ARMA II Thread [Archive] - SUBSIM Radio Room Forums

Deamon

11-21-08, 04:57 PM

Read the article and it sounds awesome. I just hope the character animation will look this time just as natural as they did in OFP.
Woah woah woah. OFP's character animations looked natural? You're telling me the movements of CWC's blocky texture Lego dudes with magically levitating guns were natural? News to me. :) Yep, most convincing animations I ever saw in a game! And I am not talking about the quality of the human models nor the levitating guns.

The innertia in the movements in the FPS view is just right. I can feel the heavy gear slowing down my motions. This worked out so damn good, it immediately pulls me deep into the game. You feel like a soldier in the field. This was my biggest disapointment as I saw the unpached ArmA the first time. This natural feel was deminished too much for my taste.

I still play flashpoint to this reason alone. The grafics were definetely not the best but the smooth and natural animations of the people and the natural looking terrain design really did it to me, to name just a few things I love so much about OFP and I couldn't care less about grafics when the game is so phantastic. OFP was just the way I always wanted a game to be. OFP has flaws and bugs in abundance but the benefits outweight the flaws for me a big time.

Already how the sight shakes when you walk, contrary to all the other stupid fast paced ego shooters where you can run backwards jump while shooting with sniper precision.

The size of the terrain alone adds so much to the experience, I had the most immersive and unique experiences in flashpoint. This was the first game where I was running for my life, where I got lost in the woods and where I got trapped behind the enemy lines where I had to make it back home on my own, the first game that not ends when your tank got taken out but where you get out of the tank and the survival just begins.

This was the first shooter that felt REAL. This is the first game where I had this feeling. The first game where I could do LRRP type of missions that goes for hours and then one shot and you are dead. Like real. I always wanted it to be this way and flashpoint was the first game that delivered. There is obviously endless room for improvements but I can babble all night long about how much I love flashpoint. Just recently I reinstalled it again and played through all campaigns. :)

It hardly lost anything of its immersion and addiction. I wish arma II would feel just the same.

I still remember that one recon mission where I lost the orientation and didn't knew my position anymore and then came across a road junction with some road signs that I used to pinpoint my position, Woah where could I do something like this in any other shooter ? The maps were usually so small that you could not ever get lost. I put a lot of worth on such subtle touches. That was the first time I really start to notice that there were road signs everywhere and that they were actually of real use. Flashpoint was the first game where I could do an expedition through the countryside.

Well maybe not entirely the first game, I remember games like midwinter and hunter on the amiga that also had a very large terrain and where you could act freely.

fatty

11-22-08, 09:25 AM

Main things i want to see from ARMA2 is much better vehicle simulation (more realism like say chaff and flares for missles), way more vehicles to use, better AI, and a fully dynamic war/campaign for online and offline play. Personally i could care less about graphics.

Yeah, same. They could just use the same graphics engine from ArmA1 as far as I'm concerned, the graphics in that game were always great. The new Warfare mode sounds very close to a dynamic campaign for online/offline play.

My main beef is with the AI. I'm so tired of getting shot through trees or in dense fog. I want the same limitations that the player has applied to the AI.

GlobalExplorer

11-22-08, 10:55 AM

The parts I'm most concerned about are the story and strategic elements ( i.e. I want to order units on the strategic map) as well as resource management.

My main concerns are there is this stupid feature that no one from your initial team must die, and I don't like it! Neither I like helicopter missions, and I would prefer not to play the Americans.

mengle

11-27-08, 09:37 AM

new ingame movie :cool: http://www.arma2.com/

Dowly

11-27-08, 03:14 PM

Just remember that Bohemia also makes VBS1 & VBS2. So dont except ArmA II to be anything hardcore. They're not gonna add stuff to a game that they'll sell for $50 that is already included in a 'game/simulation' they're selling for $1200.

That's why, I'll wait for OFP 2. :yep:

stabiz

11-27-08, 03:26 PM

...which is made by Codemasters, a company that gets allergic reactions to realism. In resent time, anyway.

Dowly

11-27-08, 03:37 PM

...which is made by Codemasters, a company that gets allergic reactions to realism. In resent time, anyway.

True that, sadly. But atleast I can have even slightly hope for OFP2 to be a more of an simulator than a shooter. For Bohemia, I'm not holding my breath. I mean, look at some of the features in VBS2 that I can see any reason why couldnt they be in ArmA too, except to offer the military more stuff for more money.

