OPREPs

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UNIT: Korneel van 't Land, Greg Becksted, Jervant Malakjan, Brand/Community/Web Development

TO: Arma 3 Players

OPSUM: Introducing our development plans for Arma 3 Units

 

EVALUATION:

Over the next few weeks we'll be rolling out 'Arma 3 Units' – a web-based service for connecting Arma 3 players to Arma community groups.

Via this OPREP, we would like to introduce the concept, explain the scope of its 'Foundation Release', and present our near-future development plans.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: BoÅ™ivoj Hlava, Senior Designer, Sandbox Design Dept.

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users

OPSUM: Sharing our plans for upcoming Server Browser advancements.

 

EVALUATION:

As the name of this blog has probably told you already, our next planned step is to overhaul the server browsing experience. Besides the UI changes, we would also like to present various new or improved functionality features.

The biggest themes of our ongoing work are definitely advanced filtering and extended mod support. To achieve all this, we needed to do another significant step and move the new Server Browser into the Launcher.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Greg Becksted, Community Developer, Publishing Dept.

TO: Arma 3 Users

OPSUM: Reflecting on the first official Arma 3 tournament

 

EVALUATION:

Welcome to a special OPREP on the Arma 3 End Game Tournament.

Here we'd like to briefly discuss the higher level goals of the End Game Tournament, provide a short summary of how it progressed, and share some of the key lessons learned.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Pavel Guglava, Senior Artist, Art Dept.

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users

OPSUM: Introducing splendid upgrades to Arma 3's lighting and visuals.

 

EVALUATION:

With the aim of pushing authenticity one step further, we have decided to upgrade the visual fidelity of Arma 3's terrains.

 

Although you are going to see the difference on first sight (available right now on Dev-Branch, and currently pencilled in - for everyone, for free - in Update 1.60, on the #RoadToApex), technology-wise, there is a lot going on under the new and vivid hood, which we'd like to share with our community.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Jay Crowe, Creative Director

TO: Arma 3 Players

OPSUM:  Introducing Our 'Official' Steam Workshop Item

 

EVALUATION:

For more than a decade now, our series has proudly served as a platform for a broad range of gameplay experiences. In celebration of this effort - and to showcase just how easy it can be to discover, install, and maintain custom content - we're releasing our very own 'official mod'.

 

We'd like to talk a bit about what modding means to Arma 3, introduce the mod itself, and review the official tools and resources available to creators.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Petra IvaÅ¡ková, UX Designer, Sandbox Design Dept.

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users

OPSUM: Evaluating an overhaul of the Respawn Screen

 

EVALUATION:

Alongside the ongoing spree of overhauls improving the User eXperience on the #RoadToApex, I would like to welcome you to an OPREP introducing the overhaul of the Respawn Screen and also my very first report.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Thomas Ryan, Senior Designer, Design Dept. (Mike)

TO: Arma 3 Users

OPSUM: Exploring Update 1.64's improvements to the Apex Protocol co-operative campaign

 

EVALUATION:

Thanks to your feedback, we've been working on some significant changes and improvements to Apex Protocol, which will be making their way to you as part of Arma 3's upcoming Update 1.64. As part of this effort, we'd like to take this opportunity to establish the motivations behind these changes in order for you to have a clearer picture - when they go live - of where we came from, where we are, and where we're going.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Krzysztof Bielawski, Senior Programmer, Programming Dpt.

TO: Arma 3 Users

OPSUM: Introducing the latest AI path-following improvements for wheeled vehicles.

 

EVALUATION:

Over the course of many years of development, Artificial Intelligence in the Arma series has grown into a very sophisticated system. For example, computing a route and following it on any terrain - be it a vanilla or a modded one - is, generally, something the AI manages to pull off on a daily basis. They are able to control multiple types of vehicle, be aware of enemies and dangerous areas, and navigate on roads and across bridges - all while avoiding collisions - but not always in the most effective manner.

 

As the number of options for the AI grew, the number of issues, edge cases, rare configurations and parameters rose as well. Plus, with the Apex expansion and its terrain, Tanoa, having unique bridges, the amount of the tweaks necessary for smooth gameplay increased drastically. Thus, it was finally time to re-address our AI path-finding.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Petr Kolář, Project Lead

TO: Arma 3 Users

OPSUM: Cleaning the past for a brighter future

 

EVALUATION:

In the latest Arma 3 Main-Branch Update (1.66), we finally managed to do something that many people in the community have asked for. Instead of spending time on developing new content and features, we focused solely on fixing the various issues that had been multiplying under the hood. 

