Arma 3 Alpha and developments

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

As many of you are aware, today was supposed to be the release day for Arma 3. Well it really isn't. Bohemia Interactive was supposed to do the change taking Arma 3 from its Beta stage to full game with a 3.7 GB patch and instead gave us a tiny little less then 100 MB fix-it patch. That's right, no new content aside from a couple of multi-player missions. What is really bizarre is how some got the 3.7 gig patch and most didn't, and those who did where forced to re-install the game to get it to work properly again. This just seems so typical of game companies these days, they set a release date and then when the game comes out after months of waiting there are still major problems with the game that should of been fixed long before hand. I am extremely disappointed with Bohemia Interactive so much so that I think they should re-attach the word Beta to Arma 3 because that's what it still basically is.

[Arclight]

It was supposed to release today? Ha. Might have to get some games going soon.

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Kptlt. Hellmut Neuerburg

As many of you are aware, today was supposed to be the release day for Arma 3. Well it really isn't. Bohemia Interactive was supposed to do the change taking Arma 3 from its Beta stage to full game with a 3.7 GB patch and instead gave us a tiny little less then 100 MB fix-it patch. That's right, no new content aside from a couple of multi-player missions. What is really bizarre is how some got the 3.7 gig patch and most didn't, and those who did where forced to re-install the game to get it to work properly again. This just seems so typical of game companies these days, they set a release date and then when the game comes out after months of waiting there are still major problems with the game that should of been fixed long before hand. I am extremely disappointed with Bohemia Interactive so much so that I think they should re-attach the word Beta to Arma 3 because that's what it still basically is.

Could it be that people subscribed to the development branch of the beta had to update less of the game to catch up with the release version? I got a ~150 MB patch after being in the development branch and it seems to have updated to the release version.

[Valantine]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

Could it be that people subscribed to the development branch of the beta had to update less of the game to catch up with the release version? I got a ~150 MB patch after being in the development branch and it seems to have updated to the release version.

I believe this is correct: the ones not on the DEV mode only jsut got the armoured units, additional vehicles, UAV's and the Altis map today: those with DEV mode have had a close to final version for a little while!
V

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

Could it be that people subscribed to the development branch of the beta had to update less of the game to catch up with the release version? I got a ~150 MB patch after being in the development branch and it seems to have updated to the release version.

That's most likely the case since most of the content for the full game was in the dev branch, but there is some content that was supposed to be released when the full game came out like the F-35 but instead that content will be added in later patches which is disappointing. If the content can't be added at release they should of said so before hand I would of had a much different reaction, but they didn't. And there is still a lot to be done about optimizing Altis too.

[Arclight]

Originally Posted by Kptlt. Hellmut Neuerburg

That's most likely the case since most of the content for the full game was in the dev branch, but there is some content that was supposed to be released when the full game came out like the F-35 but instead that content will be added in later patches which is disappointing. If the content can't be added at release they should of said so before hand I would of had a much different reaction, but they didn't. And there is still a lot to be done about optimizing Altis too.

They did, about a month ago.

http://dev.arma3.com/sitrep-00021

There has been a lot of talk within the community about the release package and assets perceived as missing, most notably more fixed-wing aircraft. We are planning to release more content in patches, besides the campaign itself.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Originally Posted by Arclight

They did, about a month ago.

http://dev.arma3.com/sitrep-00021

Ok I went and read that sitrep and yes in this case I admit I was wrong about what I said. But there is one thing I am confused about. In that same sitrep at the bottom "Top priority for the artists now are two Close Air Support fixed-wing beasts, one for both primary factions." Now what we got instead was the A-143 Buzzard for the AAF or the Independent faction, which is just a revamped version of the L-159 Alca from Arma 2: Army of the Czech Republic.

[Arclight]

There's a couple of "revamped" units in there to be honest. The neutral faction IFV is a Pandur 2 from Arma2 Czech expansion. The Ka-60 Kasatka was in Arma 2 (Opfor transport helo) and the small Blufor helo is basically the Little Bird. The Blufor wheeled IFV is suspiciously similar to a LAV-25, though not quite. And the AA vehicle on both sides has the same turret at least. Then there's the Titan missile launcher being common among both factions, along with the different explosives.

