SPOTREP #00058

reported by Vojtěch Kovařič on July 11, 2016

FROM: High Command
TO: Arma 3 Users
UNIT: Main Branch
ACTIVITY: Game Update 1.62 (Apex Expansion, Main Menu Overhaul, Vehicle in Vehicle Transport, Revive Overhaul, Environmental Audio Enhancements)
SIZE: ~9.6 GB / ~1.5 GB (depends on Apex ownership)

NOTES

  • Consider using the Steam client option to verify the integrity of the local game cache to avoid corrupted data after downloading this update.
  • Consider defragmenting your HDD after downloading large updates.
  • Updating a deeply moddable game and its platform is not without risks. We use various methods to communicate upcoming changes to our awesome modding community, such as via the Dev Hub. We also co-operate directly on troubleshooting, and we offer an opportunity to test updates via our Release Candidate tests. Modders, server administrators and other members of the community do their best to prepare for updates and to address issues post-release as quickly as possible. Please be mindful of some interruptions (especially in the first hours / days after a release) while we all work to improve the game together.
  • A Legacy Build Steam branch is available for advanced users. It contains the previous significant main branch version (1.60). It can be used to compare specific changes between major releases. The access code for this branch is: Arma3Legacy160
  • This update does not apply to the experimental Linux and Mac port betas at time of writing. We'll be updating those as soon as possible.
  • You can find the servers in the Steam library (switch the filter to "Tools") - "Arma 3 Server" (based on your OS, it will download the Windows or Linux version).
    • Administrators can also use the command-line SteamCMD utility. The app ID is to be 233780.
    • NVIDIA GameWorks™ Technology provided under license from NVIDIA Corporation. Copyright © 2002-2016 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA® and PhysX® are trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation and are used under license.
  • In case of problems, please check the Bohemia Interactive support F.A.Q., Arma 3 F.A.Q. or BattlEye F.A.Q.
  • You can help us to further improve the game by posting your feedback on the Feedback Tracker.

CHANGELOG

DATA:

  • Added: Tanoa terrain*
  • Added: More than 600 terrain structures*
  • Added: More than 200 signs, 25 rocks and 100 trees, bushes and clutters*
  • Added: V-44 X Blackfish VTOL*
  • Added: Y-32 Xi'an VTOL*
  • Added: Prowler LSV*
  • Added: Qilin LSV*
  • Added: MQ-12 Falcon Drone*
  • Added: KH-3A Fenghuang Drone*
  • Added: MB 4WD Offroad Car*
  • Added: Caesar TBB Propeller Plane*
  • Added: RHIB Boat*
  • Added: Water Scooter*
  • Added: AKS-74U 5.45 mm Assault Rifle*
  • Added: AKM 7.62 mm Assault Rifle*
  • Added: AK-12 7.62 mm Assault Rifle*
  • Added: LIM-85 5.56 mm Machine Gun*
  • Added: RPG-7 Launcher*
  • Added: PM 9 mm Pistol*
  • Added: SPAR-16/S 5.56 mm Assault Rifles*
  • Added: SPAR-17 7.62 mm Marksman Rifle*
  • Added: CAR-95(-1) 5.8 mm Assault Rifle & Light Support Weapon*
  • Added: Type 115 6.5 mm / .50 cal Assault Rifle*
  • Added: CMR-76 6.5 mm Marksman Rifle*
  • Added: Protector 9 mm Sub-Machine Gun*
  • Added: ERCO Optics*
  • Added: Various new gear items (regular and thermal-masking uniforms, clothes, headgear, backpacks, NVGs (Night Vision Goggles), and more*
  • Added: Apex Protocol 1-4 player co-op campaign*
  • Added: Showcase End Game*
  • Added: End Game 24 Balavu*
  • Added: End Game 16 Moddergat*

* Content requires ownership of the Arma 3 Apex expansion.