Such features are:
- Real-time mission editor
- Realistic ball tracers
- After Action Report replay thingy
- Real recorded sounds for everything
- AI shooting from greater distance (I saw a vid of soldiers shooting at the enemy that was on a hill-top, some 300-400m away.

And those are just the few I could remember.

stabiz

11-27-08, 04:40 PM

Sure, I agree. I even tried firing up ARMA the other day, but it feels too clumsy or something, I couldnt get into it like I used to.

I am a little bit excited about OFP2, but only a little. It looks good, but gaming companies are not afraid to outright lie these days, so we`ll see.:) If it turns out to be Battlefield 2 with updated graphics and bigger maps they can &/%&%¤// keep it.

GlobalExplorer

11-28-08, 03:07 AM

Dowly, if Arma is not realistic enough for you must buy VBS2. What you fail not understand is that professional training sims and sims used for entertainment will never be the same. And you're very unfair to BI who have an excellent model for producing very realistic computer games.

A lot of hardcore sim makers, Sonalysts, Panther games etc have contracts with the military. And that model - having a professional and a entertainment version, means more features for the home version, not less.

What you're saying amounts to that the military would use ArmaII as their new training tool if it was too "realistic", but don't you think they are after a completely different product?

Dowly

11-28-08, 05:13 AM

GlobalExplorer

11-28-08, 05:29 AM

All I'm saying is that we'll never see the full potential of the ArmA series. But it's not my problem if one wants to buy a game that is sort of "half-done" (the other "half" is reserved for the military sim).

If half-done in that context means that I get half of a 1200$, professional software for 50$, I'm sold. What you do is interpret it the wrong way round, and complain that you aren't given the features of the professional version for 50$. But this is never going to happen. If you want a busness class seat, you must pay the ticket.

stabiz

11-28-08, 07:22 AM

Hehe!

mengle

12-12-08, 11:17 AM

best friend of ArmA II is Linda :) http://linda.bistudio.com/

Dowly

12-12-08, 11:56 AM

OFP had nice feel to it when you were working your way thru a forest, ArmA's forests seem so dull compared to that. :-?

Dowly

12-12-08, 12:03 PM

More of my VBS vs. ArmA ranting!

I dig into the VBS abit and I came up with something I didnt know before; the customer (Military) is paying BIS for any new features they are asked to make for VBS. FLIR being one of the many, something I've wanted to have in OFP/ArmA for sometime. I think I can scratch that out of the list for ArmA2 then. :-?

Arclight

05-19-09, 06:21 AM

ArmA II Pushed Up A Week (http://kotaku.com/5259606/arma-ii-pushed-up-a-week)

ArmA II will now be shipping for the PC on the 19th of June, one full week ahead of the originally planned release date.
:yeah:

Fincuan

05-19-09, 06:28 AM

Oh, we already had a thread like this? Damn, I've been cluttering the Arma thread with Arma2 news instead :haha:

Dowly

05-19-09, 06:32 AM

Goddammit it Fincuan! You said few weeks back that ArmA 2 will be released in two weeks! So I was thinking of late May all this time. Gaaah. :shifty:

Fincuan

05-19-09, 08:46 AM

The German release should still be in May, although I have my doubts... Better a bit late than a 30€ public beta though.

With OFP: DR delayed at least until "autumn 2009", without a known date, this release date should give Arma2 even more of an edge over it.

Fincuan

05-21-09, 11:14 AM

An Arma2 preview, finally in english, with plenty of screenies at Tacticalgamer.com:
http://www.tacticalgamer.com/armed-assault-armed-assault-2-discussion/139436-tacticalgamer-review-arma2.html

A few things that caught my eye, in no particular order:

Campaign

This is where I can see the appeal of the campaign is far greater than Arma 1, which had a linear approach with main and secondary target in phases one after the other. The campaign in Arma 2 is much more organic and has many variables that affect the outcome of your success and failure. You will have multiple options to choose from at each step of the way. How you collect information from local civilians and friendly faction members will be vital. All conversations and key information is stored in a handy diary log for you to refer to when planning your next move.

Edge of the map

Of the massive 225 square kilometres available to us in our missions, the surrounding areas are not sky domes as suggested in some forum discussions, but a never ending, randomly generated landscape. While randomly generated hills and towns appear before you, your team mates and opponents will see the same landscape detail as you in the same gaming session, so no continuity will be lost

Medical stuff

The new medical assist is a large part of successful gameplay in Arma 2. With multiple injury scenarios. you may need a simple bandage or full medical assistance with morphine injections from your team members. You all have to help keep each other alive in combat and this adds greatly to the drama.

