
Updated F3 Folk ARPS Group Markers component: added support for unit types in new attachments.
Updated F3 Spectator Script:
- Revised code to reduce load on CPU.
- Virtual men no longer have visible name tags.
Updated Name Tags component:
- Height above unit determined by stance.
- Offset for passenger name tags fixed.
Updated ORBAT Notes component:
- Now lists all groups with playable units (not just player groups).
- Highlights player group (highlight colour determined by side).
Updated Radio Systems Support component:
- Improved support for spectators in TFR.
- Other minor tweaks.
Fixed Mission Conditions component:
- Lightning set correctly.
- All Intel values in editor set to manual/0.
Fixed PreMount component:
- Fixed issue where component would not slot turrets properly for vehicles with multiple turrets.

Discuss F3 at:
- BI Forums (http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?149231-F3-Mission-Development-Framework-(F2-for-ArmA-3))
- Folk ARPS Forums (http://www.folkarps.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=44)



  July 29th, 2014 - 15:57 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00066 Official    

On July 22, 2014 , Jay Crowe has reported a SITREP #00066 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Creative Director
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Feedback Evaluation, Splendid Script Commands, Onwards to Helicopters DLC!
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

It's been a week since we deployed the 1.24 'Bootc amp Update' and, since then, we've gathered a lot of valuable feedback. Aside from a rogue CBA conflict, we've been happy to see very few players encountering any issues in their Prologue mini-campaign and VR Training playthroughs, and impressed by the variety of custom Virtual Arsenal creations! The hottest topics, of course, have been the new fatigue and weapon sway mechanics, which have received a mixed response. We've closely monitored all channels for your feedback, gathering and evaluating information from across the whole community. Sandbox Designer Radko Voda has already made some tweaks in the development branch of the game, primarily addressing issues with overly-pronounced lateral sway.

Meanwhile, we've been finalising the new Weapon Inertia feature (which - although outlined in our blog - unfortunately did not make it into 1.24). We aim to deploy this feature to Dev-Branch soon enough, which will demand further adjustment to the current fatigue and weapon sway mechanics. Ultimately, it should mean that smaller weapons will be easier to handle, while larger ones will remain more of a challenge to wield effectively! Naturally, we're thankful for all your feedback. We'll continue to use it to determine if we've met the goals described in our recent OPREP. If you still think that the current approach to fatigue causes major headaches for your scenarios, please note that content-creators may use script commands to disable fatigue for selected units.

INTELLIGENCE

Have you found some interesting bits of information about Arma 3 that you'd like to share with others? Feel free to post them on our forums or tweet them with #Arma3Tips as, under the splendid guidance of Associate Producer Matt Lightfoot, we've started a mini-series of tips and tricks across our social channels.

Here's a hot tip of our own: content-creators may be interested in the new time-manipulation scripting commands described by Dwarden on our forums. This command enables you to speed up/slow down the passage of time without affecting other parts of simulation - perfect for scenarios where manipulation of the day-night cycle plays a big role!

OPERATIONS

Users of the development branch may have recently noticed some additional commands for UAVs, which were just the tip of the autonomous iceberg! Under Sandbox designer Bořivoj Hlava's remote guidance, the new features mentioned in the 'In Future' section of our Drones OPREP have now been implemented. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the ability to hack / steal enemy autonomous vehicles, either by a script command or via direct interaction. Our programmers have also improved direct control over UAVs by improving stabilization of cameras/turrets (which helps with laser designation), and adding an option to disable autonomous behavior via a switch in UAV Terminal.

Now, aside from continuous platform updates, we're looking to our next major milestone: Helicopters DLC! We're currently finalising the integration of RotorLib-based flight models with all our existing helicopters, and working hard on the new Sling Loading and Firing from Vehicles features, looking carefully at AI and backwards-compatibility. In order to give you enough time to provide meaningful feedback, we're keen to deploy the advanced flight dynamics (and the associated UI updates) as soon as possible.

