Hi soldiers,
thought I'd make a brief post with how the 1.56 update affects us.
https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00052
First, if you'd like to contribute to development and have some fun too, create an 'enemy HQ':
1. Load up 3DEN editor
2. Create an HQ and save the composition.
3. Submit to us somehow
4. If its good enough and meets the design requirements, we'll implement it into I&A and insert your name into the Contributors section of the Credits.
Design requirements for designing an HQ:
Reasonably modest area/footprint. Use current HQs as a size reference.
3+ entrances
Not an alcatraz-like fort, should be reasonably difficult to defend.
No large military towers (AI not good at breaching and clearing them)
No ArmA 2 assets (the AI doesn't know how to use them).
A few blind spots to allow both players and enemies to get close
Sufficient cover for players to hide from nearby armored vehicles
Facing all directions. HQs are put in a position facing a random direction. Players must be able to address most directions.
How 1.56 affects us:
- More aggressive and responsive AI. The door has been opened to start work on custom AI maneuvers (pin and flank, bounding overwatch, bayonet charge, etc). We have big plans for the long term (3+ months), which includes elaborating on AI tactical and maneuvering behavior. We will be phasing in some of the AI aggression options over this weekend, it is not default behavior.
- Heli inserts. Enemy AI helicopters are now able to effectively do transport insertions of soldiers, expect to see this being used both in the mission systems and from Zeus operators.
- RIP old text font, better get used to new one
- New patrol walk animation. Should make it more compelling to use Stamina (through your [Home] menu).
- New weapon and vehicle FX/sounds (Combat Audio)
- Smaller tank explosions
- Group Management optimizations (scroll issue remains)
- A stack of new engine commands to replace obsolete scripting solutions, which will optimize performance in many small ways.
- Slightly improved security options. Without going into detail, this is already a high security server to protect from trolls and script kiddies, so we'll utilize the new toys to keep the server as resistant to kiddies as is reasonably possible.
- Developer Analytics. To disable, in your launcher, at the top there is an 'Options' button. The top option is 'Launcher options'. Expand that, and a few options down is the 'Enable Analytics' option. In development they said it would be Opt-In. With the release, it is in fact Opt-Out. I have left it enabled on my machine but disabled on the server to maximize performance and reduce network traffic. Enabling/Disabling on your own machine will not give you better FPS in I&A either way, as the performance bottleneck is serverside CPU clock and bandwidth.
Post anything you think was missed.
Regards,
Quiksilver