Quote Marek Španěl :  
Prague, 20th September 2012
 
My colleagues and I were shocked when we found out about the detention of our co-workers and friends, Martin Pezlar and Ivan Buchta, on the Greek island of Lemnos. Everybody who knows them realizes that they’re not spies and certainly never intended to threaten Greek national security.
 
The guys visited the island as tourists. Their trip to Lemnos was personal, organized via travel agent, with the single goal of experiencing the place that had inspired the virtual environments of Arma 3, a computer game that they’ve been working on over the past two years.
 
Our company has never gathered or collected any restricted information, such as photos or blueprints of military installations of any nation, nor have we ever tasked anybody else to do it on our behalf. We always respect the law and we develop all of our products using publicly available materials only - Arma 3 is no exception.
 
According to media sources, the Greek ministry of National Defence actually examined our game, after local authorities raised this topic. They assured that the game is fine. Originally planned for release in autumn of this year, it is based upon a fictional future, set in 2035.
 
The whole incident is a terrible personal tragedy for Ivan, Martin and their families; I believe it to be no more than a deep misunderstanding, one which will be swiftly explained. I’m ready to support the guys and their families in these difficult times as much as I can.
 
 
Marek Španěl
 
Bohemia Interactive a.s. CEO

Indie Games CZ - my mini report
 
It was a great event, wonderful to speak to Dean, Matt and Karel... Thanks for answering all those questions! Anyway, here's what I can remember:
 

• particles are not dynamic, only affected by wind (those Comanche missile trails are pre-set), rotor downwash affects only clutter
• it will be possible to adjust the particle limit in the video settings
• radio protocol is being improved (starring Jay Crowe), more fluid, the goal is to remove the "Two! Move to! That! Tree! Six o'clock!" (although, come to think of it... I will miss it  )
• a team of developers (nicknamed Balance Task Force or something like that ) is dedicated solely for editing AI and weapon configs for balancing purposes
• AI engagements will be much more fun, no more "sniped from 300m with an AK without optics"
• when spotted by an AI, the AI will shoot a little imprecise at first, gradually improving aim after that
• the idea of underground structures in Arma is was put on hold because the AI couldn't navigate in them and the developers didn't want to move resources from elsewhere
• it will be possible to have different key-binding presets (Arma 2 style / Arma 3 style etc)
• different methods of giving commands are being checked (tried commo-rose, didn't like it because it would lock player's movement)
• the goal is to make commanding units a little more personal, not just shouting at people by numbers
• the campaign is not fully finalized yet, it's still being tweaked
• the missions will be less about politics but no hollywood-ish presentation; in general, they are trying to avoid missions like Manhattan
• PhysX will be awesome
• lot less horses in front of BI HQ, lot more sheep    

Cette interview fait office de rappel pour ceux n'ayant pas encore signé la pétition pour Ivan et Martin et donne, dans une certaine mesure, la température au sein de leur équipe.
 
eJay : Tout d'abord je voudrais vous remercier Jay du fait que, malgré la période traversée par Bohemia Interactive, vous ayez toujours un peu de temps pour la communauté polonaise. Du point de vue d'un fan la situation d'Ivan et Martin est étrange et choquante. De quoi ça a l'air de votre côté ?
 
 
Jay Crowe : De notre côté, c'est une situation totalement incompréhensible. Nous sommes complètement frustrés et nos pensées vont à leur famille en ce moment. Tant que Bohemia Interactive n'est pas directement impliqué, nous espérons sincèrement que les autorités Tchèques et les autres institutions suivront la situation de près.
 
eJay : La grèce n'a pas eu une situation politique et sociale stable ces dernières années. Cela ne vous a pas empêché, cependant, de faire des recherches poussées au sujet de Limnos. Vous nous avez même montré quelques photos d'expéditions récentes sur le "developer's blog". Les avez-vous préparé, de sorte à ce que ce soit en accord avec la loi ?
 
 
Jay Crowe : Il est important de préciser qu'aucune des visites de l'île n'a dépassé ce que fait un touriste. En tant qu'entreprise, nous respectons toujours la loi et dans le développement de nos produits en utilisant des supports légaux. Arma 3 n'est pas une exception...
 
eJay : Ivan et Martin sont actuellement en garde à vue ? Pourquoi cela prend autant de temps ?
 
Jay Crowe : Aux dernières nouvelles, ils étaient détenus dans un établissement, à Chios, et leurs familles auront la possibilité de leur rendre visite et de les soutenir directement. Leur avocat a indiqué que, selon le droit grec, il doit y avoir comparution au tribunal dans les 18 mois. Néanmoins, ils peuvent demeurer détenus durant cette période. Malheureusement, ce que nous avons lu dans la presse suggère que les signes de protestation contre l’austérité faites par les juges et médecins pourraient en fait, retarder ce processus judiciaire.
 
eJay : Est-ce que leur absence affectera le lancement de l’ « Alpha Community » ? Avez-vous un plan B ?
 
