Development Blog & Reveals

[x3kj 1247]

stuttering mirror / MFD view

i'm afraid it won't get "realtime" because of performance issues.

[cthulhu616 3]

I think i saw it in "real time" in toh?? so why shouldn't this be the same in arma 3?

€dit:

[Colossus 2]

Could someone put the new gamestar video on YT?

Hopefully Gamestar will provide one by themselves.

I really like the town. Especially the dried out river for some reason. But also the base. :)

stuttering mirror / MFD view

There are five picture-in-picture along with the users view. For different angles even.

If they can improve it, that's good. But they cost a lot, even with one mirror in Take On Helicopters I used 'very low' on my PIP details.

scenery/colors look a bit oversaturated like its always picture-book weather

Something tells me this is recorded via a camera. There is a continuous set of vertical lines on the screen, which seems to be like a uneven (plastic) surface, but also a horizontal bar going a bit up and down. This is something you'll get on film if the camera's FPS and the screens refresh rate isn't matched up. So, if this is filmed via a camera the white balance and/or the camera's saturation might be off. I'm not saying it is but if that's the case, the saturation of this clip wouldn't be as it should. EDIT: I don't think it looked too bad in BIs own footage, though.

The rest I can agree on, but it's still very much in alpha, mind you.

Edited August 1, 2012 by colossus

[liquidpinky 11]

i'm afraid it won't get "realtime" because of performance issues.

It is realtime, like ToH. Just has a lower frame rate to try and reduce performance issues.

I would imagine like in ToH that you can set the detail level in your graphics options as well.

I thought the game looked great for the reasonably low draw and object distance Jay stated they were using for it.

It seems they may have taken aboard what some of us Take On Beta testers mentioned about making the fogging blend in more with the sky too.

One of my biggest gripes with lower draw distances is that the fogging sticks out like a sore thumb and I just couldn't see it in that video or the previous ones.

The vehicle looked far better off for the PhysX implementation, way more realistic suspension action.

And thanks to Gamestar and Jay Crowe for the videos, so far they have been the most informative out of all the ones out there, Including BIS own.

[MavericK96 0]

I think i saw it in "real time" in toh?? so why shouldn't this be the same in arma 3?

€dit:

It also looks REALLY laggy there (the game in general, no RtT).

[royaltyinexile 175]

It is realtime, like ToH. Just has a lower frame rate to try and reduce performance issues.

I would imagine like in ToH that you can set the detail level in your graphics options as well.

As the number of render targets increases, so the FPS/source reduces. In the vehicle demonstrated, there were something like 7 RTs defined (mirrors, on-board TV for driver, TV for commander, TV for Gunner).

Consequently, each screen shared ~1/7th of the overall resources dedicated to RTT. Of course, I like our optimism, and willingness to push barriers, but, indeed, perhaps that's not going to work, at least in the current state. :o

In truth, we've already identified the issue, and have considered a few solutions: simply a more intelligent deployment of render targets, maybe a more 'optimised' implementation, perhaps some more intricate/half-way-house solutions, and, of course, empowering players with user-defined selection of quality.

Overall, though, the focus will need to be on usability. So, if I'm going to use an on-board TV screen for spotting/ targeting enemies, for example, it better be rendered at a useful rate! If I'm not able to do so because some tiny-ass mirror I can barely see is sucking my performance, I'm going to nuke that from orbit.

Partly, we need to make better design decisons about that (function/ form), and partly we need to put some tools in the players hands to have it as he prefers (a la Take On). These are just some of things we need to balance and iron out, and it forms part of our enormous tasklog as we march valiantly towards a public release!

Best,

RiE

[BobcatBob 10]

Have any of the test machines you guys used for A3 included the latest GFX cards ala GTX680/GTX690, if yes, how many of the video-options that depend primarily on the GPU were you able to put on high-very high?

[metalcraze 290]

That village and an airbase were damn nice.

Unfortunately AIs still run around like headless chickens instead of hiding behind a bush or a tree like in ArmA2.

[liquidpinky 11]

As the number of render targets increases, so the FPS/source reduces. In the vehicle demonstrated, there were something like 7 RTs defined (mirrors, on-board TV for driver, TV for commander, TV for Gunner).

Consequently, each screen shared ~1/7th of the overall resources dedicated to RTT. Of course, I like our optimism, and willingness to push barriers, but, indeed, perhaps that's not going to work, at least in the current state. :o

In truth, we've already identified the issue, and have considered a few solutions: simply a more intelligent deployment of render targets, maybe a more 'optimised' implementation, perhaps some more intricate/half-way-house solutions, and, of course, empowering players with user-defined selection of quality.

Overall, though, the focus will need to be on usability. So, if I'm going to use an on-board TV screen for spotting/ targeting enemies, for example, it better be rendered at a useful rate! If I'm not able to do so because some tiny-ass mirror I can barely see is sucking my performance, I'm going to nuke that from orbit.

Partly, we need to make better design decisons about that (function/ form), and partly we need to put some tools in the players hands to have it as he prefers (a la Take On). These are just some of things we need to balance and iron out, and it forms part of our enormous tasklog as we march valiantly towards a public release!

Best,

RiE

The dash mounted rear view monitor could only be engaged while reversing for example, certainly doing it otherwise in the UK would be illegal. The Government deosn't like you watching TV while driving.

The most rear facing of the side mirrors could share a target, the blind spot mirrors would have to be independent to remain effective though.

Is there no way to separate the RTT per player basis so that there is no need for anyone not in view of the commanders console to have it rendering, likewise with the gunner?

Maybe taking into account tft viewing angles and cheekily using that as an excuse for some seating positions not seeing anything on the screen.

