US Army ditches digital camo scheme. Will Arma 3 follow suit?

[Mr Butlertron 10]

This is appearing on news sites. Digital camo is being ditched after $5,000,000,000 and 8 years because it actually helped highlight soldiers.

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/06/24/062412-news-camouflage-fiasco-1-5/

http://defense.aol.com/2012/06/25/army-drops-universal-camouflage-after-spending-billions/

“Essentially, the Army designed a universal uniform that universally failed in every environment,†said an Army specialist who served two tours in Iraq, wearing UCP in Baghdad and the deserts outside Basra. “The only time I have ever seen it work well was in a gravel pit.â€

“As a cavalry scout, it is my job to stay hidden. Wearing a uniform that stands out this badly makes it hard to do our job effectively,†he said. “If we can see our own guys across a distance because of it, then so can our enemy.â€

At rifle distances, the problem posed by the dark gear over light clothing was as obvious as it was distressing.

Kristine Isherwood, a mechanical engineer on Natick’s camouflage team, said simply, “It shows where to shoot.â€

But relevant to ArmA

But until the new pattern is put in the field — a move that’s still a year or more away — soldiers in Afghanistan have been given a temporary fix: a greenish, blended replacement called MultiCam.

So it's expected the army will be heading back to wave-based camo, and given all the backlash that's going to happen:

The fact that the government spent $5 billion on a camouflage design that actually made its soldiers more visible — and then took eight years to correct the problem — has also left people in the camouflage industry incensed. The total cost comes from the Army itself and includes the price of developing the pattern and producing it for the entire service branch.

“You’ve got to look back and say what a huge waste of money that was,†said Lawrence Holsworth, marketing director of a camouflage company called Hyde Definition and the editor of Strike-Hold!, a website that tracks military gear. “UCP was such a fiasco.â€

Researchers said they received a puzzling order: Take the winning colors and create a pixilated pattern. Researchers were ordered to “basically put it in the Marine Corps pattern,†Fairneny said.

“It was trendy,†Stewardson said. “If it’s good enough for the Marines, why shouldn’t the Army have that same cool new look?â€

The brigadier general ultimately responsible for the decision, James Moran, who retired from the Army after leaving Program Executive Office Soldier, has not responded to messages seeking comment.

I doubt anyone will suggest returning to digital camo for a very long time.

So will Arma 3 keep the digital based camo, for infantry or vehicles?

For

It's already finished

It matches the future setting, stylistically

So many assets to recheck for texture seams, etc

Against

It won't match reality, even allowing for future setting

The time left till release might be long enough?

If digital camo won't work in the real world, it won't work in a game

It's a repeating pattern taken from a reference picture - very little "artistic" input needed to make it work

[JdB 151]

So will Arma 3 keep the digital based camo, for infantry or vehicles?

For

It's already finished

It matches the future setting, stylistically

So many assets to recheck for texture seams, etc

Against

It won't match reality, even allowing for future setting

The time left till release might be long enough?

If digital camo won't work in the real world, it won't work in a game

It's a repeating pattern taken from a reference picture - very little "artistic" input needed to make it work

All irrelevant as it's BIS's reality, not the real world's. They can do whatever they feel is remotely possible and suits what they want to achieve.

"Armaverse"

I don't see them redesigning loads of Bluefor uniforms and equipment, ArmA 3's US army has other ideas, other circumstances to deal with ;)

[HKFlash 9]

MultiCam wins the day.

[antoineflemming 14]

Well, a whole lot of nations (especially Middle Eastern nations) are transitioning to digital camo-based patterns. Really, NATO did their experiment, and are now transitioning to Multicam-based patterns. So, at least for NATO and Iran, their camouflage patterns in ArmA3 are pretty realistic. Besides, the problem with the UCP pattern wasn't that it is digital. The problem is that the color scheme doesn't match the environments in which it is deployed. Nothing's terribly wrong with digital camo in the fact that it's digital. From far away, it doesn't make a difference really. It's the color scheme that really makes or breaks the camo pattern. I mean, the Marines use a very muted digital camo pattern (Desert Marpat), and I'm pretty sure their camo does a whole lot better than the UCP camo.

[Panda_pl 0]

The colors are not the only problem.

The pattern itself is also wrong. It was designed to be viewed and work at certain distance.

It does not have higher or lower frequency details.

Multicam works nicely at range because of the soft gradient base, at shorter range the little splatter and visible division lines between two bottom layers of gradient create the effect in turn.