LOGISTICS

Unfortunately, despite previous information regarding configuration changes, we've had quite a few of reports about sound mods not working after update 1.24. However, we're pleased to see that several authors of bigger sound mods, including LordJarhead, have already converted their configurations; hopefully, the rest will soon follow! Once again, documentation can be found on our official community wiki pages.

The recent addition of addon support for Arma 3 Steam Workshop has even stirred our own developers into action: Senior Designer Karel Mořický has published a tool to see all possible UI elements in the game.


  July 22nd, 2014 - 13:50 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00065 Official    

On July 15, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SITREP #00065 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Bootcamp inbound, Community Guide, Publisher
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

After scaling several obstacles to get the data uploaded to Steam, we finally unleashed the 1.24 Bootcamp Update yesterday. There is a significant amount of added content, and we're glad to read that some players have indeed learned a few new things here and there! If you're a veteran already, invite some friends to the multiplayer Bootcamp. Guide them through the predefined courses and add challenges entirely of your own making as Zeus. Slightly more hidden are the random new ambient objects added to the sandbox. Scenario designers can find the list here and start using them in the editor. Of course we're also reading through your feedback to find the more controversial changes. We're taking it on board, seeing which parts truly are bugs and what is a matter of tweaking. Dev-Branch will no doubt see tweaks based on feedback over the next weeks.

Very exciting to us was finally opening the Steam Workshop for addons. It will take a while to get filled with content, but there's a few cool assets to try already! Start the launcher (third Steam launch option, or arma3launcher.exe in the game's installation directory), subscribe to the addon of your choice, let it download and play. We've previously discussed that this first iteration of the launcher is fairly light in features, with a focus on its architecture. There are plenty more features to come, such as user-defined mod pre-sets and handling dependencies between pieces of user-generated content. As a result, the Make Arma Not War contest now has its addon category open for submissions!

Did we mention we were very proud to receive the 2014 Develop Award for top Independent Studio?

INTELLIGENCE

If you are using a Killer network card (these can be on your motherboard), and you experience multiplayer BSODs, please try updating the drivers for this hardware.

Another known issue seen by a few users is the Bootcamp recommendation pop-up not closing when selecting 'NO'. We don't yet know why, but in this case it seems the game is unable to write data to your user profile. As a work-around, try adding the following entry to your \Documents\Arma 3\.Arma3Profile: bootCampWarning = 1;

It would appear the current version of the useful Community Base Addons is causing a conflict with Bootcamp's "Prologue" campaign. If you find the static targets don't go down after hitting them, consider temporarily disabling the mod.

Reddit user smushkan's self-confessed boredom has yielded some nice results for players looking to tweak their game settings for extra performance. Thanks!

OPERATIONS

Senior Designer Josef Zemánek has contributed to the Community Wiki with documentation on the Virtual Reality training courses he was primarily responsible for. While we've released Bootcamp with 8 of these courses, the system is flexible and user-made courses can be plugged in as well. We intend to use the framework ourselves for future topics also.

Take a look at the lengthy 1.24 changelog here, and go over the changes in Arma 3 Tools here. Today you may have seen another ~150 MB update to the main branch. That was not an update to the game. Valve updated one of the common redistributables (.NET).

LOGISTICS

Dev-Branch connoisseurs will have seen recent interruptions to daily updates. Much to our dismay, we've been unable to upload data to Steam servers from the office that normally handles this branch. Slower back-up solutions from other locations were adopted for the 1.24 release. We hope to now have the issue under control and should be able to start back up daily updates.


  July 22nd, 2014 - 13:01 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  Make Arma Not War contest : Bohemia Interactive opens Addon category Official    

Korneel van 't Land has informed us that Bohemia Interactive opens Addon category in the
€500,000 Make Arma Not War contest.

Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday 16th July 2014

Bohemia Interactive today opened the Addon category for their €500,000 Make Arma Not War content creation contest for Arma 3. This means people can now send in their applications for each contest category. While the other categories (Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Total Modifiction) had already launched, the Addon category was delayed until Arma 3's support for Steam Workshop addons had been implemented.