Grass that remains down if stepped on

When lying in tall grass areas it is possible to flatten the grass down by moving around to help visibility if trying to aim at the enemy as the grass remains trampled. It is also a good gauge to see if activity has occurred in an area as grass remains flattened when trampled by other troops and vehicles.

Movement and CQB

So, to the infantry experience. On the ground and running and I am happy with the feel. Much more fluid than Arma 1. The running feels like a natural motion and the improved frame rate adds to the experience. All animated sequences such as weapon reload and sight raise, etc are slicker. Close quarter combat was a lot of fun and felt less clumsy than Arma 1. During a mission in a small town my AI team grouped intelligently with me as we moved around and used the terrain and buildings for cover. I even saw an AI comrade leaning from behind a wall to give cover, as another AI comrade ran up the road to the next building.

Arclight

05-21-09, 01:27 PM

Sold! What I don't get is why it's not in pre-order yet. I can order SC Conviction, Mafia II and even OFP: Dragon Rising, but no ARMA?! :-?

mr chris

05-21-09, 01:34 PM

Sold! What I don't get is why it's not in pre-order yet. I can order SC Conviction, Mafia II and even OFP: Dragon Rising, but no ARMA?! :-?

Here you go mate.
Have already placed my pre order.:D
http://www.amazon.co.uk/505-Games-ArmA-PC-DVD/dp/B001QCYA2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1242930833&sr=8-1

Arclight

05-21-09, 01:52 PM

Sorry, I don't do creditcard payments online. Paypal is as far as I'm willing to push my luck. Just gonna have to be patient, can't be long untill it shows up around here. :hmmm:

Fincuan

05-21-09, 02:31 PM

I'm most likely going to get the download-version from Sprocket/Steam/whatever source offers it. I already did that with Queen's Gambit, and the process was easy and straightforward.

Fincuan

05-21-09, 06:14 PM

Arma2 preview/review/press event report from Armaholic:
http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=5694

My highlighs from that:

The bottom line
All in all I am very impressed. The new capabilities, the new hemispherical shaders and game play aspects make ArmA the best tactical shooter I've seen since BIS' original Operation Flashpoint appeared in 2001. I suppose the obvious questions to ask are "Do I recommend ArmA2 and would I spend my money on ArmA2?"

Simple answer: Yes! On both counts. Its the engine that ArmA1 should have had from the start. You can see the effort and thought that has gone into it. Pay the money, play the game and have fun. I am confident that this is going to kick the crap out of Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

Arma vs. Arma2

If you know Armed Assault and have played it properly before you will see Arma 2 is a huge improvement over Armed Assault. If you are reading this without ever playing Armed Assault then it may not sound like a greatest game of all time but I would seriously suggest you take a good look at ArmA2.

System specs

I'll start this with some facts. The test machines were pretty good spec. I would say slightly above what I would call "average" within my circle of gamers (I checked the DXDiag settings myself).
My own system is pretty similar to the demo PC's but with 8gb of RAM and a EVGA8800GT-KO so I am quite confident that I have a feel for how ArmA2 will run on my own rig. One of the BIS guys did mention that he runs ArmA 2 on his E6400 (2.13GHz) and it runs far smoother than Armed Assault does. And based on what I've seen I don't have any concerns.

The game engine

I can only really talk about general things. There wasn't enough time to drag Jan Prazak (BIS) into a corner and make him answer every question I had but he was kind enough to answer quite a lot. You can see Armed Assaults engine in the game. Its familiar and from a modder's point of view its really not that different.

...

The biggest change is the engine optimisation. It isn't something that hits you immediately but its something you come to realise. In Armed Assault the object density was quite low to maintain performance. In ArmA 2 there is just so much more going on around you that you have to spend a moment to wonder if the PC you are playing on isn't hooked up to a server farm in the next room.
OK, so its not mind blowing ultra realistic graphics but the sheer number of moving grass objects, trees and detailed shaded/rendered objects is very impressive and while the demo PC was a good spec I was very impressed to see the engine could handle it easily.

Controller support

There are some welcome changes, multi joystick/control pad support for one. So now you can have both joystick and wheel plugged into the game and swap as you like. As with ArmA1 TrackIR 4 and 5 is supported.

