Arma 3 Beta Release thread - Prices, times, regions etc all questions here.

[k3lt 3]

Is there a non-steam version available? I only see steam versions in the BI store for the higher prices. I wouldn't mind buying the supporter edition but I won't buy anything related to steam.

Then you're out of luck, because Arma 3 is Steam based.

Also if you didn't know, it's actually Steam that saved BI from complete disaster on Day 1 Arma 3 Alpha release...

Edited March 6, 2013 by k3lt

[Cold71 1]

I'm debating on if I should spend the cash on this or not. For anyone who already bought this, how playable is it? I know typically alphas are boarder line unplayable which makes me think I should just wait.

[xxbbcc 6]

Also if you didn't know, it's actually Steam that saved BI from complete disaster on Day 1 Arma 3 Alpha release...

What do you mean by that? Also is it a fact that the entire game will only be available on Steam?

[k3lt 3]

What do you mean by that? Also is it a fact that the entire game will only be available on Steam?

BI Store went down for like 12 hours after the countdown, some people managed to buy the game but was unable to retrieve keys which caused massive outrage on forums and official BI social channels. (after 6 hours of waiting support started to manually send the keys)

Homever people which decided to get it from Steam, seemlessly bought the game and downloaded it minutes after the Alpha countdown.

Edited March 7, 2013 by k3lt

[nodunit 397]

I'm debating on if I should spend the cash on this or not. For anyone who already bought this, how playable is it? I know typically alphas are boarder line unplayable which makes me think I should just wait.

Coming from someone who had troubles on A2, by comparison at leas for me..VERY playable, it doesn't feel like the tinkertoy an alpha generally is.

[chortles 263]

I'm debating on if I should spend the cash on this or not. For anyone who already bought this, how playable is it? I know typically alphas are boarder line unplayable which makes me think I should just wait.

Starting next week, Arma 3 Alpha Lite invites will be sent to the buyers as Steam Gifts, which they can then give out, check the invites thread if you're wanting one. The Alpha right now is very playable, unprecedentedly-so for an Arma game... I must warn you though that the Alpha Lite invites will only allow vanilla Arma 3 alpha SP -- no multiplayer, no saving/loading missions in the Editor and no mods, so in effect all you can play without paying are the four Showcases (Infantry, Vehicles, SCUBA, and Helicopters) and messing around in the Editor.

BI Store went down for like 12 hours after the countdown, some people managed to buy the game but was unable to retrieve keys which caused massive outrage on forums and official BI social channels. (after 6 hours of waiting support started to manually send the keys)

Homever people which decided to get it from Steam, seemlessly bought the game and downloaded it minutes after the Alpha countdown.

More specifically, Steam will immediately attach the game to one's account if one buys it for one's own account (as opposed to buying it as a Steam Gift) whereas the BI Store outage meant that so many people were unable to get their keys from BI... so only the people who either got their keys from BI or bought from Steam were able to download!

[monsterswag 1]

my alpha is laggy and i don't know why can someone help me please?

[Placebo 28]

my alpha is laggy and i don't know why can someone help me please?

Please post a proper support thread in the troubleshooting forum with a list of your full system specs along with settings etc.

[kernriver 4]

Has anyone tried to submit their discount coupon?

When I try to submit it, I get the message that the coupon has expired, but in an e-mail that I got from BI it says: "...This coupon can be used for any future purchase (except the Chernarus Map Collection) and does not expire." :p

Or maybe it can't be used for Arma 3 alpha?

EDIT:

Yeah, I tried buying another game with the coupon and it works.

EDIT 2:

When I first tried the coupon, I was on Internet Explorer.

However, on Firefox it works.

Either BI somehow "activated" coupons for Arma 3 in the meantime, or it depends on browser you use.

Anyway, it worked. Thank you again, BI. :D

Edited March 8, 2013 by Kernriver

[Octarine 1]

OK, Perhaps I made a mistake but I was pretty sure that the Digital Deluxe version included all future DLCs. I just looked at the page to see about the invites which will be coming and I see that they are not now?!? Like I said I was pretty sure I read it right the first time. Was there a difference between ordering on Steam and at BIS?

[kernriver 4]

OK, Perhaps I made a mistake but I was pretty sure that the Digital Deluxe version included all future DLCs. I just looked at the page to see about the invites which will be coming and I see that they are not now?!? Like I said I was pretty sure I read it right the first time. Was there a difference between ordering on Steam and at BIS?

As far as I know, only Supporter Edition comes with all future DLCs. Difference between ordering on Steam vs. BI store was that you couldn't purchase Supporter Edition on Steam, only on BI store.

[Kinglor 1]

I have a question:

The Litle version can be upgrade to play MultiPlayer? Im looking for a lite version to see if the gamw work good in my PC, but if it work i will buy it for sure.

Thanks!

[kernriver 4]

No, there is no multiplayer in alpha lite, and it can't be upgraded.

EDIT:

Kinglor, if you want alpha invite, look here: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=19396

[Alex65876 1]

How many cost Arma 3 for CIS countries?

[xottabich 1]

what quality of graphics?

[Pyroman06 1]

what quality of graphics?

I'm interested too

[ogonec 1]

Will be Steam price for CIS and RUSSIA lower then now? Now it's same as other regions...