The Make Arma Not War contest, which was announced in December, welcomes Arma 3 content creators to compete in four different categories: Total Modification, Singleplayer Game Mode, Multiplayer Game Mode, and Addon. The winner of the Total Modification category will take home €200,000, while in the other categories the prize money is divided between 1st place (€50,000), 2nd place (€30,000), and 3rd place (€20,000) winners. In collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Bohemia Interactive is also handing out the Health Care in Danger Special Award.

Although the winners in each category will be chosen by a jury, consisting of Bohemia Interactive representatives and other industry professionals, Arma 3 players will be able to ‘vote’ in the Singleplayer category. These votes will determine the 20 finalists in the Singleplayer category.



On top of voting, people can also ‘support’ their favorite entry, which is similar to the thumbs-up functionality on other websites. Those who support an entry, receive a Make Arma Not war forums badge and a 30% discount voucher for Arma 3 on Store.bistudio.com – while contestants whose entry reaches a certain number of supporters can earn Contest Milestone Rewards.

To apply, contestants should go to www.makearma.com/apply and start the application process. The deadline for applications is set on October 26th, 2014. The winners of the Make Arma Not War contest will be announced on January 15th, 2015.

More information about the contest, the rules, prizes, and categories is available on www.makearma.com. Important announcements will also be shared via the Make Arma Not War newsletter and the official Arma 3 social channels (Facebook, Twitter).


  July 16th, 2014 - 10:20 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  Bohemia Interactive deploys Arma 3 Bootcamp Update Official    

Korneel van 't Land has informed us about the Arma 3 Bootcamp release.

Prague, Czech Republic, Monday July 14th 2014

Bohemia Interactive today released Arma 3 Bootcamp – a major new update for Arma 3, which delivers additional single- and multiplayer tutorials, a Virtual Reality training environment, a character- equipment- and weapons-viewer called Virtual Arsenal, refinements to the fatigue and weapon sway game mechanics, plus the anticipated Addon integration for Arma 3’s Steam Workshop. The update is further introduced in the brand new Arma 3 Bootcamp trailer.

• SP Campaign
The 'Bootcamp' singleplayer campaign is the best place to get started with Arma 3. Introducing the basic principles of infantry combat - actions, navigation, and weapon handling - a short prologue campaign challenges new players to complete real objectives.
• MP Bootcamp
Multiplayer Bootcamp is a great way for veteran players to help newcomers adapt to Arma 3. Offering a structured set of challenges for both trainees and instructors, MP Bootcamp uses the Zeus framework to give players the tools they need to create a tutorial gameplay on-the-fly.
• VR Training
VR Training enables you to learn about basic game mechanics within the confines of a virtual world and practice without penalty. A variety of training topics focus upon individual gameplay elements, where players are guided to complete simple objectives with the support of contextual hints and tips.
• Virtual Arsenal
Virtual Arsenal is a character, equipment and weapon viewer, which enables you to cycle through and try-out in-game assets, configure custom settings - such as identity types and insignia - and export loadouts to script or used in Arma 3 Zeus scenarios.


In addition to the new content, Bohemia Interactive also took the opportunity to further refine the fatigue and weapon sway mechanics in Arma 3. Weapon Sway and Inertia is intended to simulate the inherent advantages that lighter and more compact firearms possess (particularly in close-quarter situations) as compared to relatively more cumbersome weapons. For Arma 3, this means that players may turn as quickly as they like, but shouldn't expect their sights to line up dead on target if they are carrying heavier weapons. The improvements to the Fatigue system are related. While players will always be able to run, their rate of movement can now be limited based on the weight of their gear, their state of health, and the management of their stamina.

Last but not least, the Bootcamp Update implements a further integration of the Steam Workshop in Arma 3. Whereas before the Steam Workshop was limited to player-created Arma 3 scenarios, people will now also be able to upload and share addons, such as custom weapons, vehicles, gear, and much more. Additionally, the first iteration of Arma 3’s dedicated Game Launcher has been published, which functions as a separate executable that enables players to more easily set starting parameters and helps to organize, maintain, and load installed Arma 3 mods.

