Development Blog & Reveals

[HKFlash 9]

Yep, AKM. Aiming and hitting stuff 100-200m away was a challenge to me compared to ArmA2 where I can 1-shot snipe people 200m away with the same gun because of how precise and steady it is. I most likely just sucked at shooting the real AKM as professionals can run and gun people down with surgical precision 100m away like some claim here?

When I was in the Army one of our challenges was to fire 5 rounds while prone with bipod, prone, crouched and standing. The targets were static and 100m away. Alot people who had only shot the rifle once before with smaller rounds actually made great scores. Just so you know we were firing the G3 without any kind of optics.

ArmA2 weapons are very accurate because there is sway only when you are tired. That's the problem! If they added sway when the player was still fresh it would make fire fights last much longer. I remember one game that actually did that pretty well was Brothers In Arms. Of course the A.I. would also need to see its accuracy decreased.

On the Tactical Pace subject:

Perfectly doable. However you can't aim down the sights while jogging and your precision is insanely bad. The advantage is that it allows you to keep your weapon ready to fire. I can tell you I did this with pistols, rifles and sub-machine guns no problem.

[Nicholas 5]

Do you think this means better close range accuracy?

What do you think the 'pistol' combat pace will be like? Even better for CQB?

I would hope so. I never said that this is bad, but it does look very similar to the way it's done in Battlefield 3.

---------- Post added at 06:21 ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 ----------

I dont see anything wrong about it.

I never said anything was wrong with it. I only stated it looks very similar to Battlefield 3, I don't mind Battlefield 3.

Just as long as they retain the core gameplay. I hope that they still retain TrackIR and the aiming deadzone.

[metalcraze 290]

Animations are the same

No they are not. Go prone and aim down the sights. Now start moving. Now explain to me how exactly is that BF3 soldier slowly floating forward over the ground while prone when he makes absolutely zero body movement at all.

Is that brain stabilizing image right?

When character in BF3 runs he can see a weapon trembling right in front of his eyes. To see it like that IRL you need to sway it right in front of your eyes like that too. Whereas in 3rd person it looks totally differently.

Just because BF3 draws something doesn't mean it's there. It draws a gun too and yet all bullets appear in the crosshair that you see not in the barrel everyone else sees.

Extensive head bobbing like in Arma is anything but realistic, our brain stabilizes image, otherwise you would puke after 15 seconds of walking, just like Arma makes me when I crouch and walk, using default head bob.

If brain stabilized the image soldiers IRL wouldn't need to stop and take positions that reduce sway and recoil, they would just run and score madskill hits like in BF3.

Edited May 26, 2012 by metalcraze

[Smurf 12]

You can google for tonnes of more tactical and faster videos like that. Ever watched those Magpul training style videos?

Real life is more arcade than ARMA then. But it has better graphics.....
Also, he uses both shoulders to fire! Thats some Metal Gear fancy (and obvious unrrealistc) feature.
And that weird stance is there too...........

People (or metalcraze), your are questioning the animations made and recorded by (at least) two people with REAL military experience? Just stop, it makes you look silly.

[nodunit 397]

If brain stabilized the image soldiers IRL wouldn't need to stop and take positions that reduce sway and recoil, they would just run and score madskill hits like in BF3.

But that is how you see an image compared to the way trajectory and physics operate, two entirerly different things.. Sure you're eyes see a stable image, that doesn't mean your arms are stable to make the gun shoot relatively straight. I could see the body stance assisting in handling recoil at a slow pace but running? Surely no use for that other than supressive fire at best.

I find that just the smallest touch of head bob works well, it makes the ground feel more uneven but doesn't feel like a camera. Same reason I like TKOH's 6DOF despite the camere not tilting..doesn't do that, focus on an object and tilt your head 90 degree's back and forth and the image remains the same.

Edited May 26, 2012 by NodUnit

[Minoza 11]

No they are not. Go prone and aim down the sights. Now start moving. Now explain to me how exactly is that BF3 soldier slowly floating forward over the ground while prone when he makes absolutely zero body movement at all.

Is that brain stabilizing image right?

When character in BF3 runs he can see a weapon trembling right in front of his eyes. To see it like that IRL you need to sway it right in front of your eyes like that too. Whereas in 3rd person it looks totally differently.

Just because BF3 draws something doesn't mean it's there. It draws a gun too and yet all bullets appear in the crosshair that you see not in the barrel everyone else sees.

If brain stabilized the image soldiers IRL wouldn't need to stop and take positions that reduce sway and recoil, they would just run and score madskill hits like in BF3.

That's why I brought Crysis 2 into this story, within Mod SDK sample files, you can clearly see how it's set up. Care to comment that? You can't sprint and score in BF3, you can perform tactical jog and shoot. Is that unrealistic? And yes, brain does stabilize the image even in full sprint, of course, hitting a target in full sprint is not a matter of stabilization but a fact that you need your hands moving in order not to fall... Btw. I don't understand the crosshair-barrel part... All the projectiles in BF3 have drop over distance...

