SITREP #00102

reported by Joris-Jan van 't Land on April 14, 2015

SITREP #00102
FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Marksmen DLC Released, Update 1.42 Highlights, Workshop Mod Documentation
PRECEDENCE: Flash

SITUATION

Marksmen DLC is out! It has been rewarding to read your reactions to the update and the package alike. Things like weapon stabilization and the combat audio enhancements make the game feel fresh again. Many of our devs spent last Friday jumping on public servers to play End Game with you. Others explored Steam Workshop for some of the first full mods and bigger addons appearing already. Considering the very many complex changes and moving parts in this update, we're quite happy with how the release went. It was modestly celebrated with Jiří Polášek's CAKEREP #000001. Also check out the official launch trailer (and unofficial B-roll), featuring one of the new music tracks recorded by our improvised Bohemia Interactive band. Owners of the Digital Deluxe Edition will find these tracks in the Bonus\Soundtrack\Marksmen folder of their game installation.

Yes, there are a few annoying (new) issues that we're working on resolving. These include some weapon deployment 'exploits', controller hypersensitivity and Linux server password troubles. We're not yet sure whether we'll be releasing a hotfix for those, or target update 1.44, but we'll be letting you know through our usual channels. Get the full 1.42 change log in its SPOTREP, as well as an update report on Arma 3 Tools in its TECHREP. There are a few hidden gems that you may not have even seen yet!

  • Most vehicle commanders can now use their personal weapons while turned out. That means tank commands can finally use their binoculars for example. 
  • Another great usability improvement is the ability to manipulate weapon attachments directly on the ground. So, you can now take optics directly from a rifle on the ground.
  • The in-game server browser has been given a few useful tabs that let you see recent servers and the servers your Steam friends are playing on. The old Internet / LAN toggle has also been replaced by tabs.
  • Servers can now also be hosted using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network protocols. If your network hardware supports it, this may help with routing and NAT issues.
  • And, of course, the new Publisher can upload Workshop entries of unlimited size and containing multiple files and folders.

INTELLIGENCE

Wanting to try End Game? You might try one of our officially hosted servers, which you can join directly by pressing "CONNECT" on the web page. Speaking of servers, not everyone is allowed to monetize Arma 3 servers. If you want to know who is, take a look at this overview.

We are going to be disabling and removing the special Arma 3 Make Arma Not War Steam branches next week. These were frozen in time at version 1.32, to give competitors and the jury a fixed game state to evaluate. Now that the winners are known, these branches are no longer needed. If you are still on them for some reason, you'll be automatically reverted to main branch when we delete them.

Bohemia Interactive has launched a new version of its online store last week. It uses an improved back/front-end that is more reliable, scalable, secure and future-proof. It also makes it possible to gift a game to someone else. This is the best place to buy our games if you'd like to support us (and you'll still get the games on Steam).

OPERATIONS

A few on-going interaction improvements have started to trickle into the game in 1.42. These are part of a larger effort to tackle core interaction mechanisms. Because they are so deeply rooted, it's going to take a while before we can really push them broadly. We don't intend to change default bindings until we can solve the collateral effects. Senior Designer Shobhan Roy expands: "The establishment of a top-secret Research and Development division has led an initiative to explore and improve the core player experience of Arma 3. An investigation into interaction has us first taking aim at the keyboard. New weapon switching actions have been added, allowing players to bind their infantry weapons to any key they desire. To increase the number of available options, we have also unlocked almost all hardcoded controls to better support this technology. Quickly switching to your pistol in a tight spot is no longer a thing of the past and you can also use these keys to switch firing mode too. But this is just the beginning! We are currently working on bringing this technology to vehicles as well, and expect to continue improving interaction on the whole to be Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Stay tuned."

On behalf of the End Game Task Force, Creative Director Jay Crowe has posted a message of gratitude on our forums. The mode has been well-received and we're keen to iterate on it more. Its developers are also working on making the editor modules available, and on publishing documentation for the mode, modules and functions.

LOGISTICS

Arma 3 1.42 and Arma 3 Tools 0.86 have brought with it the full switch to the new Steam Workshop and big mods. Being part of the Workshop team, Senior Designer Jiří Zlatohlávek has posted several good chunks of updated documentation. On the side of content creators, there is the Publisher. On the side of content consumers, we have the updated Launcher.

More than ever, it's important to present your mod well. There are several simple ways of achieving this in-game, and it can make your mod stand apart from the crowd! Show a unique logo in the main menu, set an overview imagine and text in the expansions menu, and associate all editor content with the mod logo. Tools Commissar Julien Vida has started cleaning up the documentation on this page. A sample will also soon be added to the tools suite.

If you encounter scenarios in which you cannot reload the Zafir or Rahim, update those scenarios or contact their authors to do so. Both weapons have been re-chambered. The old magazine classes still exist to prevent errors, but they cannot be loaded into the weapons.

  • Zafir: 150Rnd_762x51_Box (old) > 150Rnd_762x54_Box (new)
  • Rahim: 10Rnd_762x51_Mag (old) > 10Rnd_762x54_Mag (new)