The Arma 3 Bootcamp Update is now available for free to all owners of Arma 3 and will download and install automatically via Steam.

The regular edition of Arma 3 (44.99 EUR/39.99 GBP/59.99 USD) and the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition (49.99 EUR/42.99 GBP/64.99 USD) - which includes the Arma 3 soundtrack, tactical maps of Altis and Stratis, a tactical guide containing more than 350 pages, and Bohemia Interactive’s debut game Arma: Cold War Assault - are available for purchase from Steam and Store.bistudio.com. A boxed version of Arma 3 is sold at many major high-street retailers.




  July 14th, 2014 - 13:19 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00064 Official    

On July 8, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SITREP #00064 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Bootcamp inbound, Community Guide, Publisher
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

Bootcamp Update development is nearing its end, and we are on a mission to seek and destroy any bugs found. The entire contents of the update has been released to the development branch of Arma 3 on Steam. We are thankful for all the feedback you've provided to us. If you want to test the main branch version of the update ahead of its release, you may do so by getting into the Betas section of the Arma 3 properties on Steam and using the access code "Update124Arma3Bootcamp". This will unlock a Release Candidate branch, which we still update daily with selected fresh fixes. RC branch contains the same executable (1.24) as is going to be used for the main branch. Meanwhile there are some changes in the Dev-Branch executable that may not make it to the main branch just yet.

You may have also noticed that we've released the new Arma 3 Launcher to Dev-Branch last Friday. It is supplemented by releasing Publisher into the development branch of Arma 3 Tools. There were some issues with the first iterations, and we are working on improving both applications as fast as possible. Feel free to provide us with valuable feedback on the forums for both Launcher and Publisher or via Feedback Tracker as usual.

INTELLIGENCE

Another episode of the Community Guide series has reached our YouTube channel, this time dealing with ground vehicles and their crew. Andrew "Dslyecxi" Gluck describes the distinctive categories of ground vehicles, their role in combined arms combat and the specific crew positions needed to operate the vehicles correctly.

Those tampering with Bootcamp Update may have already tried the new Arsenal which has been documented by its creator Karel Mořický on the community wiki. He wrote even more documentation regarding the use of new unit insignia's on various soldiers.

And for those interested in the work done to improve UAV operations, Bořivoj Hlava has added documentation on five new script commands for them.

OPERATIONS

We have already briefly mentioned the changes in handling of muzzle accessories in previous reports, but now is a good time to remind modders that this change is going to hit the main branch of the game soon. This means that some sound mods may have some compatibility issues. We apologize for breaking existing content, but it was a necessary change to fix several rather big issues concerning muzzle accessories (and to allow us to bring configuration improvements).

Another modification to arrive on main branch with the 1.24 update is a change in Buldozer for Terrain Builder. The suite was still sometimes referencing the old Pal2PacE executable to convert textures. Now it uses the proper Arma 3 ImageToPAA one. That may affect modders using the old BI Tools 2.51 instead of Arma 3 Tools. Consider updating to the new tools suite if you are one of them.

LOGISTICS

The Bootcamp Update also contains some additions to Arma 3 Tools, and most of them are already in the development branch of the suite. This includes the new Publisher for publishing addons (and possibly more later on), various updates from tools engineer Julien Vida, and an additional sample of lamp to showcase parameters for new lights. As for the development branch itself, it's going to be always at least on par with the main branch, most of the time a bit forward and experimenting with new tools. There should be no need to switch to main branch unless you experience issues with the tools.

Programmer Jan Mareček has been cooperating with Killzone Kid on scripting commands for array operations. One of them is pushBack (an atomic operation that adds an element to the end of array without being interrupted by the scheduler), and the second being reverse to flip the order of elements of an array.



