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  SITREP #00009 Official    

Joris-Jan van 't Land has released an Arma3 Alpha "SITREP #00009"on the offical Arma3 website:


FROM: Project Lead
TO: Alpha Users
INFO: MP security, Dedicated Server files, audio and lighting tweaks
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

For most of our Alpha testers, last week has mostly been about the multiplayer service being interrupted by servers manipulated with scripting exploits. The situation was worse than single servers being hacked, since it easily spread to clients, who would then also bring it to the next server they connected to. In the Operations section I've detailed some of the steps we've taken so far, and those we'll take from now on to improve the situation. A lot can be said about the root of the problem we're facing here - perhaps a good topic for a blog at some point. It boils down to the concepts of freedom and security and how badly they often mix.

We pride ourselves on the open platform that Arma games are built on. Unfortunately this extremely flexible platform can both be used for creative modding and malicious purposes like MP griefing. Most solutions for improved security mean taking away freedom and putting restrictions in place (there are obviously many real world comparisons to draw here). For a very practical example of this you can see the response to deliberately removing three scripting commands: improved security, but broken community content.

I do not believe for a moment we can have both freedom and fully secure MP without serious restrictions. The only seemingly valid method would be an approach taken by the DayZ project via its MMO architecture. Keep in mind this concept does not gel with Arma 3 as it was designed - it means all client actions are validated on a server, and this makes client-side modding and scripting much more difficult. Acceptable for DayZ, not for Arma 3. We will however do our best to improve security, reduce vulnerabilities and walk the fine line between freedom and security based on your feedback.

INTELLIGENCE

A more extensive description of lighting tweaks was posted via lighting expert Pavel Guglava. It also serves as a feedback thread for the team. Data configuration is still rolling out in steps, but a large portion is available on Development branch now.

The Community Focus widget now has an archive (linked via the widget header), so you can see which community projects were put in the spotlights so far.

To repeat a point made previously: it is futile to argue we should not be working on e.g. lighting tweaks while security is compromised. Different people, different specialties, different roles. Even within the programming department it is simply not as easy as reassigning someone from rendering to netcode. That's not how it works and it never will.

OPERATIONS

We have deployed into Development branch a first set of measures to make this simplest form of security breach harder. Compiling scripted functions as 'final' is generally beneficial. Custom function designers will be able to re-compile for debugging using a description.ext parameter. The removal of certain script commands was deliberately done without transitional deprecation systems, to gauge effectively how widespread their use is. These specific commands were originally introduced to support never-supported functionality. We are looking into further methods of dealing with these and similarly vulnerable commands (also taking into account interesting proposals posted on the forums). One part of this is to better document alternative approaches to scripting methods. This has started on a page about the Functions Library.

It is planned to update the default branch with the current hotfix this week (target: Thursday). It should: reduce the ease with which this exploit spreads through all servers and it should stop this most simplest form of scripted exploit. It will definitely not: stop all hacks in Alpha MP.

Dedicated (third-party) anti-cheat solutions have not yet been added during the Alpha for which we have our reasons. As soon as we can, we will start rolling these out. This should help with some of the more advanced hacks.

LOGISTICS

Today we'll publish to Development branch, but then we will halt updates for two days. Publication should continue this Friday. The reason? We are making significant and extensive changes to the way audio and volume balancing are handled. These changes affect all assets with sound, and we want to make sure it all gets published in one go. There will also be a detailed description of the changes and what to test afterwards.

The Development branch now contains the Dedicated Server binary and required files. It can be run without needing to run a Steam Client, but has a significant known limitation at the moment: it is able to run one instance per machine. The data organization may change later once we go for a separate package.



  April 30th, 2013 - 17:04 By Old Bear   Comment (1)  

  Arma 3 - Community Guide: MP Teamwork Videos    
Dslyecxi has released a new Arma 3 - Community Guide: MP Teamwork video on YouTube.




