Operation E3

[RoboSheriff 1]

Dslyecxi : Another DayZ fan -.-

Come on don't be like that DayZ is just fine (been playing it latetly), besides those people are supporting arma 3 with their moneyyy :j:

[Maio 293]

What do you mean it would be great if it were equippable in game as seen in ACE? It would be great if eye wear worked the same way it does in ArmA2. Headgear should be an additional feature. It shouldn't replace eyewear. Eyewear should function the same. Without NVGs, it's on the face. Turning on NVGs makes the eyewear disappear. Thing is, now we don't have to cheat and make headgear that is really eyewear, meaning it won't disappear when turning on NVGs.

I don't want headgear to be replaced by eye wear. I want eye wear to be an in game item (like in ACE) that can be equipped by the player and work in parallel with the headgear.

[smookie 11]

The translation vector remains unchanged throughout the whole move, always. This is a must because if it had been otherwise, you would have observed feet sliding for those with bigger loadouts etc. What changes is the speed of animation. Also the duration of the animation file has nothing to do with unnatural speed. ArmA2 speeds were so far off because indeed the actors moved slightly too fast (to best of their capabilities), mostly for the gameplay sake.

In ArmA3 there is slightly different approach: tried to make the running/sprinting pace more down to earth (as in - not to maximum of my abilities), acting (maybe overacting judging from the discussion on sprinting:)) out the encumbrance/moving in combat shoes as opposed to regular nike's you wear during cap but its all down to community to decide whether these changes are for the better or for the worse.

Edited June 9, 2012 by Smookie

[antoineflemming 14]

I don't want headgear to be replaced by eye wear. I want eye wear to be an in game item (like in ACE) that can be equipped by the player and work in parallel with the headgear.

Oh, that's what you mean. I most definitely want that as well.

[Mafia101 0]

These are new? :D

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[Steakslim 1]

yes they appear to be

[PuFu 4600]

Dslyecxi : Another DayZ fan -.-

If any, it is about what DayZ was able to achieve, rather than the zombie thing. I know for some this is somehow hard to grasp.

You adjust speed of the movement within the animation file. It has nothing to do with the engine (well not directly). In fact the speed itself in ArmA comes from the mocap and retargeting of the mocap actor to video game character. So if the feet dont slide, that means the dude who did the mocap is capable of running with such speed.

The translation vector remains unchanged throughout the whole move, always. This is a must because if it had been otherwise, you would have observed feet sliding for those with bigger loadouts etc. What changes is the speed of animation. Also the duration of the animation file has nothing to do with unnatural speed. ArmA2 speeds were so far off because indeed the actors moved slightly too fast (to best of their capabilities), mostly for the gameplay sake.

In ArmA3 there is slightly different approach: tried to make the running/sprinting pace more down to earth (as in - not to maximum of my abilities), acting (maybe overacting judging from the discussion on sprinting:)) out the encumbrance/moving in combat shoes as opposed to regular nike's you wear during cap but its all down to community to decide whether these changes are for the better or for the worse.

Thank you for clarification there smoke. sounds fair enough

[xeno 234]

In Arma 3, you would be able to change your uniform (with certain limitations to sides), "vest" (= load bearing equipment sets) and headgear items.

Will this work reliably in MP too ?

Xeno

[falcon_565 11]

The translation vector remains unchanged throughout the whole move, always. This is a must because if it had been otherwise, you would have observed feet sliding for those with bigger loadouts etc. What changes is the speed of animation. Also the duration of the animation file has nothing to do with unnatural speed. ArmA2 speeds were so far off because indeed the actors moved slightly too fast (to best of their capabilities), mostly for the gameplay sake.

In ArmA3 there is slightly different approach: tried to make the running/sprinting pace more down to earth (as in - not to maximum of my abilities), acting (maybe overacting judging from the discussion on sprinting:)) out the encumbrance/moving in combat shoes as opposed to regular nike's you wear during cap but its all down to community to decide whether these changes are for the better or for the worse.

Personally I think you guys should put the mocap actors in full battle rattle, have them do the animations has quickly as they can then when they finish tell them do it again because you guys will actually record them the second time ;).

In addition I had two quick questions of clarification regarding the new fluid stance stuff:

1. We've seen the high and low crouch, will there be a high and low prone as well?

If anything I think that having a high and low prone is even more important than I high and low crouch, when you're prone you should be able to get up on your elbows so that you can see over the grass and clutter than usually obstructs your view. Obviously accuracy should take a significant hit firing from your elbows with your chest off the ground as opposed to a true prone. Also it would be cool if you could go to an extra high prone where you use your off weapon hand to push yourself up so you could take a look without shooting. A low prone would be a 'face in the mud' prone level with a limited ability to return fire but could be used if you find yourself in the open with very little cover.

