nmdanny

Are there any news about the drone package or when it will arrive to the dev branch?

Overreact much? First, there are 3 fixed wing aircrafts: 1 jet fighter and 2 UAV drones There are plenty of static weapons confirmed for the release, static AA,AT and HMG/GMG with 3 variants(including autonomous which sounds interesting), I'm sure that there will be military structures such as radars, tents, camo-nets etc.. in the full game And I highly doubt that BIS has lost half of their fans Go play FS:X/HAWX/ACE COMBAT if only one jet fighter is such a dealbreaker for you, ArmA 3 is not a flight simulator.

I think this kind of hijacking won't fit with ArmA 3, it could be easily abused by ghosting(going to one team to get the UAV frequency, then switching to the other team, hijacking the UAV and creating havoc. A more balanced option would be the addition of electronic warfare pods to aircraft, which have a chance of hijacking an enemy UAV, at the cost of giving away their position. Once a drone is hijacked, it should emit a warning to its previous owners. Quadrotors should also not be automatically detected at high altitudes, they should have some element of stealth.

I think a nice way to control the quadrotor drone would be ordering it to track a specific unit(friendly or enemy) at an altitude that allows it to see as much of the battlefield as possible with the optimal thermal sensing quality. Or it could try to maintain ~100m+- of distance from the assigned unit, in a specific direction(north/south/west/east), so that if the unit turns it wont have to go all the way back. In addition to being able to use waypoints as in my post above. A nice feature would be showing a red box on enemies that are being actively tracked by a quadrotor/UAV, to friendly units nearby who are wearing tactical shades, the protector helmet or any helmet with a HUD.

I think it's somewhat of a failure on BIS part to have been working on this game for so long, yet they still haven't finished such a fundamental asset to the game(fighter jets), they really should just rename the release as another beta update or release candidate. First the campaign was axed, now several fighter jets and shotguns. The F-35 and MV-22 Osprey could have been ported from ArmA 2 and have their interior remodeled to include PiP screens and some config changes to accommodate the ASRAAM/DAGR missiles, etc.., it would have not been the first vehicle that is recycled from ArmA 2. (Ka-60 from the PMC DLC, possibly the pandur from ACR) I don't know how they can have so high standards, yet the Blackfoot attack helicopter functions just like an AH-64 Apache from A2, and it's interior is largely based over the Apache from A2 as well. (Minus the PiP monitors) nor do APCs/tanks have even basic interiors for the crewman, it's 2035 and the driver's periscope is still glued to a single spot. I hope that the unmanned drones will have better controls and functionality than in ArmA 2(see my post at the thread: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?160758-DISCUSSION-Control-Options-Unmaned-Ground-Vehicles) Maybe they'll prove to be a viable replacement for fighter jets in the meanwhile. Speaking of drones, I really hope that they will appear on the dev branch soon.

I know that, I've meant that BIS should have refocused their employees on more important stuff, they should have hired more designers/modellers to work on creating vehicles(or vehicle interiors maybe, for some of them), and tasking the mission designers with working on the campaign instead of showcases. (Although I don't know how many resources were really spent in the creation of showcases, but only assume based on how they're advertising showcases as an important feature of the game.) If ArmA 3 is the main focus of BIS, they should have allocated more employees to work on A3 assets before working on other games like TKOH Mars or DayZ standalone. It's ridiculous that we are 1-2 months before release, and BIS still haven't finished working on such a fundamental feature of the game - fixed wing aircraft. (Cargo planes, at least 2 more fighter jets..) I understand delaying the campaign due to the AI issues, renaming of greece/lemnos and wanting to make a higher quality campaign, but jets are basic assets that should have ready for Q/A testing by now. They shouldn't be things that may or may not come in a future update. The L-159 is a Czech plane, the Czech Republic is part of NATO, so it actually makes sense for BLUFOR to use the L-159, however, it's still a pretty inferior plane for its time which makes it suitable for GREENFOR, but for BLUFOR and OPFOR I expected more advanced jets, such as a Eurofighter Typhoon or an F-22/F-35 for BLUFOR, and a Sukhoi PAK FA or a J-20 for OPFOR Railguns were binned, probably due to complaints from players about the game being too realistic. Which makes sense since there's no way there would be compact railguns in 2035. The T-100 now has a normal cannon instead.

