Arma 3 engine

[jonneymendoza 10]

damm thats terrible.

[PuFu 4600]

damm thats terrible.

each with his priorities i guess...

on my part, it isn't terrible at all

[jonneymendoza 10]

i see. i would have thought they would improve it a bit? when will we finaly see realistic destricble environments? Arma 10?

[PuFu 4600]

i see. i would have thought they would improve it a bit? when will we finaly see realistic destricble environments? Arma 10?

BF3 destruction is all good and fun too look at, but it isn't realistic either. Let's not start, yet again comparison in terms of size and scope.

If BIS makes all buildings with destruction layers, that would be enough for armaverse

[jonneymendoza 10]

BF3 destruction is all good and fun too look at, but it isn't realistic either. Let's not start, yet again comparison in terms of size and scope.

If BIS makes all buildings with destruction layers, that would be enough for armaverse

its more realistic then what BIS has at the moment.

[trips 10]

You can't have it all, there aren't enough cycles on your CPU or bytes in your RAM. Compare BF3 to ArmA in terms of map sizes or AI versatility, for example.

I'd expect more destructible subsections and stages per building but there are probably better (by that I mean have a bigger effect on gameplay) things to spend CPU time on than dynamic destruction.

[EricM 0]

We all dream of having BF3 destructible environments, with Euphoria animation, with Crysis 2 realtime GI, with ID tech 5 megatexture, with Lionhead's mega meshes, with outerra's infinite procedural world, all running 60fps with Kinect (Track IR is sooo last year) on a tablet, right ?

BIS isn't the kind to slack, but they can't licence or recreate all the cutting-edge techs on the market with their financial and man power. This is hard core programming. In a few years it'll be more common place and better documented, but you can't ask so much so soon. They already have to harness the power of DX11 and they've got plenty on their hands with that.

Edited June 13, 2011 by EricM

[Aussie_Osiris 10]

Things I want to know about the new engine/ARMA III are

Is grass a compulsory render so that regardless of your settings there is always grass so people can't turn it off and more importantly so that the AI doesn't see through it.

(Also from the videos it appears the vegetation render distance has been greatly increased)

Will it advantage of geometry instancing v2 introduced in DirectX 10 so it can render the same object with varying textures? (And make the game look awesome)

Will there be animations for boarding/un-boarding vehicles?

Will there be tessellation?

If so will it be used on as many things possible or just characters, objects, landscapes and/or buildings?

Will fog have weight? (So that it's thicker at the ground than a few metres (or meters for you Americans) up)

Will there be shader subroutines? (To make the shading engine much more efficient)

What kind of texture mapping (bump, normal, parallax, displacement ect.) will there be?

Are you only going to be using the CPU library of PhysX or the GPU library as well?

Also does PhysX give smooth animation transitions? (I know Havok calculates transitioning between one animation to another but I've never looked into what PhysX can do)

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For the people who don't have much knowledge about the API that is DirectX 10/11 or people who would like a refresher.

Microsoft started from scratch in making the DirectX 10 API. DirectX 10 Hardware can actually use DirectX 11, as DirectX 11 is more like an extension of 10 and is backwards compatible. One HUGE thing they fixed is that much of the code that choked the CPU in DirectX 9c and earlier versions was taken off and put onto the GPU or doesn't exist anymore. This will greatly help relieve the pressure off the CPU that was so intense for ARMA II. Microsoft made DirectX 11 multi-threaded, previously developers could only do so much at making the game multi-threaded but DirectX 10 and earlier still choked the line as it was still only single threaded, so that too will make the engine more efficient.

(Developers and community please correct me if I'm wrong on the above paragraph as it's been some time since I studied this stuff for uni)

Any questions regarding DirectX 10/11 I'll gladly try to answer to give the developers less time explaining and more time developing. :)

PS. I fully support the decision to make the game DirectX 10/11 only. This will make the game run much better and make development much easier for the developers. This is what the industry needs to push itself forwards and leave the past behind.

[whisper 0]

damm thats terrible.

You know what? I'm going right now at BF3 forums whining ENDLESSLY that their maps are freaking TINY (yes, even the "much larger" they so boast in E3 previews), can't handle 10kmx10km and that is freaking TERRIBLE and INNACCEPTABLE in 2011, when a simple engine like Virtual Reality can do it for years now, then whining endlessly on how their AI handling in the open is completely poor.....

