pd3

I don't want anything to do with successive versions of A3 until Dragonfyre has been updated, why am I being forced to update? Why is 1.38 no longer an option?

I've been saying this ever since the old days of OFP, that BI needed to step away from engine based sound modulation and simply go the route that other games had successfully done away with. The most primitive example from my recollection was Half Life 2, they had separate samples based on distance back in 2004. I'm not trying to be an asshole for the sake of being an asshole, but since It appears that I've been forced to update, with no recourse, and it's not pretty. I'm going to have to leave my opinion on the matter, I really don't have any other option. I can't even play the game at this point, every sound at this point is just a reminder of how much better it was before this update. The new sounds are awfully synthetic, they feel "overly" engineered, and the fact that not only does the modulation not apply to legacy buildings (arma/arma2) era buildings, but it's disappointingly substandard. It really does seem like the minimal effort was put through to add some reverb and that's it. You don't even get sonic echoes when at proximity to "objects". Like I said, I'm not trying to be an asshole, but this is AWFUL. This does not enhance but detracts from the immersion in the game. What were you guys doing inviting LJ and then learning absolutely nothing and implementing some of the great concepts he had in the laziest manner possible? I wouldn't even be annoyed here if it weren't for the fact that I'm not even able to play a build that allows me to circumvent this, hence why I'm posting this here. I don't even know if LJ will be able to re-implement the features that set his mod apart from others at this point. I'd really like to know how the devs could get such a great concept so completely and utterly wrong. They would have been better off simply adding new sounds and leaving the rest alone if they couldn't do it properly. I've been saying it since HL2 came out, SEPARATE samples for separate instances of fire, it's the only way, software modulation is completely inadequate.

So what direction is the development for Dragonfyre taking at this point after the changes BI has made? Will the script heavy version with the environmental effects (indoor, echoes, etc) manifest again at some point in the future? I'm still running the release version with 1.38 as I'm quite enjoying the effects and I'm willing to forego updates for the time being.

I can't seem to save any of my user missions running legacy 1.38 Is that simply not supported or is that a problem unique to my situation?

Interesting concept, is it strictly a multiplayer thing or could the functionality be applied to SP or PVE - type scenarios?

I'm somewhat late to the schism that happened earlier, but I feel I need to make some civil observations on the matter. I think Megagoth seems to be mistaken as to why people like JSRS, and specifically why some people (such as myself) - like JSRS Dragonfyre. First of all, trying to claim that the appeal of Dragonfyre is the fact that it's "loud" is something of a strawman in my personal opinion. That being said, my personal reasons for liking Dragonfyre are quite specifically because the scripted-in sound dynamics that he has created for this specific incarnation are completely UNLIKE anything else seen in the ARMA series, much less in many other games. For anyone who has actually used firearms in a variety of circumstances, they will know that geography and architecture play a huge role in sound dynamics. Flat, open areas result in more muted discharge sounds, especially if if the ground beneath is soft and absorbs sound easily, Dragonfyre's default sounds model this quite well and represent a nice balance between sounding both convincing and aesthetically pleasing. Closed or architecturally and "geographically dense" areas, especially when comprised with more dense, and reflective materials will greatly increase the reverberation of the sounds, these in particular add so much more environmental immersion and increase the tension of fighting in enclosed areas. This in particular has raised the bar of sound dynamics in ALL FPS-type games, not simply ARMA. The door has opened and there's no going back, and it has VERY LITTLE to do with overall sound volume. In relative terms I usually don't have my volume cranked when playing with Dragonfyre, however if you've ever fired a gun in an enclosed space, yes the reverberation and the sound depth is overwhelmingly different, and that is a good thing to simulate in my opinion, it's not merely that it is loud that one would find it appealing. Additionally, on the topic of volume, I actually am not a huge fan of the bullet snaps being deafening, I agree with anyone who says they should be loud enough to get the point across and not enough to require you to turn your sound down so that it adversely impacts the quality of hearing the other sounds. I hope that clears up why Dragonfyre demonstrates considerable benefits and why it's possible that LJ was invited to visit BI studio; and why they may consider accommodating some of his innovations by integrating them as features - so as to improve the economy of performance. LJ is spearheading some important ideas here, and I'm VERY glad BI is taking notice, it shows BI pays attention to and cares about it's community of users. Regardless of whether you dislike his particular sound mod, or whether you're perturbed because you feel you're in contention with him with your competing sound mod - you have to understand that objectively speaking, I think the innovations LJ has decided to implement into his mod have lasting implications for the genre as a whole. That being said, I will say that from a personal perspective many megagoth's sounds seem exceedingly flat and artificial sounding on their own. If his mod had some of the same dynamic additions that Dragonfyre had to improve the dimension of the sounds given different environmental conditions - they would probably sound a lot better. Personally I think Megagoth's sounds don't evoke the same sense of intensity and immersion that those of Dragonfyre offer. I'm not saying this to discourage him, as I'm sure he will find an audience with some who actually do appreciate less intense sounding weapons. However I am trying to offer some context as to why some people might actually prefer Dragonfyre, and it isn't simply a matter of volume. In general, I think it's fantastic that BI is paying attention to creative and talented individuals in our community who seek to improve the game in fundamental ways. I think most people can appreciate that.