2. Any word on what the current key-binds are to utilize this feature?

Thanks.

[Choki 10]

why in arma 2 and 3 the weapon travels at an inhuman speed to fire stance. like the first seconds of this vid

[the_antipop 10]

Will this work reliably in MP too ?

Xeno

I'm assuming this would be the main area it would be applicable. I hope they're easy to config/model. Therefore all the new custom community player models have variations on the uniform, chest rigs and helmets that the player can use this new gear system for. Makes for a much more dynamic MP playing environment. When overseas on operations no two soldiers look identical, and I hope this customisation provides the individuality that sometimes is lost with five or so of the same player model just with different faces.

[rohan11221 1]

Will this work reliably in MP too ?

Xeno

When does anything work reliably in MP :P

[11_harley_11 0]

why in arma 2 and 3 the weapon travels at an inhuman speed to fire stance. like the first seconds of this vid

I know! This is my biggest gripe with arma2 and am pretty disappointed to see it now in arma 3. It appears on and off screen at a ridiculous rate of speed and is particularly annoying when trying to do slight adjustments in position. It really adds to the clunky feel of the Arma series.

[smookie 11]

Personally I think you guys should put the mocap actors in full battle rattle, have them do the animations has quickly as they can then when they finish tell them do it again because you guys will actually record them the second time ;).

Both actors have moved around a lot with heavy loadouts in different conditions. I guess I will remind you for the last time (since more explanation could be considered as spam:P) that you simply cannot perform with any equipment due to obstruction/damage risk to the markers. With current technology at least. Its all down to acting skills.

1. We've seen the high and low crouch, will there be a high and low prone as well?

I looked into this feature but unfortunately it turned out the difference is very neglible so the new prone stance is somewhere in between those two, plus you can quickly adjust your stance very easily (lower your weapon position >> on-side, from under obstacle shooting << or raise it higher >> on-back above grass level shooting <<) - that should be more than enough.

2. Any word on what the current key-binds are to utilize this feature?

Modifier key + directions.

[alx 20]

In many of the E3 videos, I noticed the nice touch of including flowering bushes in the landscape (they look like rhododendrons to me). I wonder if the flowers will disappear from the plants if the mission is set to winter months?

[Steakslim 1]

Probably not. But on the subject on bushes, one ugly feature I noticed is the plants falling over like cardboard when getting shot enough, or like in the case of ArmA2 being ran over.

edit: I hate you guys :P

Edited June 10, 2012 by Steakslim

[sparks50 0]

Probably not. But on the subject on bushes, one ugly feature I noticed is the pants falling over like cardboard when getting shot enough, or like in the case of ArmA2 being ran over.

The new underwear models will surely require new pant-falling tech.

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

Modifier key + directions.

I assume it's the left CTRL key, or V, perhaps? :) Single tap of the Control key isn't used in infantry right now, seems to be the only probable candidate.

[alx 20]

Observation from E3 videos that leads me to comment and question:

In one of the E3 videos (one where the player and AI squad are assaulting a hill where a mortar emplacement is located), I noticed the AI squad (in V formation by the look of it) move in perfect synchrony with each other. This has been with the game from its OFP start and I find it a real immersion killer. Such coordinated movement might be possible on the parade ground, but not in operations. The main issue I think with the Arma series is the exact timing when the soldiers turn.

There are two PC combat flight simulator games that some here might be familiar with. One if the IL2: Sturmovik series and the other is the Battle of Britain. In both, you often fly as a formation with AI wingmen. In the latter game, the wingmen move with you as in the Arma/OFP series (i.e., like they are linked to you by rigid rods). It is a very unrealistic effect as the planes look like they are flying "on rails". However, in the former game, the programmers have managed to give each wingman a slight deviation in course and slight delays when turning. Not enough to result in them colliding and not enough to cause the formation to break up. Quite possibly there is a relatively complex algorithm underlying it so that deviations are compensated and so the formation remains in tact. Most importantly, the effect is very realistic.

Thus, it can be done in a PC game in a completely analogous system. In my opinion it adds as much to immersion as do the more fluid animations.

I would love for BIS to ring up 1C/Maddox games and ask them how they code this and then implement it in Arma3.

---------- Post added at 09:06 ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 ----------

The new underwear models will surely require new pant-falling tech.

LOL. Especially for the female swimmers we've seen in screenshots!

[Steakslim 1]

lol I just realised my typo. FIXING

[kernriver 4]

I think it's worth mentioning that it makes a world of difference when a native English speaker is commenting the videos.

A world of difference. So, great job, Jay.