Jay Crowe : Nous sommes une équipe relativement petite, donc l’absence de n’importe quel membre retombe sur tout le monde. Ivan et Martin sont nos amis et collègues. Martin est un passionné, un artiste talentueux depuis le début – Ivan a été le moteur derrière ce troisième Arma.
 
En termes de projet, le développement reste centré sur la revue et l’exécution des tâches que nous avons identifiés comme essentielles pour la sortie de n’importe quelle version d’Arma 3.
 
eJay : Quel est le statut actuel d’Arma 3 ? La Gamescon nous a montré des améliorations intéressantes. Travaillez-vous toujours sur le jeu avec « toute votre énergie » ? Si c’est le cas, quels sont les aspects critiques du jeu sur lesquels vous vous concentrez ?
 
Jay Crowe : Nous allons vers une « alpha review », où nous revoyons toutes les fonctionnalités et éléments, jugeant de leur avancé et leur statut dans la totalité du projet.
 
Je suis heureux de voir que le développement d’Arma 3 est devenu beaucoup plus itératif qu’avant. Nous regardons attentivement les forces et faiblesses de versions – comme celles de l’E3 et de la GamesCom – et nous essayons d’identifier ce que nous devons prioriser.
 
eJay : Certes, en face de la tragédie grec, il fallait changer quelques choses et orienter la production sur d’autres domaines d’activité. Dans un tel cas, Arma 3 va bénéficier d’améliorations supplémentaires ? Qu’en est-il de l’implémentation de PhysX ?
 
Jay Crowe : Je pense que la communauté polonaise en est consciente, Arma a toujours été un projet ambitieux, et A3 n’est pas différent. Nous voulons sortir un jeu le plus stable possible, ce qui veut dire que nous passons beaucoup de temps à finaliser la diversité de nouvelles fonctionnalités, ainsi qu’à améliorer les aspects de base du jeu, qui nous semblent mériter une attention particulière.
 
eJay : Pendant combien de temps les joueurs auront-ils la chance de rejoindre l’ « Alpha community » ? Allez-vous utilisé l’expérience acquise lors des patchs beta ?
 
Jay Crowe : Comme mentionné précédemment, un examen est en cours, et ce qui en résultera déterminera la portée et la planification de l’alpha.  
 
Notre expérience des patchs beta nous a appris beaucoup de chose : A commencer par l’important des retours utilisateurs : c’est ce que nous devons améliorer pour le processus de mises à jour. Ces changements sont aussi des éléments clés de cet audit, qui, nous l’espérons, apportera quelques modestes améliorations dans ce domaine.

Dear community,
 
We are investigating integration of social networks and online services into Arma 3.  
As you are the most involved Arma players, I would like to ask you to fill in a short survey.  
 
Please, include your thoughts and feedback into the survey.  
 
Thanks a lot for your time and effort!
 
 
And don't worry, we don't want to make Armaville 3 - the social Facebook game, either

In what might be described as an eventful year, Bohemia Interactive has decided to postpone the release of Arma 3. The additional development time enables the project to reach its full potential, with the studio expecting to finalize their release plans in the new year.
 
Recently, Joris-Jan van ‘t Land, a 10-year veteran of Bohemia Interactive, took over the role of Arma 3 Project Lead from Daniel Musil, who left the studio to pursue other opportunities.
 
Joris-Jan van ‘t Land: "We’ve been in the process of implementing changes that will help us innovate as a studio under unexpected circumstances - facing problems we simply couldn't have imagined”, referring to the detainment of two Bohemia Interactive employees in Greece. Both were arrested on suspicion of espionage while spending their holiday on Lemnos - an island that served as inspiration for the environment in Arma 3. They have since remained in jail pending legal proceedings. "We're still trying to make sense of the situation and hope that our colleagues will be released soon. Although their plight has certainly affected us on a personal level, we continue working on the tasks identified as key to the release of Arma 3."
 
The new release window of Arma 3 has been set for 2013. Joris-Jan van 't Land: "I hope this update provides some answers regarding the status of the project. We’re currently sorting the specifics so we can deliver a more complete announcement at the beginning of next year."
 
The studio is also working on a standalone version of DayZ, which is developed by a team led by Dean Hall.

The studio is also working on a standalone version of DayZ, which is developed by a team led by Dean Hall.

FULL STEAM AHEAD
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:05
Written by Joris-Jan van 't Land
 
 
What's the deal
 
As we stand on the verge of revealing our plans for Arma 3, there is one big topic we'd like to get out there first. A long four months ago, I took over as Project Lead for Arma 3, having previously worked on the game as Lead Playable Content. As a team we were facing two quite serious situations: we were not happy with how the project was going, and on top of that two of our colleagues were suddenly arrested for alleged espionage in Greece. The first two months on the job were all about taking an inventory of the project and team, seeing what was going well, what was not, and coming up with plans to fix it all. The mission set by our CEO, Marek Španěl, was clear: do all we can to release Arma 3 in 2013.
 
