UNIT: Petr Kolář, Encoding Lead, Encoding Dept.
TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users
OPSUM: Introducing new Init Speed parameters.

EVALUATION

What is the decisive configuration value for the muzzle speed of a weapon? Is it the round or the weapon itself? This has been a long-standing question in the Arma series. The answer is clear: both of them! So, with Marksmen DLC on the horizon, we've decided to tackle this issue once and for all.

The result is a modest enhancement of configuration options - both for our own weapons and for our community! We'd like to share a bit of the background about this topic and describe the steps we've taken to arrive at a splendid solution.

INIT, INNIT?

Previously, the initial speed of bullet was determined by the magazine. In effect, using the same magazine across different firearms provided no change to the muzzle speed of the projectile. This meant, for example, there has been next to no difference between standard and carbine versions of weapons (and even less before we implemented handling differences with Weapon Inertia).

We wanted to address this limitation for some specific weapons, where using a different speed of ammo would not make any sense. To achieve that, we've introduced an initSpeed property to weapons themselves, which - if it is defined - overrides values taken from the magazine.

UPDATES

We gathered some responses from our forums about possible improvements on this topic, and we are thankful for all of it. Using this feedback, we have iterated on the solution and added the possibility to use negative values of initSpeed in weapons as a multiplier of the initSpeed value of the magazine.

There are two advantages with this solution, both relating to community-created content. Firstly, setting initSpeed to -1 or 0 (as zero is neither positive nor negative) makes the weapon backwards compatible. In short: it won't break any existing content. Secondly, we provide both a possibility to use a coefficient and a constant as modders deem necessary.

With this change, we've addressed one of the troubling questions that has been in Arma for ages. We hope you are going to like the solution, both as players and as modders. At last, the length of muzzle may provide some meaningful difference and sensible choice for your missions.

The changes are already live on Dev-Branch, and we've updated Arma 3 Tools with a configuration sample. Thanks again for all the feedback; together, we can build an even better game!