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New Straits Island

New content announced today of an additional island called Straits Island, It will be 19sq kms and have a number of military facilities. I imagine it to be similar to Utes in Arma 2.

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New Arma 3 video

A new update on the offical Arma 3 website reveals an interview with Zdeněk Vespalec, animation lead for Arma 3.
Together with today's interview about Arma 3's animations, a special bonus video has been released!
It is a sneak peek at an upcoming intel update and an excellent chance to see some of the new lighting and animations at work.

Quote :
Animations are a big part of the improvements planned for Arma 3. Their development touches upon various aspects of the core gameplay, be it weapon handling, manoeuvring around obstacles or even whole new avenues of gameplay, such as scuba-diving.

The ‘little things’ are important, too. Facial expressions, weapon reload/firing animations – even the odd goat tottering through your line of fire – these elements all come together to create a more engaging, tactile gaming experience.

Since Arma 2, we’ve invested in new hardware, which helps us to improve the quality of our work. Bohemia Interactive now utilises three optical motion capture systems, including high-end Raptor-4 cameras from Motion Analysis Corp.

Over the next few months, we’ll certainly have a lot to cover as we introduce some of these fantastic new features and refinements. Today, though, we’d like to kick things off by way of a quick chat with Arma 3’s resident Animations Tsar, Zdeněk Vespalec, who talks about new weapons animations, multiplayer ragdoll, and more!

“Another feature worth mentioning is ‘alternate poses’, [...] With them, you can adjust to have a high/low or left/right variant to each stance. In terms of gameplay, we’d expect to see improvements in finding effective cover and being able to fire from it.”, along with a number of behind the scenes images!

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March 16th Beta Update

Posted by Yoshiro in the TWI forums.


RO Classic -
A new game mode has been added which has been modified to play more similar to the original Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. Not all RO Classic functionality is complete yet, and we will be looking for community feedback on changes they would like to see made.

General Changes:
Players can still gain experience and level up, but when playing in classic mode these levels do not grant any bonuses for class or weapon.
Role and weapon loadouts are modified to closely match Red Orchestra 1 loadouts. This means fewer MkBs, AVTs, and SMGs are available
Interface changes - added an RO1 style compass to the HUD. No peripheral action indicators.
Uses standard realism mode as a base, and adds additional functionality on top of that
Most Classic mode settings have been added to webadmin and can be toggled on/off for Custom mode
Removed spawn on squad leader
No lockdown
No Killcam

Weapons use historically accurate load outs and upgrades are disabled. The following weapon versions are used:
PPSH w/drum mag and select fire
Kar98 w/bayonet
Kar98 Sniper w/4X scope
Mosin Nagant Sniper w/3.5X scope
G41 Sniper w/4X Scope
SVT40 Sniper w/3.5X scope
MP40 with single 32 round mag
MkB42 with bayonet (no scope)
P38 Pistol
C96 w/10 round mag
MG34 w/50 round drum
MG34 Tripod
PTRS
Pzb 784 ®
MN 9130 w/bayonet
G41 (W) w/bayonet
SVT40 w/bayo
AVT40 w/bayo
TT33
M1895 without silencer
DP28
Maxim 1910
All other weapons and equipment as normally given (binocs, satchels, smoke nades, etc)

Infantry Changes:
Stamina usage and regeneration are modified to closely match RO1 functionality
Player movement speed has been modified to match Red Orchestra 1 player movement speed. The sprinting speed is considerably slower to closely match the speed based on RO1 maps scale.
Sprinting is modified to closely match RO1 functionality. The player sprints at a constant speed until running out of stamina, then stops sprinting until regaining some stamina
The FOV zoom while using focus/controlled breathing is disabled
Movement speed penalty when shot in the legs or feet (same as new realism mode)
The player damage model is much more hardcore to match RO1 functionality. Players take damage instantly instead of bleeding some of the damage out over time. There is no bandaging or bleeding (although slow deaths from wounds are still possible).
Stamina has a much greater effect on weapon sway and recoil (same as new realism mode)
The FOV zoom while using focus/controlled breathing is disabled
Weapon Changes:
Iron sight breathing and sway are greatly increased
Weapons take longer to go into iron sights and match exactly the iron sight zoom in speed of RO1
You cannot interrupt sprint by going into iron sights
Weapons transitioning out of sprinting takes twice as long to more closely match RO1's sprinting transitions
The weapon is unable to fire until the transition from sprinting is mostly complete. This more closely matches RO1 functionality and should encourage less "run and gun" play.