I hope I will not get crushed by Lord Buchta's mighty arms for thiskldrjiokjozk....*thump*

;)

[Booster 1]

I hope I will not get crushed by Lord Buchta's mighty arms for thiskldrjiokjozk....*thump*

Lord Buchta says you have won entry to a 'behind closed doors' Arma3 presentation, just turn up at his office and introduce yourself by your username.

[kernriver 4]

I will do that....when super awesome medic simulation is confirmed :p

[CCWashout 10]

Observation from E3 videos that leads me to comment and question:

In one of the E3 videos (one where the player and AI squad are assaulting a hill where a mortar emplacement is located), I noticed the AI squad (in V formation by the look of it) move in perfect synchrony with each other. This has been with the game from its OFP start and I find it a real immersion killer. Such coordinated movement might be possible on the parade ground, but not in operations. The main issue I think with the Arma series is the exact timing when the soldiers turn.

There are two PC combat flight simulator games that some here might be familiar with. One if the IL2: Sturmovik series and the other is the Battle of Britain. In both, you often fly as a formation with AI wingmen. In the latter game, the wingmen move with you as in the Arma/OFP series (i.e., like they are linked to you by rigid rods). It is a very unrealistic effect as the planes look like they are flying "on rails". However, in the former game, the programmers have managed to give each wingman a slight deviation in course and slight delays when turning. Not enough to result in them colliding and not enough to cause the formation to break up. Quite possibly there is a relatively complex algorithm underlying it so that deviations are compensated and so the formation remains in tact. Most importantly, the effect is very realistic.

Thus, it can be done in a PC game in a completely analogous system. In my opinion it adds as much to immersion as do the more fluid animations.

I would love for BIS to ring up 1C/Maddox games and ask them how they code this and then implement it in Arma3.

---------- Post added at 09:06 ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 ----------

LOL. Especially for the female swimmers we've seen in screenshots!

One way of doing slightly variable formations in flight sims is to let the flight model/engine modelling do the work for you - if there is engine spool up and control input "lag" then a following aircraft will have variations in relation to the lead element. It needs careful tuning and limiters though, as you can get "porpoising" or "elastic banding" effects, which IIRC the ARMA2 formation engine suffers from anyway (at least it did when I tried doing helicopter formations a while back to the point where I had to seperate the helicopters into separate units). Then there are other factors to take account of such as positional accuracy, which can be a problem when dealing with large terrains as you move away from the map's origin point and floating point precision errors creep in, which can lead to positional warping, which doesn't look pretty (it can be got around though).

For infantry movement it's probably alot more difficult to achieve a coherant, but individualised movement system because of pathfinding, ground clutter, buildings etc and a more dynamic environment when troops are in contact compared to flight sims where there are no bushes, rocks etc in the way of the direction of travel for a formation. Not impossible but difficult to achieve also given every soldier would have to have the calcs running and even on the fastest rigs these days you still have limitations. Of course you could go the route of 2 levels of AI fidelity based on distance from a player's viewpoint to lower the overhead, but that's a large scale code effort I've only ever seen in one military simulator, but that's another story ;)

[mr.g-c 6]

The translation vector remains unchanged throughout the whole move, always. This is a must because if it had been otherwise, you would have observed feet sliding for those with bigger loadouts etc. What changes is the speed of animation. Also the duration of the animation file has nothing to do with unnatural speed. ArmA2 speeds were so far off because indeed the actors moved slightly too fast (to best of their capabilities), mostly for the gameplay sake.

In ArmA3 there is slightly different approach: tried to make the running/sprinting pace more down to earth (as in - not to maximum of my abilities), acting (maybe overacting judging from the discussion on sprinting:)) out the encumbrance/moving in combat shoes as opposed to regular nike's you wear during cap but its all down to community to decide whether these changes are for the better or for the worse.

Thanks a lot for that explanation. I'm very keen to see this all myself during the Community Alpha.

Since you are the animation Guru, there are 2 things i would like bring up here.

1: In one of ArmA2s early campaign missions (maybe the first?) you are on a hill during darkness with 3 other guys and there is a short screen-sequence played, where the guys are going slowly into the crouch state. This looks so incredibly fluid and realistic and all, i wonder why this animation hasn't been used ever for lets say "soft going into crouch stance", maybe when Mode "Stealth" is selected? I will try to find a Video later or record my own ^^ It looks excellent and way better than Arma2s normal clunky stance-changes.

Video:

(Look at 7:10 onwards)

2: What about a slight tilt to the right when you are aiming? Ticket: https://dev-heaven.net/issues/30635

Anway, with the new Ragdolls, Physics and all, i wonder if it will look similar in ArmA3 when a enemy is hit from short distances (In BF3 it looks very good animated):

!

Please see it at 0:12 ;-)