After 3 months of hard work by our team, supported by many members of the ARMA II community that provided us with invaluable feedback from ARMA II's public betaversions , the release of the major update 1.05 for ARMA II is coming close and we would like to highlight how much it improves the game for us and hopefully also for our users.

UPDATE: Version 1.07 is available now.

Bonus Content

ARMA II 1.05 brings a lot of new free bonus content. We're happy ARMA II resonated well with many gamers, despite gaming press not always being too impressed with the initial release, and we would like to thank our users this way. The update will add the AH64D helicopter and a short campaign Eagle Wing where you can play with it, also a new improved Warfare mode When Diplomacy Fails, that amongst other new features and various bug fixes introduces support for three sided online war with the ability to also use dimplomacy to create an alliance with another faction.

Improved AI

AI wasn't always fair in ARMA II upon release. We figured out some of these problems in 1.03 which made them weaker but in fact too weak. We had to reassess it again in 1.05 and fix various related issues. The difficulty will increase again, however, we put in a lot of effort to make sure they don't cheat. Other improvements in the AI include their better cooperation in combat, helicopter pilots using terrain better to avoid crashing and vehicle pathfinding and moving in convoys.

ARMA II As Software Platform

Our games were always much more than disposable entertainment and ARMA II is no different. We see our products as a platform for user editing and experimenting in the open game world, in addition to the conventional preset videogame experience and this influences the game design and requires us to provide a comprehensive set of tools to use with the game. We are amazed how creative our user community is and with 1.05 we introduce a few new features that will make this aspect more robust, feeling more like a real software application rather than simply a videogame.

Windowed Mode

It will be possible to switch between full screen and windowed mode instantly just by pressing Alt + Enter when the game is in the front end UI (e.g. in the Paused screen).

PBO Extension

Files with the pbo extension will now be associated with ARMA II (and future Bohemia Interactive products) and users will be able to simply click on the file and play a mission, test an addon or install it to their documents.

User Data

Also, all addons, missions and modifications can be stored in the user documents area instead of the game's working directory, which is the preferred location for various reason. Not only are users able to do this with limited permissions (and for security reasons it is often not the best option to run as an admin all the time) but also their addon collection will be easily isolated from the game itself, allowing reinstalling the game and easier backing up of any user made content.

BattlEye Anticheat

This update introduces anticheat for better online experience on the public servers where cheating is a real disease of PC gaming. The BattlEye system consists of the BE Client and the BE Server that communicate with each other through the game's netcode. In addition, there is the BE Master which is queried for newcore software and cheat detection updates. The BE Client (as well as the BE Server) runs within the game, allowing the best possible detection of cheats. Server admins may choose if they require clients to have anticheat or not.

Linux Dedicated Servers

Dedicated Servers are the cornerstone of ARMA II infrastructure and from version 1.05 it will be possible to host games not only on Windows servers but also on Linux servers.

DRM Free

As with our previous releases, we are pleased to be able to remove DRM from the game executable.  A lot is written about DRM in PC games. We see it as necessary evil but we ourselves are relieved the moment we can remove it as it makes few things easier.

We are not able to release our games to the stores without DRM implemented for many reasons (compromises always have to be made...) but we understand that a DRM free product does not suffer with certain disadvantages for our users (e.g. need of physical DVD in drive for users of retail copies) and this is the best way to remove any such hassle. Please note that we still require original copy of the game with the original key to play online and users of warez copies may not only have problems updating the game but also may suffer from various forms of degraded experience during single player after they update to version 1.05.

Much More

The list does not end here but I am running out of time I have for this blog post so I will only list the other important new fixes and features of ARMA II 1.05:

• Fixed compatibility problems under Windows Vista and Windows 7 x64 with 8 GB and more RAM


• Grass now provides concealment also in distance


• Improved hit detection and damage system


• Improved object visibility and less significant objects popping in distance


• Spatial sound improvements


• New GUI for multiplayer commands


• Enabled commanding during story conversations


• FreeTrack support using FreeTrackClient.dll


• Improved suppressive fire


• Improved mouse input handling


• Improved performance in large cities

Summary

With this new update, ARMA II users receive an important improvement of the game. We hope you will enjoy it and that the effort we put into it was worthwhile for everyone. We hope you will enjoy your visit to Chernarus even more now, until the new operation in Takistan starts. Merry Christmas everyone.