  July 8th, 2014 - 21:34 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  New Arma 3 video introduces ground vehicle crew Official    

Korneel van 't Land has informed us about the new Arma 3 ground vehicle crew video release‏.

Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday July 3rd 2014

Bohemia Interactive today released a brand new video to further introduce the role of the ground vehicle crewman in Arma 3. Just as in real life, most vehicles in Arma 3 require multiple people – either controlled by AI or co-operative players - to operate efficiently, which are typically divided into a driver, gunner, and vehicle commander position. The new video takes a closer look at each of these crew member’s responsibilities, while exploring some of the core principles of ground vehicle combat.

In continuation of the official Arma 3 Community Guide series, the Ground Vehicle Crew video is narrated by Andrew Gluck (better known as Dslyecxi, former service member and leader of the popular Arma community group Shack Tactical), who discusses the strengths and weaknesses of ground vehicles, the responsibilities of each vehicle crew member, and some of the basic communication protocols. While there are many more ways to play Arma 3, it represents one possible method by which players can go more in-depth with their vehicle operations in Arma 3’s open military sandbox.

With a dozen episodes released so far, earlier Community Guides covered topics such as infantry combat, multiplayer teamwork, helicopters, sniper- and launcher teams, combined arms warfare, air assaults, guerrilla warfare, and the Arma 3 Zeus DLC. The complete Community Guide playlist is available on Arma 3’s official YouTube Channel.

The regular edition of Arma 3 (44.99 EUR/39.99 GBP/59.99 USD) or the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition (49.99 EUR/42.99 GBP/64.99 USD) - which includes the Arma 3 soundtrack, tactical maps of Altis and Stratis, a tactical guide of more than 350 pages, and Bohemia Interactive’s debut game Arma: Cold War Assault – is available for purchase on Steam and Store.bistudio.com. A boxed version of Arma 3 is sold at many major high-street retailers.

For more information, please visit http://www.arma3.com and/or follow Arma 3 on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.



  July 4th, 2014 - 15:46 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00063 Official    

On July 1, 2014 , Joris-Jan van 't Land has reported a SITREP #00063 on the official Arma 3 web site.

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Bootcamp finalization, Game laucher, Hotfixed 1.22
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

Development has just entered the typical release preparation stages for Bootcamp Update. We are on data lock, and so all of our developers focus on fixes rather than additions - until the 1.24 update goes live soon. Staging of the sandbox components got delayed from Friday, but was released onto Dev-Branch yesterday. We caution most players against switching to this branch, unless they are sure they want to deal with potential issues. The update is not far away, so you'll get to enjoy the complete and tested content soon enough. Of course any help with pre-release testing is appreciated! Today we also staged the first bit of playable content: VR Arsenal. This mode can be used to explore the many character equipment options, including community ones. Another valuable use is exporting and saving custom load-outs for deployment in other scenarios or Zeus multiplayer (as respawn load-out). There are two more additions that will be staged within days if things go according to plan: the game launcher (more info below) and the rest of the playable content (campaign and Virtual Reality training lessons).

INTELLIGENCE

With 1.24 we should finally get going with add-on support in Steam Workshop. Let's take a look at what will be supported and what won't yet be. This is to be the first public iteration. Its goal is to 'close the loop' for add-ons; modders should be able to publish them and players should be able to download / install them. That also means to get the architecture up and running (having a separate application - the launcher - start the game / Workshop communication between multiple applications).

  • We're initially trying to make it easier for typical players to get access to add-ons. Power users have access to several brilliant community launchers that support many advanced features. Our launcher is a separate application and will not get in the way of their efforts.
  • The 1.0 launcher is rather basic in terms of functionality. There are (advanced) start-up parameters and initial manipulation with Workshop add-ons (no non-Workshop add-ons yet).
  • For 1.24 we will probably not set the launcher as default Steam action, but rather a third option. We need to test the architecture in the wider user-base (with virus scanners and similar software probing it) before we can confidently make it default in the update after that.
  • Only single add-ons are supported in this iteration (so no mod folders). Of course many things can be packed into a single PBO add-on, but later we do intend to also support full mods.
  • Modders will see the add-on publisher tool appear in Arma 3 Tools on the other end of the spectrum.
  • More features are certainly planned. Think about the aforementioned mod support, as well as mod presets and more advanced use-cases such as handling connection to a server with Workshop add-ons.

