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TECHREP #00019

reported by Julien Vida on March 3, 2015

FROM: Tools Commissar
TO: Arma 3 Modders
MATERIEL CATEGORY: Tools
CIRCUMSTANCES: Update 0.84 (Terrain Builder, Samples, Improvements)
SIZE: ~12 MB

STATUS

A little more than a month after the previous release, some hundreds (* x) lines of code and 7 development updates, here we are! Before anything else, we would like to thank everyone who was involved in the tests of these development updates, provided relevant and useful feedback.

Terrain artists will be happy to see that Terrain Builder received some additions and changes. The import process from TXT files has been made easier to use with a new dialog and the ability to import objects (still from TXT) with absolute elevation. Speaking of it, you can now place objects from Buldozer (you will probably have to update your installation with DevP) using absolute elevation.

Next up are the Samples - some have been updated and others added. Updates are mainly about the sounds, the config are now in the same structure as the current version of the game and, sound designer Kryštof Havel has translated the remaining Czech comments from the sounds configs (to give you hints on how the things work). Regarding the additions, there are four to highlight: Two are for weapons and how they behave - the initSpeed has been documented and implemented, just like the upcoming recoil configuration. Please, note that the later will be implemented in the Marksmen DLC and is not part of the current game update (1.40). Then, we implemented a new procedural method to generate icons, you will find it into the weapon sample and you can find its documentation on the community wiki. Finally, for those who want to implement the FFV (Firing From Vehicle) in their addons, bouncing master pettka has prepared you some help to do so (Samples_F\Test_FFV_Poses_F\). Thanks go to the members of RHS for pointing out this gap in samples.

As you may know, some users are facing issues with FSM Editor, especially about the file association (either, created with Windows or with File Assoc). In brief, on some stations, it's not possible to run properly FSM Editor from a file (double click on a FSM). Like Jay wrote it in the SITREP #00094 (with a music touch), we struggle to reproduce this issue, the all we can tell is we are using the very same version with the same configuration file without any issues. Therefore, if you experience this problem, we invite you to keep an eye on the development branch of the tools and give us any information that could be relevant.

File Assoc (the tool responsible for file association with our tools) has been completely reworked and now supports for more file type like images, 3D files, FSM and script files. The last requires Poseidon Tools to be installed and link with mapFolders. You can find more information on its new page in the community wiki.

Other tools have been updated with some visual improvements and small feature, in example, ImageToPAA will highlight either if the destination or source directory exists and by the way, now handle destination folder.

We invite the most curious to have a look at the few more entries from the change log. As per usual, issues and suggestions are very much welcome on our official channels: Feedback Tracker & the forums.

