General Discussion (dev branch)

Just to add some more details and what not to the tanks that have cargo capacity but you can't use it, the hatches should be covered in Backpacks or supplies, or possibly IED Cages because currently they look so boring.

And personally I don't think a Chieftain Marksman styled turret really fits Panther. If anything, I think the Cheetah should support a Mantis NBS turret.

(Mantis NBS): http://www.army-technology.com/projects/mantis/images/1-mantis.jpg

While it's awesome that this is finally finding it's way into the game, we quickly ran into problems in missions with rainy weather while testing it.

In the first game, the clients started looping the "rain starting" visual effect with ~1sec frequency, every loop causing a noticeable drop in performance. Then the rain stopped altogether and the game ran fine for some time, but when the rain started again some time later the performance drop was so drastic it made the game almost unplayable.

The problem went away whenever the rain was fully halted, like when we ran "0 setOvercast 0" with the developer console, so it seems probable that the weather sync system causes this.

A second mission ran fine even with light rain until the weather went into transition state, after which there were similar problems again. The aforementioned first mission had overcast set to 50, so someone might be able to test if this holds for them as well. I'd make a feedback ticket, but it'd be nice to get a clearer view of the problem first.

Here's a video one of our players recorded:

Only time when this can happen is because of skip changes in time or weather. In weather skip change can be only because of use forceWeatherChange and in time only if there is significant desync between server and client.

---------- Post added at 08:10 ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 ----------

Weather and time changes are distributed automatically. Only forceWeatherChange must be called if you wish to obviously force weather to change immediately. Time is only checked and if there is significant difference between server and client then on client is executed time change for amount of difference (not using skipTime).

i'll do a small, fun one

Kiosk (Gyros)

Did you also find something about "Red Burger" chain restaurants? :D

http://twitter.com/KarelMoricky/status/437922373317054464/photo/1

another interesting picture from Karel's twitter account, anyone ever seen that building type on Altis?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhU60riCAAEquTG.jpg:large

another interesting picture from Karel's twitter account, anyone ever seen that building type on Altis?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhU60riCAAEquTG.jpg:large

New abandoned hotel ;)

It will be in Iraklia (only roads are visible now, NNW of the salt lake).

Did you also find something about "Red Burger" chain restaurants? :D

http://twitter.com/KarelMoricky/status/437922373317054464/photo/1

another interesting picture from Karel's twitter account, anyone ever seen that building type on Altis?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhU60riCAAEquTG.jpg:large

Yeah i did, but i found more 'sea' related things too ;)

Edited March 7, 2014 by Benjamin1

Spoilers:

So, the NATO CAS Jet is a

A-10

, but the name, sucks. Instead of Wipeout, you could've done at least something like Thunderstorm or something.

Strange choise considering it's rumored to go out of service soon.

New abandoned hotel ;)

It will be in Iraklia (only roads are visible now, NNW of the salt lake).

An abandoned hotel, really? Like all other buildings on Altis are not abandoned :D

But seriously, since much of that stuff already looks kind of finished...any ETA on some of those new buildings, BI??

Strange choise considering it's rumored to go out of service soon.

They've been trying to retire the A-10 ever since it has gone into service. What are they gonna replace it with, F-35s? Arma USAF will likely have a better CAS Aircraft in that case than the IRL USAF.

They've been trying to retire the A-10 ever since it has gone into service. What are they gonna replace it with, F-35s? Arma USAF will likely have a better CAS Aircraft in that case than the IRL USAF.

I'm no american, and certainly no expert on the subject, but it looks like USAF are going to be without a dedicated CAS fixed wing aircraft for a few years until they come up with something. Multi role aircraft will have to fill the gap in the meantime.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but I didn't think the ACP sound could get any worse. It was OK when it was first added, then it was 'improved' to sound like a baby coughing, now it has been changed again to sound like some sort of shotgun mixed with someone throwing a boomerang. There's a weird 'swoosh' sound mixed in there.