OPERATIONS

Sandbox designer Radko Voda has described the two largest gameplay refinements for Bootcamp Update in his newest OPREP. First he analyses what we've done to enhance the fatigue system in the game; a system that is not new, but still could use some improvements. From a player's point of view, it can also be interesting to read exactly what affects fatigue in Arma 3 and how you can manage it. It's quite satisfying to master this and be able to travel the battlefield effectively while encumbered. The second part is all about weapon sway; work that you could say is a prelude to Marksmen DLC. Control your breathing, consider the size and weight of your weapon and again, mind your fatigue. We should point out that a third aspect, weapon intertia, is not likely going to make it into Bootcamp Update and will be enabled short thereafter.


LOGISTICS

Tools engineer Julien Vida published a nice blog for new modders in which he explains what the P substitute drive is in the Arma 3 Tools suite.

On Monday we dropped a 1.22 hotfix on main branch (and the Arma 3 Server app). Its main change was to remove the ability to define custom Steam query ports on servers. Instead, said query ports are always +1 of the game network ports. So when you host a server via network port 3202, the query port will be 3203. This should make it more transparent to hosts and clients what ports need to be open / forwarded for multiplayer to work well (especially when you rent a server and have no advanced admin access). We've also presented the used ports in various places (the create host menu, the RPT log and the Dedicated Server command window). There are also still several things we know don't work well yet in the Steam browser, and which we'll continue to work on for 1.24 and beyond.


  July 2nd, 2014 - 08:12 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  OPREP: Weapon sway and Fatigue Official    

On June 30, 2014 , Radko Voda has reported an OPREP: Weapon sway and Fatigue on the official Arma 3 web site.

UNIT: Radko Voda , Designer, Sandbox Design Dept.
TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users
OPSUM: Feature Refinement: Fatigue & Weapon Sway mechanics.

EVALUATION

Among other hot topics, Fatigue and Weapon Sway have been - and still are - a matter of passionate debate within the both community and our own team. In Arma 3, they're core aspects of gameplay that simulate certain cumulative or rechargeable impediments that players must manage and that, ultimately, determine a player's combat effectiveness.

Over the past few weeks - and with the forthcoming Bootcamp Update in mind - we've tried to find ways to refine these mechanics in an attempt to create even more authentic and challenging gameplay. Now, we'd like to share our design goals and overall progress with you.

THE BEST LAID PLANS


FATIGUE

Currently, fatigue mechanics prevent you from sprinting and holding breath when your level of exhaustion exceeds certain thresholds. This also increases the inherent weapon sway and, thereby, makes it harder for you to aim and shoot accurately. The new mechanics generally work the same way in terms of slowly accumulated impediment, however they bring some great new elements to it. Most importantly, there will be an 'animation slowdown'. This effect builds up according to the fatigue level and causes a player's movements to slow down by a certain non-linear degree.


The actual rate of slowdown varies greatly depending on specific actions and circumstances. Fatigued soldiers will be evidently slower and more cumbersome than well-rested ones. The fatigue level of combatants becomes a major factor in determining the results of an encounter, right next to the individual levels of skill, qualities of equipment and abilities of squad commanders. Managing fatigue becomes more important. It's also useful to note that all fatigue gains are intrinsically multiplicative; negative effects do not just stack, they accumulate like a snowball.

When playing with new fatigue, the main points to bear in mind are:

THINK ABOUT YOUR STANCE

  • Each particular stance you're in has a different influence over fatigue gain or decay.
  • Running with a raised weapon produces more fatigue than the same movement with it lowered.
  • Running in crouch is more demanding than running while standing, and the same applies for sprinting as well.
  • Rifles are obviously heavier than pistols, so movement with them is harder, but not as much as with launchers.
  • Walking restores fatigue, but not as much as standing still.
  • Reasonable management of your stances and movement options allows you to control your exhaustion and, thus, manage your fatigue at reasonable levels.
  • Running in crouch all day long is no longer the best default option to move around.