Again, there is nothing wrong with Arma 3 anims looking BF3 like, it's actually quite an achievement considering how much DICE/EA invested into it.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Minoza

[antoineflemming 14]

That's why I brought Crysis 2 into this story, within Mod SDK sample files, you can clearly see how it's set up. Care to comment that? You can't sprint and score in BF3, you can perform tactical jog and shoot. Is that unrealistic? And yes, brain does stabilize the image even in full sprint, of course, hitting a target in full sprint is not a matter of stabilization but a fact that you need your hands moving in order not to fall... Btw. I don't understand the crosshair-barrel part... All the projectiles in BF3 have drop over distance...

Again, there is nothing wrong with Arma 3 anims looking BF3 like, it's actually quite an achievement considering how much DICE/EA invested into it.

The thing about BF3's animations and movement is that the animations (as in, the third person animations, not the floating hands w/legs) look pretty good. The movement system sucks because it's not tailored to the animations. It's basically a character running in place, and then sliding the character on an invisible board across the map. That's why, even though the character's animations are good, it's still sliding around. Animations like running, and prone, and sprinting and turning left or right look really good. But the movement system as a whole isn't as realistic as in the ArmA series.

[-FHA-Dynamo 0]

the cross-hair/barrel part he's talking about is how the BF engine handles weapon and projectile modeling. it does not matter if they have bullet drop over distance, if that drop rate and arc is wrong. as for the cross-hair/barrel issue, it's well known for many FPS games that the projectile does not originate from the muzzle of the weapon, but from the center of the cross-hairs in first person view. this method of modeling tho not really important for single player, does present quite the problem in multi-player. this issue is know as (the eye level exploit), and has been a problem with practically every FPS game since Quake. a player can hide behind an object and be almost completely hidden, and still be able to shoot over it. so long as the player can see over the object, even if his cross-hairs are just a few pixels over the edge of the object, he can shoot over it. this is not possible in the ArmA/OFP series as BIS has correctly modeled the weapons and the projectiles they fire. if you hide behind an object in a BIS game, you have to take extra care to make sure that your weapon's muzzle is clear of the object you are behind or you will hit it. this will often frustrate new players to the series, since they are used to shooting from almost complete cover. personally, this is one of the main reason why i love BIS games. i do a lot of practical shooting IRL as well as compete in airsoft mil-sims, so i know very well that there is no such thing as perfect cover. this is why swat/law enforcement a military personal are drawn to BIS games, they also know that in order to return fire, they must expose them selfs out from cover in order to engage. i do believe that the ArmA/OFP series is the only set of games where what you see in 3rd person, is what you get in 1st person. for that, is why i love BIS and why i keep coming back, their unparalleled dedication to realism.

[HKFlash 9]

Amen Dynamo.

[b00ce 160]

People (or metalcraze), your are questioning the animations made and recorded by (at least) two people with REAL military experience? Just stop, it makes you look silly.

Amen. The "tactical pace" is the same as the combat jog in SMK animations, the only difference is the fact that the animation was motion captured by someone who was in the military.

Hopefully more features of SMK animations will be "ported" over to ArmA 3, it adds a LOT of functionality and is really intuitive once you get used to it.

[instagoat 133]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp0xn7-33rY#t=1m00s

You are completely correct.

Extremely bouncy there. There is a difference between moving under combat stress, where your first priority is to keep the enemies heads down and yourself and your buddies intact, and deliberately focusing outside of that and aiming with purpose.

<- Watch how steady his muzzle stays as he moves. He´s concentrating on keeping it on a known, close target (maybe 50 meters out at most, probably much less. Anything further away should be -seriously- difficult to hit while moving.)

The difference is concentration and stress, I guess.

[maturin 12]

I'm not sure the videos really show anything useful. What looks like a tiny bit of sway on a low-fps grainy video can mess up your aim a lot when you're zoomed into the sights in a videogame.

And furthermore, the barrel movement when walking in ArmA 2 IS NOT deliberate. The devs didn't code sway and shaking into movement, they just use one of their clunky mocap animations that transmits the up-and-down movements of walking to the arms holding the gun. The walking guy in ArmA 2 is not trying to aim or keep his barrel steady, he is trying to cover ground quickly with his barrel at the ready. Bringing up the sights simply glues your camera to the same animation. The game isn't trying to model the maximum level of accuracy achievable on the move.

[antoineflemming 14]

I'm not sure the videos really show anything useful. What looks like a tiny bit of sway on a low-fps grainy video can mess up your aim a lot when you're zoomed into the sights in a videogame.

And furthermore, the barrel movement when walking in ArmA 2 IS NOT deliberate. The devs didn't code sway and shaking into movement, they just use one of their clunky mocap animations that transmits the up-and-down movements of walking to the arms holding the gun. The walking guy in ArmA 2 is not trying to aim or keep his barrel steady, he is trying to cover ground quickly with his barrel at the ready. Bringing up the sights simply glues your camera to the same animation. The game isn't trying to model the maximum level of accuracy achievable on the move.