Does that mean that BIS still hasn't finished developing basic assets like jet fighters, and instead focused on gimmicks like showcases and firing drills?

The weapon and vehicle list seems quite short, I hope it's a mistake because it looks like many things were cut: No shotguns of any kind(according to the thread, there were supposed to be a M1014 and Kel-tec KSG) No XM 25 grenade launcher Only one jet, the 143 Buzzard jet fighter. (I thought we would have at least 2 jet fighters, the f-35 and the L-159 Alca) No MV-22 Osprey Also, no OPFOR equivalent to the MLRS(might be some truck variant though), no independent tank(might be a variant of an existing tank though), no independent attack helicopter, no cargoplane like the C-130 from A2

In my opinion, UAV's should have terminal control with an option to take manual control. When in terminal control, you should be able to place waypoints(along with a circle waypoint to make it a loop), in each waypoint you should be able to set the altitude, autonomous settings etc.. There should be a preset box pattern to cover an area, like A2, but with the ability to choose different altitudes as well as the length/width of the box. It should be possible to place a box pattern on a unit, that will adjust itself when the target moves. Another waypoint could be "Land" There could be many autonomous options, some that I can think of: -Upon missile lock/fire: -Disengage current waypoints, and make a new waypoint in the direction opposite of the lock-on source and several km's away. Once you arrive to this waypoint, autoland at designated airbase or return to the previous waypoints. -Deploy countermeasures and break away from missile. -If possible, lock onto source and lase it/launch AGM missiles/command fire to launch missiles from an external source. -Change designated airbase(to which airstrip will the UAV go to, when it's ordered to land) -Seek targets from a target list, when a target is spotted(and as long as its destroyed): -Follow it with a mobile box pattern -Lase it -Launch AGM missile at it/command fire -Alert the team or its operator(by a chat message, sound alarm from the terminal, map marker..) (Target list would allow you to add or remove specific vehicle models/unit types(such as "Engineer", "Hunter GMG") or categories(such as "Armored" , "Cars", "Submersible")) -When low on fuel, autoland at designated airbase, and order the closest fuel truck to refuel it. and then, order the truck to stay near the runway for future refuels OR return to its previous position) -When damage is high, autoland at designated airbase and order the closest repair truck/engineer to repair it....... -When out of ammo, autoland at designated airbase and order the closest ammo truck to resupply it...... (Once the UAV has been refuelled/repaired/resupplied, it will return to its waypoint and continue with its mission) For manual control, there should be "Manual flight control", "Manual optic/missile control" and "Manual total control", so that you can have a crew of 2 people controlling the UAV or just 1. Manual optic/missile control will let you control the laser designator, use NVG/FLIR and launch missiles(either missiles mounted on your plane, or command fire to launch missiles from an external source) Optic stabilization is a must, there should be a button to lock the camera on the ground or on a unit. (It's done in Mando missile nicely) Manual flight control will let you fly the plane like any normal fixed wing plane, it will override previous movement waypoints. Once you leave manual flight control, it should automatically return to its previous waypoints or auto land or just be on standby and circle around the air.)

An expansion pack based on naval warfare or aerial warfare Features such as bipods shouldn't cost money, they should be included in a free update

Playing as a normal grunt or support class would be nice, for example if there's a combined arms joint mission to capture/attack a base, you could play as an infantry squadleader, a random grunt in a squad following AI orders, a tank commander, CAS jet/attack helicopter pilot, maybe even a transport chopper pilot, where the success of the mission will depend on how effective your CAS is, or how many squads you've managed to airlift to the AO safely. Playing as the independent faction to aid NATO when they're involved in a campaign mission. And a good nuclear explosion, for the sake of mods.

English please?

I'm quite excited about the drone content package that will be coming to the beta, is it going to arrive into the dev branch this week or will we have to wait longer for it?