[Phantom Six 25]

I have a question about using 1 steam account to play ARMA 3 alpha over LAN. If I were to turn one of my steam to offline mode, leave the other online, and play ARMA 3 over LAN with them. Would there be FADE protection to kick me off my computer like in ARMA 2 (which is why I bought 2 copies instead of 1 incase I play on LAN), or should I be fine like all the other games I bought on steam like Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander Forged Alliance, etc, where I turn steam to offline mode and play the games over LAN with 1 copy? Just curious.

[squelch 0]

Hi guys,

I have a dilemma I'm hoping that you steam experts can help with.

I've never subscribed to the Steam ethos since the release of HL2 where I was unable to get online so it was unusable for me. I don't wish to start a debate on the merits or otherwise of the system, and I will be buying A3 supporters imminently, but I do have some questions that need answering. Please excuse my noobishness in this matter.

The problem is how the system will work for someone without good access to the internet.

Here's the situation: I will be buying Deluxe as a gift for a friend. However, his domestic circumstances mean that he relies on an unreliable 3G connection for the internet, and the Steam model would preclude downloading huge files. I would like to download the content and updates for him, and then sneakernet them to him. From what I can make out, this isn't possible as the files are locked to a specific account. The activation could be done by him naturally, but the downloads would be nigh on impossible.

What suggestions do you chaps have in this situation?

Edited April 13, 2013 by Squelch
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[chortles 263]

I believe that it's possible for Steam backups to be 'shared' if you've both already activated the game and got it in your respective Steam Libraries? I don't know anyone in person who also has bought the alpha, but I believe that I successfully "sneakerneted" a Steam backup for Team Fortress 2 (a F2P Steam game).

To create such a backup, right-click "Arma 3 Alpha" in your Steam Library, click "Backup Game Files", then follow the instructions; in my case for File Size I chose "DVD [4.7 GB]", though in practice I ended up with two 'discs' (subfolders) instead of the claimed one, with a number of CSD files (each of which has a corresponding CSM file) and a SIS file in each subfolder. The 'main' folder for your backup is named whatever you chose, which by default would be "Arma 3 Alpha", and this is what you "sneakernet" to him.

After either of you has Arma 3 Alpha in your respective Steam Library, from within the Steam client you click Steam (top menu) and "choose Backup and Restore Games", then "Restore a previous backup"; click Browse and choose the folder that you named the backup as (in my case that's "D:\Games\Steam Backups\Arma 3 Alpha\") then click Next to complete. (If the retail disc is anything like prior Steamworks games, the retail box will have a product key and a disc or two with such a Steam backup on them that will automate the restore process somewhat.)

Re: auto-updates: to my knowledge the Steam client will then automatically download any updates released after this backup was created, and you may not get the option to disable that (in the game's properties, Updates tab and choose "Do not automatically update this game") until after said updates are downloaded, so my advice would be to do all of this after the next stable build patch; you have to be online to restore but after he's got the game installed and running at least once he'll be set, i.e. being able to set Steam to offline mode (though you have to be connected to the Internet to do so) so that he can subsequently play without an Internet connection.

For what it's worth though, I once was disconnected from the Internet while messing around in the Editor and while the Steam client lost connection the Arma 3 alpha kept running as if nothing had happened.

[squelch 0]

Late reply I'm afraid due to a hiccup with my account.

I believe that it's possible for Steam backups to be 'shared' if you've both already activated the game and got it in your respective Steam Libraries? I don't know anyone in person who also has bought the alpha, but I believe that I successfully "sneakerneted" a Steam backup for Team Fortress 2 (a F2P Steam game).

Thanks for that Chortles, I've now obtained my Supporters edition, and can now see several other possibilities regarding getting my friend kitted out that weren't obvious before.

For what it's worth though, I once was disconnected from the Internet while messing around in the Editor and while the Steam client lost connection the Arma 3 alpha kept running as if nothing had happened.

This is exactly the scenario that was hoped for. basically he should be able to play, and more importantly, do some mission editing/mod making while keeping up to date via the sneakernet. As an aside, I also contacted the store support over this, and the response was that it would not be possible.

I have done a lot of further research after having the Steam client in hand, and it appears that this setup is indeed possible. For those that are still reluctant, or simply cannot use the full Steam "experience", then finding a friend who can act as a surrogate might be the answer. Activation/verification is still required however, but is quick and painless.

[chortles 263]

To be clear, you'll both need to have the game in your own accounts (so your Supporter Edition and his copy of Arma 3) but then both should be able to use the files created on your end as an installer; I'd say stick to stable build and create the backup based off of that, since we recently had a stable build patch whereas the development builds update much more frequently and without any internal QA from BI.

[squelch 0]

That was the intention. I see there's been a couple of updates in the Dev branch already today. I'll simply switch between them as necessary to keep him on stable.

[chortles 263]

What you're running shouldn't matter once you've created the backup, I'm simply saying that you should create the backup while you're on stable and after the most recent patch to stable.

EDIT: I just checked, and in addition to the Arma 3 alpha client remaining open when I lost connection previously, I did some testing tonight and even though I (deliberately) lost connection to the point that the Steam client declared "NO CONNECTION", I was also able to launch the alpha client. Subsequently, I closed both clients and then reopened the Steam client with my Internet connection still disabled, then at the 'can't connect' error window I was able to select the "restart in offline mode" option, which worked despite my already being offline. (You may have heard something about having to already be online to select offline mode, but I was able to go into offline mode despite already being offline.) Finally, I was also able to launch the Arma 3 alpha client while the Steam client was in offline mode.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Chortles

[1stID_Wagner 10]

when is the beta going to be released i know its today but when today?