All in all both sides are well rounded though. The one thing lacking is indeed fixed-wing aircraft. I imagine those will come in with the next patch, not quite making the cut for release.

[Dowly]

Give it a few months and you got plenty of hardware to choose from (mods).

[Herr-Berbunch]

I've got 3.5 GB downloading right now!

[Takeda Shingen]

I still think I'll wait a bit for things to sort themselves out. $60 US is too much money for question and uncertainty right now.

[Arclight]

Huh... That campaign is rather enjoyable.

[TarJak]

New sitrep with some interesting stuff to look forward to:

SITREP #00036
reported by Joris-Jan van 't Land on Tuesday 26th November 2013
FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: AAF vehicles, Licensed data
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION
Last week was packed with reports; after the usual SITREP, we followed up with a SPOTREP for the 1.06 patch release. On the same day there was the premier TECHREP, to keep track of the release and updates to the Arma 3 Tools suite. Initially we'll be updating the tools on the same cycle as the main game, but we'll see how that goes. Keep reading for some hints of useful additions to the package coming up soon!

Another thing in the pipelines for imminent staging on devbranch: three more vehicles and a sniper scope! These will be part of the next game update. Find some more details below.

INTELLIGENCE
With the 1.08 update we'll be releasing the following AAF faction reinforcements (and more sandbox content):

MBT-52 Kuma - Main Battle Tank for the AAF
FV-720 Mora - the AAF's versatile Infantry Fighting Vehicle
WY-55 Hellcat - maneuverable air transport and fire support for the AAF
The tank is entirely new and made from scratch by our artists. The IFV has seen action in BAF, but was vastly improved and given lots more detail. The copter was also passed on from the BAF, got new armament, skids and a fresh lick of paint.

A fresh rotation of the Community Focus widget takes a look at machinima, an Arma gaming community, custom soundtrack work and a whole bunch of scripting tutorials.

OPERATIONS
We'd like to give you some idea of what we're working on adding to the tools suite. There are still some secondary tools to add, such as the FSM editor and TexView. Further away, but in the works, is Steam Workshop integration. This is more complex than scenarios have been, but we consider it an important effort. Terrain creators among you are wondering why there is no Visitor release yet. This is unfortunately not quite so easy. Visitor 4 is based on licensed technology and we are not allowed simply to release it. We need to find consent of the licencor first before we can make it available to the community. We'll keep you updated.

Together with a crack team of Top Men, Ondrej Kužel (Oukej) has started some work on AI configuration. The goal is to: define how individual AI config params affect AI behavior, document and refine these settings; provide the common player more meaningful control over the difficulty of the AI; enable mission designers more useful control over AI configuration. If you'd like to keep track of this work or contribute some ideas, check out this forum thread.

LOGISTICS
Ready your broadband connections, because we stand on the verge of releasing lots of data for modders. Barring any showstoppers, we will next week be releasing data from pretty much all Arma 2 content. This will be done under new licenses, that make it possible to use the data to release within Arma games. It will no longer require case-by-case requests to use Arma 2 models and textures for Arma 3 mods for example. Things should be clear and accessible for anyone!

Plus modding tools released:

We’ve finally released the first version of the Arma 3 Tools suite on Steam yesterday. It deals with processing source data and preparing it for the Real Virtuality engine, as well as packaging it into addon PBO files. You’ll find the package in the Steam client library, by switching the filter to Tools and finding the Arma 3 Tools application.

Tool Commissar, Petr Kolář, has the following to say: “What a rollercoaster it has been! The urge to create a new modding tools suite for Arma 3 has resulted in challenging decisions about the right way and priorities. The initial release is something like the Alpha was for Arma 3 - a stepping stone to build on. Our plans are bigger than just the creation of addons; we have added some samples (and may continue to add more if they desired), Render Worlds for keying of scenes, and we got rid of the P:\ drive to promote direct testing of created content in the game.

There is still a long road ahead for the tools we would like to have for our community, and it also depends on your feedback. One of the next steps has been already announced by Marek Španěl himself in his Report In! interview: tools are going to have a separate branch with assets from previous projects to work with, and there’s more coming. Stay tuned for more intel and shout out what you think. It matters to us.”

This game is just getting interesting.