  April 25th, 2013 - 13:26 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00008 Official    

Joris-Jan van 't Land has released an Arma3 Alpha "SITREP #00008" on the offical Arma3 website:

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Alpha Users
INFO: Splendid screenshots, localization, Dedicated Servers
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

Development is proceeding as planned: perhaps a little more focused on the internal milestone this week. There are a lot of big tasks which you may not immediately see in the game, but they are mandatory and time-consuming. One of these is localization for different regions. The development team has to constantly prepare data so that it can be translated towards the end of the project. Configuration files and scripts usually contain thousands of literal strings, which must be moved to a localization database. Translation agencies can then do their thing and deliver the resulting texts. Those still need to be re-tested and tweaked within the game for context and length. Among others, designer Jiří Zlatohlávek has been working hard on cleaning the database and finding unlocalized texts, while Vladimír Hynek has started to prepare the font for languages such as Russian and Japanese with their character sets.

INTELLIGENCE

The main page Community Focus widget was updated with new items, including the Diver Stats scripted system for SCUBA simulation.

Read about how designer Thomas Ryan takes on Arma 3 scenario design in this interview. Thomas is currently working on several important singleplayer scenarios, as well as supporting systems, like the one managing in-game tasks.

Was last week's description of the new fog tech too abstract for you? Dslyecxi helps us by visualizing it.

A reminder e-mail was sent to those of the first 2500 Supporter Edition owners who had not yet opted into the game's credits. Check your spam filters to be sure!

OPERATIONS

We did a small-scale test using a separate Dedicated Server (Windows) executable. It does not require a Steam Client to be running, making it convenient for admins. So far the test has gone well, so we expect to roll this out to everybody in Development branch early next week. Another side effect should be that custom multiplayer scenario makers can test more easily on a single PC.

The Development branch discussion thread has seen some active debate about ongoing lighting changes. The full changes are still not done nor deployed. Every single light source is in process of having its properties tweaked, so the results visible now are a mixed bag where things are over-bright, not bright enough, broken, badly colored, etc. The lighting technician in charge has been asked to provide details, motivations and what to look for as soon as he gets a moment.

Audio Lead Jan Dušek has finished his configuration of the full radio protocol this week. Compared to the one available in the Alpha, there are many tweaks, but also improved chatter during combat. The next step is getting our Creative Director Crowe to record the well-known Jayholder voice-overs. Then we're ready to start recording final voice actors.

LOGISTICS

In his free time, designer Karel Mořický wrote a very extensive and intense guide on how to make epic screenshots in Arma 3. He describes which tools and tricks help you to do that; some less well-known than others. Show him what you've learned by entering the '2013 World Arma Photo' competition!



  April 25th, 2013 - 10:56 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  Canadian Armed Forces Mod released Addon release    


Ohally has released version 0.26 of his Canadian Armed Forces mod for ArmA III on the BIS Forums.

CAF Features:
Canadian Weapons - C7, C8, M203, C9, C6, 84, M72A6
Canadian Uniforms and head gear - CG634, Boonie Hat, Watch Cap


Changelog:
Added:
-Boonie Hats, Temperate and Arid
-CADPAT Rucks

Fixed:
-Hand positions on all weapons
-M203 Sights
-Reload animations for C7 and C8

All units can be found under Blue/Canadian Army/Men AR or Men TW


You can find all classes, weapons etc. here




Source : BIS Forums
  April 20th, 2013 - 17:20 By Andi31   Comment (0)  

  MH-9 Door Control AddOn Addon release    


Feint has released his MH-9 Door Control AddOn for ArmA III on the BIS Forums.

This is a pair of scripts which will enable the following:
-Adds doors to MH-9
-Adds ability to open and close doors individually
-Demonstrate how to use a single script for 8 separate actions


This is purely an example set of scripts to help teach people some basic scripting on animations and to add some functionality to the built in MH-9 that didn't exist in Arma 3 Alpha. I hope someone finds it useful. I've added annotations to the scripts where I thought it would be most useful in order to show what is going on. I know over the years that I've looked at other people's scripting to figure out how to do things. So this is just me giving back to the community as much as possible. I hope you enjoy it.
Example mission included.