  • Added: Zeus Master Tanoa instances
  • Added: 13 Apex Steam Achievements
  • Added: Apex Welcome Screen
  • Added: New and very green "Arma 3 Apex" Main Menu color preset (it has also been made default)
  • Added: Arma 3 Apex splash screen for Apex owners
  • Added: NATO (Pacific) faction
  • Added: CSAT (Pacific) faction
  • Added: Syndikat faction
  • Added: Gendarmerie faction
  • Added: New character appearances (Tanoan and Chinese)
  • Added: New radio protocols (Chinese, French and French-English)
  • Added: 50 miscellaneous props
  • Added: A new default controls preset (Arma 3 Apex)
  • Added: A one-time prompt is now displayed in the Main Menu to suggest using the Arma 3 Apex controls preset
  • Added: Positional ambient sounds for Tanoa
  • Added: A new tab displaying the official servers in the Server Browser
  • Added: New Main Menu terrain scenes for Altis, Stratis and VR (consistent with Tanoa’s new approach)
  • Added: 'Suppression' samples were added to radio protocols
  • Added: New sound 3D processor types
  • Added: A new "blockMobileSwitching" parameter to avoid weapon switching on the move for certain animations
  • Added: A new BIS_fnc_isThrowable function (determining if the magazine of a given class name is throwable)
  • Added: Headgear randomization allows usage of a fake headgear "H_FakeHeadgear", which passes some faces to the function in order to randomize it
  • Added: A tooltip to the Field Manual button in the Pause Menu
  • Added: The platform / premium assets are now properly distinguished in the DLC Content Browser
  • Added: New sounds for collisions with the vegetation
  • Added: New footsteps sounds for movement in the sand
  • Added: Geometric occluders to Altis and Stratis objects
  • Added: New sounds for falling trees and palm trees
  • Added: Falling trees soundsets and soundshaders
  • Added: Prototype configuration of a new 3D sound processing type (surround_panner)
  • Added: Positional ambient sounds for forests and sea
  • Added: New sounds for metal constructions, rock debris for ruins and ancient locations
  • Added: New sound effects related to wind
  • Tweaked: The Main Menu was overhauled
  • Tweaked: Environmental Audio was enhanced (ambient configuration, positional ambient sounds)
  • Tweaked: The Revive feature was overhauled
  • Tweaked: Radways and Path LODs of various buildings were improved
  • Tweaked: Rain and thunder sound effects
  • Tweaked: The DLC icons in the Main Menu now have a full color on-hover effect
  • Tweaked: The 2D editor is now hidden (it can still be accessed by pressing the CTRL+O keys in the Editor Menu, but is considered deprecated and unsupported)
  • Tweaked: All game menus were moved from the bottom left to the center
  • Tweaked: The multiplayer game type names were overhauled:
    • “Seize” and “Defend” were removed
    • All Zeus game modes (“ZDM”, “ZCTF”, “ZCoop”, “ZSC”, “ZCTI”, “ZTDM”, “ZRPG”, “ZGM”, “ZvZ” and “ZvP”) were replaced by a single mode “Zeus”
    • Added: New “EndGame”, “Support”, “KOTH”, “LastMan” and “Survive” game modes
    • Using any of the removed modes will list the scenario as “Undefined”
  • Tweaked: The autocannon fire mode of the AH-99 Blackfoot and the Mi-48 Kajman helicopters was changed to 5-round bursts
