Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Future plans for the Nimitz for arma3

In a recent query on a Nimitz for arma3 youtube video the valid question was raised what the long term plans for the Nimitz are. In this blog post I try to answer this.

First, the development is driven by two distinct forces: one is the known issues (bug) list, the other is the interest and area of expertise of the involved developers. Ideally both would overlap and issues are resolved on the fly. In reality this is of course not always the case.

For example there is a number of texture problems and also needed model improvements on our known issues laundry list, but there is no active developer taking care of it. This of course limits the known issues we actually fix per release.

On the other hand we have areas which match the interest of a developer. For example Leshrack is on his way to improve the many scripts for aircraft and carrier operations in regards to multiple users and multiple carriers on map. I myself added some rooms to the weapons room level, as I was interested in exploring this part of modding. Then there are areas like testing which benefit from dedicated people like Moony, who basically gets to the see the changes first.

Besides the basically dedicated staff of the Nimitz, there are one-off contributors from the larger arma community who improve the carrier from time to time. For example in the beginning of the Nimitz for arma3 project, we had several submissions of texture sets for the hull and flightdeck.

In addition to the community effort, we're currently exploring the use of paid for models via a website named cgtrader. This is kind of a last resort move, as our calls for texture and modelling help could not be answered by the larger arma community. However, it's too early to tell if this approach will be successful.

Given this background it's hopefully clear that speaking of the plans for the Nimitz and the long term path for the carrier is necessarily a wishlist topic rather than a set in stone goal path.

Having said that, our goal is to provide a carrier that is operable in single and multi player arma3. It should support a simple and complex mode of operation, with the simple mode being intuitive enough for a new player to merely follow a tutorial mission and being able to utilize the carrier capabilities. The complex mode of operation tailors toward players not minding reading documentation and going the extra mile for a more realistic carrier experience. The current mode of operation is clearly a mix of the two - most functions are easy to use, but some like fueling an aircraft are not that easy to discover without reading the documentation.

Another huge topic for many player is seeing the carrier move through the water. If it ever will largely depends on the future development of the arma engine. We've seen with vehicle in vehicle transport capabilities that there's hope on the horizon. Support for the Man class (e.g. people) sticking to a moving and rocking surface is needed though.

Speaking of personal preferences, I certainly would like to see an integrated air defense system aboard the Nimitz. Currently an improved model for the sea sparrow is in the making and we might be able to source a phalanx or sea ram from cgtrader. In a first step these systems might be rigged as default arma3 anti aircraft systems. But in the future a working radar which controls these assets and is able to track missiles as well as aircraft would allow a player to play air defense coordinator aboard the Nimitz. In multiplayer this could be augmented by pilots on CAP as well as OPFOR pilots. Of course a Hawkeye to expand the radar capability of the carrier would be useful as well :)

Changing the focus from air operations to the carrier interior, we're currently working on providing a whole new deck on the level of the current weapons room. This work is driven by two motivators: one is the request for more empty space aboard the carrier for milsim units to use it as a base, the other is the relative unease of operation of the weapons elevator. So in February 2016 we started to explore the addition of new rooms roughly 2 meter above water level. This has resulted by now in a whole new deck under construction that reaches from the fore to the aft section of the carrier. Currently we're looking into the availability of floor plans to make these new rooms as carrier characteristic as possible.

Staying with the interior, there's a spot that's been under construction for a long time now: the island. While the stairwells from the arma2 LHD now give the island a refreshed look, the bridge and connecting parts are empty. Goal is here to use the sourced models from cgtrader to provide a nautical bridge and an airboss room. But as written above, we need to first see if this approach yields any success.

Coming back to future plans, above we've seen what are some immediate, mid and long term goals of the Nimitz for arma3 project. These should be sufficient for the next year. Beyond that, currently there'll be dragons. A lot depends on the future development of the engine and its capabilities in the air/sea area. But not everything: a long term goal is to make the carrier walkable from the heights of the island to the water level deck, another is the above mentioned integrated air defense capability, yet another is the creating of a simple and a complex mode of operation. But as it is with dragons, there's room for uncertainty - maybe some brave soul from the community steps up with her own ideas and those will alter the above set course!



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