Source : BIS Forums
  April 20th, 2013 - 16:24 By Andi31   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00007 Official    

Joris-Jan van 't Land has released an Arma3 Alpha "SITREP #00007" on the offical Arma3 website:

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Alpha Users
INFO: 0.54 update, fog of war, Play withSIX
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

Yesterday we did another update of both Alpha versions: full and Lite via SPOTREP #00002. There are many changes to the animations: extending the adjustable stance system to sidearms, new sideways prone movements and a long list of fixes. Updates in the areas of optimization and AI are also included, such as better performance when using the Picture-in-Picture feature within vehicles. Stability was targeted by fixing crashes reported on Feedback Tracker, but also by finding and solving a problem related to the implementation of PhysX. With the aid of NVIDIA, our programmers were able to fix a collision crash that was widely reported, but hard to reproduce. At the same time we have closed our first iteration of the internal project milestone, and are working on the second iteration - keeping the scenario designers quite busy!

INTELLIGENCE

Programmer Lukáš Bábíček explains what the recent fog improvements are about: "Density of haze now decreases with altitude. This means that there can be denser fog in the valleys than on mountain tops. Also when the camera is above the haze layer, you can see further. This change does not affect visibility fog (fog forced by viewing distance)." Unfortunately due to a communications slip up, this technology did not actually make it into the 0.54 update. It is available on Development branch however, and will be included with the next update of course.

By now we have launched the special webpage where the first Supporter Edition owners can opt-in to the game credits. So far over 1400 of the first 2500 supporters have submitted their name and optional message (which we intend to display on the main page in tile "Service Members"). We'd like to remind the remaining people who'd like to opt in to check any spam filters for the invite. We'll also send out a reminder soon.

OPERATIONS

We're closer to a separate Dedicated Server (Windows) binary, which does not require an additional license. It's being tested internally today and tomorrow, after which we'll do some quick small-scale testing with server administrators. If that goes well, the binary will be included into Development branch and get updated daily from then on. The fully separate data package is further away, but also being looked at.

Some shock was suffered after reading our update message about sprint movement speeds. Tweaking movement speeds in general is in-progress and we have published a few tweaks to Development branch today - for evaluation. Animation guru Pawel Smolewski will explain the changes and what to look for when providing feedback on the forums.

LOGISTICS

SIX Networks has released an updated version of their handy unofficial tool Play withSIX. This separate launcher utility can be very useful to manage modifications for example, allowing quick installations and automatic updating. It also has functionality for server browsing and keeping in touch with friends playing the game. Next to supporting Arma 2 and Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, it also works with Arma 3 Alpha. Their team is continuously improving the software and they are eager to hear your feedback!



  April 17th, 2013 - 22:54 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SPOTREP #0002 Official    

Today Joris-Jan van 't Land has released a SPOTREP #0002 spotted on Arma3 site

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Alpha Users
UNIT: Arma 3 Alpha, Arma 3 Alpha Lite
ACTIVITY: Game Update: 0.54 (new fog technology, adjustable sidearm stances, crash fixes)
SIZE: ~380 MB
CHANGELOG
DATA

