BettIR NVG

BettIR Nightvision module

Infrared / nightvision improvements for ARMA 3.

Important - Weapon Attachments are no longer part of this mod

Weapon attachments logic has been completely rewritten and separated from this mod. Mods such as ITN have become popular and players should have the option to pick their preferred weapon attachment solution, so there's no point in BettIR enforcing its own if people want to simply use BettIR NVG illuminators + ITN weapon lasers. You can find the new attachments framework here: BettIR Weapon Attachments Framework

Support your local modder

This mod is free to use, never had any paywalled versions or tiers. If you want to support the effort, you can buy me a coffee, it helps more than you think.

Feel invited to join my discord: https://discord.gg/XpKd2Twckp

NVG Illuminators

Adds a dim infrared light to night vision goggles and helmets to help illuminate dark areas, where nightvision devices (particularly with ACE) would struggle to provide a clear picture.

Additionally, all nightvision devices are compatible by default as long as they can provide a nightvision capability to the player. Configs are optional and placed in CfgWeapons instead, simply overriding the offset values when necessary.

Helmets are also supported as long as they are configured correctly - check documentation or ask in the Discord server.

IR Patches

Long-promised IR patches are here, which help with friend-or-foe identification during night operations by glowing under nightvision. This works not just for the default Arma 3 unit insignia, but also allows patches to be attached to vests, backpacks and headgear, as long as they are compatible (needs a compatibility mod for BettIR_Patches, see documentation).

Patches are not bound to gear however, and there currently is no UI that allows the users to equip them. Mission makers will have to run code that attaches a patch to the unit:

[this, "headgear", "Rear", "BettIR"] call BettIR_Patches_fnc_setPatch;

This was added so that mission creators can have control over patch selections in player loadouts. Additionally, most of the patches supported by this mod are spawned objects, attached to the user in preconfigured slots; a huge amount of these objects can impact performance, so it's best to spawn them only when necessary.

IR Patches module is built upon a set of functions which allow to toggle textures, materials or visibility of an object under nightvision. Check the documentation for further reference.

Further plans

• Make the illuminator parameters configurable per device (brightness, spread, etc)

• Make AI use it?

Known bugs

• Laggy in vehicles and in third person due to the nature of attachTo / scripted light update rates

FAQ

Q: I'm getting an error that "(SOME ADDON) requires BettIR_Core", what do I do? Your modlist includes a compatibility mod for legacy BettIR version. Just unload it. If it's your mod, you should remove BettIR_Core from dependencies and BettIR_Config from the configuration files, as it's most likely redundant with this new version.

Q: My weapon illuminator doesn't turn on anymore with this update, why? Weapon attachments are now a different addon, check the link at the top of this description.

Q: What even changed? The new version utilizes the engine-friendly directional infrared lights which didn't exist at the time of the initial release, and doesn't calculate the light position every frame anymore like it used to - instead relies on the new attachTo bone-following syntax. Additionally, the light now follows the head instead of the eyes like it used to, making it a bit more realistic, although might feel a bit less intuitive. Additionally, helmet illuminators are now supported. If you prefer to use the old version, click here: BettIR Legacy

For modders

Check out the documentation for further reference.

Credits

Arma 3 developers, in particular Leopard20 and Dedmen - not only for post-release scripting advice, but also for adding requested features to the game and addressing feedback, which allowed this mod to be engine-friendly TheVache - honorable mention as a rubber duck Diwako, TheVache & Somedudechen - for helping me test my solutions across the years isky - for being generally helpful with the new iteration and providing the BettIR example patch materials and textures Ulfgaar - for giving me the idea to do the IR patches, which then spiraled out of control and became much more than that; for exchanging a lot of information about the real life technology and helping me understand it much more Dslyecxi - for feedback and Nightvision-related consultation OneLittleSociopath - for helping me figure out some of the optimalization concerns

Licensing

APL-ND