IIRC ACU was made by pixelating a conventional "blob" pattern and swapping colors. This is not a good way to go about it, not unless the base pattern is superb itself.

[antoineflemming 14]

The colors are not the only problem.

The pattern itself is also wrong. It was designed to be viewed and work at certain distance.

It does not have higher or lower frequency details.

Multicam works nicely at range because of the soft gradient base, at shorter range the little splatter and visible division lines between two bottom layers of gradient create the effect in turn.

IIRC ACU was made by pixelating a conventional "blob" pattern and swapping colors. This is not a good way to go about it, not unless the base pattern is superb itself.

You mean UCP or ACUPAT... ACU is the uniform cut.

[maturin 12]

Yeah, get the camo right. Then maybe the 90% of modders will start doing something useful instead of releasing hundreds of BLUFOR re-texes.

[ProfTournesol 956]

nvm, delete me.

Edited June 26, 2012 by ProfTournesol

[dekster 1]

This is appearing on news sites. Digital camo is being ditched after $5,000,000,000 and 8 years

Can somebody explain me the point of paying $5.000.000.000 for one camo patern if you can have several that work in various conditions for probably les?

[Hellhound 10]

Can somebody explain me the point of paying $5.000.000.000 for one camo patern if you can have several that work in various conditions for probably les?

I believe it is called lobbying :D

[b00ce 160]

The pattern itself is also wrong. It was designed to be viewed and work at certain distance.

UCP and MARPAT are both copies of CADPAT with different colors.

[antoineflemming 14]

Yeah, get the camo right. Then maybe the 90% of modders will start doing something useful instead of releasing hundreds of BLUFOR re-texes.

I'm going to release 6. Is 6 better than hundreds??? Naw, but seriously, I'm gonna release 6. I mean, most NATO members are using some kind of uniform based on Crye Precision's Combat Shirt and Pants anyways. lol. BIS got the camo right. They based their camo off of what forces were using at the time. Hence US Army wearing UCP, USMC wearing MARPAT. BAF wearing MTP. And, this discussion really only applies to the Greek resistance and the Iranians, because BLUFOR in ArmA3 are CLEARLY wearing Multicam...

[Binkowski 26]

Camouflage thread fighting, time now go!

[someguywho 12]

Us4ces?

[HKFlash 9]

Anyway UCP was the biggest fail by the U.S. Army that I've seen since I started paying attention to world armies...

[Montanaro 0]

I always felt like US soldiers stood out in ARMA2. :p

[Flash Thunder 10]

Naked camo FTW

Scare your opponents away!

Cost: Nada

[DemonMustang 1]

I think your focus is wrong. It's not the digital aspect that's the problem, it's the color scheme. The multiple color digital camos the Marines use are awesome. I agree with the problem behind the ACU's, they are too light for the forest, and not tan enough for the desert. Pretty much they don't blend in anywhere...

[nodunit 397]

I don't think their focus for ACU was forest or desert..

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-IBzbM_RoeE/TP6V2BAw44I/AAAAAAAADU0/4KVxs-FU_Zg/s1600/acu-mountain.jpg

http://domhyde.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/multicam_test_2.jpg?w=510&h=339

http://militarytimes.com/blogs/gearscout/wp-content/blogs.dir/5/files/op-hammerhead/030610at_Hammerhead221.jpg

Still it was definately limited to not even theatre, and multi is definately trumping acu in this photo http://rainbowops.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ACU-to-Multicam.jpg

[metalcraze 290]

NATO soldiers in ArmA3 use multicam FYI

Just look at screenshots and relax

[antoineflemming 14]

NATO soldiers in ArmA3 use multicam FYI

Just look at screenshots and relax

That's like so obvious, and like most of the people on here are going on like the soldiers in ArmA3 are using UCP. I don't get it. Maybe they will see your post, and get it. I posted basically the same thing hours ago, and everyone overlooked it.

[b00ce 160]

The US Army is picking something that ISN'T Multicam. What it is exactly remains to be seen, however.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

UCP-D was flawless, no idea why it wasn't instantly adopted.

/lulz

[Beagle 684]

UCP-D was flawless, no idea why it wasn't instantly adopted.

/lulz

For the very same reason the german Luftwaffe, or to be specific, the minister of defence, Franz Josef Strauss himself, ordered a high altitude interceptor F-104 in he role of a low level fighterbomber in the 70's. Good lobby work and good old bribe.

[Nicholas 5]

A five year old with some crayons, and no money, could make better camouflage. Why was this so pricey?