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TECHREP #00014

reported by Julien Vida on September 2, 2014

FROM: Tools Commissar
TO: Arma 3 Modders
MATERIEL CATEGORY: Tools
CIRCUMSTANCES: Version 0.74 (New Publisher, Game Updater iteration, Miscellaneous fixes)
SIZE: ~145 MB

STATUS

Some of you have faced problems with our tools suite these past weeks, sometimes critical ones. Most of these issues are now history; the crusade against bugs continues!

Before discussing the fixes, in this update you will find a new version of Publisher. It has donned its black jacket (a splendid new skin). But it's not just that; the code base has been improved and reworked to work more robustly. We have also updated ImageToPAA to handle TGA files created with various 3D software packages.

Next, a major issue in Addon Builder has been fixed. It will no longer delete the source data when a prefix is defined as rooted path. We hope this has not affected many modders and apologize to those who were. In addition, AB has received a lot of improvements and some bonus that we'll let you discover in the change log. The second infamous issue: "Failed to attach viewer" when Object Builder or Terrain Builder is launched from Steam, is now fixed. We have written a little executable that detaches the tool from Steam before its startup. This way, Buldozer will work as expected when it's started from Steam.

We were able to identify why Game Updater was often non-functional on Windows 7 (curious users will find details in the change log) and fixed these issues. It should now be working as advertised on Windows 7 and Windows 8. Note that using Game Updater may still close your Steam session and / or make it unresponsive. This is because Steam's default behavior is to prevent users to have two opened sessions on the same computer and Game Updater needs to open a session to check the license and download the game data.

P drive content now uses short paths (good old SFN), instead of removing an eventual trailing white-space, and also to avoid any risk of errors when the path contains special characters. We would like to thank all community members who've helped us to confirm and refine this fix.

As per usual, if you experience any issue, we invite you to let us know through the well-known channels: Feedback Tracker & the official forums.

CHANGELOG

  • Publisher
    • Added: New version with skin and better functionality
    • Added: Filter text box
    • Added: Search watermark added
    • Added: Change notes field in summary window hidden when not applicable
    • Added: Empty description of changes notes fields in summary window now displays meta text
    • Changed: Reworked code base
    • Fixed: Force steam_appid.txt load (prevent Publisher to read the Arma 3 Tools cloud instead of Arma 3)
    • Fixed: Text boxes in the summary window having unnecessary vertical scroll bars
    • Fixed: An invalid font family reference to Purista in labels and text boxes

    • Fixed: Font and label in the published items filter text box

  • Addon Builder
    • Added: Author name is now written into the CfgPatches class before packing
    • Added: New author option in options window
    • Changed: The clear temp option now moves files to the recycle bin instead of doing a permanent deletion
    • Fixed: Deletion of source data if an addon prefix is specified as rooted path (http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=19265)
  • DevP
    • Changed: Use short paths (instead of searching and removing trailing white-spaces)
  • MapDisk
    • Changed: Use short paths (instead of searching and removing trailing white-spaces)
  • ImageToPAA
    • Added: Ability to handle TGA files created in 3D graphics software (using DirectX TGA)
  • Game Updater
    • Added: "Delete user data.bat" to erase all generated content (restores to default, including registry settings)
    • Added: Log4net is now used for child processes (log file unchanged)
    • Added: Support of Steam Guard code during the installation
    • Added: Ability to close SteamCMD if it's already running (instead of just displaying a warning)
    • Changed: Installation path text box is now read-only, you need to click on [...] to browse and define the installation path
    • Changed: Improved CrossThread operations
    • Fixed: In some conditions, GU was unable to write the installation path to the registry, and occasionally, caused a CTD
    • Fixed: Potential CTD on CrossThread operations
    • Fixed: Some CrossThread operations were detected as illegal
    • Fixed: Event listener in case of unhandled exception wasn't killing the child processes
    • Fixed: Kill every sub processes on exit (normal or CTD)
    • Fixed: Systematic CTD during the update on Windows 7
    • Removed: GameUpdater_files, now handled by "Delete user data.bat"
    • Known issue: GameUpdater can crash your Steam client
    • Known issue: GameUpdater can CTD on startup
      • Add an existing path to the following registry entry: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\bohemia interactive\gameupdater" "path_d"
      • Or use the batch script "Delete user data.bat" in the directory "Arma 3 Tools\Game Updater"
  • Arma3Tools.exe
    • Changed: Now uses .net Framework 4.5.1 (instead of 4.0)
    • Changed: Reworked method to launch some tools
    • Changed: Updated manifest to handle "starter.exe"
    • Changed: Reworked "Buldozer check"
  • Arma3Tools Diagnostics
    • Added: BinMakeRules to the report
  • InstallScript
    • Changed: Version (0.74)
  • Steam Configuration
    • Changed: Object Builder and Terrain Builder are now launched from starter.exe to fix the very common issue "Failed to attach viewer"
    • Removed: Mounting P Drive directly from Steam
    • Added: .NET framework 4.5.1
  • Samples
    • Added: Inertia to the sample weapon
    • Added: Insignia to the sample character

NOTES

  • You can find the tools package in the Steam library (switch the filter to "Tools") - "Arma 3 Tools"
  • You can find the servers in the Steam tools library - "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.

    • Physics simulation powered by NVIDIA® PhysX™. NVIDIA® and PhysX™ are trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation and are used under license.

  • You will probably need to start the primary tool once to add all needed registry entries for the rest of tools.
  • Starting "Arma 3 Tools" directly from Steam with additional parameters (e.g. -config=server.cfg) may cause some of them to have an error on startup.

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