Added: improved public debug console
New light rendering added for bushes
More detailed middle distance terrain texture added
Adjustable stances for sidearms added
Sprint speed decreased
Tweaked transitions from ragdoll
Fixed transition from free fall into swimming and onto land
New animations for swimming with rifles
Rifle kneel sprinting fix
Rifle raised idling for AI fix
Pistol prone movement improvements
Rifle & pistol evasive move fixes (disabled optics)
Removed sway in prone adjust low
Pistol self healing
Improved pistol kneel sprint animation
Improved connection prone to sprint
Player could shoot a sidearm during the healing animation
Transition from prone to upright sprint while unarmed caused visual sliding
Priority of actions in action menu adjusted
Stratis terrain and object placement tweaks
New post-process effects for injuries added
Fixed fuel gauges for MH-9 helicopter family
MH-9 can now carry more soldiers
Duplicate target icon in Ka60 Helmet-Mounted Display removed
Ifrit cargo pose added
Compass visualization changed
New secondary shadow LODs (glasses, bandoleer, belt, rebreather)
Camouflage selection tweaks
Fixed: Sites are no longer placing patrol waypoints on water
Civilian Sites were disabled
Logo and tagline splash screens merged
Main menu game and version indicator could overlap
Added: Any mission with description.ext has now loading mission box with "Unknown" text
Added: Unknown author is now displayed also for maps
Fixed: Mission restart now resets reload counter
Added: Loading "continue" save will no longer raise the reload counter
Fixed: Mission failed had two debriefing screens
Fixed: "Lose" ending no longer shows "Mission Completed" title
Fixed: Error icon is no longer shown for logics
Fixed incorrect topic selection after closing and reopening Field Manual
Fixed: "Respawn" button is no longer enabled in missions with respawn "NONE", "BIRD" or with missing respawn settings
Added: "respawnButton" parameter can now enable the button in respawn types which would normally disable it
Geometry fixing (AI collisions with buildings tweaked)
Config classes for weapons cleaned
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=4189 (fish no longer only swim North)
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=6333 (EBR sight alignment)
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=6719 (spelling error)
Fixed:http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=3087 (fire geometry - wall)
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=1903
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=3837
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=5511
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=5709
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=5619
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=6664

ENGINE

New fog technology implemented
Picture-in-Picture optimization implemented
Terrain shadows tweaked
Fixed: AI no longer fires on targets it does not see (but which are reported by other group members)
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=5210 (MP rotation synchronization fixed)
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=1126 (Speed of sound delays tweaked)
Changes and fixes merged from Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead beta patches
MP pose synchronization fixed
Improved performance related to object instancing
Fixed - AI disembarking when moving to another vehicle position incorrectly
Game loading with "addAction" crash fixed
PhysX collisions related crashes fixed
Fixed: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=6881 (out of memory crash)
Fixed: Crash while taking RPG Alamut from ground
Larger string buffer for the 'format' script command
Fixed: Reloading different magazine type could do nothing but remove the magazine
Destruction of vehicle while manipulating with objects in its inventory fixed
Ambient creatures' position after game load fixed
Fixed: remote destroyed wheels have now the right distance detection to the ground
Fixed: healing sound effects were endlessly looped
Ships are no longer automatically deleted after destruction (consistent with other vehicle types)
Free fall inventory access fixed
Magazine manipulation while discarding weapons tweaked
Items' behavior while moving from dead body to container tweaked
Helicopter behavior improved (rotor simulation now does not allow helicopter to fly up-side down)
AI running up and down hill tweaked
Command 'stance' now returns more consistent values: "PRONE", "CROUCH" and "STAND"
Fixed: RMB to equip did not work for binoculars
Fixed: Vehicle commander stepped optics zoom did not function correctly
Fixed: artifacts on water near shore when looking from high distance
Solved issues related to flickering optics




  April 15th, 2013 - 18:01 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SITREP #00006 Official    

Joris-Jan van 't Land has released an Arma3 Alpha "SITREP #00006" on the offical Arma3 website:

FROM: Project Lead
TO: Alpha Users
INFO: Pending Alpha update, Supporter Editions
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

This is a busy week for the team. We are pushing hard for the internal milestone mentioned last week, but we have also begun preparing another Alpha and Alpha Lite update (default branch). The exact release timing by means of the second SPOTREP depends on whether we find major showstoppers or not. Meanwhile there have been some cool fixes in the Development branch, which will make it into this update. There are fixes to the simulation of speed of sound and delays for weapons and explosions, as well as the synchronization of character rotations in multiplayer. There has also been a fix in the combat AI, which means groups (who do share target info) will no longer have all members fire on targets which cannot be seen at all. Do note that certain other AI technologies can confuse you as to who knows about what: sight, hearing, 'guessing' and suppression are all factored in.