CHANGELOG

  • Arma3Tools.exe
    • Added: Neutral resources language (en-US)
    • Added: Support for Windows 10 (technical preview)
    • Added: Icon for FSMEditor and TexView2
    • Changed: Auto-scale mode enabled
    • Changed: Update of the application manifest and configuration
    • Tweaked: Settings interface
    • Tweaked: Interface and some menus have been reworked a little
    • Removed: Some unused options have been removed from the forms
  • Terrain Builder
    • Added: Import objects from TXT - dialog for import mode selection
    • Added: Possibility to make the height of an object ignore terrain changes around it (by selecting and pressing M in Buldozer) and the ability to turn that off (in the drop down menu when selected in Terrain Builder)
    • Changed: Import objects from an external TXT file with absolute elevations
    • Changed: Alert message on missing objects in the Template library or the whole Template library - Terrain Builder now shows a missing templates dialog even for a project with one single layer
    • Fixed: Undo operation on deleting areas leads to CTD
  • Samples
    • Added: initSpeed property documentation for sample Weapon
    • Added: New recoil configuration (sample of Weapon)
    • Added: Sample of FFV animations config and RTMs - not a standard sample, rather a snippet of actual game data (\Samples_F\Test_FFV_Poses_F\)
    • Added: 'Procedural' icon generation into weapon sample - community wiki documentation
    • Added: Hit points definition of the boat sample (engine1 and engine2)
    • Added: magazineGroup to sample of weapon
    • Changed: Updated gearbox config of the car sample
    • Changed: Updated sound config of the Car sample
    • Changed: Updated sound config of the Plane sample
    • Changed: Updated sound config of the Heli sample
    • Changed: The solution node is now hidden (sample of Extension)
    • Changed: Comments in the sound configs have been translated from Czech to English
    • Tweaked: Many files have been improved or adjusted (but the content has been left untouched)
    • Fixed: The legs' memory points were not in the proper selections (http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=20761)
    • Fixed: The CfgPatches of the Plane sample was incorrect
    • Removed: Unnecessary icons for slotted versions of weapons (because of the procedural icon generation)
  • FSM Editor
    • Added: Start script in order to properly open FSM Editor from a file (FSMEditorStartScript.bat)
    • Fixed: On some work stations, FSM editor is unable to determine its own working directory (more information is available in this thread)
  • FileAssoc
    • Added: Support for FSM, BIFSM, P3D, PAA and PAC files
    • Added: File association for scripts (SQF, SQS) and configs (CPP, HPP) if Poseidon tools is present and has been linked by MapFolders
    • Added: New startup parameters /remove, /removeOnly, /add and /addOnly. Note: the default behavior is to perform a "clean" then an "add" .
    • Added: Now checks if the application exists before making the file association
    • Added: Now performs a clean up of previous file associations on startup (except for CPP and HPP to prevent issues with IDEs like Visual Studio)
    • Added: Readme file
    • Changed: File type naming convention (from "BI Type" to "BI_Type")
    • Changed: Override of the existing file type definition
    • Changed: Code base reworked from scratch
    • Tweaked: More clear output
    • Changed: Assembly updated
    • Tweaked: Improved 'fail-safe' statements
    • Fixed: The file association was, sometimes, incorrect
  • Arma3GU (part of Game Updater)
    • Added: Progress bar to indicate when the starter will be closed
    • Changed: The size of the splash screen, reduced a little
    • Tweaked: Code base rewritten almost from scratch
    • Tweaked: Progress bar behavior, position and size adjusted
  • ImageToPAA
    • Added: Support for destination directory
    • Added: Non existent source or destination directory is highlighted
    • Tweaked: Interface
    • Tweaked: Process handling
  • Publisher
    • Fixed: Fails to start if launched from the Steam right-click menu
  • FontToTGA
    • Added: Now opens the destination directory once the conversion is done
    • Added: Non existent source or destination directory is highlighted
    • Tweaked: Interface
  • Game Updater
    • Changed: Some methods have been moved from libraries to the main EXE
    • Tweaked: Operations related to Steam have been improved
  • Diagnostics script
    • Added: Result of BI file types (from the registry)
  • Steam dumpAccountInfo
    • Changed: Now used the neutral resources language (en-US)
    • Changed: The output (console and log) has been cleaned and is easier to read
    • Tweaked: Code base reworked
    • Tweaked: Logger configuration file cleaned up
    • Fixed: Black default icon was used instead of the white BI icon
    • Fixed: Incorrect .NET version in the configuration file
  • Documentation
  • FileBank
    • Added: Non existent source or destination directory is highlighted
    • Tweaked: Interface
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • Starter
    • Tweaked: Call of methods and code base
    • Fixed: Black default icon was used instead of the white BI icon
  • WAVToWSS
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • WAVToLIP
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • WSSDecoder
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • DSCreateKey
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • DSSignFile
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • CfgConvert
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • BankRev
    • Fixed: The main form was incorrectly configured
  • Steam configuration
    • Changed: Incremented version to reflect the current stage (0.84)

NOTES

  • In case of any issue, please, let us know on our usual channels: Feedback Tracker or the forums.
  • You can find the tools package in the Steam library (switch the filter to "Tools") - "Arma 3 Tools".
  • You will need to start the primary tool once to add all needed registry entries for the rest of too.
  • If, previously, you were using mapFolders, you may encounter some issues with FSMEditor. In this case, please, run "Arma 3 Tools\patches\version_0.81.4.bat".

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