This 'Clean Sweep', as we call it, consisted of a triage of issues reported in our systems, and fixing as many as possible over the course of one month. The result of this effort was Update 1.66, but what exactly is a Clean Sweep, and how does it work?

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Richard Biely, Programmer, Programming Dept.

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users 

OPSUM: Introducing 64-bit Arma 3 - what, why, and how! 

 

EVALUATION:

In recent years, a growing number of developers have released their games with 64-bit support. Many of our own community have hoped or suspected that, sooner or later, this simply had to happen to our beloved series as well. To live up to your hopes - we are proud to announce that 64-bit Arma 3 is knocking right at your door, now released on Dev-Branch. 

But what exactly are the benefits of having a 64-bit game, what does it mean for you as gamers, and why did you have to wait until now?

 

Full Report

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UNIT: @Edge, Combat Patrol co-author

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users 

OPSUM: Introducing an experimental cooperative scenario

 

EVALUATION:

One of the latest Arma 3 Dev-Branch updates introduced a prototype of a cooperative scenario called COOP 12 Combat Patrol. The development of this scenario started out as a pet project by our Senior Technical Designer Josef and myself more than two years ago. It's now evolved into what might become an official multiplayer scenario/mode in the game.

 

However, before that happens, we wanted to share it with you and see whether you like it as much as we do.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: @saul, External Developer, BRAVO ZERO ONE Studios

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users 

OPSUM: Partnering up to bring you the best DLC jet!

 

EVALUATION:

Hello, my name is Joshua "Saul" Carpenter, Project Lead at BRAVO ZERO ONE Studios. Together with Bohemia Interactive, we are proud to present the Arma 3 Jets DLC. In this OPREP, we'll briefly delve into the DLC's content and its development.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: @oukej, Designer, Design Dept.

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users

OPSUM: Target Locked: Improving threat detection, tracking and engagement in Arma 3

 

EVALUATION:

As soon as Arma 3 Jets DLC appeared on the horizon, we began to think about its so-called 'platform features' (improvements available to everyone that owns Arma 3). One of the key items on our wishlist was the 'radar' (also sometimes known as 'magic radar' to its detractors!). While its ease-of-use was convenient in some ways, Jets DLC represented a splendid opportunity to add more depth to detection and targeting gameplay. Now - after many, many hours of development, and the commitment of the whole team (and Electronic Warfare Task Force in particular!) - we're almost ready to distribute our new approach to our Arma 3 service members.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: @defwen, Level Designer, Argo

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users

OPSUM: Back to the Future: re-building Malden for 2035

 

EVALUATION:

Terrains have always played a very important role in our games - and a recent Dev-Branch update has brought you a new one: Malden 2035. It might sound familiar to our veteran players, as Malden was one of three islands in our first game, Arma: Cold War Assault. It's not just a simple recreation of the classic terrain, though. We've added new places, structures, and our approach was very different from the creation of our previous terrains. In this OPREP, we'd like to invite you backstage of Malden's development.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: @DnA, Project Lead, Management

TO: Arma 3 Dev-Branch Users

OPSUM: Actions have consequences

 

EVALUATION:

Recently we've revealed Arma 3 Laws of War DLC (formerly known as "Orange" DLC) and promptly staged a full testing version on Dev-Branch. In this OPREP we would like to offer insight into the origins of the project, a unique collaboration with an inspiring organization, our work on some feature refinements, and how we believe this DLC will be of value to you.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Pavel Valič, Artist, Art Dept.

TO: Arma 3 Users

OPSUM: Laws of Art: examining the IDAP faction and its assets

 

EVALUATION:

Hi folks, and welcome to this very ARTistic OPerational REPort. My name is Pavel Valič, and I'm an Artist at Bohemia Interactive's relatively new office in the Netherlands. Over the past year or so I've been one of the people responsible for the new assets in the Arma 3 Laws of War DLC. Now I have the honor to tell you a little bit more about what our team has created for you. In this OPREP, we'll specifically focus on the art side of things, and talk about the new assets and discuss how they were created.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: John K. Noviks, BRAVO ZERO ONE Studios

TO: Arma 3 Users

OPSUM: Balance of power

 

EVALUATION:

It's been a year now since Jets DLC was released to the public. Working alongside Bohemia Interactive as a third-party developer with strong community roots, everyone here at B01 has been extremely excited to see the community's response, and we'd like to thank you all for your support. But what’s next? Is this the end of our mission? Not yet! Let's take a look at some of the bonus assets coming to everyone for free in this summer's Encore Update.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Josef Zemánek, Senior Scripter / Designer
TO: Arma 3 Users
OPSUM: From personal Workshop project to official multiplayer mode

 

EVALUATION:

Hello and welcome to another OPREP. My name is Josef Zemánek (aka @Jezuro) and I've been working at Bohemia Interactive since 2007 as Playable Content Designer and Scripter. I'm also the author of the Warlords mode, which I'd like to introduce here today.