Non Classic Changes

Gameplay
Fixed overtime activating without contested objective
Added new exclusive key bindings to split up the 'Interaction' key for 'Use', 'Bandage', and 'Cover'. Holding the 'Cover (Hold)' key will automatically attach to the first available cover.
Bots no longer effect auto team balancing
UI
The server browser is now more responsive. This is especially true on routers that enforce a low number of connections.
Fixed overhead map problem after changing roles from Commander
Fixed text showing that both teams are attacking on ready up screen for Countdown Gumrak
New key bindings added to the options menu (see gameplay above)
The ammo resupply icon is now greyed out during the resupply cooldown
Added a list of current squad members to the tactical view
Fixed overhead player names wrapping at the edge of the screen
Scoreboard - modified color highlighting, own player name is always visible
Fixed enemy spotted bugs relating to tanks such as the icon appearing outside of the map boundaries.
Stability
Potential fix the game being stuck on the splash screen or having very long initial load time
Additional Changes that were in the last patch
Stamina has a greater effect on weapon sway/breathing in all game modes
Added RO Classic mode settings to webadmin
Cleaned up many unused/unimplemented webadmin settings that were cluttering the system.
Added tooltips to many webadmin settings to make them easier to understand
Added a setting to disable lockdown to webadmin
Setup realism mode to not allow killcam

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Three new Battlefield 3 Expansion packs announced

EA Have announced the next three expansion packs for the well regarded and very successful Battlefield 3, which came out last year. The new packs follow on the heels of the recently released Back to Karkand, the price of which was included in the purchase of several of the launch versions of Battlefield 3 itself.

The announcement included details as to the content of the first two of the three new packs, with only the name unveiled for the third pack.

From the press release:
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• Battlefield 3: Close Quarters – In Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, players are dropped into a frantic, infantry-only theatre of war. Frostbite 2 high definition destruction makes the environment come alive as everything from furniture to plaster gets shot to pieces. Players will feel the intensity of the world exploding around them as rubble and broken pieces pile up on the floor, while tight level design and vertical gameplay create a highly competitive environment. Battlefield 3: Close Quarters also introduces new weapons, assignments and unique dog tags to bring back to the base game.
  
• Battlefield 3: Armored Kill – Following the tight infantry gameplay of Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, DICE will release Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that ups the ante for vehicular mayhem as only Battlefield can do. Featuring new driveable tanks, ATVs, mobile artillery and more, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill also delivers huge battlefields for an all-out vehicle assault, including the biggest map in Battlefield history.
  
• Battlefield 3: End Game – The fourth expansion pack will ship in the [Summer] but details remain tightly guarded.

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Patrick Bach, Executive Producer, Battlefield 3 said (in a thinly disguised dig at Call of Duty), “Instead of delivering piecemeal map packs, we’re giving players a completely new experience with every themed expansion pack to keep the action fresh. Our expansions are designed to excite our large and active fan base while attracting new recruits with gameplay that is dynamic and unpredictable every time.”

The packs will debut on PlayStation 3, before becoming available on other platforms a week later. The first pack, Close Quarters, is due in June. Armored Kill will follow in Q3, with the mysterious End Game due in Winter NZ time.

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Ultra Fast Broadband is here

Orcon has announced and is currently offering its Ultra Fast Broadband plans. Other service providers are said to announce there in the next few weeks. The plans are area depended meaning only if your area is Ultra Fast Broadband capable will you be able to take advantage of the plans on offer. The areas currently ready or will be ready in the next six weeks are Christchurch, Whangarei, Tauranga, Rotorua, and the Auckland suburbs of Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Mt Albert, as well as parts of Remuera, the North Shore and the East Tamaki Business Park. Plans seem reasonably priced For home plans, there will be an $89 a month for 60GB option, $99 for 100GBand $199 for a one terabyte 1000GB).People will have to pay extra for full fibre speed. A 100Mbit/s download plan will cost $110 with a 30GB cap. You will need a new modem/router that handles fiber this is likely to be provided by your ISP.

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