Development Blog & Reveals

[PsychoPigeon 10]

Steamworks? So that means ArmA3 will forever remain DRM-ridden and have annoying issues Steamworks DRM brings with it. Like painful mod launching. Or if you are getting disconnected from steam store (which happens several times a day, sometimes lasting for hours during sales) - steamworks automatically kicks you out from MP game. This was happening to me and my friends in L4D2 and DoW2 and during sale days when steam servers go down for hours under load playing steamworks games without forced disconnect was nigh to impossible.

WTF BIS? And no marketing bla bla bla from blog doesn't do it for me.

Painful mod launching? Never had any problem with ANY mods.. you idiots overdramatizing things on purpose because you're bored or something? Stupid idiots.

When you say 'steam faults' or 'annoying issues' you need to list them, otherwise you're spouting pure bunk.

[messiahua 0]

"Steam exclusive" - very sad :( ohh well... moving on...

[samb 15]

They won't be any mod launching problem since everyone will be using Steam now. Before mods were made for non Steam versions, and You had to learn how to make them work. It's going to be easier rather than more difficult from now on...

[onlyrazor 11]

Painful mod launching? Never had any problem with ANY mods.. you idiots overdramatizing things on purpose because you're bored or something? Stupid idiots.

When you say 'steam faults' or 'annoying issues' you need to list them, otherwise you're spouting pure bunk.

Whoa, whoa, let's keep it clean here. After all, these forums are rated E for Everyone's a thespian.

[Guess Who 10]

Steamworks? So that means ArmA3 will forever remain DRM-ridden and have annoying issues Steamworks DRM brings with it. Like painful mod launching. Or if you are getting disconnected from steam store (which happens several times a day, sometimes lasting for hours during sales) - steamworks automatically kicks you out from MP game. This was happening to me and my friends in L4D2 and DoW2 and during sale days when steam servers go down for hours under load playing steamworks games without forced disconnect was nigh to impossible.

WTF BIS? And no marketing bla bla bla from blog doesn't do it for me.

That is probably the first time ever I totally agree with you!

[zoog 18]

You need an internet connection to install the game, without connection, no code check, no code check results in no install and thus no game. That´s the problem, basically. After you´ve installed you can play offline, obviously.

As far as I know all retail Arma versions also have an online cd-check built in, including the DLC's. Of course they patched out the DRM 6 or so months after release. But I doubt you can install and activate Arma 2 without an internet connection (the first 6 or so months after release). I'm not sure, actually. Never tried it :)

[Ezcoo 47]

Or if you are getting disconnected from steam store (which happens several times a day, sometimes lasting for hours during sales) - steamworks automatically kicks you out from MP game. This was happening to me and my friends in L4D2 and DoW2 and during sale days when steam servers go down for hours under load playing steamworks games without forced disconnect was nigh to impossible.

Please, please, noooooooooooooooo! It must be done so that validation of the game and launching the game from Steam is enough. There isn't any benefit in kicking people from MP if they loose connection to Steam when they're in game, right? The percentage of people that loose connection to Steam all the time is pretty high (yes, I'm one of them), and it happens also to about 40 % of people in my friends list... Arma is especially sensitive to that because of the long-lasting scenarios. How could you play scenarios lasting multiple hours if you lost connection to Steam every 10 mins?

[Guess Who 10]

As far as I know all retail Arma versions also have an online cd-check built in, including the DLC's. Of course they patched out the DRM 6 or so months after release. But I doubt you can install and activate Arma 2 without an internet connection (the first 6 or so months after release). I'm not sure, actually. Never tried it :)

Nope, you are totally wrong.

[PsychoPigeon 10]

Please, please, noooooooooooooooo! It must be done so that validation of the game and launching the game from Steam is enough. There isn't any benefit in kicking people from MP if they loose connection to Steam when they're in game, right? The percentage of people that loose connection to Steam all the time is pretty high (yes, I'm one of them), and it happens also to about 40 % of people in my friends list... Arma is especially sensitive to that because of the long-lasting scenarios. How could you play scenarios lasting multiple hours if you lost connection to Steam every 10 mins?

If you're losing connection every 10 minutes that's a problem your end. Fix it and stop whining.

[lwlooz 0]

As someone who played BI games since the OFP Demo, I only have this feedback to offer:

You guys suck.

At least I don't have to upgrade my computer for Arma3 now.

[zoog 18]

Nope, you are totally wrong.

A few weeks ago I was unable to install the Army of Czech republic DLC because my key could not be verified due to a technical issue at the cd-key master server (I bought it especially for a joint operation that evening, so in fact I was forced to use the Lite version :( ). Sent an e-mail to the Sprocket support and one (or two?) days later they fixed the issue with the cd-key masterserver (or at least the cd-key verification system, whatever it was). I believe all the other DLC's have to be "activated" as well during install when you enter the serial. I had to do this a few weeks ago when reinstalling Arma, the ACR DLC caused issues, so maybe it is only required for ACR. I'm not so sure that I'm totally wrong :) But I don't think I'm fully right either :P

Edited February 21, 2013 by zoog

[Praelium 0]

As someone who played BI games since the OFP Demo, I only have this feedback to offer:

You guys suck.

At least I don't have to upgrade my computer for Arma3 now.

Why don't you like Steam?

[das attorney 858]

Bye then, I guess. No need for me to hang around here anymore :( Saddest day of my life...

