ARMA Update

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[align=center][/align]Earlier this month JCS approved and announced that ARMA 3 is now a recognised game in the Unknown Soldiers. This announcement was perfect timing since Bohemia Interactive released a DLC titled “Laws of War”. Before I dive in I would like to point out that what the developers have decided to do is a huge departure from the norm for “war” games. This DLC dives head first in some of the greater questions about war and some of it’s moral complexities.

The fictional landscape for ARMA, Altis and Stratis, is a perfect setting for Laws of War. Whether the developers planned this from the beginning or not is unknown to me, regardless this setting works for this type of content. Considering the base game takes place as NATO forces are planning on withdrawing from Altis, this withdrawal creates tension leading to the events in the game. Without going into full blown details (ARMA players already know all about this) the single player campaign takes the player through events and fights between NATO, the AAF, and the FIA.

Laws of War

The laws of war takes place after the fighting on Altis is over. Naturally after a war the weapons of war aren’t always taken away, specifically landmines and traps. In this DLC the player controls a character that is an IDAP. This organization has deployed to disarm landmines. Don’t worry though, you won’t be bored disarming mines as though the war is over, local guerrillas in the area didn’t get that memo, so be prepared for firefights.

So obviously our ARMA players aren’t joining our TeamSpeak to sit and play a single player campaign, however I wanted to give an idea of what the Laws of War DLC brings to the table because now landmines can be used in the multiplayer servers. This could bring another dimension into the games. Having to keep your eyes peeled for incoming fire, but unexploded ordnance and landmines will add more dangers for players in our server!

Branch Updates

The Marine branch and the Arma Task Force have been hard at work getting COMOS in order the past 30 days. They have assembled and are putting the final touches 3 initial MOS qualifications, Marksman, Auto Rifle, and Combat Life Saver. The basic tests are already written and are being added in the editor! More MOS qualifications are in the works but I don’t want to spoil anything yet.

BCT Development

BCT updates are up and ready to go! With the complete control our server gives the Marines have the flexibility to create unique bases, ranges, shoot houses, and training areas. These areas have been set up on the island of Stratis and make full use of the island! Even better CMOS and BCT’s can be run at the same time, on the same server!

Servers

The Unknown Soldiers has three ARMA servers in total! 1 server is always live and running a persistent invade and annex mission. The other two servers are for mission and content creation. In short what this means the ARMA Task Force can script missions and test them in a controlled environment. This flexibility allows the team to correct scripting and gameplay issues before something goes live. This multi server setup allows the team to always have a live servers for members and guests to play in but also allows future missions to be tweaked with no downtime.

Arma Task Force

I have been referencing the ARMA Task Force this whole article so I wanted to give a little rundown of what the unit is tasked with and it’s responsibilities in the Unknown Soldiers. The task force falls under Intel for right now. It currently focuses on bringing ARMA into the Unknown Soldiers fully in our departments like; CMOS, NonCom, Engineering, PA. It also exists to provide the us with Arma content for uses in Practices, missions, and tests.Finally, the Task Force maintains the Unknown Soldiers official and unofficial server. Long term the Task Force will move under engineering to maintain its work with content creation and server maintenance. This will happen when Arma is integrated into Intel fully.

 

Since ARMA has joined the -US- as an approved game, the team that worked so hard to bring the game to us hasn’t stopped working! I actually want to call a couple people out right now for their dedication, long hours, and hard work, First MSgt.Bwa, Also GySgt.DDog. To my knowledge these two have been working to build exciting and engaging missions from the start. They had no ARMA scripting knowledge and had to learn on the fly to achieve what they have thus far! Second Capt.Fearless, who lead the SRT team (and ran the Marine branch after Maj.CanisSapien retired before the branch was dedicated for ARMA players) as well as wrote the marksmen COMOS!