Should I go further, or do you get the picture ?

there's a distinct difference between "it's terrible and unacceptable because game X already does it" and "it could use improvement".

Every engine could use improvement, you can't have it all packed together. If it was as easy as you paint it, another company would have done it already! BIG NEWS : only 1 has tried so far, and failed badly!

If what you seek if BF3 engine only, then by all means, go play BF3 when it's out, and stop playing A2/A3, BF3 is going to be an excellent game by the look of it.

If you like ArmA specific : scale, then this specific comes with a price. You should accept it, as simple as that.

* I have ArmA scale

* I want a lag free game

* I want BF3 destructible environment

Typical mutual exclusive

You probably notice BC2 hit detection is not really the best, and not on par with previous Dice titles. Could it be due to server being slightly more loaded by physics, and notably, destruction calculations?

Could you now imagine said destruction calculations transposed in ArmA scale? which is like what? 5x BF scale at the very least? What kind of magic will BI pull to get this done? Or is there any reason to not take into account the scale, and hope that you'll never have 15 simultaneous building collapse on a single server, for example?

Or, perhaps you don't care about scale, in which case, why play ArmA? (if I'm going to resume ArmA to scale, which is imho its main specific)

There's room for improvement

Terrible? Not really

[SPC.Spets 21]

its more realistic then what BIS has at the moment.

realistic?

making holes in a wall with a 203 grenade? lol

Carrying infinite healing/ammo magic box? wtf?

Deploying a parachute everytime you jump from a building? WHATA FOOK!!??

and so on...

I like and I have BC2 already, and Im going to buy BF3 for sure, but... cmon!

Long time playing Arma1 and Arma2 Coop and TvTs and I never needed to destroy any building to get in or kill any enemy inside. For that, we use C4, satchels, rocket launcher, CAS, Tanks, Artillery, etc, etc NOT a rain of 203s or grenades.

I admint it would be nice new visual effects, like more smoke dust and debries flying, big explosion, shock wave, very loud sound, when you throw a JDAM for example

[dmarkwick 261]

realistic?

making holes in a wall with a 203 grenade? lol

Carrying infinite healing/ammo magic box? wtf?

Deploying a parachute everytime you jump from a building? WHATA FOOK!!??

and so on...

I like and I have BC2 already, and Im going to buy BF3 for sure, but... cmon!

Long time playing Arma1 and Arma2 Coop and TvTs and I never needed to destroy any building to get in or kill any enemy inside. For that, we use C4, satchels, rocket launcher, CAS, Tanks, Artillery, etc, etc NOT a rain of 203s or grenades.

I admint it would be nice new visual effects, like more smoke dust and debries flying, big explosion, shock wave, very loud sound, when you throw a JDAM for example

You should filter for context, JM was commenting on the building destruction, not every single thing.

[antoineflemming 14]

realistic?

making holes in a wall with a 203 grenade? lol

Carrying infinite healing/ammo magic box? wtf?

Deploying a parachute every time you jump from a building? WHATA FOOK!!??

and so on...

I like and I have BC2 already, and Im going to buy BF3 for sure, but... cmon!

Long time playing Arma1 and Arma2 Coop and TvTs and I never needed to destroy any building to get in or kill any enemy inside. For that, we use C4, satchels, rocket launcher, CAS, Tanks, Artillery, etc, etc NOT a rain of 203s or grenades.

I admit it would be nice new visual effects, like more smoke dust and debries flying, big explosion, shock wave, very loud sound, when you throw a JDAM for example

I thought the discussion was on destruction, not on a carbon copy of BFBC2. The comment was that the DESTRUCTION was more realistic that what BIS currently has, which is true. It'd be nice for a change if you super fanboys would stop getting offended every time someone says some aspect of some other game is better than BIS. Grow up and act mature.

[maturin 12]

BFBC destruction isn't realistic, but it could be optimized to be so. But if you can make holes in walls with M203s and destroy entire sides of houses with HEAT rockets in BFBC, Arma is worse with its sabot rounds and autocannons that take out entire houses, or fortifications that simply vanish in an instant, leaving the occupants in the open.

[chris64 0]

I thought the discussion was on destruction, not on a carbon copy of BFBC2. The comment was that the DESTRUCTION was more realistic that what BIS currently has, which is true. It'd be nice for a change if you super fanboys would stop getting offended every time someone says some aspect of some other game is better than BIS. Grow up and act mature.

