Republic of Folk

http://dev.arma3.com/post/sitrep-00099

On Thursday we are going to perform a large-scale test of Arma 3's Launcher. This tool has improved massively since it was first introduced and we feel it's ready to be used by everyone. To confirm that, we'll be making the launcher the default Steam launch option for Arma 3. This means you'll no longer see that little pop-up asking you to start the game normally or start it in windowed mode. Instead, you'll see the Launcher and so the amount of clicks to start the game remains the same. There are, however, many useful things you can do with the Launcher. Further improvements on the horizon will make it yet more powerful.

If this was the default and if they made it a simple case of ticking a radio box in the default screen that comes up to launch Arma 3...
*dons asbestos suit and kevlar bottom protector*
...would this impact on the Folk policy of we-do-vanilla-without-mods-to-make-things-easy-and-hassle-free-for-all-comrades?

(Which honestly, I don't have a massive problem with, new terrain would be nice but PlayWithSix is one of the ugliest pieces of software I've ever used - and I use Lotus Notes at work - and installing ACRE and learning a whole bunch of new interface stuff... well, I can't say it doesn't give me pause as I tot up the hours it'll take to get back to won't-kill-his-entire-fireteam-by-accident levels of competency, especially when the DLCs give us new helos and rifles).

Ease-of-use isn't the only argument for our vanilla approach. There's the issue of having to download mods right before a session (ARMA updates are fairly regular and can be prepared for) and compatibility between mods (for example RHS vests work very differently than vests in vanilla or other addons). I'm also not sure if it's possible to maintain a repository for the BIl auncher with the ability to prevent mods from updating which is kinda important. Furthermore, as long as Steam Workshop is limited to 1GB mods, most terrains and many vehicle packs are out of the question anyway.

That said, what BI is working on is certainly promising and I'm looking forward to see how well it fares in the future.

Also, Head is currently working on a light-weight mod synchronization tool (which our friends at 1Tac are alpha-testing).

Nothing on the near horizon looks like offering enough of a step-change in the management, distribution and synchronisation of mods (including ACRE) to meet the definition of 'low friction' that underpins our sessions. That said, it is important to understand that this is not an ideological issue - when a truly practical solution (i.e. not PWS) eventually appears, the Party may well opt to embrace it.

Again, I really don't have a problem with it, the low-friction setup works well for me (and given how my last helo flight went, I think it's fairly clear I need to fix more basic things than worrying about mods ). I just thought it was an interesting development, especially if (as it was rumoured they would at one point) BI were to release the Arma 2 maps for Arma 3 as official DLC/mod type things like an official BI version of @A3MP.

Unless and until that happens though, I'm having more fun than I've ever had before in Arma pootling about with helos in Bees or getting spectacularly murdered by HMG fire in Uneasy Partners or dying heroically in Jolly Blue XL

Now if somebody made a terrain that was the entirety of Minsk Tractor Works. That might warrant it. That and a Tractors, Tractors and more Tractors mod.

The RIGHT KIND of tractors, of course. Anybody found in air-conditioned ones will be considered decadent capitalists and shot on sight.

Hmmm. Karts, but using tractors...

Comrade, all tractors are air-conditioned. Except the ones with windows, obviously, and those become air-conditioned naturally after a day's work on the farm thanks to stray rocks and the like.

Been playing with the launcher a bit, haven't ported over my overly long startup options to its GUI yet (but it snags it off of the steam settings anyway so that was nice). Best feature so far - you can have different presets of loaded mods on startup (so one for KoTH, one for Folk, etc) and you can preload the Folk server into the launcher as the server to connect to (and then just unclick a radio button for general online play). That last one will save a bit of frustration going into the server browser, blanking the filter, swearing at the search box for not flagging the server when you type Folk ARPS into it, then ordering by server name and scrolling down by hand to it. And you can have the password in the launcher too, obviously.

It's not exactly protein folding in assembler, but it's a neater way to do some things...

My biggest annoyance with the BI launcher is that you have to add mod folders one-by-one instead of the launcher finding them recursively. Makes it a big hassle if you keep your addons stored elsewhere.

For now I still prefer Head's A3 launcher or swifty.

wolfenswan wrote:My biggest annoyance with the BI launcher is that you have to add mod folders one-by-one instead of the launcher finding them recursively. Makes it a big hassle if you keep your addons stored elsewhere.

Click on the cog icon up at the top of the launcher, that'll open a window asking for a folder containing mod folders; point that at your Arma 3 folder and it picks up on all of your mods in one go. It's not that intuitive and it annoyed the bleep out of me when I found it, but it does work. (Oh, and you can have multiple folders containing mods and it'll scan them all)

Sparks wrote:

wolfenswan wrote:My biggest annoyance with the BI launcher is that you have to add mod folders one-by-one instead of the launcher finding them recursively. Makes it a big hassle if you keep your addons stored elsewhere.

Click on the cog icon up at the top of the launcher, that'll open a window asking for a folder containing mod folders; point that at your Arma 3 folder and it picks up on all of your mods in one go. It's not that intuitive and it annoyed the bleep out of me when I found it, but it does work. (Oh, and you can have multiple folders containing mods and it'll scan them all)

Oh wow. Talk about obscure design.