One of the steps in this plan has been to select Valve's Steam as our primary platform. Not only is Arma 3 PC-exclusive, but now we have decided to make it Steam-exclusive as well. Since we expect this will upset some of our fans, I'd like to take the time to honestly explain our motivations.
 
The bottom-line: we feel that without going Steam-exclusive, we would not be able to release Arma 3 in 2013.
 
Benefits for development
 
Proven distribution platform
 
Steam is the leading digital distribution platform for PC games. We have sold our games through Steam for a while now, and Valve has been a good partner. There may be other platforms that handle certain things in a way we or you would prefer, but they simply do not have the reach, support and status Steam does. Recent upgrades to Steamworks have made it an even more interesting option for us as developer and publisher. These include Delta-patching and more direct administration of our games without a middle-man. Had it not been for that, we would have been much more hesitant to make the decision.
 
Fewer distributed versions
 
Some of you will remember the huge amount of different distributed versions for Arma 2, and all of the problems associated with it. We needed to spend far too much time on creating and testing all the master copies. Every patch had to be tested for every conceivable combination of distribution, patch and DLC. This drained so many of our resources, that we could not support the game itself as much as we'd have liked. By targeting Steam as our primary distribution, we can take those resources and put them to much better use: making the most splendid game possible.
 
Ready-made functionality
 
Steamworks offers a library of features which we can fairly quickly hook into Arma 3. Some of them we wanted to develop anyway, but to do it ourselves would again cost valuable resources. External solutions have their own issues, such as the lack of immediate control, but Steamworks saves us needed time. We can take what we want, make adjustments and make sure it all benefits players and mod makers. I am convinced that without this choice, most of the features would not be available at all.
 
 
 
Piracy
 
Think of it what you want, but piracy is affecting us as a business. However, Bohemia Interactive has tried to grow with the evolution of the Internet, rather than to fight it. We have removed intrusive Digital Rights Management (DRM) from our games several months after release, but cannot afford to launch without such technologies. We strongly believe the best anti-piracy comes from offering valuable online services that people are willing to invest in. Supporting that philosophy: we saw we could not deliver in-house solutions on time, but could take Steam's and expand upon them. It will be possible to run Steam in Offline mode, and still play the game (with the exception of online services obviously, including multiplayer itself).
 
Focus on game development
 
All in all, this means we can as developers do what we like most: game development. And by doing what we like, the results are inevitably better. There is a lot of work that surrounds delivering a game that is anything but creative. Without such work however, we could not survive as a business and keep making games. Please realize that any benefit to us as developers, ultimately should be a benefit to you as player. By going with the chosen approach, we get back into the game.
 
Benefits for players
 
Smoother experience
 
Our belief is that the previous Arma games have had an unacceptably rough setup experience, involving the installation of various support packages and patches. On Steam, all you do is buy the game, download it, and play. Patching is done automatically, and with the introduction of Delta-patching no longer means downloading gigabytes of data. Whereas a few months ago, you would have to re-download entire add-ons when we moved a single tree in the virtual environment, you now only download the offending few kilobytes. Additionally Steam supports some more advanced tools to participate in experimental versions and testing programs via its beta branches. Players who want the smooth experience can just stick with the default version at all times, others get a sneak-peak glimpse at the future and can participate.
 
Online services
 
As was eluded to before, Steamworks offers some cool features that we can leverage to enhance the Arma experience where it matters. Internally we did an analysis of which features would make sense in Arma 3, and we even invited you to participate. This resulted in some cool ideas, which are in progress of being implemented. We'll save the exact details for a later update, when we can guarantee these features make it in. One quick and simple thing available to any Steam-powered game is taking screenshots and sharing them. How to best support Dedicated Servers and their admins is another topic we are looking at. To give you two keywords summarizing our priorities: User Generated Content and multiplayer.
 
Arma 3
 
It is important not to forget the bottom-line as set out above: we honestly believe that we would not be able to deliver Arma 3 in 2013 without this decision. Now, a few months ahead, we feel strongly that it is paying off, and soon you'll get a chance to see why.
 
Preemptive answers
 
So, when will you release Arma 3 then?
"Soon" has become an overused word, but we are preparing all we need to unveil our plans right this moment.
Do I have to run the game through Steam?
Yes, it will be required to run the game through Steam. We do not believe in always-online types of DRM however, so Offline mode will be supported.
Will I be able to buy a boxed copy of Arma 3?
There will be boxed copies in most regions. These may either be Steam Codes in a retail package, or also contain DVD data (speeding up installation). You will still have to run and update through Steam the first time.
I don't want any of the benefits Steam brings me, so why should I care?
There was a very real chance there would be no Arma 3 this year otherwise.