  • Tweaked: Several multiplayer displays
  • Tweaked: APCs can now use auto-lead / zeroing on target while engaging with their cannons
  • Tweaked: The AAA radars are now more balanced
  • Tweaked: Heavy caliber projectile impact was improved
  • Tweaked: Respawn markers for Civilian and Independent sides can now also be named “respawn_civ” and “respawn_guer” (these are backwards compatible)
  • Tweaked: The BIS_fnc_getRespawnMarkers function was optimized
  • Tweaked: All End Game scenarios now use respawn classes instead of the Virtual Arsenal
  • Tweaked: The tile textures for deep sea in the map preview were improved
  • Tweaked: The headgear randomization now considers all private headgears (scope < 1) as fake (results in a removed headgear and randomized facewear similar to H_FakeHeadgear)
  • Tweaked: Most respawn classes in official End Game scenarios are now limited
  • Tweaked: World scenes are now using the unified BIS_fnc_initWorldScene function to initialize
  • Tweaked: Weapon tail sounds were improved
  • Tweaked: Sounds for vehicle collisions were improved
  • Tweaked: Visibility of various character movement states (in relation to recent AI detection improvements)
  • Tweaked: Tasks distribution in multiplayer was improved
  • Tweaked: AI is now less able to detect explosives while driving a vehicle
  • Tweaked: The BIS_fnc_taskState was optimized to prevent problems with non-existing tasks on Dedicated Servers
  • Tweaked: AI detection of weapon firing is now better
  • Tweaked: Sounds of footsteps were improved (volume based on animations, different sounds for forests, tweaks)
  • Fixed: Bullet collision geometry for reed
  • Fixed: Transition animations (e.g. prone transitions to crouch and stand, sitting and ladder animations) could be used for weapon switching on the move
  • Fixed: Weapon switching on the move could cause incorrect behavior for cutscenes and vehicle crew animations
  • Fixed: Player could bypass the initial countdown in End Game by respawning (in cases when the respawn time was shorter than the countdown)
  • Fixed: It was possible to respawn in a vehicle with its simulation disabled
  • Fixed: Characters were forced to go prone when opening an inventory while moving unarmed
  • Fixed: Animation freezes when limping into swimming state
  • Fixed: The AI could get stuck in a FFV animation
  • Fixed: Characters would stop and slide when transitioning from an unarmed jog to an unarmed walk
  • Fixed: Characters would go prone when switching from an unarmed jog to an unarmed walk while turning
  • Fixed: AI units were displayed in the Entities list regardless of the settings in the Virtual Spectator
  • Fixed: The BIS_fnc_kbTell function would produce errors in a non-scheduled environment
  • Fixed: Detection of the water surface in particle effects was incorrect
  • Fixed: Deleted tasks would still preserve some data (e.g. in campaign HUBs)
  • Fixed: Creating a new user profile would not initialize custom colors when a Welcome Screen was shown after returning back to the Main Menu
  • Fixed: The Retrieve Intel text was not localized for End Game clients which had a different language than the server

