FROM: Project Lead
TO: Alpha Users
INFO: Hotfix release, audio changes, community
PRECEDENCE: Flash
SITUATION
Late last week we published an unscheduled hotfix (SPOTREP #00003) to default branch of both Alpha and Alpha Lite. Although the changes did not affect Lite, we want to keep them the same on the data-side. In no way do we feel this fully 'solved' the multiplayer security issues. The efforts described last week will surely continue.
The second big thing which dominated past week was the audio overhaul. Our audio team and audio programmer Frantisek Novak in support, made large changes to the sounds of most assets (and the tweaking will be in progress for the coming weeks). Ondrej Matejka took some time to explain the changes related to volume, sample normalization, distance versus loudness and the WSS file format. The current state on Development branch is known to have a number of errors, missing sounds and unfinished volume settings. In the end this will benefit the way the game sounds, which is of similar importance as how it looks.
INTELLIGENCE
We're loving the newly added widget showing custom messages from those who purchased the Supporter Edition! It's energizing to take a few minutes during the day to read the supportive and funny messages that roll by. Currently only those people who opted in for the game credits are shown, but we are working on extending this for the rest (for the widget only).
Yet another rotation of community projects is being shown off in the Community Focus widget on the main website: flashpoint.ru, machinima, a UGL video guide, and camouflage samples for modders. The full archive is available here.
OPERATIONS
We are now transitioning to put focus on our next big public release: the Beta. It's still weeks away, but we need to start preparing and finalizing the sandbox content, new playable content, features and all supporting assets, such as artwork. The plans are all in place, and we are scrambling to execute them well.
LOGISTICS
The Steam Client has a new field in the application properties' "BETAS" tab. It allows you to enter access codes for restricted branches. This does not currently affect Arma 3 Alpha. We only have one branch (Development) and it's not password-protected.