It's also a Dead give away at night to have a Torch underwater. This is a tactical shooter, you would not use a torch underwater on Ops, you may as well send an E-mail to the enemy tell them what time you are turning up.

Tritium illuminated underwater Compass (like a watch dial that recharges in sunlight)....Yes, do that but diving at Night in the Dark without illumination is why Special Forces are Special.

I really wouldn't recommend using a torch underwater, when on OPS, not if you want to succeed, you would in reality be gifting the enemy an easy kill.

Do you know that NV Goggles work underwater?

A light underwater - a dead give away - hmm I would never have thought of that. :)
However using a torch under water during a rescue mission at night could be useful. NV goggles don't seem to work with divers in the Alpha. I reset keys to default but can't get NV goggles to work. Possibly this was left out of the Alpha. In any event a torch would be useful for non combat missions like mentioned above.

As an aside I think ARMA needs to move more in the direction of mass appeal than towards the sim or tactical shooter. If I want to use a torch and get shot in the process then so be it. As mentioned by Bohemia they want to broaden the appeal of ARMA3 by making it more playable (dare I say 'fun') rather than adhering to the rigid requirements of a sim or tactical shooter. Simplifying the inventory system and loadout process is a very important step in this process. I know this is off topic but it illustrates an important point imo.

Divers have no NV Goggles by default. If you add wear them yourself, you are able to use them underwater. Just double checked and NV Goggles work fine: http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/612767741226479089/5886D7ECC8851B1E7284D6B8599B69E53C72D03E/

Thanks. Ok then they should be a standard inventory item if its night time. Plus a torch.

RickOShay - "As an aside I think ARMA needs to move more in the direction of mass appeal than towards the sim or tactical shooter. If I want to use a torch and get shot in the process then so be it. As mentioned by Bohemia they want to broaden the appeal of ARMA3 by making it more playable (dare I say 'fun') rather than adhering to the rigid requirements of a sim or tactical shooter. Simplifying the inventory system and loadout process is a very important step in this process. I know this is off topic but it illustrates an important point imo."

No it should never do this. The world will become very bland if every Shooter is the same. It's amazing Enduring appeal is that it doesn't do that arcade type Bull-****.

If it does this, it loses it's USP and in a market space full of CoD and BF4 it won't cut it as an "Arcade on Rails Shooter". It isn't true to it's heritage, lineage or it's own Superb functions.

Bare in mind, Real Military training is done with VBS the Commercial Defence version of this. You cannot claim that of CoD and BF, so the last thing it should do is destroy it's own Unique Selling Point.

I've been in the marketing industry and gaming for over 28 years so I know all about branding and market segmentation and USP's etc. I'm obviously not suggesting as you seemed to infer from my suggestion of simplifying the loadout process that ARMA3 becomes another BF or COD/MW. Making the loadout process easier does not detract from the core values and proposition of the ARMA series. All it does is streamline a process which in the real world is a lot easier - even Bohemia recognize this - I'm talking a refinement process.

If you really want to dissect ARMA there are many issues that bear little or no resemblance to the real world simulation you imply ARMA currently is or is attempting to be. Take the ridiculous (imo) process of respawning. Is turning into a seagull emulated in the real world? There is a fine line between cornering a niche market and staying in business. ARMA only needs to remove the rough edges and it will appeal to a much broader market - and before you assume this means attracting all the ADD COD kiddies I'm not for a moment suggesting this.

I have been into hardcore sims since the category was created and I fully understand the defense of the ARMA high ground. It's simply a matter of functional refinement that's all.

Functional refinement is exactly what this Alpha's about. It's us help the Dev's produce a better product within the overall budgets, engine constraints and time constraints available.

I think it helps not to think of ARMA 3 as a Game or Simulation so much as a "Sand Box". We as a community tend to create our own fun, scenario's, multiplayer, solo missions, content and equipment. So actually having this more open at an earlier stage is great, to help us get the tools we need to build what we want.

I think BIS will survive, their market is pretty niche but loyal. The graphical Overhaul, and hopefully the Sound Overhaul will help.

Equally the success of Gaming Groups like SHACK TACTICAL have really helped push this, much more quickly and arguably more effectively than big EA Games Razz-ma-tazz marketing Campaign, truth being that EA type Gamers wouldn't take to this kind of game.

The recent All-In-ARMA AiA is an amazing piece of work, and the amount of content this is unlocking into the Sandbox, means we are building the models and items for the Game, and what we need from the Dev's is the Functionality and logic plus AI and scripting structures inplace so that we can take alot of what the community has done in the last 10 years and update it.

I have to agree the Seagull is bloody stupid. :)

There needs to be a waterproof hand held torch object that anyone can use, even civilians.

+1 for a flashlight from me. Back in OFP days, one of my favourite activities, was driving in a civilian car all over Malden and Everon. No fighting, no shooting - just driving, in rain, at night, at sunny morning or dusk.

I was never interested in diving IRL, but after kind of "experiencing" this is Arma 3, I can see, why it's so much popular and can imagine people just diving to the wrecks or reefs, in a purely civilian environment, just like I did with the car. It's the beauty of a sandbox :)

Agreed, either way we need a Flashlight item\weapon (that say will take up pistol slot or maybe just be in inventory) which should also should work underwater.

As usual this ticket has got lost in the deluge of things to do because the fan boys can't see things in perspective. A sand box like ARMA3 by it's nature should emultate the real world and that means players should be able to play around in it as they see fit. And if that means going scuba diving at night on wrecks with a (god forbid) flash light then so be it. I really don't think adding a flash light will kill or undermine the ARMA series and it should be a relatively simple item to add.