ArmA Public Beta Patch 1.05.5143

[Heatseeker 0]

The problem you (KC) describe with the texture corruption over distance ("flickering") is rather old and an issue that was introduced in OPF after some video driver. The W-buffer setting stoped working.

I think you might find more information about this if you do a search in the OPF troubleshooting section, atleast i remember reading about it in a well informed thread (like the ones we used to have back then)...

[KeyCat 131]

Thanks for the input Heatseeker and I know it's an old OFP issue, thats why I was really happy to see it gone in ArmA 1.00 - 1.02 and real sad to see it back in 1.05 (never tried 1.04) with the exact same HW and drivers between 1.00 - 1.05 versions.

Since BIS managed to solve the issue (or at least make it much less noticable) in 1.00 - 1.02 I hope they can do their "magic" one more time

/KC

[Maddmatt 1]

The grass layer looking ugly next to ground textures is something that should be fixed.

I only got ArmA at version 1.04 so I don't know how different the flickering was before. It would be great if it was reduced but without W-Buffer support in modern video cards it might not be possible. Hope it is though.

[KeyCat 131]

but without W-Buffer support in modern video cards it might not be possible.

I know to little about the inner working of modern graphic cards to comment but since it wasn't there in early ArmA version my hope is high!

Most likely this issue is low on BIS priority list and I fully understand that and that BIS should concentrate on bugs that affects stability and gameplay first of all since thats always more important.

Even if the graphic quality took a step back with 1.05 there was major improvements in other areas that I wouldn't trade (one of them being that the Sprocket version doesn't CTD in MP anymore). Lets hope it continues that way with 1.06 and on and the 1.05.5143 beta is a good sign it will...

/KC

[Scrub 0]

I have one complaint about the view distance..  It makes huge Saharani look TINY!!!!  

It feels good to see mountains or the objective off in the distance, my brain thinks 'oh, it's right there', and then it takes me 5 or so minutes to make my way over that 'little' rise I wanted as an observation point.  AH-6 assaults now can be lined up and done properly, using distance and the GEs/FFARs dispersion to saturate the area, instead of right-on-top-of-the-target pinpoint FFAR sniping.. Followed by the inevitable critical damage taken from the overflight or magic BB.  

Thanks BIS,  I know there are still some old and new issues to clean up but the performance boost is much appreciated.  

[Dallas 9]

I have one complaint about the view distance..  It makes huge Saharani look TINY!!!!  

There's a real easy and quick fix for that, just press the eject 5K above or 5K from the shore. Tiny becomes real huge very fast.

[y_t 2]

Hey there all

well well well, the fun continues...  I have an 8800 GTS, was loving the old 1.05 with the maxmem command, all was good.  New patch...  OH MY GOD!  I love BIS, what a great patch, white fog is gone, fps increase by 10 to 15 frames, environments look amazing.

Hang on though, all of a sudden i get textures reverting to commodore 64 standard whenever i change views, it lasts for maybe 1 second each time, occasionally it stays that way, i swear my calculator has better graphics (and its solar powered too!  I assume this is know as 'LOD' i keep reading about?   what does LOD stand for?  and can someone tell me what causes it and can i fix it?  

Why would this new patch cause this?  I saw it maybe once or twice in total on the previous versions.

Thanks all

Kiwi.

AMD X2 4600

8800 GTS

Vista Ultimate

2 Gig RAM

LOD = level or details, its about the quaility of textures map on 3D models, the higher the LOD is the better GFX on model can be seen,

to find out what problem is you better first dumb down to XP first(feel lame? i can tell you vista is still not for gaming, sometime very unstable, for now)

next using the latest driver to test as much version of the game as possible, i guess you using EU DVD version 1.04 so try reinstall the hold game with a clean windows to see if the problem still there, make sure you tested most latest nV drivers and see if all version of the drivers have the same problems

if all the above shows the same result, then ArmA is surely not running happy on your system, its better to report on BTS, make sure that you give enought info like your spec, OS version, driver versions, game versions, add pictures or even error logs created by the program itself(forgot where they put it through) would be even better to help sort out the problem in next patch

Sorta what 4 in 1 said... Level of Detail

Here's the Wiki: LOD

Basically its a procedure to reduce/increase the complexity of objects in the game based on their orientation to the players (cameras) eye. The nice increase in FPS some people are seeing is no doubt realted to adjustments in LOD calculations implemented by BIS in 1.05+ (amongst other things). For some people (I guess with certain H/W + S/W configs like me) the LOD is all buggered up.

