I’m almost done working on a big update to the RQ-11B Raven for Arma 3. Check out this video for a few of the details.
The new update should be available in a few days. There are just a few things I have left to tweak. For now, here’s a list of what’s changing and being added:
New “tracking box” in the camera view which tracks nearby lockable targets
New and improved altitude display (much more efficient and accurate)
Easier way to pick up Raven and GCS
Improved dropping of GCS and Raven
Improved carrying animation of Raven (follows body position)
Adjusted launch animation
Improved assembly animation (removed workarounds to Arma bugs with attachTo and improved a few other things)
Some new sounds
Fixed the “too loud sound” problem when using Zeus or MCC
I’ve added a new feature to the Paddle Mod that I’ve been mulling over in my head for some time. The ability to drag a boat onto shore is something that seems very easy, especially for a Zodiac-style boat. I didn’t want to use attachTo because it looks fake. So I’m pretty happy with this new method. Here’s a video demonstrating the feature:
This new feature will be present in Paddle Mod Version 1.1 which should be coming out in the next few days.
One of the reasons I don’t accept donated code for my addons is that I extensively change the code from release to release. Version control is difficult enough to control on my own. When people contribute “fixes” for perceived problems, it adds and element of complexity that I don’t have time to tackle.
Check out this screenshot of the drop script for the Ground Control Station…
New on the left, old on the right
Even by not looking closely, you can see that I’ve more than doubled the number of things that are going on in this page just to drop an object. One thing I implemented in the new version was reaching out to pick up and drop things. If you have a weapon, the code works easily. But for units that don’t have a weapon, I had to create a workaround (adding a weapon, calling the command to reach for a weapon (current weapon), then removing it quickly).
Also, if you have a weapon, you reach out at one speed. If you don’t have a weapon, you reach out much faster. So I had to create a structure to work around these different situations and it required a lot of testing to figure things out. The speed at which a unit drops something is not something I expect anyone to notice while playing. But if I didn’t pay attention to these kinds of details and situations, the unit wouldn’t drop the object fast enough and then the unit would get injured by the object.
Now, if a user of my addon took the old version of this page (the one on the right) and modified it to fit their needs and sent it to me, I wouldn’t know where to start with implementing their changes.
These are just a few more reasons why I have my terms and conditions written the way they are. Learn what you can from my code, but don’t change it without my permission.
Recently a new user in the Arma community took the code from my Raven addon and modified it in order to, in his opinion, “fix” broken things. The things he “fixed” weren’t broken, they were just personal preferences that he wanted to implement. He went onto my release thread and tried to get me to use his changes to modify my original files. When I told him that the modifications he made were a violation of my terms and conditions of use of the addon, he reacted badly and said that he had a right to do anything he wanted.
Unfortunately, I had to get the moderators involved and they shut down the discussion. But I’d like to post a little more about my own point of view and why I’ve set the terms and conditions as I have.
In the terms and conditions for the Raven, I clearly state that you can do whatever you want to my code and addons and mods if you want to learn from them. You can feel free to reverse engineer them and I encourage that by putting comments in my code which I think other people can find useful.
But once you start modifying my code for the purposes of releasing it without my permission, that’s when I have a problem with it. The reason for that is that I’ve had a few people over the years take my hard work and modify it and release it without my permission, oversight or consent. These people get credit for my original work and I get the blame for when it doesn’t work. People have come to me and said things like, “Hey Feint, I was using your Raven addon in the Altis Life addon and it didn’t work. Can you fix it?” And I respond with, “The Altis Life people never told me they were going to modify my files. So I’m sorry, I don’t know what they changed and I don’t know what is wrong.” It’s just a pain in my ass. It’s happened with several of my addons and graphic mods and having to spend time to answer those emails and PMs, research what’s going on and figure out that the problem has nothing to do with me is just tiresome and unfortunate.
I hope that people will understand that I’ve been a strong contributor to the Arma community for years and that those contributions don’t involve me just giving everything away so people can do whatever they want with it. The terms and conditions of use should be read and respected so that a community of mutual respect can continue to grow and flourish.