True. This actually something that I wish the devs would change in ArmA3: Having the character actually bring up his sights instead of glueing the camera to the sights. And, when the character brings up sights, there should be minimal movement of the barrel relative to the camera.

[acoustic 82]

Hmm, BIS is still including the zooming in of the sights when holding down the right mouse button. Thoughts?

[Timmoboy 10]

I think it's perfect the way it is. But if there were another, better way to simulate your eye I'm all for it!

[slatts 1978]

Hmm, BIS is still including the zooming in of the sights when holding down the right mouse button. Thoughts?

not a bad idea, you're meant to be focusing in on a target

[froggyluv 2130]

@Dynamo: That may be the longest sentence I've ever read but your spot on and thats another reason why I love this series.

[-FHA-Dynamo 0]

using a video which is captured by a camera, is no way to depict what is seen through an operators eyes. our eyes have this awesome ability to stabilize our view during movement. i have done some off roading as well as shooting on the move. what ever you are focused on is automatically stabilized by your eyes, if it wasn't for that road signs would be useless. i would love for BIS to make the player's camera view from vehicles untethered. it would make for a much more natural feeling in-game, and not the jarring blurry mess we have with ArmA2 and every other game out there. it's one of the main reasons why it's almost impossible to hit anything when on a moving vehicle. i have been in airsoft games with offroad vehicles, it is real easy to aim at targets on the move.

here a great (not perfect) example of what i mean.

Edited May 27, 2012 by [FHA]Dynamo

[mr.g-c 6]

Personally i find the sounds of the heavy machinegun VERY GOOD!

To make the immersion experience perfect, is to add a tiny light-source to the tracers. ACE1 did it this way and it was great. They also simulated that on larger calibers (7.xxmm and more), depending on impact angle and distance, the "pyrotechnic charge" could brake off and then lying on the ground burning on its own. This is very likely on bigger calibers (12.xxmm and up) and short distances in RL. Saw numerous Videos where 50BMG attacked houses in Iraq and the "pyrotechnic charge" broke away on short distance impacts.

It was a SUPERB combat experience in ArmA1 with ACE1 especially when under fire from tracer ammo.

I'll do a ticket for it in the A3 CIS.

[Zorg_DK 10]

Yes, tracer lighting up the ground slightly would be great in Arma3. For Arma2 there's Bdtracerlight mod that does that.

[Trauma.au 10]

Hmm, BIS is still including the zooming in of the sights when holding down the right mouse button. Thoughts?

As it should be, it allows you to quickly improve visual acuity to a more realistic level but at a loss of field of view.

[Vespa 1]

Dynamo;2157315']using a video which is captured by a camera' date=' is no way to depict what is seen through an operators eyes. our eyes have this awesome ability to stabilize our view during movement......[/quote']

Yep, this is good thinking. It's not like the devs couldn't just mocap some movement, weld 1st person camera on the head and be done with it. Sure they could. Such process would only produce Blair witch style shakycam and playing a game on a monitor would be nauseating. (Arma2 pistol walk, anyone?)

So its not just about transferring reality 1:1 into game, but using shortcuts to mimic first person experience through a flat monitor on your table.

That is why most of 1st person shooters have very similar camera mechanics -on flat 2D screen it simply works best.

[MisTyK 12]

Did u notice these screenshot on developer blog ?

in order: Almost clear (1) / semi cloudy (2) / cloudy (3) / mostly cloudy (4) / total cloudy (6)

full screen & description here: http://www.bistudio.com/english/company/developers-blog/307-report-in-interview-with-pavel-guglava-lead-artist

Edited May 31, 2012 by MisTyK

[antoineflemming 14]

Did u notice these screenshot on developer blog ?

in order: Almost clear / semi cloudy / cloudy / mostly cloudy / total cloudy

http://www.bistudio.com/images/stories/blogs/developer/light/Weather_1_thumb.jpg http://www.bistudio.com/images/stories/blogs/developer/light/Weather_2_thumb.jpg http://www.bistudio.com/images/stories/blogs/developer/light/Weather_3_thumb.jpg http://www.bistudio.com/images/stories/blogs/developer/light/Weather_4_thumb.jpg http://www.bistudio.com/images/stories/blogs/developer/light/Weather_6_thumb.jpg

full screen & description here: http://www.bistudio.com/english/company/developers-blog/307-report-in-interview-with-pavel-guglava-lead-artist

Hey, you should add in Weather_5.jpg. We've noticed those images, but there are actually 6 images, and they forgot to put up the fifth image.

Edited May 27, 2012 by antoineflemming

[nodunit 397]

I'm quite thrilled that they aren't trying to doll up every weather type but still keeping it real, the heavy overcast for example.