AI

One interesting aspect was the obvious use of the FSM conditional scripting. Once Foxhound withdrew from the AI's line of sight they quickly went to covering arcs, while giving suppresive fire on his last know location, even using handgrenades. And once he revealed him self again they reacted very quickly. They seem far more alert, faster to respond if not more intelligent.
Peaking around the corner afterwards while the enemy was still covering different arcs did not result in the "magic split second headshot". It took them a few seconds to realize he peaked around the corner and than they engaged him.

Now for those hoping for or expecting fantastic AI they may well be disappointed. The differences aren't huge in scenarios like the above. But taken as a complete package there are some real and obvious improvements. Tie in the AI's new found awareness with the improved FSM scripting and the Game logic modules and you have the makings of some very impressive Player vs. AI missions if setup properly.

In the demo missions we were shown, you could clearly see the AI advancing tactically up the street using cover, using bounds and covering arcs. I really do believe that given the capabilities of the ArmA 2 engine we are all going to be finding it a lot harder to play your PVE missions. AI like this may even get me out of my helicopter and onto the ground again!

The mission editor

I'll cut to the chase here. There is no VBS2 style real time editor that I found and believe me we poked around all the settings and options a lot. On the day there seemed to be some confusion as to what constituted a 3D editor. And the confusion made it on to the Twitter feed.

The editor itself is no different than Armed Assault in layout or function. The new engine capabilities and Game logic modules do make it easier to make far more impressive missions in a shorter time scale without having to resort to complex scripting so that should offset the pain of no Real Time Editor.

Fincuan

05-27-09, 02:46 PM

Ahh it's back up :yeah: :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

While we were away this happened:
http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu220/arma2/arma2.jpg
Thread at Tacticalgamer.com (http://www.tacticalgamer.com/armed-assault-armed-assault-2-discussion/139761-guess-what.html)

German version only at this point, and the first reports are mixed(apparently one review/preview versions, different than the release, sent to the press was quite buggy). I'll post more when I find something conclusive.

Raptor1

05-27-09, 02:55 PM

What...but...but, I thought time stops when Subsim is offline...

Ah...but...how...can...this...be?!~?

*shoots self in head, then gets up and types some more*

I guess we'll just have to wait until it's released in the rest of the world to find out

Dowly

05-27-09, 04:59 PM

Well, BIS really ****ed this one it seems. From what I've gathered the German release is quote:'virtually unplayable'. Nicely done. :up:

Fincuan

05-27-09, 05:01 PM

That was precisely on the "wrong version"(BIS words) I was talking about, not the final one. How come you're so eager for Arma2 to fail?

Dowly

05-27-09, 05:10 PM

Yeh, that was my bad (400+ pages is kinda hard to keep track on what is up-to-date news and what isnt).

And stop being so fricking touchy! :haha:

Fincuan

05-27-09, 05:20 PM

Maybe I'm touchy maybe not, but I do find it weird that you immediately jumped on that single preview, while the majority of the user comments point to the other direction. By the looks of it yes it's a traditional BIS product, meaning there are bugs, but that there aren't any showstoppers and it's very enjoyable to play.

If you want an easier-to-follow thread than the BI forums 400+page monster I suggest the TG thread I linked above. Bert, the guy who started it, has been posting quite a few screenies and first impressions there. He even streamed live video from his (gaming) sessions via XFire :)

edit: Live video going once again: http://www.xfire.com/live_video/bomba2001/

Dowly

05-27-09, 05:24 PM

edit: Live video going once again: http://www.xfire.com/live_video/bomba2001/

Just found this too. :yeah:

Fincuan

05-27-09, 05:36 PM

ROFL :haha:

Now the sucker plays as a cow in the live video :rotfl:

Dowly

05-27-09, 05:36 PM

Ok, this game cant suck, you can play as a fricking cow. :o

Fincuan

05-27-09, 05:37 PM

Imagine the future Subsim Clowns missions...

edit: FFS, now he's a chicken :)

Arclight

05-28-09, 01:58 AM

Animals with custom facepaint, I can see it now. :rotfl:

Looks very promising. :yep:

Dowly

05-28-09, 09:13 AM

Fin, you were on the TG TS last night right? Did bert tell anything what was the problem with the AI not really following waypoints at times? Like when he moved from the airfield to the city, none of the AI squads nor tanks moved.

Fincuan

05-28-09, 09:24 AM

I didn't catch any precise reason for why the AI acted weird or not at all at times(many others on TS wondered about it too), but it might have something to do with gamelogics. Apparently the AI is quite dependant on the certain gamelogics' presence in the mission, and bert didn't figure out how to work with the logics yet.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by how the game looks: The presentation was done on "low" settings, and it still looked ok. Bert also said the game runs as well as Arma, but looks a lot better.

