Arma 3 is a hardcore military simulator, sure, but there’s more fun to be had in the alpha than just flying helicopters and firing high-tech weapons. Using the built-in editor you can enable a debug free camera (see our guide here) to take beautiful screenshots. You can place units and vehicles, change the weather and time of day, and even apply Instagram-style colour filters. The screenshots in this gallery were all taken at ultra settings using the debug camera/editor.

But I'm sure you can do better.

In fact, we're running a competition to prove as much: you have until Monday to post your own gorgeous snaps of Arma 3 in our forum's screenshots thread. We'll put up a gallery of the prettiest pics next week and select three winners, each of whom will get a key to the full Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition.

Above: the Greek island of Stratis in all its sun-baked, war-torn glory. View distance set to maximum.




A rifleman surveys the area, or maybe he’s just admiring the postcard view.




Divers are new to Arma 3. Their SDR rifle allows them to fire from, and under, water.




This radar dome is one of Stratis’ landmarks and is part of the helicopter showcase mission.




Stratis at night. You can use the editor to set the time of day, weather, fog, and cloud cover.




The sun dips below the horizon. You can just make out the airfield in the background.




A squad of riflemen patrol Agios Efstratios, the island’s largest town.




This wooded valley on the East side of the island is where the infantry showcase takes place.




The picturesque port of Agios Efstratios from above. Hold shift to speed the free camera up.




You can adjust the focus of the free camera using the scroll wheel.

Being an alpha release hasn't stopped Arma 3 from scouting out the top end of the Steam sales chart. It's probably because of the hyper-realistic military simulation scenarios that the game offers. But if tactically significant turtles aren't enough to persuade you to part money at this early stage of development, Bohemia have released a free Lite version. It does, however, come with some caveats.

The big one being that it's invite-only. To access the Lite version you'll need a key from someone who's purchased the Alpha. Of course, if any particularly charitable Alpha owners are at a loss for where to send their pass, I'm sure you'd find some willing takers in the comments.

With the Lite version you're only getting a small taste of the full alpha package. Specifically, multiplayer and modding support have been stripped out. What's left are the singleplayer showcase missions - giving you a chance to play with the game's infantry and vehicles. And go scuba diving.

For everything else, you'll need to upgrade, which will also provide access to the eventual beta and full release.