From the changelog:

(e.g., Blackfoot will deplete most of resources).

Speaking about the Blackfoot, will we ever see a fix to the non-functional gun camera on the Blackfoot and other vehicles? This isn't just an annoyance, it will make some missions unplayable.

In yesterday's session at the CiA Arma 3 COOP night, we encountered a lot of stuttering and micro-freezes during gameplay. For some missions, it was immediately at the start, for others it came in after half an hour of play. And yes, we used the -nologs option to disable spamming the RPT file.

Reverting to the last stable build fixes the problem, so it must have come in between the last stable and yesterday's beta (and still is in the current beta).

Anyone got similar problems ?

---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 PM ----------

Speaking about the Blackfoot, will we ever see a fix to the non-functional gun camera on the Blackfoot and other vehicles? This isn't just an annoyance, it will make some missions unplayable.

I have a similar issue with the submarine in a mission I'm doing right now. The sub's "gunner" can't look through the periscope. Switching from any position to the gunner seat doesn't change that. What DOES change it is getting out of the vehicle and then getting in again: I can then use the optics no problem.

The setup I have is similar to most missions that start you in a vehicle: init fields of the units contain "this moveInGunner westSub1" (resp. driver and cargo).

AI is acting more strange after the latest official build. Got men spinning after getting out of chopper, stopped when pressing 1-1: (hidden video)

Also seen much AI with binoculars, quickly raising and lowering those in endless loop.

Only time when this can happen is because of skip changes in time or weather. In weather skip change can be only because of use forceWeatherChange and in time only if there is significant desync between server and client.

---------- Post added at 08:10 ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 ----------

Weather and time changes are distributed automatically. Only forceWeatherChange must be called if you wish to obviously force weather to change immediately. Time is only checked and if there is significant difference between server and client then on client is executed time change for amount of difference (not using skipTime).

Sorry, I used a poor wording in the beginning. We weren't testing the system in the sense of using scripts to change the weather, rather we were just taking a look if the weather would sync properly in regular gameplay. However, it resulted in bad performance stutter even though the mission didn't have any scripting relating to weather, just the mission's starting overcast set to 50 in the editor. Only scripting we used was when we later ran "0 setOvercast 0" (doesn't affect clouds, but it did seem to stop the rain), which helped with the problem.

forceWeatherChange is a new command?

Mods, mission, difficulty settings?

No mods, mission Whole Lotta Altis SP, reqular difficulty. Happened at mission start when getting out chopper. I had tested new player identity, giving advance command one or twice for group when still in chopper, if that messed the AI. So far only happened once when getting out of that random class chopper.

AI is acting more strange after the latest official build. Got men spinning after getting out of chopper, stopped when pressing 1-1: (hidden video)

Also seen much AI with binoculars, quickly raising and lowering those in endless loop.

Everytime when there is an update about AI, I will revert Combined Arms to test. And this time. First the chopper hurt the soldier again because he was stuck by the chopper. Second the APC fired and moved alone and made itself die quickly again. I remember there was one version that the APC can stay with the squard and support a supressive fire, then move with the squard step by step. The third, OK, forget the attack choper again. Never wish it can do something.

Today's update makes mission unplayable: freezes 1s. every 5s. Same mission , Same mods.

They've been trying to retire the A-10 ever since it has gone into service. What are they gonna replace it with, F-35s? Arma USAF will likely have a better CAS Aircraft in that case than the IRL USAF.

... well, yeah, that's exactly what the IRL USAF has been trying to retire the A-10 fleet for. Heck, consider that right up to the Gulf War they were trying to phase out the A-10 in favor of... modified F-16s. Seriously.

I'm no american, and certainly no expert on the subject, but it looks like USAF are going to be without a dedicated CAS fixed wing aircraft for a few years until they come up with something. Multi role aircraft will have to fill the gap in the meantime.