To get access to the dev branch, go into steam, right click on "Arma 3 Beta" and choose "Properties", click on the "BETAS" tab and select "development - Development Build" from the dropdown menu, and then close the window. Then, when you try to start ArmA 3, it will begin updating to the dev version. To return to the stable branch, repeat what I've said but choose "NONE - opt out of all beta programs"

Are you on the dev branch?

The L-159 Alca is a european plane, it's not stealthy and small, so I doubt the CSAT will be using it, especially since BIS took the approach of CSAT being an advanced army and equal or even better than NATO. If the L-159 is their only plane then it would be disappointing. ArmA 2 had much more than 2 planes, including the Su-34, which is probably superior to the L-159 and it's from modern-coldwar era. So my guess is that the L-159 will be GREENFOR's main plane, and perhaps a secondary OPFOR plane.

I don't understand why people are so upset over this, BIS is just delaying the SP, they're not cancelling it. There isn't even a set release date, so you can consider the release of the game as extended beta, surely it's better than being stuck on Stratis for months.

I think it would be better for BIS, PR-wise, to delay the official release of the game and until then, release the entire content of the game(maybe including the campaign, even if funky) into the beta. (Or label it as release candidate and increase the price) This way, players who don't care about the campaign and want to experience the rest of the game could do so, and reviewers/people who are solely interested in the singleplayer would wait.

The tracked APC arrived to the dev branch about one week after the SITREP, so hopefully the UAV package will arrive in a week or less. BIS said that the UAV content is technically ready for release, but they're still working with Valve to set up the Steam workshop integration, but maybe they'll release the UAVs separately from the workshop in the dev branch.

It's disappointing to hear that the campaign wont be included in the release, though I'd be ok with it if they spend their resources on implementing bipods or TKOH flight model.

I agree it would be completely logical to add a built in rangefinder to the sniper scope, but it probably wasn't implemented for balance, as it would allow snipers in A3 to just point at a target, see the range, zoom to it and shoot, while in real life sniping is more complex and requires you to compensate for wind and other factors that aren't implemented in A3. So I think if a mod introduces more realistic sniping mechanics, it could implement built in rangefinders, so that they wont make sniping overpowered and so simple.

This probably wont because it would require too many resources, mostly, a lot of animation, and it's kinda too futuristic for the tastes of many players

I agree, it's the biggest graphical issue with the game, but I don't think that this issue will be fixed in A3.

It's very nice to see the Cornershot being made in a game, I wonder how it will be done and how it'll be controlled.

I don't support removing 'manual fire' in the current state of the game,but I would be okay with a toggleable option to disable it, only if several changes were to occur: 1. Give the pilot access to the DAGR missiles and skyfire missiles, because they fire straight when unguided, and locking on targets with the DAGR is as simple as pressing Tab, a gunner isn't really needed for that. 2. Give the pilot access to the ASRAAM, again, it's very simple to lock on targets and there's no need for a gunner to do that, and a pilot is going to be more focused on the sky and focused on airborne threats, and it's simply a matter of facing the enemy aircraft and pressing tab to lock onto it. (Don't remove those from the gunner's access, let them both have control over these systems.) The bigger issue I see is that Air to Ground weapons are too simple to use because of them requiring tab and click. There's an imbalance in the DAGR missiles specifically: the Blackfoot has 28 of them, they can be dumbfired(although not effectively since the pilot has no control), and they can be tab locked onto any ground vehicle. Instead, they should be laser guided if there's a laser, otherwise dumbfired. The gunner, or any ground unit, would have the ability to manually point his laser designator at the target. It can be a building, vehicle, infantry, ground, anything - but it's not automatic like tab locking. The pilot would then just click tab to lock onto the laser point itself, or the gunner can just shoot the missile directly and have it track his sight.(laser) The Skalpel AG missiles should work like AG missiles in Mando's Missile mod for A2, the gunner would have to choose a suitable target by locating it with his sight and then pressing a button to lock onto it. Give the OPFOR attack helicopter a different loadout with air to air missiles instead of the skalpel, and give the BLUFOR attack helicopter a loadout with Hellfire missiles(like in mando missile) instead of ASRAAMs.