Eden Editor

  • Added: An area widget (allowing to rotate and resize triggers and marker areas by dragging their corners)
  • Added: A new ‘Loiter Altitude’ waypoint attribute
  • Added: Preview pictures for flags

ENGINE:

  • Added: Vehicle-in-Vehicle Transport
  • Added: Support for the Tobii EyeX Controller
  • Added: Dissolve LOD blending of models
  • Added: First game integration of Arma 3 Units in the profile options
  • Added: Support for multiple vision modes for goggles
  • Added: A new drawingInMap server.cfg parameter to toggle the Line Drawing on Dedicated Servers
  • Added: A new nearTerrainObjects script command (it’s an unsorted version of the nearestTerrainObjects command - provides a third bool parameter into the input array)
  • Added: Large object lists (optimization)
  • Added: New #maxPing, #maxPacketLoss and #maxDesync commands for server administrators
  • Added: Ability to enableAI / disableAI "PATH", which stops the AI’s movement but not the target alignment
  • Added: A new #disconnectTimeout command for server administrators, and maxPing, maxPacketLoss and maxDesync support in server.cfg
  • Added: A new addPlayerScores script command
  • Added: New #exec unban and #exec clearbans commands for administrators of Dedicated Servers
  • Added: Support for explosives being detonated by multiple players
  • Added: Authors of markers / drawn lines can now be displayed
  • Added: Extended information when the setStatValue function fails
  • Added: A new ctrlVideo script command
  • Added: A new getContainerMaxLoad script command
  • Added: A new mapDrawingBrightnessModifier config parameter for adjusting the brightness of the 2D map textures
  • Added: Multiplayer synchronization for assigned team functionality
  • Added: A new pixelGridNoUIScale script command (returning the grid size based on screen resolution and core configs [uiScaleFactor, uiScaleMaxGrids])
  • Added: A new pixelGridBase script command (returning the grid size based on screen resolution only)
  • Added: A new kickClientsOnSlowNetwork parameter for the server.cfg (enabled by default), documentation: https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/160288-arma-3-stable-server-160-performance-binary-feedback/page-77?p=3035423#entry3035423
  • Added: ‘No spam’ versions of some of the RPT logs
  • Added: A new forcedMap script command
  • Added: The server browser now contains a button minimizing the game and switching focus to the Launcher
  • Added: Scenario tag "Tanoa" for Steam Workshop
  • Added: DLC tag "Apex" for Steam Workshop
  • Added: New unitAimPosition and unitAimPositionVisual script commands
  • Added: A new unload waypoint for the Vehicle in Vehicle Transport
  • Added: A new Map mission Event Handler (open / close)
  • Tweaked: The analytics settings were reset to recover from a previous glitch. Use the Launcher Options to review these settings (more in an upcoming SITREP).
  • Tweaked: Turrets on airplanes are now more properly supported
  • Tweaked: Default video options
  • Tweaked: Improved depth priming for distant vegetation
  • Tweaked: Damage source handling improvements (extended Event Handlers, optimizing damage handling functions)
  • Tweaked: The tvSetPictureColorRight script command was renamed to tvSetPictureRightColor
  • Tweaked: The DLC icons in the Showcases menu are now more properly drawn
  • Tweaked: Various terrain performance optimizations
  • Tweaked: The Chat and Voice-Over-Net icons now change their colors according to the channel's color
  • Tweaked: Performance optimizations for terrain drawing at night
  • Tweaked: Commanding AI to hold fire now stops also suppression
  • Tweaked: The setUnitLoadout script command is now better supported in multiplayer (containers stored in other containers - e.g. a vest in a backpack)
  • Tweaked: The co-pilots have been trained to control VTOLs
  • Tweaked: Airplanes are now less prone to fly backwards
  • Tweaked: The logging of players kicked or banned from a Dedicated Server was improved
  • Tweaked: The uiScaleFactor and uiScaleMaxGrids have been respectively changed from 8 and 28 to 4 and 60
  • Tweaked: The AI suppression was increased during a bailout from damaged or immobilized vehicles
  • Tweaked: The setUserActionTexts script command functionality was extended (it now allows multiple 3D texts to be displayed at once)
  • Tweaked: The folder size for screenshots is now limited to 250 MB (can be set in a user’s profile)
  • Tweaked: The addAction command’s functionality was extended
  • Tweaked: The CommandModeChanged Event Handler was extended
  • Tweaked: Server command #mission now supports an optional difficulty parameter. If not set, difficulty remains unchanged.
  • Tweaked: Mines can now be detonated by players even after they respawn
  • Tweaked: The AI visibility at nights was optimized
  • Tweaked: The vectoring and auto-hover actions are now separated for VTOLs
  • Tweaked: The selectWeaponTurret command now works also with a muzzle name
  • Tweaked: The flyingHeightASL command now works also for loitering airplanes
  • Tweaked: The AI visibility in fog was decreased
  • Tweaked: Several improvements to AI airplane piloting (including the VTOLs)
  • Tweaked: Interaction pointer for 3D tasks assignment for Tasks Overhaul
  • Tweaked: The 2D Editor link was removed from the Host Server screen
  • Tweaked: Commander can now order switching weapons even to FFV passengers
  • Tweaked: The default sensitivity curves for eye tracking were improved
