ACEREP #00003

ACE3 3.3.2 has been released nearly 2 and a half months ago and has been one of our most downloaded versions so far with over 31.000 steam subscribers and over 23.000 downloads on github.

When developing mods for a very actively developed game like Arma you have to be subscribed to all the development information you can get. Be it the dev section on the forum or the numerous informative twitter accounts of BI devs. With Arma 3 1.54 in sight and seeing all the features and improvements planned for this update we knew about some breaking changes that wouldn’t work with v3.3.2. Thanks to the RC branch of Arma 3 we were able to fix all of those issues beforehand. That’s why you were able to get the release so shortly after the Arma 3 update.

If you have already seen our change log for v3.4.0 you surely have noticed that this is in fact the longest change log since our initial release. Thanks to our very active contributors and community we were able to put a lot of effort in this update. With new script commands and breaking changes to some of existing ones we had to go over the whole codebase (again) and used this opportunity to optimize some of it.

The New Things

Following the added features in v3.3 “Repairing” and “Logistics” we’ve now added the options to refuel and rearm vehicles in a similar way. Being modular we’ve included enough settings to fit “Refueling” and “Rearming” to your play style.

Another new feature that might be interesting for mission makers, is the option to define ACE3 settings in the mission parameters. This enables mission makers and players to customize the gaming experience without the need to edit the mission or the server side settings.

Furthermore we’ve got the permission to include a few community made and standalone mods directly into ACE3. One of them, ShackTac Map Gestures, allows you to perform gestures on a map. These gestures, controlled by pressing and moving your cursor on your map, are displayed simultaneously on the maps of players in close proximity. This is useful if you want to demonstrate routes or tactics without the use of markers or a lot of words. In real life one would rather point at the map than going full Bob Ross.

With THS - Tactical Hand Signals we’ve increased the amount of gestures you’re able to perform. Signaling your squad to halt, to advance or to check their surrounding without the use of words might prove very effective in TvT scenarios where, when using radio mods (like ACRE2 or TFAR) and being in close distance to the enemy, silence is golden.

The Future Things

Many times we’re getting asked if we have a vision for ACE3 and what our plans for the future are. The answer is definitely: “Yes, we have plans.”. Though, it’s true, it’s mostly something that’s living in our heads and is not written down or publicly available. The issues and pull requests on github and the very long feature request thread show the direction in which we’re heading. The primary and short term goal, of course, will always be a stable and (mostly) bug free release. Something that’s more of a mid-term goal is to port the missing features from ACE 2, AGM and CSE. Another one is to overhaul the medical system to address some of the issues that often get pointed out by the community. For the long-term vision we’ll figure out a way to better communicate that with you.

The End Things

The complete change log of 3.4.0 can be found at: https://github.com/acemod/ACE3/releases/tag/v3.4.0

And most important: If you want to chat with fellow ACE3 users or with a dev, if you have an idea or are in need of help feel free to join our public slack chat.

Registration is open for everyone: https://acemod.org/slack