INTELLIGENCE

When we launched the Alpha, we said the first 500 people to purchase the Supporter Edition would get into the full game's credits. Since there were some issues with Store.bistudio.com on launch day, we are extending this to the first 2500 people. We feel this should cover all people who were affected.

Many of you are obviously eager to see more content in the Alpha. We do have several possible additions in our plans, but we will not detail them, nor say when we intend to release them until we are sure we can. The big update to look forward to is the start of Beta in Q2, which will have more vehicles, weapons and characters. What we can and want to release before that depends on many factors: testing focus (currently still infantry and general stability), fixing important new issues, priorities on full game content, etc. Don't count on much, so any additions during Alpha become a pleasant surprise. If we do release new content, it would appear in Development branch first.

OPERATIONS

Preparing the Alpha update means that an internal data snapshot is being made tomorrow, which we then put through quick testing and evaluation. The goal is to catch major issues such as crashes on start-up, but not to fix every bug (it's still an Alpha). We then stage the snapshot on Development branch for one or two days. Finally, the thing is green lighted and released via SPOTREP.

LOGISTICS

The first 2500 Supporter Edition owners will soon receive an e-mail with a link to a special webpage. On this page they will be able to opt into having their name displayed in the game credits. You will also likely be able to format how your name is to be shown, but we will need to moderate entries for the usual things. Stick to just using your name if you don't want to risk your entry not being used. We also plan to highlight opted-in supporters on our main Arma 3 website.


  April 10th, 2013 - 06:37 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  SA80/L85 by Kiory Addon release    
Kiory has releasd a SA80/L85 addon as well as the sources for this addon on the BI Forums.

Kiory again with another release, this time it's the SA80/L85 with the RIS attachment, it has custom sounds, which aren't totally accurate, but the material I had to work with was utter trash, so you'll have to forgive me for that.

You can get a brief rundown on the video here, but as always, you'll just have to play around with it yourselves to see what's up.



You can download the Pbo and the source files here, so you can dissect it as much as you see fit! Just don't judge my scripting skills, I'm a complete noob.

I also forgot to credit Toadball in the video for his awesome m16A4 example, showed me some heavenly insight
.







  April 3rd, 2013 - 17:16 By Old Bear   Comment (0)  

  'SITREP #5' Official    


BIS has released the fifth Alpha Briefing "SITREP #00005" on the offical ArmA III website

SITUATION
As maintenance on the Alpha proceeds (see the Development branch changelog), we are also pushing towards an internal project milestone. It deals with having all the content for our Q3 full game release available in the game (not in the public Alpha!) so we can measure project progress. Primarily this means a lot of work for our campaign designers and the Altis environment team. Recently seeing some of the vistas shown in the campaign scenarios blew us away: stunning and varied locations aplenty! The team also enjoyed a modest Alpha release celebration after work last Thursday. This involved teams in two cities drinking beer 'competitively' with the establishment providing real-time rankings. No casualties were reported and we're all back to work refreshed and rested.

INTELLIGENCE
Reminder: be aware of various scams supposedly offering free Steam codes! These are malware and trojan viruses designed to steal your account data.

The Community Focus widget on the main page was updated to put the spotlight on various different community projects (right side under the header - five tabs).

Community modder Kiory has released the results of making a custom SA80 rifle from scratch. Especially interesting was following his livestream to be part of the entire process from high-poly render to in-game and functional weapon. He also released all sources for others to learn from, making this an exemplary approach to modding.

OPERATIONS
The Feedback Tracker's changelog and roadmap have started to be used in a more useful way since last week. This allows the team and reporters to indicate when a fix may appear in the public builds, and what was resolved so far.

We are deploying updates to the Development branch on Steam every day (changelog). One operation that is ongoing is cleaning our text database. This may cause various texts to be missing until we're done.

LOGISTICS
Quite a few batches of Alpha Lite codes were released so far, and we'll continue to do so. If you have missed out until now: keep checking our Facebook and Twitter channels. There are also very many websites running competitions and giveaways.


Source : ArmA 3 Website
  April 3rd, 2013 - 15:15 By Andi31   Comment (0)  

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