This is great news. YES! YES! I LOVE YOU BI! THIS IS FANTASTIC! No disrespect to Laxemann or you of course, because without your work BI wouldn't be responding to the community, but this is fantastic! ---------- Post added at 17:37 ---------- Previous post was at 17:30 ---------- Thanks for the reply, this will tide me over until everything with JSRS has been sorted.

I've asked elsewhere how to do this, but would anyone mind restating how this is possible?

Ahh yes, so that's what I was missing. The custom objective sounds like it will work as a solution, much appreciated, thanks for the help.

Is there a quick and dirty way to have a force spawn in one TAOR and move to objectives in a completely different TAOR? It's pretty easy to create a mission in which AI are spawned within a given TAOR, however I want them to have to travel some distance before taking objectives from a separate spawn area.

Can anyone tell me how specifically I can set up an assassination mission? And how the additional objectives work? Because I tried syncing some units with the module and it simply said "missing init" - somethingorother.

nevermind, wrong thread.

Speak for yourself, honestly. I honed timing weapon sway-based shots after running down to a fine art. Users at present are punished appropriately as they should be for whipping their mouse around trying to line up a target as if somehow they're a CIWS on legs. Players in this series need to learn that it's not, nor should it be like BF or CoD. A2's system 100% skill based as you had to know when to shoot. For some people however I guess that's too hard. Personally, I would like to see the inclusion of "lateral" inertia on recoils as well so that sustained fire becomes about as accurate as it should be.

Will there be any custom Snake-style uniforms? Retextures maybe?

I thought my system was a bit on the old side for this game, it's unfortunate that you'll have to wait for an upgrade, painful I know. Mine's a quad core, so it's already on the old side, although it's a faster one I suppose, 980 black edition. I have 16 gigs of ram, and a crossfired 6970 setup. So I guess it's not "too" bad, but it's hardly bleeding edge anymore. I wouldn't rate it mid/high. Maybe mid range at best, as it's not even an i5. I can say that I was expecting poorer performance w/o the enhancements but I'm not seeing it. I'm wondering if one's computer can meet the basic performance budget that there are some benefits. It's sucky nonetheless for those who fall short, I know that feel. I'm no longer getting frames that are as-high, but performance seems generally more stable all around, which I can live with. The fact that Dragonfyre actually works without stuttering or delays is a miracle in of itself as it's script heavy.

Thanks much.

I was not aware, that's less disheartening then. You know, actually, I'm still doing an assessment, but I'm actually not seeing the anticipated reduction in performance that I thought was coming. In fact in general it seems as if performance is a bit more "stable", I was getting into the 60s with Fred's malloc and LPmanager but that would fluctuate greatly, and I mean to the point where I was like: "Hey where did all my FPS go". His optimizations were certainly better than default ARMA around the time I downloaded/installed them. However That was a couple updates ago for me now, and I'm noticing that performance is stable, I don't crack 60, but I also don't seem to suffer performance wise when things are getting a little more crazy in terms of on-screen/environment activity. Hell, Dragonfyre is actually working BETTER, and I haven't yet found any circumstance where it has performed worse than when I was running his memory allocator. So there's that, I actually think I will stick with this for the time being, I actually don't do much MP gaming, however I am enjoying the "stability" of performance as it seems to be at present. So, upon a little more testing, I am adopting a "wait and see, but this looks good" - attitude. Just, ARMA devs, please, if you do anything else to the game, don't make it run worse than this. Please. I can deal with this, but just don't update it and make it run worse. ---------- Post added at 09:52 ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 ---------- Also how exactly do I revert to a specific version, pardon my noobiness in that respect, I honestly wasn't even aware it was an option.