 

For those who missed our Roadmap 2018 Update blog, Warlords is a multiplayer game mode for Arma 3, which will be added to the game for free as part of the upcoming 1.86 Update. However, some of you will know that it has been around for some time already on the Steam Workshop, where it garnered valuable feedback from a fairly large number of players over the past 3 years or so. In this OPREP, I'd like to share my motivation for creating Warlords and why we believe it makes for a great addition to the vanilla game.

 

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UNIT: Vertexmacht
TO: Arma 3 Creator DLC Users
OPSUM: New assets in the upcoming 1.1 Content Update

 

EVALUATION:

Hello Arma 3 community!

We, the team behind Global Mobilization - Cold War Germany , would like to provide you with an update of what we’ve been working on since April.

As you may know, we want to continue supporting Global Mobilization past the initial release with free content updates, and therefore would like to let you take a look at what we’ve got planned for the upcoming GM 1.1 Content Update, expected later this year.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Vertexmacht
TO: Arma 3 Creator DLC Users
OPSUM: Global Mobilization Update 1.1

EVALUATION:
We, the team behind the Global Mobilization - Cold War Germany Creator DLC, are excited to be rolling out the 1.1 update very soon - just in time before the Christmas holidays. Right now it is only available on the RC-Branch for public pre-release testing, but it will be rolled out to the main branch of Arma 3 within 7 to 14 days, should no critical issues delay this release.

Find out here how to access the RC-Branch

Full Report

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UNIT: Vertexmacht
TO: Arma 3 Creator DLC Users
OPSUM: Global Mobilization Update 1.2 Preview

EVALUATION:

It has been exactly one year since Global Mobilization - Cold War Germany was released. Early on we made it clear that we are dedicated to continuing our post-release support by adding more content in free, follow-up updates. To make good on this promise, last year’s 1.1 update saw the addition of more armored assets and the introduction of the Polish Army faction. In this blog today we want to give you an outlook on the upcoming 1.2 update and highlight the new aerial units that we will be releasing as part of Global Mobilization - Cold War Germany.

 

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OPREP: Old Man
UNIT: Václav Kerber, Designer, Design Dept.
TO: Arma 3 Users
OPSUM: Designing total player freedom in an open-world scenario
 

EVALUATION:

Hello, my name is Václav "Sarge" Kerber and I've been working at Bohemia Interactive for over 3 years. During the development of Arma 3 Apex: Old Man, I worked as a quest designer, responsible for the story and the scenario's general flow. I'd like to share with you what I learned on the project, including some of the daily challenges we faced and the ultimate goals behind our 'what if' approach to open world quest design.

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UNIT: Vertexmacht
TO: Arma 3 Creator DLC Users
OPSUM: Global Mobilization Update 1.3

EVALUATION:

Hello Arma 3 Community! We’re happy to present to you the 1.3 update for Global Mobilization - Cold War Germany (GM). Not only does this new version bring bug-fixes and useability refinements, we are also still dedicated to introducing new and free assets.

These are now available for every owner of the Global Mobilization Creator DLC.

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Vertexmacht
TO: Arma 3 Creator DLC Users
OPSUM: Global Mobilization Update 1.4

EVALUATION:

Hello Arma 3 Community! With its release around the corner, we are excited to present the second major update in 2021 for Global Mobilization - Cold War Germany (GM)! Along with fixes and quality-of-life improvements, we of course are adding more content to GM as part of this 1.4 update!

 

Full Report

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UNIT: Savage Game Design
TO: Arma 3 Creator DLC Users
OPSUM: Sneak preview of the upcoming S.O.G. Prairie Fire 1.1 Update

EVALUATION:

Hello Arma 3 players! The team behind S.O.G. Prairie Fire is excited to be soon rolling out our first update with many fixes and quality-of-life improvements, and new content to take you deeper into the Vietnam War Special Forces experience. Right now it is only available on the RC-Branch for public pre-release testing, but it will be released to the main branch of Arma 3 very soon.

 

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