Interview with Ondrej Spanel ( Suma )

[jerryhopper 286]

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW!

http://www.armedassault.eu/Start-d....ma.html

Filefront mirror:

http://files.filefront.com/suma+fi....fo.html

=======================================

It's DONE!

Expect a extra-extra-long episode this sunday!

i had to drop a few questions due to time-limitation.

if you would want to hear the interview on the radio, keep the following date & time free in your agenda!

Sunday february 3 - 20:00-22:00 GMT+1

Hope to see you tuned in at that time!!

the "Answering Machine" does not accept any more questions ****** for Suma.

The interview will be aired on the radio at February 3 2008 at 20:00 GMT+1

The downloadable podcast version will be available monday February 4.

Sahrani Radio is available 24/7 via : http://SahraniRadio.armedassault.eu:8000

=======================================

Dear community,

As you all know, i am doing interviews with ArmA community members.

Since quite a while, i have been trying to get BIS developers on our radioshow/podcast.

Today, i'm very honored to finally announce the confirmation on a interview with Ondrej Spanel, also known as Suma.

As i always believed that Sahrani Radio could be the voice of the community,and today i give you all the chance to be just that.

We have setup a special 'answering machine' where you can record your question for Suma.

You have maximal 20 seconds to ask your question, so keep it brief and to the point.

Try avoid questions like 'when will product or patch X be released?' as they most likely will not be asked for obvious reasons.

From all submitted questions, the Sahrani Radio staff will pick the most interesting ones and those will be asked and aired in the interview.

You can ask your question at the following adress.

http://www.armedassault.eu/recorder/

( Java is needed to view the page correctly )

A good example would be :

"Im John Doe from Belgium, and wanted to know if suma likes chinese food"

The best chance to to have your 'audible'question aired, is to ask a original and interesting question.

Good luck!

Regards,

Jerry Hopper.

Edited April 24, 2012 by jerryhopper

[RN Malboeuf 12]

that's pity i got no microfone ))

Quote[/b] ]Ondrej Spanel, also known as Suma.

in fact it's too hard to avoid technical questions speaking with bis lead programmer

I would like to know if there's any chance that community will get better information support.

Yes, there's biki, but most of the info there is filled by players not arma developers... there're still lots of config entries and model stuff that got no explanation.   Like what are "animation controllers cyclicForward and cyclicAside", what sources are available for different vehicle simulation (i.e. planes can't have turrets, air units got no dumpers etc), what hitzones are hardcoded in the engine (there're plenty for helis but none seems to be worky with planes), how ai soght is calculated in game etc - this list can be really endless

Are you gonna touch this kind of stuff or it's just talk "about the weather" ?

[NoRailgunner 0]

Good idea this 'questions recording machine'.

Hopefully it works fine and many questions will be answered!!

[Misfit Leader 2]

No working microphone for me too

But i got a crazy question !

Does BIS plan to program an in-game radio player that could communicate to play real online radio station (i am aiming Sahrani Radio yeah ! ).

Maybe not for ArmA but why not for ArmA 2, if the radio still alive that can add some "reality" to the game ^^

[Bracken 0]

How often do the people at BI, all stop doing their programming/designing/scripting ect and all have a big Lan game with Arma/arma2 or ofp?  

And what game mode do they usually prefer to play when/if they do (co-op/capture the flag/Dm/Mp objectives ect....)?

[wamingo 1]

I assume you will accept plain text questions here as well...

Here's some assorted questions.. some about arma 2, some not.

0. What's Suma's favorite games?

1. Sahrani is very mountainy, as were the islands in OFP. Many areas are practically unplayed because they're not terribly suitable for anything. Either hills are too steep, for vehicles and AI, or area is too empty for infantry.

Can we expect any changes or improvements to topology, bumpyness, hillyness, amount of cover (soft or solid), that kind of thing?

2. Assorted sound mods have done great things, like shown that gunfire reverberation (echo thing) adds a lot to the atmosphere. Do you imagine we'll see improvements on the sound front?

3. Some while ago BIS brought up the term "persistant worlds" and rpg elements has been mentioned. People have often asked for a save feature for online servers or perhaps an all-out server database. But perhaps this is not what is meant. So, would you clarify a bit as to what BIS might be thinking?

4. A lot of people has complained that the infantry controls were cluncky - are you addressing this? Are animations and stances going to transition more smoothly?

5. Will the Flight Model get any changes? My personal grief was that the nose pulls up automatically flying with a mouse/keyboard. Will that be gone?

6. Huge visibility range is very cool, but it has created a problem with AI. They won't/can't return fire at the same distances as players. Any improvements considered here?

7. Actually would you mind elaborating a bit... or a lot, on AI improvements? Any work on suppressive fire? Use of cover? Advanced leadership abilities? eg moving squaddies or groups in different directions? Anything at all? Automatic rearming perhaps?

8. Command hierachy? Perhaps a Commander class ala Battlefield 2/2142. Online games are often leader-less and people run off to whereever they want. Perhaps something a mission designer could enable/disable with reasonable ease?

Any plans or considerations done towards this?

9. omg-vbs2-Tracers: yes/no?

10. Could you at least give us 2 new screenshots per month? Come on...

Wireframe shots are cool too, really!

11. HDR got a lot of mixed feelings from the community. What does BIS think about that? Will there be any improvements to HDR?

12. How many copies of ArmA and maybe QG did BIS sell anyway? Is BIS staying afloat?

13. There was word that BIS would like to try making different types of games. First of all... WHY?! Secondly, what kind of games? And more importantly, will there be a ZSU Shilka in it?

14. Is ArmA banned in any countries? Any funny stories like that?

15. How do you feel about the competition? Call of Duty, ghost recon, codemasters own operation flashpoint 2?

Will the game continue to hold it's own market?

16. Are you aiming for a simultaneous PC/Console launch?

17. ArmA had minimum requirements specified somewhere in the 2ghz to 2.5ghz p4 range. What kind of requirements can we expect of ArmA 2? I know it's hard to say exactly, but do you expect we will be above or below 3ghz p4?

18. Settle this argument please... In OFP a helicopter would follow the landscape automatically if... you didn't use a joystick?

19. About buildings...

If any, will all buildings be destructable or just some?

Will the ratio of enterable / non-enterable buildings remain the same?

And will towns get bigger?

and I'm out....

Feel free to pick any or none, and alter, change, rephrase and whatever you like with these questions.

Either way, lookin forward to it jerry

[Mr_Tea 0]

One question:

Can, or will there be any change on the HDR, especially in relation to NVG`s in ARMA I ?

[max power 21]

I assume you will accept plain text questions here as well...

Here's some assorted questions.. some about arma 2, some not.

0. What's Suma's favorite games?

1. Sahrani is very mountainy, as were the islands in OFP. Many areas are practically unplayed because they're not terribly suitable for anything. Either hills are too steep (especially for vehicles and AI) or area is too flat with too little solid cover for infantry, or both.

Can we expect any changes or improvements to topology, bumpyness, hillyness, amount of cover (soft or solid), that kind of thing? Will it be more or less spiky than sahrani?

2. Assorted sound mods have done great things, like shown that gunfire reverberation (echo thing) adds a lot to the atmosphere. Do you imagine we'll see improvements on the sound front?

3. Some while ago BIS brought up the term "persistant worlds" and rpg elements has been mentioned. People have often asked for a save feature for online servers or perhaps an all-out server database. But perhaps this is not what is meant. So, would you clarify a bit as to what BIS might be thinking?

4. A lot of people has complained that the infantry controls were cluncky - are you addressing this? Are animations and stances going to transition more smoothly?

5. Will the Flight Model get any changes? My personal grief was that the nose pulls up automatically flying with a mouse/keyboard. Will that be gone?

6. Huge visibility range is very cool, but it has created a problem with AI. They won't/can't return fire at the same distances as players. Any improvements considered here?

7. Actually would you mind elaborating a bit... or a lot, on AI improvements? Any work on suppressive fire? Use of cover? Advanced leadership abilities? eg moving squaddies or groups in different directions? Anything at all? Automatic rearming perhaps?

8. Command hierachy? Perhaps a Commander class ala Battlefield 2/2142. Online games are often leader-less and people run off to whereever they want. Perhaps something a mission designer could enable/disable with reasonable ease?

Any plans or considerations done towards this?

9. omg-vbs2-Tracers: yes/no?

10. Could you at least give us 2 new screenshots per month? Come on...

Wireframe shots are cool too, really!

11. HDR got a lot of mixed feelings from the community. What does BIS think about that? Will there be any improvements to HDR?

12. How many copies of ArmA and maybe QG did BIS sell anyway? Is BIS staying afloat?

13. There was word that BIS would like to try making different types of games. First of all... WHY?! Secondly, what kind of games? And more importantly, will there be a ZSU Shilka in it?

14. Is ArmA banned in any countries? Any funny stories like that?

15. How do you feel about the competition? Call of Duty, ghost recon, codemasters own operation flashpoint 2?

Will the game continue to hold it's own market?

16. Are you aiming for a simultaneous PC/Console launch?

17. ArmA had minimum requirements specified somewhere in the 2ghz to 2.5ghz p4 range. What kind of requirements can we expect of ArmA 2? I know it's hard to say exactly, but do you expect we will be above or below 3ghz p4?

18. Settle this argument please... In OFP a helicopter would follow the landscape automatically if... you didn't use a joystick?

19. About buildings...

If any, will all buildings be destructable or just some?

Will the ratio of enterable / non-enterable buildings remain the same?

And will towns get bigger?

and I'm out....

Feel free to pick any or none, and alter, change, rephrase and whatever you like with these questions.

Either way, lookin forward to it jerry

Yeah, like this could be covered in a 2- second maximum.

[jerryhopper 286]

Ofcourse we take plain text questions.

But, you could record one or two of these on the anwering machine. it will give the interview more 'intense' feeling.

So dont be shy, hook up your microphone! and fire away those questions.

tip: If you have multiple questions, name your recording like this: yourname, yourname2, yourname3 etc etc.

[wamingo 1]

I don't want jerry to run out of questions, that's all.

don't got a microphone sorry.

[smellyjelly 0]

We have setup a special 'answering machine' where you can record your question for Suma.

Wouldn't that be a 'question machine'?  

...

...Is there any date for the interview yet?

[jerryhopper 286]

We have setup a special 'answering machine' where you can record your question for Suma.

Wouldn't that be a 'question machine'?  

...

...Is there any date for the interview yet?

the "Question Machine" will be closed down on wednesday january 30.

Expect the interview to be aired at approx February 2.

The downloadable podcast version will be available monday February 4.

We have already 7 audio submissions - keep them coming!

[mr burns 132]

Question machine doesn´t work for me because of some missing plugin that im not gonna install just for this..

My question would´ve been whether or not BIS is still planning to bail out of the commercial PC games market after the release of ArmA2 ?

[jerryhopper 286]

Question machine doesn´t work for me because of some missing plugin that im not gonna install just for this..

My question would´ve been whether or not BIS is still planning to bail out of the commercial PC games market after the release of ArmA2 ?  

Mr burns, you need Java.

the solution is available at : http://www.java.com

you can also send me a Wave file via email if all fails, you know where to find me

[lee_h._oswald 0]

What does Ondrej Spanel think about the quality of their linux dedicated server support and what are the plans to make this support better than it is right now?

---

MfG Lee

[mr burns 132]

Question machine doesn´t work for me because of some missing plugin that im not gonna install just for this..

My question would´ve been whether or not BIS is still planning to bail out of the commercial PC games market after the release of ArmA2 ?

Mr burns, you need Java.

True true, but since i dont even update it for porn .. i really would´nt do it for ArmA related stuff either.

Mailing a .wav is a good idea! Maybe when im drunk enough, but dont count on it

[opteryx 1562]

I would like to know if splines will be implemented for road construction in Visitor 4.

[sparky 0]

ok, a complicated one, but very hot question.

Are they going to change in ArmA 2 the way that the engine is handling the proxies???

basicaly in general terms that means,

1)are we going to have custom animation for weapons?

2)are we going to have better animated crew/cargo actions that are more realistic according to the movement and not just prerecorded random animations for the crew proxies??

3)and finaly walikng and enterable vehicles??

all these are having the same source (proxy handling) i know it is more complicated to explain it, but it's something that i'd like to see in ArmA 2. In fact it's the only thing that i don't like in ArmA.

[Prydain 1]

My question is, can we ask Suma about the game or just his favorite food?

[cross 1]

well the site seems to be down jerryhopper...    

PS...

I'm sending you sth for your radio as well....

Nice one this radio...

Listen to JerryHopper's Sahrani Radio thru winamp....

Sahrani Radio

[jerryhopper 286]

well the site seems to be down jerryhopper...    

Do you mean www.armedassault.eu?

it seems fine from this side, will check the uptime of last night.

[cross 1]

yep..old one is ok but with www.armedassault.eu i get;

Server Default page

If you see this page it means:

1. hosting for this domain is not configured

or 2. there's no such domain registered in Plesk

What you can do:

Using Plesk, you can create domains with web hosting on a single physical server.

SWSOFT Plesk...........

DNS/Forwarding Error perhaps???

[NoRailgunner 0]

Didn't work but will try again

Q: Do RPG elements in ArmA2 have an significant influence in missions and campaigns? What are the main priorities?

Q: Will ArmA users have the chance to play with both games eg. flying from ArmA2 island to ArmA island and vice versa? Like this A-10 campaign mission in OFP (don't know the name).

Q: Why BIS didn't care more of naval/air transport(logistics) eg. main battle tanks and similar - how they "land" and deploy on such islands?

Thanks!

[jerryhopper 286]

yep..old one is ok but with www.armedassault.eu i get;

Server Default page

If you see this page it means:

1. hosting for this domain is not configured

or 2. there's no such domain registered in Plesk

What you can do:

Using Plesk, you can create domains with web hosting on a single physical server.

SWSOFT Plesk...........

DNS/Forwarding Error perhaps???

hi crawler.

www.armedassault.eu resolves to 82.98.78.46

All things should be ok. i have several signups each day.

could you ping www.armedassault.eu for me, and reply me with the ip adress? thanks.

Eventually, you could try http://migrate.armedassault.eu/recorder/

which should definatly work.

[SlipperyJim 0]

Try avoid questions like 'when will product or patch X be released?' as they most likely will not be asked for obvious reasons.

1) Does he think it is acceptable that the last patch was about 7 months ago?

2) Do they expect us to buy Arma 2 when Arma 1 is crippled by hackers and still not fixed yet?