Very much regretting I updated. EDIT From somebody who is running a low/mid range system I can say that I can't see a massive depreciation in performance, although I've only played with the update and without Fred's memory allocator and LPmanager for a short time. However the one scenario I have is pretty much my benchmark for performance on my system, it's a CQB module used on Avgani with a very densely population of AI spawn points. I do actually seem to perceive an improvement over earlier versions I played without Fred's allocator, so it's not a complete and total loss. Furthermore, and this is the big part, it seems as if Dragonfyre, which is script dependent and does not function well when there's any lack of performance for me at least (sonic echoes delayed badly) - seems to actually be running "better". Again, this is only a preliminary evaluation, but I immediately wanted to assess the damage to my performance budget and fired up the most demanding scenario I created while I had LPmanager and Fred's memory allocator running. Again, the delay of the sonic echoes in Dragonfyre is the canary in the coal mine that indicates sliding performance, and I'm not hearing it, even in the thick of a densely populated mission.

I can't go back to the poor'er performance I had prior to the update, fuck I shouldn't have. Ughhhhh! EDIT It seems as if things aren't running as badly as I figured they would, but it's still a nasty surprise considering the overall improvement over previous versions of ARMA w/o the memory allocator.

Will there be any extensions/templates or additional support for addon weapons? I know you guys are really sticky on terms of use, but it would great if there is either additional support or some kind of officially endorsed way of bootstrapping support for certain JSRS functions to addon weapons such as the sonic echoes, indoor sounds, etc.

I had the exact same problem, there are things that could be done, not sure they will be, but there are. Case in point, the indoor firing sounds don't cause the same problem. It seems to be the way the scripts work, as with the echoes you're talking about, I've noticed that it will in certain circumstances come from a particular place, for example situated beside a building, it seems as if the script actually places a sound where it finds a building and offsets it wherever the surface of the building is. I will hear it originating from particular side in some cases on my headphones. I don't know how in-depth the simulation is, but I'll bet it's considerably more complex than it might need be to create the desired effect. I would imagine doing a scaled-down version of this that "cheats", essentially not trying to recreate the effect with such fidelity would be the ultimate solution, and TBH I really don't think people would notice otherwise in the thick of combat.

I haven't noticed any of that, granted I haven't used Stratis or Altis, I've tried it on Porto, Sahrani and Avgani and all of them have very noticable wind sounds, in fact you get quite a sensation that it's windy wherever you are when it crops up, especially if a storm is rolling in. Honestly, the indoor modulation doesn't really have much of a performance hit for me, and I'm running it on a modest 980 black edition quad core. It's the outdoor sonic echoes off of buildings, etc and the way it seems to be handled that causes problems for me. Not to mention that I would say the indoor explosive/gun sounds are some of my favorite aspects of the mod, they add so much to the atmosphere and intensity of CQB.

@LJ I will say that your mod has increased my situational awareness exponentially, now when I hear shots I more or less know EXACTLY where they're coming from, no more second guessing if you're surrounded and being fired at and who is the most dangerous threat at a given moment.

Where are you noticing this problem? It's well known that A3 has a limitation when it comes to total sound channels available, and if you have a shitload of sounds going, that's going to cause some of them to basically be culled. This increases with mods such as JSRS because you have not only the regular sounds, but scripts that generate things such as the sonic cracks and the sonic echoes off of buildings, distance sounds etc. So for each round fired, you're looking at your sound channel budget shrinking quickly in spots of heavy action.

I know LJ might jump down my throat for recommending such heresy, but I'm going to put this forth anyhow. I'll also disclaim this about not being about "disliked sounds" and more about low end optimization. I have ZERO performance problems with any of the effects except those generated by what I seem to deduce as some kind of script that "figures" out what objects are nearby and tries to create a sound object to simulate sonic echo in urban areas. The problem I see with this which, again, here's where the heresy comes in... what if it wasn't broken into two parts? What if it were treated like indoor firing sounds instead? What if there was a "crappy system version" which basically did a less high-fi rendition of it that behaved similarly to the indoor discharging sounds. That is - approximate that you're near an object - play a single sound that "kinda sorta" gives the general effect that the original more elaborate effect does, but doesn't queue a bunch of positional truncated echoes Do you kind of get what I mean? Sure it's not like bleeding edge "positionally simulate reverb off of actual surfaces", but it creates the same aural ambience in a pinch. I honestly don't even know if that's possible, but it really does seem like the scripts go bonkers when there are a lot of "surfaces" (ie buildings and walls) that it must take into account that, may well not be necessary for some users. I say this because I have ZERO performance difficulties with the transition of indoor sound to outdoor, it's just the "pinning on" - of the sonic echo is slightly beyond the capacity for my system to handle on missions that aren't the slightest bit boring. Either way, this is just a thought as the mod works more or less perfectly except for that one minor aspect. I'm noticing it's really bad on terrains such as avgani, and it makes me wonder if the script has to take into account all of the buildings surrounding the player and then just gets cluster-fucked.