  • Tweaked: Turned out tank commanders can now select and cancel targets for their gunners
  • Fixed: It was not possible to use UGLs when deployed
  • Fixed: The onVideoStopped Event Handler would fire even after a video had stopped playing
  • Fixed: The groupIconSelectable script command would not reset between scenarios
  • Fixed: In-game video is now properly stopped instead of being hidden
  • Fixed: A glow post-process was present when saving the game in some cases
  • Fixed: Downloading a scenario on a hosted server would get stuck (https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/143930-general-discussion-dev-branch/?p=3026786)
  • Fixed: APCs would ignore the ‘Suppression’ command
  • Fixed: The ‘Suppression’ command was not working correctly for the FFV positions
  • Fixed: User profiles could not always be deleted (connected to the Unicode standard)
  • Fixed: The Pause Menu would not display a correct difficulty when playing more scenarios with different difficulties on a Dedicated Server
  • Fixed: Potential crash in animation playback tech
  • Fixed: The task tooltip width was based on the longer of two lines
  • Fixed: The gunner of a vehicle now receives score points instead of the effective commander (provided the gunner is a human player)
  • Fixed: The HandleDamage Event Handler was not working correctly
  • Fixed: Crash when deleting entities in Zeus
  • Fixed: The closeOnMissionEnd parameter would close also a mission’s briefing screen
  • Fixed: Crash when loading joysticks (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T117139)
  • Fixed: Some characters from the UTF-16 set were not supported when used as a path to mods
  • Fixed: Switching from a launcher while being turned out from a vehicle was not working
  • Fixed: AI would refuse to suppress a target over a small obstacle (https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/189479-ai-suppress-command/page-4#entry3031228)
  • Fixed: Incorrect action mappings would cause a spam in the RPT file
  • Fixed: AI divers were told not to throw grenades underwater (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T117176)
  • Fixed: Tasks were not saved correctly when resuming a scenario after closing the game
  • Fixed: The TeamSwitch mission Even Handler was not working in singleplayer
  • Fixed: It was not possible to assign tasks in 3D while controlling a UAV
  • Fixed: There was no dust particle effect for landed VTOLs
  • Fixed: The dust simulation for stationary airplanes was incorrect
  • Fixed: Server command #mission would reset the server difficulty to Regular
  • Fixed: The forces applied to destroyed planes were incorrect
  • Fixed: An action placed in 3D would reflect the movement of the crosshair
  • Fixed: Characters would switch to a primary weapon when their sidearm got replaced
  • Fixed: The head tracking zoom had incorrect sensitivity (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T117550)
  • Fixed: The difficulty script command would return an incorrect value when playing more than one scenario consecutively on the same Dedicated Server
  • Fixed: Opening the score table would open the Pause Menu as well in some cases
  • Fixed: Saving a game could affect the current difficulty
  • Fixed: Crash when using the selectWeaponTurret command with an incorrect turret path
  • Fixed: Crash in Zeus
  • Fixed: The 'disembark' command was behaving incorrectly for large vehicles
  • Fixed: A delayed vehicle explosion would add score to the effective commander of the shooting vehicle
  • Fixed: The built-in DLCs in the Server Browser names weren't localized
  • Fixed: Explosion damage of vehicles was inconsistent in multiplayer
  • Fixed: The kill score was handled incorrectly for renegades and heavily damaged vehicles
  • Fixed: Map markers were disabled on servers by default in some cases (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T117215)
  • Fixed: Crash when ordering AI to unload cargo vehicles
  • Fixed: Multiple AI characters were trying to get into the same vehicle turret position in some cases
  • Fixed: Incorrect weapon handling during weapon switching in some cases
  • Fixed: Potential crash connected to role assignment in multiplayer
  • Fixed: Vehicles were not audible after loading a savegame or switching window focus (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T80726, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T118395)
  • Fixed: Markers were not visible for other players in multiplayer (due to the default channel being unexpected)
  • Fixed: Characters would switch to their rifles when a sidearm was replaced in their inventories
  • Fixed: Opening the map would cancel weapon deployment
  • Fixed: Crash when loading OGG and LIP files at the same time
  • Fixed: The action “NVGoggles” would turn the night vision instantly off after turning on
  • Fixed: The 'Next target' action would not work correctly for turned out vehicle commanders
  • Fixed: The repair and heal icons were displayed also to players without medkits or toolkits
  • Fixed: VTOLs would always take off facing North regardless of their waypoint direction
  • Fixed: Incorrect visualization of some combo keys (Right Ctrl) in the control options
  • Fixed: Crash when importing a scenario containing a non-existent asset class name
  • Fixed: Some waypoints had an incorrect on-screen name
  • Fixed: kbTell conversations would not work correctly on Dedicated Servers

