FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Mod Appreciation Week, Web Developer Spotlight, Asset Samples
PRECEDENCE: Flash
SITUATION
It is actually kind of tricky to give you a useful overview of our current situation. As we reported over the last couple of weeks, we find ourselves in the period between a major release (
Marksmen DLC) and the start of full team production on the next big thing (Expansion). That does not mean the team is relaxing. More network messaging optimizations have found their way to
Dev-Branch. We're also testing a potential fix for the server instabilities on
the profiling branch. And a test plan for fully switching on the enhanced
BattlEye protection is being drawn up. Until we can share with you our future plans, enjoy the game, and do please give some love to your favorite modders!
#modlove2015INTELLIGENCE
Join us and
ModDB in
celebrating Mod Appreciation Week! Ever since the early days of
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, whose demo scenario was HEX-edited into entirely new missions, our games have had a great mod community. From small creative experiments to massively successful total conversions, there has always existed a symbiotic relationship between the vanilla platform and the mods based on it. This has benefited us by expanding the reach of our games, it has helped modders to be creators and start development careers, and of course, it has provided fun for millions of players. We'll be honest; there are darker sides to modding as well, but these dwindle in comparison to the benefits. We hope to be able to better support modders in the coming years, with enriched documentation, better tools, more samples, and other endeavors that improve discoverability and fair compensation.
So, what can you do to help modders this week? Just
share your appreciation! Find links to your favorite mods and tell them why they rock using
#modlove2015 on social media channels.
The recent Steam Free Weekend brought in a good batch of new recruits. We recommend you give the
Bootcamp mini campaign episode a chance. You can quite comfortably finish it in one play session lasting around 1-1.5 hours. For beginners, the episode is a fun starting point, which familiarizes you with the basics of movement, (map) navigation, tasks and combat. Tip: stick with your leader! But there are reasons for veterans to play the episode as well; it is a prelude to the events in the main campaign. Experience how the relationships between NATO forces, 'Greenbacks' and CSAT develop, and see a few known faces such as Colonel Andrew MacKinnon's.
The
"First Deployment" achievement is awarded after simply finishing the episode. You can access it via:
PLAY >
CAMPAIGNS >
"Prologue" or
LEARN >
BOOTCAMP >
"Prologue". 7.6% of worldwide recruits have graduated from Bootcamp so far.
Gaming website
Rock, Paper, Shotgun has graced us with
two top honors! We made it to
#16 in their best PC First Person Shooters of all time list, as well as
#10 of the best simulation games ever made. Congratulations to all the other great games!
OPERATIONS
Let's hear it for another hidden hero in Arma 3's support network:
Jervant Malakjan! Being a
Web Developer in the Publishing division, he helps us with anything web-oriented. He is the reason we can share these
SPAMREPs every week, he feeds the game's Launcher with its news, he maintains
arma3.com,
bistudio.com and more of our domains, and he supports all of our releases with special pages. Thanks for always accommodating our needs so quickly and expertly, Jervant!
LOGISTICS
Learning by example is still one of the more effective methods for modders. We'll keep trying to expand our range of
samples in the
Arma 3 Tools suite to facilitate that. You can find them in the
Samples_F sub-folder. Recent additions to its
Dev-Branch have been: