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AlexVestin

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Posts posted by AlexVestin

  1. Posted · Edited by AlexVestin

    It is also on the first page of this thread. Here it is again.

    Optional download to get ASDG Joint Rails compatible weapons for IndUs 1.6:

    Download Link, provided by Stiltman

    Hope it helps :)

    ---------- Post added at 18:04 ---------- Previous post was at 17:57 ----------

    I might also need some advice on backpacks. I will look around but I thought I'd ask here still.

    Is there a backpack that would be considered to be the standard backpack for ARMY units 2010?

  2. Posted · Edited by AlexVestin

    Any updates on the gear? ;)

    Any specific gear? :D

    Here's one of my most recent WIP screenshots:

    39me.jpg

    I am still very far from updating this pack. There's way too many bugs and things to complete before I can do that.

    And it's not like there's just one vest, a helmet and a rifle to complete. It's a whole library of stuff.

    One thing to note is that I am also testing how things look when I convert to using "Shadow buffer" shadows instead of the "Stencil shadow". As visible in the screenshot above, all gear has the softer shadow, while the default character body uses stencils. Will hopefully sort that out too.

  3. Posted

    This is what has been announced for 2014:

    2014 is going to be an amazing year for Arma 3. Things are only just getting started, and we are all committed to continued support.

    Knowing BIS, they'll be far from done with their game once EP.3 comes out, and they'll surely want to keep the updates coming.

    They have a huge task on their hand looking through the sea of tickets on the feedback tracker. I wouldn't think they're done even if little is seen happening. Going by the feedback tracker, the most assigned tasks seems to lean towards "Game crashes/AI Issues/Multiplayer/Performance/Gameplay/" etc.

  5. Posted · Edited by AlexVestin

    One thing Im curious about, will you continue to use your own-made weapons already included in the mod for these guys or will you be changing that to require 3rd party weapon mods?
    I was thinking the same thing Modder, if you plan on using a third party mod, could you use Robert Hammer's M4 Pack? Those weapons are top notch!

    I've got something in the works :)

    f70m.jpg

    Model & textures created by TIGG. Textures are all placeholders still. I want to have my own.

    Currently tested/planned M4A1's are:

    M4A1

    M4A1 (RIS)

    M4A1 (RIS) w/frontgrip

    M4A1 (RIS) w/m203

    It is the same model that RH worked from, but I have tweaked its proportions heavily. Also, since you brought up performance. I do believe I've managed to keep its performance hit down like needed. The LODs drop heavily in detail with no 'popups', and there's no rvmat information on the last LOD. Old textures also used to take up a lot of resources when there was 9 with huge resolutions, all with their underlaying nohq, smdi maps and more.

    I merged them all together into 1 huge 4096 x 4096 texture. Same as the blufor uniform uses.

    Like this: http://imageshack.com/a/img829/2259/50jy.jpg

    - M4 renamed to M4A1, since full-auto fire isnt possible on the M4 (I know this ones a bit netpicky :P )

    Not at all. Thanks for the input. I've already fixed this I believe. My M4A1's are currently semi & full. Is that correct?

  11. Posted

    I'd post exactly how I have done my during tests, but I'm away from my comp for the time being. Atleast I've got some extra info that could be useful.

    Basically, the firemode animates each bipod leg around each legs axis when I switch firemode. The extra firemode is identical in name and all, except for the bipod position. (I have not reduced recoil for prone on my weapons yet)

    Something good to know to just get some extra esthetics are that weapons always default back to it's first firemode when not in use. Because of that, bipods work the best if the default position for the bipod is retracted (folded up and not in use). That way, when someone has the rifle on his back, or just whipping it out, the bipod is retracted. And as noted already, weapons with only one kind of firemode (only semi, only auto etc.) are the most appealing so the user does not have to cycle through a lot of firemodes. Hope it helps some :)

  13. Posted

    You know what else we couldn't do in OFP? Reload while moving.

    True, but A2 solved it. Wich in all fairness is of a much higher importance.

    Well it's a good thing we can do that in this game then, right?

    Well, we can atleast vault in a normal pace for now. And this feature has already gotten a lot more love in A3 compared to A2.

    I'm not really arguing against having a faster vault of some kind, but I'd hope for the main soldier movement and stances to get some updates before.

  15. Posted

    Looking at the PhysX LODs, no way to "soft" the tracks\suspension? Do this ingame and you will know what I'm talking about:

    http://t.imgbox.com/abww6wKj.jpg http://t.imgbox.com/abm849gd.jpg

    Got a question about this. I'm asuming the land contact points are tied to the wheels.

    Would it work adding 5 'fake wheels' with their own land contacts on each side? Or would it be too many wheels?

    Or could vertex weighting somehow make the nearest contact point also lift a little?

  16. Posted

    I like your idea AlexVestin regarding penetration and damage system. It would definitely serve well enough. But I think that the most ideal way of handling armour would be to have armour plates be a physical in-game object that handles penetration, deflection etc, just like all the other objects in game.
    already seems very well done.

    If I am not mistaken, the bullets in that video are colliding (and penetrating) with the wooden walls fire-geometry. Just adding support for fire-geometry to vests and headgear like i suggested probably would result in something similar to what is seen in that video :)

    I have seen vehicles and such behaving differently when hit by bullets compared to static objects. I'm not sure if vehicles actually can make a bullet ricochet. From the last time I tested, the M-ATV looked like it was absorbing every bullet. Unsure if they actually just penetrated its armor, but I'm fairly sure they did not.

  19. Posted · Edited by AlexVestin 

    code code code codecdoeocoe

    This will cause the animation not to impose its own rotation of the hips bone. In other words - the character will stay leaned in the adjusted pose.

    Will it not cause any other weird results? If not, then I don't see why this hasn't found it's way into the game already :p

    Does it work with switching from rifle to pistol too?

    I actually don't think this is a good idea. I would treat low-ready position as eye-candy only (or well, a feature that allows you to see 20% more of the screen, without reducing combat effectivness). One way out would be having the weapon to raise up automatically when firing but I would be afraid of common folks being confused about not seeing the weapon (or just the tip of it), wondering whether they can actually fire or not. After all, DayZ seems more like a third person game while ArmA3 tends to be played in FPS and therefore it would not be unreasonable to think that more standard FPS solutions should be preffered.

    I do see your point of players getting confused (the moment they first try it). But as an Ofp/ArmA player I would be more than happy to have this. Not a big concern I'd think for the A3 titles main crowd :)

    Let's say it is implemented and you're standing there in a low-ready position:

    Right-clicking will still bring up your sights. Just as before.

    Left-clicking will raise your rifle for a few seconds (that's the only extra part). Left-clicking again after will fire your rifle.

    And there's always the option to stay in combat-pace with your rifle always shouldered.

    It's a little like the change of keys to have you throw grenades on "G". It was horrible at the beginning since all (ArmA) players were used to "G" as an inventory button, but now once everybody have gotten used to it, it is much more efficient.

    It would (in theory):

    solve some issues of accidentally firing on friendlies,

    having to raise the weapon all the looong way from the waist,

    give you 20% more of your screen,

    go well with real-life ways of handling a rifle.

    It already works like this in A3. But not while standing still or walking.

    If you're jogging with your rifle raised, but not pointing it down-range, the rifle will get raised to your shoulders for about 3 seconds if you try to shoot.

    After I've gone through the animations that are currently in use, it seems to be 4 types of animations missing from the set. 2 for idle stances, 2 for walking stances. So that'd be about 32 in total counting all the different movement directions needed. I'd gladly test something like this on the dev-build someday in the far away future.

  20. Posted

    Not here to de-rail with stuff from my thread. Just asking about the third frame in these pictures.

    http://imageshack.com/a/img838/7406/2f4o.png

    http://imageshack.com/a/img842/3064/7khz.png

    http://imageshack.com/a/img835/3784/6jsj.png

    Would it be a viable low-ready stances? If animations were like this, then you'd always be in low-ready (third frame) by default. Pressing the assigned combat-pace button would bring the rifle up into your view pointing down-range (fourth frame), but not make you aim down your sights.

    Not sure if you'd still be able to go straight from low-ready (third frame) into your sights, but I think pressing the RMB would bring you into your sights view. Once sighted, pressing RMB again will get you back to your low-ready stance (third frame).

    Then there would also be the option to be in low-ready (third frame) and enable combat-pace and have your rifle shouldered and pointing down-range (fourth frame). Pressing RMB after that would get you into your sights, and pressing RMB once again would bring you back into the combat-pace stance with the rifle shouldered pointing down-range (fourth frame).

  21. Posted · Edited by AlexVestin

    Long story short:

    This would be entirely expanded on the already working method. No hokus-pokus at all.

    ArmA3 currently have 4 awareness stances in total. ("It has?" -I'll explain right below.)

    2 for weapons lowered, 2 for weapons raised.

    Each stance can have their own movement speed/pacing.

    The only movements currently that utilizes all of the 4 different awareness-stances

    are jogging (and crouch-running with a rifle), as seen below.

    Current animations and stances:



    g4dt.jpg

    Notes:

    This above is exactly what it looks like in-game now. The animations for JOGGING with a rifle makes use of all the different pacings and stances, each with its own animation and speed. Now on the other hand when we look at IDLE and WALKING. Obvious things to point out is that there are 2 paces missing for both IDLE and WALKING. The two paces in the middle of WALKING and the first and third for IDLE. It can create some odd results that are only fixable by making these animation-cycles complete.

    Currently if a character is standing still with a rifle, he will either be holding his rifle lowered, or have his rifle shouldered and ready to fire. There's no way of knowing what stance you're in if you're standing still or walking and enables combat-pace. There's nothing happening visually to represent what the button pressed just did. A hud indicator might help, but that will not work as the only solution. End of that discussion.

    These missing animations are what is causing people to always point rifles at eachothers faces. It prevents poeple from having their rifle up in a ready and safe position when there's no targets to fire at. It limits all players to only one walking animation. It also makes it hard to see if AI actually have spotted you and are aiming at you, or if they're just alerted.

    What I am suggesting:

    dhvm.jpg

    Please compare the two pictures side by side to really see the difference.

    Notes:

    Here all paces have their own animation, speed and state of awareness. The first thing to note is the new default stances. They would as before be the two middle ones (second frame and third frame). Difference is that you'd be able to tell exactly what stance you're in. Whether you're standing still, walking or running. This allows people to be ready with their rifle without pointing it in a fellow players face. The standard position for someone who just spawned will no longer be with his rifle shouldered and ready to fire. He will have his rifle at his shoulder, but with no risk of friendly fire. It might also be a set of very useful animations when it comes to cqb, since the rifle would have a very good lowered position available if needed.

    The new default stance does have the soldiers rifle slightly lowered, but one very important thing to note is that there is still no extra delay in bringing up the rifle-sights to your eyes. So it will not cause any un-wanted delays compared to the current animations. It already works exactly like this when jogging, and there is no delay from jogging in low-ready to being sighted compared to jogging with your rifle all the way up.

    Not all of the animations displayed here are in the game. Some parts are edited together from other already existing animations to create a stance that would fit accordingly to it's previous stance etc.

    The first frame in IDLE is the legs from the second frame combined with the upper body of the first frame in WALKING.

    The third frame in IDLE is the legs from the fourth frame combined with the upper body from the third frame in JOGGING.

    The second frame in WALKING are the un-used walking animation (V2).

    The third frame in WALKING are a mix of the un-used walking animation (V3) and the upper body from the third frame in JOGGING.

    This is as noted only for rifles. Same can in theory be done for all pistol and launcher animations.

    Good & Bad:

    (This list is made by a life-time Ofp/ArmA player.)

    Positive changes:

    1. Implementing it requires no new mechanics. (I can't stress this enough.)
    2. Players will always know what stances themself and AI are in.
    3. New default stances adds no extra delay when aiming.
    4. It's all user-toggle as before. Nothing new is forced on players.
    5. Players will be visually represented when either aiming or actively scanning for targets.
    6. No extra key-bindings.
    7. Should be completely AI friendly.
    8. It will greatly improve characters lifelikeness with the added variety.
    9. No more pointing rifles at allies.
    10. 10% more screenspace available when not in active-combat.
    11. The new default stance (third frame) is a better alternative to having your weapons down compared to the current way (second frame).

    Negative changes:

    • Players might wonder why their weapon is brought down so low. (Short term.prob)
    • Players might not understand that their weapon can be fired. (Short term.prob)
    • The "Ctrl-stance-adjustment" might need some extra animations too. (?)
    • (I need help with this part of the list.)
    Here's a ticket related to this thread:

    http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=16827

    Here's a ticket related to crouch-running animations being wrong:

    http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=16838

  22. Posted · Edited by AlexVestin

    @Smookie

    No, not an issue. Just a thought/suggestion that expands on what is already working 100% in the game.

    The jog/run movements with a rifle utilize all of the animations correctly. I do not know how the whole process goes, but you are doing the mocap, correct? :)

    I am hoping to make less-badass movement in all directions if I get a green light.

    Like you said here. Currently there is only the 'badass' walk-animation for all directions of movement. But there are other walk-animations available (V2,V3) that needs the full set of directions to be complete.