Here is an example. I took these shots last night. It's a repeatable issue and this is what I do to make it happen every time:

1. Start game (1.05) and run mission ArmA Mark 2.0

2. After Mark (2880) is finished goto my campagin save (Counterattack)

3. Take screen shot.

1. Start game (1.05+) and run mission ArmA Mark 2.0

2. After Mark (3050) is finished goto my campagin save (Counterattack)

3. Take screen shot.

Sweet  

XP SP2

C2D 6600 @ 3300

8800GTX @ 625/1000 (101.02)

X-Fi

Dell 2407FPW

[ArMoGaDoN 0]

Overall I found the patch improved things, but not really the jerking that exists when flying in helicopters, this seems caused by (re)loading of object details/textures pausing the game briefly, especially annoying when diving close to ground and pulling up sharply.  I finally gave up and got the game to actually run in 16bpp colour - by tricking it in ARMA.CFG, making that readonly, and then running briefly in windowed mode before going to full screen mode.  Strange way to get 16bpp but seems to be only way to trick it.

PROBLEM is now that it's in 16bpp colour the contrast between sky/ground is WAY too high - like even the glare from clouds makes the ground detail / enemies virtually unseeable.  Seems fine in 32bpp, but 16 - UgGGhh.  Please fix this!!!!

Occasionally I'm getting 'fractal kaleidoscope' effects corrupting the graphics, maybe after alt-tab like ofp used to, though it didnt seem to happen in old 1.05 (perhaps it just crashed instead?)

Funniest effect I've had so far was in a multiplayer last night - gunship deathmatch - and a guy in a SU34 was diving across the sky, but then in front of my eyes that same jet turned into a seagull......  MAybe server lag was to blame and he died someplace else, but it was well strange to se a jet transmute in midair....  No: I was only slightly tipsy - it did really happen.  One of those strange things that might not normally be reported, but may provide a bug-clue to a reading dev.

[MrZig 0]

WarWolf @ April 06 2007,12:10)]Funniest effect I've had so far was in a multiplayer last night - gunship deathmatch - and a guy in a SU34 was diving across the sky, but then in front of my eyes that same jet turned into a seagull...... MAybe server lag was to blame and he died someplace else, but it was well strange to se a jet transmute in midair.... No: I was only slightly tipsy - it did really happen. One of those strange things that might not normally be reported, but may provide a bug-clue to a reading dev.

That's ArmA's new anti-cheat/piracy measure effect that makes an illegal-user turn into a seagull with some sort of message. Much like the old FADE message.. Except FADE is Codemasters' trademark.

[ArMoGaDoN 0]

Quote[/b] ]That's ArmA's new anti-cheat/piracy measure effect that makes an illegal-user turn into a seagull with some sort of message. Much like the old FADE message.. Except FADE is Codemasters' trademark

lmao!!!!!

I love it. Do they actually turn seagull on their own screens too?

If so - excellent, nice one BIS!

[OFPDude 0]

The grass layer looking ugly next to ground textures is something that should be fixed.

I only got ArmA at version 1.04 so I don't know how different the flickering was before. It would be great if it was reduced but without W-Buffer support in modern video cards it might not be possible. Hope it is though.

I agree.....version 1.05 has introduced alot of shimmering and poor texture filtering on grass, trees etc.....

[Mr_Tea 0]

I noticed that the textures of objects around 100 meters away have much lower quality when i use the 1.05+ patch.

Textures near the player position are fine.

Also groups of vehicles show strange behavior, especially tanks spin around every few meters.

[djerden 0]

For dedi server with the patch:

I got it up & running by uploading the beta folder & the startbetapatch.bat file (just like on my client machine).

