FROM: Project Lead
TO: Arma 3 Users
INFO: Patch released, Hotfix expected, Light Shafts
PRECEDENCE: Flash
SITUATION
The first post-release patch was released last Friday. It sported a long list of miscellaneous fixes and improvements, but also significantly increased Altis performance for a group of players out there (not everyone). They especially benefit from this during large-scale scenarios where a lot of AI units are maneuvering across the terrain. The Artificial Intelligence work that did not make it into release, was also included in this patch ... and said work is still on-going. Unfortunately the patch also caused a multiplayer instability related to PhysX simulation. It has proven hard to debug since it involves external libraries. Our programmers have finally found useful debugging information, and once they have a confirmed fix, we hope to hotfix 1.02. Apologies to those not able to enjoy MP at the moment.
We look forward to seeing visitors of Firstlook 2013 expo in The Netherlands this weekend! To those unable to attend: we will share teasers of future content here next week as well.
INTELLIGENCE
Devbranch has received the first version of a fancy new graphical feature: Light shafts a.k.a. Crepuscular rays. We're still tweaking the settings for various weather types. Along with the adjusted lens flares, they enhance the feeling of being basked in strong sunlight very nicely. Special kudos go to programmer Lukáš Bábíček, who developed this feature for Arma 3 in his spare time as a hobby project - and offered it to us to release!
This week's Workshop spotlight is shared by designer Vladimír Hynek. He had this to say about 'Infantry' by Binkowski: "It's a great mid- to close range combat mission, enhanced by its own voice acting and music, which really helps to make the experience more immersive. Commanding your unit wisely and gathering weapons from enemies is the key to victory."
OPERATIONS
Final MOCAP for the first campaign episode was finished, processed and plugged into the game. It's awesome to see the characters come to life! The last bit of voice acting is being recorded in the next few days, including several full new British English Radio Protocols. Look for an announcement of the exact release date for episode 1 during next week.
LOGISTICS
While the bulk of the team is busy with general fixes and the aforementioned campaign, some team members have begun preparing tools for release. We intend to bring out several packages as Steam tools. The aim is to gradually update and enhance them - starting with the basics to get going. Our Community Tools package will eventually offer updated versions of things like binarization, PBO file packing, the Oxygen modeling tool (with PhysX LOD support), Visitor for terrains, many supporting tools, as well as sample data. Which of these get in the initial suite is not clear right now. We'll keep modders updated on progress.
The stand-alone Windows Dedicated Server package is to feature heavily compressed data (the server does not need visual / audio fidelity). It will be free for anyone to download and distribute. We're also working on a Linux Dedicated Server, but we expect it may take the longest of these three releases.