Eden Editor

  • Added: Web links are now supported in buttons
  • Fixed: Changing an Activation parameter for triggers would have no effect (https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/188714-eden-editor-bugs/page-6#entry3024236)
  • Fixed: Dragging a scroll bar of an entity would drag also the entity itself
  • Fixed: The selected scenario would not be refreshed when searching by text
  • Fixed: Crash when dragging an entity in the Object Type list in the Entity attributes
  • Fixed: Modules imported from a 2D scenario had 0 azimut set (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T116862)
  • Fixed: Placing a leader to a vehicle was not handled correctly
  • Fixed: Changing the loadout of a character previously edited in Arsenal would not work
  • Fixed: Changing marker position via attributes would not work properly (https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/188714-eden-editor-bugs/page-7#entry3031043)
  • Fixed: Previewing a scenario in multiplayer would force Regular difficulty
  • Fixed: Autonomous weapons could be grouped with other entities
  • Fixed: Vehicles would miss their license plate numbers when spawned via Eden Editor (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T117241)
  • Fixed: Crash when copying objects in layers between different scenarios
  • Fixed: Toggling foliage in the Eden Editor could cause incorrect behavior of the foliage outside of the Editor

LAUNCHER:

  • Added: New Dashboard page
  • Added: Support for Arma 3 Units on Dashboard and in the server browser
  • Added: Apex visual theme
  • Added: New game types to server browser
  • Added: An option to open mods that are linked to the Steam cache
  • Added: Virtual mod folders are created in the Steam mods storage folder for each Steam mod
  • Added: Arma 3 Apex Content Licensing handling
  • Added: Starting Launcher with a “-connect” parameter will force a pop up of the Join Server dialog
  • Added: Starting game with steam://connect/ip:port (where port is Steam port, e.g. 2303) will open the Join Server dialog
  • Added: Starting game from Steam invitation or Steam server browser will open the Join Server dialog
  • Added: Starting Launcher with a "-skipserverbrowser” parameter will disable the Join Server dialog
  • Added: Localization changes for the Apex update
  • Tweaked: The speed of loading a profile was increased
  • Tweaked: Server mod matching with the mods in the local library was improved
  • Tweaked: All URL encoded mission names are decoded when displayed
  • Tweaked: The map name capitalization is unified (map names are converted to a title case when displayed)
  • Tweaked: Compatibility of game types with older servers was improved
  • Tweaked: Servers without a game type set now show a dash instead of the “Unidentified” game type
  • Fixed: Crash on Launcher start-up
  • Fixed: Sorting order of the official servers was incorrect
  • Fixed: Server mods were listed in the incorrect order
  • Fixed: Server mod matching for servers with their signature verification disabled and not requesting identical mods
  • Fixed: Mods required by a server with signature verification disabled would be duplicated in the Optional section
  • Fixed: Difficulty or AI level names were not displayed if a server forced a custom difficulty
  • Fixed: The server refresh progress bar disappeared too early
  • Fixed: A second instance of Launcher was launched when expanding an existing instance from the system tray
  • Fixed: A version number was reported incorrectly in the Options Menu when a zero was part of a build number

SERVER:

  • Updated: Stand-alone Windows Dedicated Server (1.62)
  • Updated: Stand-alone Linux Dedicated Server (1.62)
    • Known issue: Steam client modifies the steam_appid.txt file incorrectly. In case of issues, verify its content is: 107410
    • Known issue: Sometimes the add-ons are loaded from the wrong installation (e.g. main game)
    • Try adding -mod=curator;kart;heli;mark;expansion;dlcbundle to your arma3server.exe shortcut