What's going on?

[Huntah 10,130]

I'm sure people want to know what's going on with the Arma 3 server and what we're currently doing to try and resolve the lack of players.

The honest truth is I believe we have exhausted all of our options, so far we tried the following...
* Unbanned all non script kiddies
* Moved to America where a far larger audience should have been
* Made the game more easy and user friendly for total noobs
* Gave away copies of Tanoa
* A total revamp of the way staff are to deal with issues

What we've managed to do with these changes is...
* See who the loyal players are, the ones who really try to get stuff moving in the server to help the few new players we gain
* See who the real assholes are, the people who think they can use the low pop as a good reason to break rules since they feel we can't punish them with so few players on
* I've sent Bohemia an Email explaining the situation with their life servers on Arma 3 and given them ideas of how they could help, such as making Tanoa free to play, even with a water mark or a time limit, to that I didn't receive even so much as a reply

Unfortunately dedicated servers cost money to run and there has to be a point where we've tried everything possible and accept that The Darkside life on Arma 3 is probably not going to improve.

I just want to point out (because I know the types of responses this post will receive) that the downfall of our server is not our own fault, it's not the staffs fault, it's not the players fault, it's not even Bohemias fault. All life servers have plummeted in the past year, all our competitors gave up long ago, we are still the highest ranked life server in the southern hemisphere (ranked 58) with our small player base, shows you just how low the Arma 3 active player count is (for life type servers).

 

So, what are we going to do then? Close down the community? There are still a lot of us here floating around, most of you met each other on The Darkside and I know I personally met a lot of my friends here too. So simply closing down isn't really an acceptable option right now.

That's why we have been working on creating a new life server, on a new game called Onset -

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1105810/Onset/

Grab it now while it's on sale!

 

Why have we chosen this particular game?

* The freedom for creators is massive, almost anything is programmable and can be added to the game over time

* Its similar to GTA FiveM but without all the complications of running a mod and all the programming difficulties that come with GTA

* We can include custom vehicles, weapons, anything really... without requiring mods. People simply download the files when they join the server, much like an Arma 3 mission file (however unlike Arma 3 you don't have to download an entire mission file for a 5kb update)

* The game is developed by a sole developer, through my own experience I know he is extremely dedicated to this game and his road map looks great https://trello.com/b/FzQ7RRQV/onset-early-access-roadmap - check it out (he also replied to my emails of questions within hours and is active on his discord server)

* The game is still 'unreleased', so it's in early access. This means that once he feels he is ready to release it, he will get good advertising coverage on steam for 30 days, plus a lot of people already own the game but due to lack of servers, have nothing to do on it unless they are a developer

But the game is unfinished and dead / probably buggy / lacking features?

* There are bugs, but they revolve around things like syncing between players and physics issues. Then there are small visual bugs like clipping clothing/animations etc. Nothing I feel that will stop us enjoying ourselves

* The game itself is a 'sandbox', the features are mostly up to server creators to program themselves. The weapon system is similar to GTA5 but he has already stated he will be releasing an improved system. For now however we have full control over stats for each weapon, such as recoil, ammo amounts, power etc, freedoms we've never had on Arma 3

* The game isn't dead, it just simply hasn't lived yet. It needs a decent server for players to join and for all the Australians and Kiwis (maybe some Americans too) that will be us. Once there is a server with active players, others will play it. 

In addition just imagine if The Darkside ends up becoming the go-to server on Onset, we may even end up having multiple servers. I didn't get in early on Arma 3, this gives us an amazing head start so people will see what we have when they first start playing.

 

Obviously on release we won't have all the features The Darkside currently has, but these will be added (and made even better) over time.

Features we intend to have completed before release include...

* Police, all ranks, some weapons, vehicles and police functions such as jail, escort, handcuff, ticket

* Medic, with missions and revive abilities

* New gang system, all DB saved (perm gangs) - they act much like clans currently do, you get auto added to your gang everytime you join (unless you opt to leave the gang until server restart) - This system includes features such as a gang bank balance, a leader, the ability to invite and kick players etc. More features such as gang houses / areas will be added a bit later on

* Legal jobs - deliveries, taxi, resource collection/selling, fishing

* Illegal jobs / missions - Gas station robberies, checkpoint take overs, gang missions such as drugs/weapons convoys, powerstation destruction, bank robberies, chopping vehicles, fighting over gang hideouts and of course... killing cops

 

We plan to still encourage a 'combat server' approach, but as this game is not a 'military simulator' you will not experience the same form of combat as we're used to. However I feel over time, with the right scripts and edits to the weapons system, we will be able to make the combat more enjoyable.