    Those extra walk-animations (if completed) could be made working perfectly with the way you can raise your rifle, go into combat pace etc. Just like the current jogging animations work right now. I'll make a ticket about it :)

    /edit

    This is also the solution to the "Low-Ready" discussion, and the ones about players always pointing their guns at eachother.

    Here's a ticket about it: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=16827

  24. Posted · Edited by AlexVestin

    @Solzenicyn and devs

    It would be easier to provide feedback on this feature if we knew what is within your team's goals and capabilities.

    • Are you guys limited to using the current "damage reduction" system or is there a possibility for a more realistic penetration/deflection system.
    • Are you guys planning/able to define where armour covers better (ie. helmet covers just the top of the head rather than the whole face).
    • Is it within your scope to add more hit effects (ragdolling, animations, sway).

    I think it is necessary for us to get this info because depending on your answers our feedback will change.

    Like already mentioned, the in-game ability of a plate to prevent fatal injuries are not unrealistic -

    thus keeping the target alive longer. But there are other negatives to such a hit currently no in-game. And if these are not going to be modeled it may be better to nerf armour more for gameplay's sake...

    We need to know how close to complete you guys consider the current system - are you guys just tweaking numbers or still adjusting and adding mechanics - because our feedback will vary depending.

    What do you want our feedback to be about?

    Thanks.

    Hi guys,

    as you may already noticed, soldier protection feature is currently undergoing certain changes dedicated to development branch only to improve the significance of gear you're actually wearing. We're trying hard to avoid any odd or unrealistic behavior and we are continually fixing those unpleasant issues that you've stumbled upon and kindly reported to us. Our goal is to bring diversity in types, meaningful in use and certainly the most realistic in behavior of the advanced soldier protection gear, expected to be military standard in the near future of our game setting. Hopefully, you will enjoy the upcoming improvements as much as we do and of course, be welcomed to share your opinions, observations and feelings upon the subject to help us in this effort.

    Thank you.

    I've got a suggestion. Probably still quite simple, but I think it could give some good results?

    Here's some facts that are true:

    • Bullet velocity does decrease over distance traveled in air.
    • Bullets lose velocity after penetrating objects.
    • Character damage is affected by the type of bullet and its velocity.

    My suggestion would be to have each model of a vest have its own fire-geometry that represents ballistic protection.

    In theory, it'd work as on vehicles. You'd give the vest, as an example, a rectangled object in its fire-geometry to represent a ballistically protected area. Just like a vehicle can lose hitpoints on its engine, a vest can lose hitpoints on its proteced areas and become less efficient/non-efficient on that specific area.

    There must be different kinds of ballistic protection.

    The ballistically protected areas should be made from different materials with different values.

    • Density value. Density decides how much velocity a bullet might lose on hit.
      Depending on bullet type.
      example: armor-penetrating rounds wont lose as much velocity compared to a normal round.

    • Stopping value. Stopping decides how high the bullets velocity must be to penetrate fully.
      Depending on bullet velocity after being reduced by density.
      example: If bullet velocity still is high enough after reduced velocity, it will penetrate doing damage accordingly to its type and after-penetration velocity.

    • Material value. Material decides how much damage being inflicted to the ballistic protection.
      Depending on bullet/schrapnel velocity. Damage type?
      example: A low value could represent a ceramic plate that will degrade quickly with each hit compared to a steel plate. Damaging gear will reduce density and stopping values.

    • Shock value. How much damage inflicted to the person when ballistic protection is hit.
      Depending on bullets velocity after being reduced by density.
      example: If no penetrating shot, the force absorbed will still damage the wearer of the protective gear to some extent.

  25. Posted

    What is difference between shadow volumes and shadow mapping?

    Shadow volumes are the normal way. (Wierdly enough)

    Each model put into any ArmA game always consists of multiple layers with information. A few for level of detail from different distances, where to attach gear, hitpoints etc. The normal way of doing shadows for ArmA is with the ShadowVolume layers. It's basically a model that is used to cast shadows, instead of the one you're looking at in-game. It's usually of a much lower quality and it has an impact on your CPU resources instead of the GPU. The shadow generated by ShadowVolumes are sharp and often ugly and can clip through your model where it should not, ending up looking really weird in places.

    The other way is by using Shadow Buffer. It uses GPU resources.

    It can completely ignore the layers you've created to use as a shadow, and instead create a soft shadow generated from the model you are looking at in-game. Basically like any game-engine can that has dynamic lightning effects. It's what should've been used on almost all hings in ArmA, but isn't because I suppose it's not a 100% developed feature.

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