MANAGE YOUR LOAD

  • Both fatigue gain and decay are affected by the weight of equipment.
  • The more loaded down you are, the more fatigue you get from every exhaustive action. Moreover, the less quickly will your fatigue decay while resting.
  • A fully loaded soldier can barely rest at all!
  • Also bear in mind, that your inventory load has no direct impact upon your actual speed. However, it will cause the actual slowdown to take place much quicker and maintain its effect for much longer.

WATCH YOUR STEP

  • Always consider the terrain. Not only for cover, but also for fatigue.
  • The greater the slope, the more exhausted you will become by ascending it.
  • On the other hand, descending certain convenient slopes could actually restore some of your fatigue as well.
    "the natural formation of the country is the soldier's best ally" - Sun Tzu, Art of War.

WEAPON SWAY

Weapon Sway mechanics represent the inherent movement of a firearm in your hands. While the previous implementation had certain merits, we also felt it contained some important shortcomings. Mainly, we felt that it worked too randomly and unintuitively, crippling any skillful approach. Mechanics that just force you to fight with some randomly generated penalties applied have nothing to do with authenticity.


Instead, we want players to actually understand the game mechanics in order to give them an opportunity to learn and manage their behaviour. Therefore, we refined the sway behaviour to actually simulate breathing and grip as separate forces that affects your weapon sway in a more predictable - and thus manageable - way. This, we hope, enables more meaningful weapon handling. Your grip is not always rock steady. You have to maintain it to be able to place precise shots.

There are three main aspects of weapon sway to consider:

CONTROL YOUR BREATHING

  • Breathing moves your aim up & down with a magnitude and speed directly correlated to your current fatigue.
  • You may temporarily cancel this inherent movement by holding your breath.
  • How long you may hold it depends on the oxygen capacity left in your lungs, which is also affected by Fatigue.
  • Be aware that after you start to breath again - or if your oxygen is depleted by holding breath for too long - there will be a temporary spike in the breathing penalty, according to the proportion of oxygen left.
  • "Do you think that's air you're breathing now ?" asked Morpheus once. Well, in Arma 3, we do for sure!

THINK ABOUT YOUR STANCE (AGAIN)

  • As with fatigue, every stance also affects your aim in some way.
  • In general, you are more precise when crouched down than standing, and the most precise when prone.
  • Also basic positions (standing, crouch, prone) are slightly more stable when still, but yet more prone to distortion while turning around.
  • Adjusted positions are slightly less precise by default, but suffer less penalty from turning around.

MANAGE YOUR HEALTH

  • Exhaustion has a detrimental effect upon your sway by producing both inherent sway of your gun and your breath, simulating the hardship of handling a weapon when exhausted.
  • Injuries suffered do not affect your breath as much as fatigue, but their effect over your grip are much more profound.
  • While fatigue effect over sway is still quite manageable - at least to the point where you cannot hold your breath anymore - the effect of injuries could be potentially very severe for your ability to aim, depending on actual damage distribution over your body parts.

COMBAT READY
That wraps up the basics of the upcoming new Fatigue and Sway mechanics. Hopefully, these explanations will give you a better idea about what to expect and how to handle all these changes. We hope that such improvements will address all those players who asked for more profound mechanics of weapon handling and more demanding fatigue system for quite a long time.

These improvements, and even those already in preparation, are a direct product of your feedback, and its only upon your feedback we may continue to improve it even further! So, tell us if, how, and why, you like it (or not) on our forums. Are some of the effects too severe or too shallow? What other behaviour would you like to see implemented in these mechanics? Every (reasonable!) view matters and we are truly thankful for it, even though we cannot address all of you at once.


  June 30th, 2014 - 16:51 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

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