Do I keep my police rank?

* Simply put, Yes.. ranks will carry over and we will be using the same ranking system on Onset

What about medic?

* Same deal, whitelisted medics will be able to play medic right away on Onset, we will not start with public medics

 

What happens with the Darkside Arma 3 life server now?

* Nothing about that server changes right now, people will still get promoted/demoted from cop like normal and the server will remain up. I have no intention (currently) of closing it until there are zero players consistently. 

 

What next?

* Ill start posing updates here of our progress for our server (Fliqqs and Moose are also helping me)
* I expect a playable Beta version in the second half of next month, but it would take quite a while to balance everything out
* Over time we'll add all our favourite features to the Onset server, auctions, crafting, rebel missions, events, security job, mechanic job, DBAY etc etc

 

So what are you waiting for? Buy Onset and help the developer pump out those improvements so we have another game to grow and expand The Darkside on for many more years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IceBrg 46]

Onset looks like a good game can't wait to see what you come up with Huntah!

[Buzzkill 627]

Im really excited for the future of darkside and I really hope that this new game will bring darkside back to its former glory, hope to see you all there!

[Googs 94]

Great news! This should be an exciting adventure for the future progress of The Darkside

[Beatroot 736]

Can I bug/dupe test onset server ??

I have many years experience in garrysmod darkrp so I know all the printer exploits. 
 

I mean same systems in my well educated opinion will get boring over time much like it has already, regardless it’s a good start to community development. I’ll probably jump on board. Can we all thank @Moose for his Lua coding abilities!!! 

[Feakz 66]

can't wait for so more construction worker rp

[thegu 87]

As long as theres a Kill Info box in the corner of the screen, it sounds good to me

[SoulProtectorss 298]

Is the darkside server already setup on onset?

[IceBrg 46]

2 hours ago, SoulProtectorss said:

Is the darkside server already setup on onset?

No there is a dev server thats locked

[Nat 57]

onset looks great can’t wait to play it

[J a g e r R 320]

Keen

[Sleppy 150]

Really keen to see this play out. The game looks real fun and with the features of darkside I think it'll be incredible. Can't wait to join and play 

[Mike 4,358]

the cars are dope they backfire and have nos animations my WRX can go from 0 to SpaceX in seconds

[SunDragoness 1,557]

Keen to try out this new game, will be a fresh change and looks to have a lot more possibilities while supporting indie development. Bonus: the game is an affordable price.

[Mike 4,358]

15 minutes ago, SunDragoness said:

Bonus: the game is an affordable price.

when bohemia charges this game's price for fucking tanoa expansion xdddd

[CharlesYT 134]

Sounds good I will give it a shot 

[WiZz 478]

11 hours ago, Huntah said:

That's why we have been working on creating a new life server, on a new game called Onset -

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1105810/Onset/

Grab it now while it's on sale!

 

Fuck yeah! I've been waiting for this! Got onset and would be great to try a Darkside version. 

[Jedifool 183]

Very exited for the future of this server!!!!

Does this mean we can finally get mole rats added?!?

[CuckyRedge 372]

cya later aligator not for a while crocodile

nah but fr i got this game how do i pley?
 

[J a g e r R 320]

1 hour ago, WiZz said:

Fuck yeah! I've been waiting for this! Got onset and would be great to try a Darkside version. 

Onset giveaway ?

[Robinson Quinn 1,291]

When start "Onset" game . Already finished setup mod and serve ? .Buy now or next year buy it . It kind same RPG Arma 3 , Do that add mod ? know cop all stuff . I know service dying wasn't fault because pass 4 years . I still enjoyed  

 

[billybobnot 420]

@Huntah will i be able to get my ice cream truck now

[VoXXeR 1]

Just bought Onset, looking forward :)

[Pixel1100 30]

Super keen to see darkside thrive again and keen to try out onset !!!!

[Rzqt 349]

already have 2 hours on onset. that was on a random server playing with animations. Not going to lie. Its fucking sick. Plus all the skins and different weapons and everything. Its exactly a cheaper version of GTA. But you can do ANYTHING, Its so good.