Anyway, looking good so far.

Will there be any bicycles in A3, getting concerned as I have seen none in any showcases yet? And maybe a nice Pedalo for cruising off the beach.

[danny96 79]

http://www.gamestar.de/index.cfm?pid=1589&pk=66941

Here you can watch.

[gonk 0]

hmmm... how delayed is this alpha ? Start listening around the 1:14 area and they talk about the physx 2 - 3 delay and he says.."Come the end of this year when we get/let players get hands on with it"...:(

[Mr. Charles 22]

/snip

Best,

RiE

Why do i always read your posts in your voice? :bored:

[pettka 694]

Why do i always read your posts in your voice? :bored:

Because Prince of Arma is The Voice :icon_twisted:

[celery 8]

I get to hear it almost every day. :inlove:

Although what you don't hear in official videos is that he's quite fond of exclaiming the name of a certain farm animal. :p

[CarlGustaffa 4]

I hope the problem with the clouds changing appearance as you look around will get some attention before the final release. Or I will scan the clouds and get annoyed rather than scan for enemies... :)

[CriminalMinds 10]

The walkthrough from Gamestar is now uploaded on youtube.com:

[frostwyrm333 1]

Arma 3 controls will be dumbed down :rolleyes:

https://twitter.com/KarelMoricky/status/231046726461571072

[gonk 0]

Arma 3 controls will be dumbed down :rolleyes:

https://twitter.com/KarelMoricky/status/231046726461571072

I fear change!!

[pettka 694]

Arma 3 controls will be dumbed down :rolleyes:

https://twitter.com/KarelMoricky/status/231046726461571072

Nope, it's rather the other way around, wait for more info :icon_twisted:

[SASrecon 0]

The walkthrough from Gamestar is now uploaded on youtube.com:

Hmm

Jay talks about sending AI into buildings, does this mean they will actually act better indoors or was he just implying that there will be more enterable buildings but the AI will act the same as in ARMA1/2?

[frostwyrm333 1]

trolling trolls today

Hmm

Jay talks about sending AI into buildings, does this mean they will actually act better indoors or was he just implying that there will be more enterable buildings but the AI will act the same as in ARMA1/2?

it could mean a number of things but I imagine that indoor AI will get improved at least a bit

[-Coulum- 35]

Honestly it would be cruel to not make the ai at least a bit better at fighting indoors and able to take the initiative to take up building positions on their own without a specific waypoint or script telling them to do so. I mean their is TONS of potential for great battles in that one small village let alone the bigger ones on limnos (this was only stratis right?). The amount of enterable building and the huge amount of small details (cover) could really bring arma to the "next level" - if the ai is able to utilize those bits of cover effectively.

Either way PvP battles are going to be intense.

I'll pretend I didn't see the graphical bugs at around 9:20 though...

[kylania 567]

it could mean a number of things but I imagine that indoor AI will get improved at least a bit

I watched ArmA2 AI do a beautiful building take down the other day on a player made map. An officer was called in by a BMP that had circled the building my friends were in. He assembled his squad in a yard across the street. The officer then crossed the road and scoped out the building. Then two AI ran into the street as over watch, two more went to the corners of the building and started looking around them and the rest of the AI stacked up on the officer. When my friends peeked around an internal corner the overwatch immediately started to fire at them and the middle group of AI turned to join in. A few moments later the officer and stack moved into the building and killed my friends who were in the back room.

Brought a tear to my eye seeing AI work like that.

[SASrecon 0]

I'll pretend I didn't see the graphical bugs at around 9:20 though...

Haha remember the white trees in the ARMA2 showcases and I think even after release, I'd imagine it's a similar problem and will pretty certainly be fixed before the release this time around :rolleyes:

[-Coulum- 35]

Haha remember the white trees in the ARMA2 showcases and I think even after release, I'd imagine it's a similar problem and will pretty certainly be fixed before the release this time around

Yes I am sure they'll fix it very soon if they haven't already. I believe those are the exact things BIS is trying to avoid in arma 3. Besides that most everything looked great. LOD switching/morphing is still present but I think it is better than A2. One thing I would like to see though is grass slowly fading in and out of existance rather than just "popping up" and then suddenly disappearing. I have played arma enough to ignore these oddities but I know when I tried getting a friend into arma it was the only thing he could focus on. Tree morphing and grass popping shouldn't be distracting the player.

I watched ArmA2 AI do a beautiful building take down the other day on a player made map. An officer was called in by a BMP that had circled the building my friends were in. He assembled his squad in a yard across the street. The officer then crossed the road and scoped out the building. Then two AI ran into the street as over watch, two more went to the corners of the building and started looking around them and the rest of the AI stacked up on the officer. When my friends peeked around an internal corner the overwatch immediately started to fire at them and the middle group of AI turned to join in. A few moments later the officer and stack moved into the building and killed my friends who were in the back room.

Brought a tear to my eye seeing AI work like that.

Now you have to play through 500 more similar situation where the ai simply walks into the building one at a time each one being repeatedly slaughered by your friend camping in the hardcorner of the room, while no ai thinks maybe they should go through the back door, toss a grenade or even enter the building facing that hardcorner instead of going into it obliviously.

What I'm saying is that no doubt the ai sometimes does awesome stuff but it only happens once in "insanely large number" times and this ratio suggests that those flashes of brilliance are not infact purposeful but pure fluke. Could be wrong but thats simply the impresion I get. It is very hard to get killed in a building against the ai.

And I still have never seen them take up good firing positions within a building or even decide, on their own, to occupy a building.

That at least is my experience and is why I think they need to be improved to at least know the basics of fighting in/between/from buildings.