Then, I edited the contents of the .bat file so the line reads like:

START "" /D"%CD%" /B "%CD%\beta\arma_server.exe" -config=serverbeta.cfg -mod=beta

This seems to work fine, & leaves your original server setup as is, so you can always run it stock too, just like your client machine.  Hope this helps some other folks.  Any other ideas or comments to add to this, feel free...I'm just a noob.  

[d3dsh33p 0]

For dedi server with the patch:

I got it up & running by uploading the beta folder & the startbetapatch.bat file (just like on my client machine).

Then, I edited the contents of the .bat file so the line reads like:

START "" /D"%CD%" /B "%CD%\beta\arma_server.exe" -server -config=serverbeta.cfg -mod=beta

This seems to work fine, & leaves your original server setup as is, so you can always run it stock too, just like your client machine. Hope this helps some other folks. Any other ideas or comments to add to this, feel free...I'm just a noob.

you got view distance turn up yet on the server..?

i couldnt get mine to work right, but everything else is like no crosshairs and such

also now that im using the patch my server is shown as down, but if you go to the ip directly its there

[Scrub 0]

Can't get the Harrier to engage my designated targets. Also (not that this would ever be the case) if you place an AI SF recon with an AI Harrier as a squad member, the animations of the SF keep switching between the rifle and the LD when a target is found.. back and forth and back and forth.

I know this would never happen, but wanted to enter it to the fray as it may be related to another issue.

[Heatseeker 0]

Can't get the Harrier to engage my designated targets. Also (not that this would ever be the case) if you place an AI SF recon with an AI Harrier as a squad member, the animations of the SF keep switching between the rifle and the LD when a target is found.. back and forth and back and forth.

I know this would never happen, but wanted to enter it to the fray as it may be related to another issue.

The two should not be grouped.

The SF recon should lase the targets on his own and any harrier flying nearby will atack the lased targets. The harrier can only lock the GBU's on a target that is lased.

The issue with the a.i. lasing might be related to the poor fix BIS came up with, using the binocular animation.

[Odie3 0]

Well, the -world=empty option is like BI was reading my mind!

As for the 8800, 3~4k is looking pretty nice. Its also cool when you adjust your distance you see it the game change as you move the slider. I am not sure is fixed [some think it is not] but at least I know see a change as I go higher.

[4 IN 1 0]

Well, the -world=empty option is like BI was reading my mind!

As for the 8800, 3~4k is looking pretty nice.  Its also cool when you adjust your distance you see it the game change as you move the slider.  I am not sure is fixed [some think it is not] but at least I know see a change as I go higher.

well its not totally fix if you compare 8800 to 7XXX, but what you see is greatly improved

[Jack-UK 0]

Im happy... i can run my texture details at normal again without my system crashing

Gonna test high/v high later. Also no LOD issues!

Great job BIS!

[Bunkers 0]

How do you get this patch to run with the FDF sound mod?

[Dwarden 1125]

How do you get this patch to run with the FDF sound mod?

copy fdf sound files into Addons directory or just edit startbetapatch.bat

from

-mod=beta

to

-mod=@FDF_Sounds;beta

[Bunkers 0]

Thank you, Dwarden. It works now.

However I'm getting LOD issues and lower fps than I did in my original 1.5. Quite alot of both. On the plus side is the viewdistance which seems to help on the "white fog" issue.

[ziiip 1]

The patch sadly haven't brought me any performance speed-up.

[dirtylarrygb 0]

The patch sadly haven't brought me any performance speed-up.

I've had to turn post process LOW and shaders NORMAL to maintain 30FPS min at 1600x1024 with everything else maxed.

Saying that this is due to the game now having a 6km VD I can see i think not the 1 km i used to get on a 8800 ;]

Just goes to show there aint a machine that can max everything at HD res and have SSAA on yet in ARMA.

Basically nvidia need to invent the 9800 faster and we need 10k MHZ CPU's so hurry up nvidia and Intel/amd you lazy sobs.

[stabiz 0]