Hey Carl,

I read your input on these forums and you seem intelligent and well educated. Why are you so adverse to Steam that you would quit playing Arma and withdraw from the forums? Just seems irrational without explanation.

I'm not bashing, just interested.

[jibemorel 10]

Is BIS is planning to release a non Steam version later on BIS store once everything is clear ?

[Janez 522]

No longer necessary.

http://i.imgur.com/jOuW2Cg.png

In the end its still (in your case) F:\Steam\SteamApps\Common\ARMA X. So not a huge improvement.

[Dwarden 1125]

STEAM has improved since I added our first product ARMA 2 there

it has been bumpy road with ups and downs but overally the product is improving, the featureset is expanding and the bugs are ironed out ...

while it's not perfect and I can still see some little things in Desura and GOG and Impulse Driven which I like more for this or that reason

the key is, Valve is our major partner for over 3 years and quite closely listens to some of the things we need (I say :) )...

recently they resoled long term outstanding issue with rights which was plaguing tons of users (unable to write registry keys w/o use "run as administrator")

take in mind the size of the STEAM platform and the free Developer SDK which is extremely rich these days (yes compared to less rich ones costing $)

as the person who covers online distribution i'm happy with the evolution of the platform ... and it will get better

[thnos 10]

Hi,

Firstly, I want to apologize for my very bad english (google translate) English is not my native language (I'm french).

I am very disappointed and shocked to learn that you have made ​​the choice to impose at your customers, this crappy Steamworks DRM.

I always bought your games while I could easily hack and I see in your decision a great betrayal on your part, you who claim not to believe in DRM, but rather the quality of legal tender.

I'm sorry, but I know I will not buy Arma 3 if I can not sell, lend, or give it, while I paid !

Where is your philosophy of respect for the customer, that I loved so much ?!

[f27sharps 1]

@thnos +1

[Syonco 10]

I will let these catastrophically bad news slide if we get the Alpha TODAY! :mad:

[andersson 285]

I'm not a user of steam (will be I guess...). One question. Is it possible to play steam games in MP LAN without internet connection?

If we all buy arma3 through steam, activate online but then meet up with our computers were there is no internet, is it possible to play then? (If someone think Im stretching it I mean, a LAN game in a cabin is quite nice :), what happens if internet goes down and we are all at my place playing).

How do steam handle situations like that?

(I will not ask what happens if steam goes out of business, as I guess we have arma7 by then...)

[Ezcoo 47]

If you're losing connection every 10 minutes that's a problem your end. Fix it and stop whining.

I'd be more than happy to fix it, but I can't. There is only one (1) connection available here, it's from the worst ISP in the country, and can offer only 0,9 / 0,1 Mbit/s connection that is very unstable and is suffering from multiple issues, like high packetloss.

I'd understand it if the minority of people that had as bad connection as I do would be the only ones that suffered from connection issues, but like I said, according to my observations it's up to 40 %! And I haven't still haven't found or got response, why would the connection to Steam be needed when you're in game. Why to have such stupid thing making the game unplayable for many people if there is absolutely no benefit from it?

[froggyluv 2133]

Meh, personally doesn't bother me at all as I already buy 90% games on Steam anyways. But honestly BI you need to learn some "silver lining" PR tricks with the public. You've got a mega-starved awaiting public who expect huge news and then get your selling business model in which obviously many aren't going to be happy -where's the cookie?

Alternate Universe BI blog release: "We are for many reasons switiching to a fully exclusive Steam release and if you don't like it....go head over to Steam now and grab your Alpha then get back to us".

Would have sugared the pill a bit.

[roberthammer 582]

Is it possible to play steam games in MP LAN without internet connection? If we all buy arma3 through steam, activate online but then meet up with our computers were there is no internet, is it possible to play then? (If someone think Im stretching it I mean, a LAN game in a cabin is quite nice , what happens if internet goes down and we are all at my place playing).

How do steam handle situations like that?

Steam supports LAN without internet but Devs must add that support first

Edited February 21, 2013 by RobertHammer

[zoog 18]

I'd be more than happy to fix it, but I can't. There is only one (1) connection available here, it's from the worst ISP in the country, and can offer only 0,9 / 0,1 Mbit/s connection that is very unstable and is suffering from multiple issues, like high packetloss.

I'd understand it if the minority of people that had as bad connection as I do would be the only ones that suffered from connection issues, but like I said, according to my observations it's up to 40 %! And I haven't still haven't found or got response, why would the connection to Steam be needed when you're in game. Why to have such stupid thing making the game unplayable for many people if there is absolutely no benefit from it?

So Steam or no Steam, I guess by definition you have issues with playing online games in general, right? Such a shitty internet connection affects any type of online play, with or without Steam. :) Sorry to hear your internet issues. It's annoying, especially when 99% of the world assumes everyone has high speed internet. But like I said, it's probably impossible for you to play anything online without getting disconnects or mayor lag. For OFFLINE play you don't need an active connection that is always on.

[OChristie 0]

I think it is fantastic news. (Alpha would have been better)

Steam is a brilliant platform, it is arguably one of the best CMS (Content Management System) available its reliable and stable and it works! Its great for developers to manage release and update their content with ease.

If you don't like it, then leave the forums and boycott A3 because of a petty grudge against steam.

I'm not saying a stand alone version would be a bad idea but if you are a true fan, then how you access the content is completely non relevant.