Well said.

In an interview Marek Spanel was saying that with this iteration they really want to iron out the things with the engine that annoyed the community, I certainly hope this is true, if BIS can fix some of the niggles then I will be playing for a long long (long) time.

[nodunit 397]

If only certain projectiles say a tank, could when the round hits say a brick wall, puncture but form an alpha decal that 'simulates' the hole rather than blow the entire wall out. Perhaps if the damage system could be based on projectile strength more closely such as say dropping an LGB from an A-10 vs a MBT HEAT or SABOT.

[Steakslim 1]

I could live with the Arrowhead building damage system in ArmA3, however, they really need to do something about the glass in the windows, they need to be breakable. I've found it frustrating at times to shoot through windows with the indestructible glass constantly meddling with the bullet path, which it should do...but the glass doesn't break so this constantly occurs and you sometimes cannot find a better vantage point. It was easier with Takistan because most of the buildings had open windows, but there were still a few that didn't. For the actual building damage they can just pretty it up with some better particle effects.

However if they do go for a more advanced damage system for the buildings, then all the better.

[Flock 10]

I was glad to hear that arma 3 is supporting underwater environments. One game, by a fellow Czech developer that i think bis could learn a lot from is hidden and dangerous 2. Even though it is about 8 years old it still leads the way in a lot of areas imo. I know that the biggest maps are only like 8km but it's still worth comparing.

For a start the physics are really something which would work well in arma 3 i think. For instance you can shoot weapons out of peoples hands or shoot soldiers hats off. There are some really good examples of under water missions. On the topic of hats, the h&d2 gear selection really gives a lot of customization and arma 3 could learn a thing or two from it.

Ragdolls, are done pretty well and work in multiplayer (co-op ai and pvp) by going "stiff" after about 5 seconds. Climbing and stamina systems are also areas that i think arma could do well to follow. The sounds and music (sp) were also very well done.

Anyone else who's played h&d2 think that similar features that it had could go down really well in arma 3?

Edited June 16, 2011 by Flock

[kernriver 4]

I was glad to hear that arma 3 is supporting underwater environments. One game, by a fellow Czech developer that i think bis could learn a lot from is hidden and dangerous 2. Even though it is about 8 years old it still leads the way in a lot of areas imo. I know that the biggest maps are only like 8km but it's still worth comparing.

For a start the physics are really something which would work well in arma 3 i think. For instance you can shoot weapons out of peoples hands or shoot soldiers hats off. There are some really good examples of under water missions. On the topic of hats, the h&d2 gear selection really gives a lot of customization and arma 3 could learn a thing or two from it.

Ragdolls, are done pretty well and work in multiplayer (co-op ai and pvp) by going "stiff" after about 5 seconds. Climbing and stamina systems are also areas that i think arma could do well to follow. The sounds and music (sp) were also very well done.

Anyone else who's played h&d2 think that similar features that it had could go down really well in arma 3?

Yes, especially gear selection with weight constraints, that was really good, and I think it also affected your stamina.

[Maio 293]

Can a dev confirm that the Arma 3 engine will be RV 4 ?

[mant3z 1]

Unfortunately no.

Last rumors says that it'll be engine which was used in Duke Nukem Forever :D

[NeMeSiS 11]

Can a dev confirm that the Arma 3 engine will be RV 4 ?

Does it really matter what number it will be called? If it makes you feel any better, they can also call it RV 8.:rolleyes:

[Maio 293]

Does it really matter what number it will be called? If it makes you feel any better, they can also call it RV 8.:rolleyes:

Why yes, it does . A bigger number at the end means a better game . Just look at COD :rolleyes: .

I was just curious . We got a sudden burst of info with E3 and now it's all quiet on the central front . The features thread is starting to catch dust :D .

[mant3z 1]

It's silence before massive storm :)

[Big Dawg KS 6]

Can a dev confirm that the Arma 3 engine will be RV 4 ?

It's RV over-9000.

[ziiip 1]

I wish that creating custom animations was user-friendly. I dont know a anything about creating anims for ArmA2, but the number of anim packs should tell thats the current system is not very good. For example if I could use Messiah to create some custom stuff, I could spice up my missions, and I'm sure you could do the same with yours.