Considering what IstaGoat and I have said... yeah, that lack of "a dedicated CAS fixed wing aircraft" (with multirole aircraft filling the gap) is basically by design IRL, but it may be guessed that the Arma USAF was mandated to get a replacement -- after all, the A-10 survived all the way to 2030.

Interestingly enough, the A-164 design is stated by the To-199's description to actually be the more heavily armed; the Neophron "cannot carry as much payload as NATO's A-164 and has to rearm more often, but it can take-off even from the rough terrain, not being as dependent on air bases or aircraft carriers."

Today's update makes mission unplayable: freezes 1s. every 5s. Same mission , Same mods.

!!! Reverted to stable (1.12) all OK !!!, same mission, same mods !

DS crashes as soon as I join it. Been the same for 2-3 days now. Will investigate at this end as it could be due to all sorts of things. Pretty sure it isn't the mod/mission but will check again.

Only thing I can see in rpt is this:

Exception code: C0000005 ACCESS_VIOLATION at 00B6D349

// some other stuff

Mods: @skynet

Distribution: 0

Version 1.13.115999

Fault time: 2014/03/07 18:53:01

Fault address: 00B6D349 01:0080C349 C:\Games\Arma3\SteamApps\common\Arma 3\arma3server.exe

file: #03_02_2014 (__cur_mp)

world: Stratis

Prev. code bytes: 00 00 00 8B 95 C0 00 00 00 6B C0 2C 8D 74 10 D4

Fault code bytes: 8B 06 8B 40 04 85 C0 74 20 3B C3 74 1C 68 54 77

Registers:

EAX:0000002C EBX:19F66080

ECX:24673700 EDX:00000000

ESI:00000000 EDI:19F66084

CS:EIP:0023:00B6D349

SS:ESP:002B:01A0C220 EBP:24673700

DS:002B ES:002B FS:0053 GS:002B

Flags:00210202

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

note: Minidump has been generated into the file C:\Games\Arma3\SteamApps\common\Arma 3\TADST\Torch\arma3server_2014-03-07_18-47-40.mdmp

Will upload crash files once I've ruled out some stuff here.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Das Attorney

Are the tank sounds, like hydraulics sound effect when moving the turrets, ever make their way back to the game? It was there since OFP. Apart from that, I think there should be some sound when changing zoom levels in the optics. Also, some recoil should be noticeable when firing the cannon and the MGs.

I'm afraid that right now the tanks feel incomplete.

Added: Sound: Ability to play loop sample in specified region, a sample has 3 parts: start, loop & end - used for continuous fire mode.

Loop region is set in SoundPars.loopBegin and SoundPars.loopLength, config definition: sound[] = {path, db3, 1, 2300, {32438, 24500}}

Can someone on dev team explain this added feature more please.

I understand the premise but not the format, what and where are these commands found

SoundPars.loopBegin and SoundPars.loopLength

Also what are the extra definitions in the brackets

sound[] = {path, vol, pitch, distance heard, {?, ?}}

Edited March 7, 2014 by Bigpickle

Can someone on dev team explain this added feature more please.

I understand the premise but not the format, what and where are these commands found

Also what are the extra definitions in the brackets

It's pretty easy: sound[] = {path, vol, pitch, distance heard, {loopBegin, loopLength}} - first the loopBegin length of the sample is going to be played, then the next part is loopLength long and is played (repeatedly) as long as the weapon is fired, then the rest of the sample is played once :icon_twisted:

Today many of my players have been experiencing major FPS drops (down to ~5FPS). Not sure what exactly it is. It's definitely something to do with Zeus. Most of the players are only experiencing the drop when in the Zeus interface. I'm running an AMD 7750 card and only see the FPS drop while in the Zeus interface. Others on Nvidia are seeing the drop when in the interface or when another player is in the interface. Possibly linked to the weather sync but I'm not sure. It only started today, but maybe yesterday's patch could've caused it. Due to the clear weapon bug we weren't even able to load the mission yesterday to see if the Weather sync was the cause or not. Anyone else experiencing major FPS drops or have a solution?