My system specs are C2D E4500 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM, ATI 4850 512MB RAM on Windows XP. And for the record: When not streaming with XFire, I could run the game on "Normal"-"High"/"Very High" settings without a problem. The XFire stream was done in default "Low" as a try to avoid the crashes which were unrelated to that though

More vids from him:
http://www.vimeo.com/user1820730/videos

Dowly

05-28-09, 09:34 AM

Ah, rgr that.

Fincuan

05-28-09, 10:50 AM

At least two locations that I know of right know:

Petergames.de - Page is in German but should be easy to figure out
http://www.petergamesde.nexway.com/Kaufen-Arma_II-671810.html

Metaboli
https://buy.metaboli.com/vnt/choixpaiement.html?partenaire=29&id_titre=1103&langue_page=de&affilie=&mode_achat=acheter

mr chris

05-28-09, 11:44 AM

In that reloading vid.
Why does the guy run with his head stuck to one side?
Looks a little odd to me.

Dowly

05-28-09, 11:53 AM

In that reloading vid.
Why does the guy run with his head stuck to one side?
Looks a little odd to me.

Because he is in 3rd person mode and watching left so the camera points to the player. :O:

mr chris

05-28-09, 12:01 PM

Ah i thought the would be a logical explanation.
Still it looks funny:DL

Fincuan

05-28-09, 11:13 PM

Well that didn't take long. English stringtables have been released for the German version, which effectively makes it an english version. I'll just have to wait for my Paypal account being topped off, and then it's time to download :yeah:

Arclight

05-29-09, 12:22 AM

Seriously?! So if I want I can download English Arma II right now? How about updates in the fututre? Better to wait for international release or just buy now?

Fincuan

05-29-09, 12:28 AM

Effectively you're downloading German Arma2, and you'll mod it to translate it into english :)

BIS have already said there will be a patch that brings together the German and the international version right after the international release. I suppose they'll be identical after that.

Arclight

05-29-09, 12:47 AM

Darn it, I'm such a geek; that news actually has my hart racing. So exciting! :rotfl:

So how would you go about modding it to English? :06:

And check your inbox. ;)

Fincuan

05-29-09, 01:29 AM

Inbox checked and replied :up:

I'll fill in the details on modding it into english as soon as I find the damn files :haha: Stand by...

Fincuan

05-29-09, 01:31 AM

Meanwhile, changelog for the upcoming beta-patch 1.01:

ENGINE

* AI improvements: collision avoidance, MicroAI communication, suppress fields
* Improved: AI coordination in combat
* Improved: automatic VTOL vectoring.
* Improved STOL takeoff/landing control
* Improved: shot simulation
* Enabled taxiing for Mv22
* Fixed: weapons inside vehicles were sometimes white.
* Fixed: Some crash opportunities
* Fixed: flickering textures sometimes
* Fixed: muzzle flashes and other alpha objects cutting into the water.
* Fixed: long cutscene animations could cause bad LODs/textures.
* Fixed: Terrain LOD causing white dots

COMMUNICATION

* radio chatter improvements
* generic conversations about known targets improved

CAMPAIGN

* music soundtrack added to more places in the campaign
* various improvements in cutscenes
* improved Star Force transport service (player can better command it, occasional problem with Star Force froze on spot fixed)
* on screen notification for each evidence collected added
* various smaller fixes and improvements
* some missing dubbings fixed
* improved cooperative play in the campaign

ENVIRONMENT

* Improved sea rendering
* Various smaller fixes and improvements

SOUND EFFECTS

* effect for player near big explosion (beep in his ears, temporarily deaf)

UI

* improved GPS support (RCtrl + M when GPS is available)
* tasks without map (J key by default)
* list of players without map (P key by default)
* improved rendering of perihperal vision simulation (dots on the screen edge simulating real world field of view)
* leader icon displayed on screen permanently for Regular difficulty
* tasks faded out to be less intrusive in the middle of the screen

MODELS

* fixed cargo compartments in aircraft (cargo should not switch positions with pilots during flight)
* fixed camera position for BTR and T90 gunner optics views
* fixed view gunner lods for turned-out crew in wheeled vehicles
* improved hand animation for AA laucnhers
* twisted arms for AA missile launchers
* fixed fire geometry of billboards model
* tractor and bus sound changed
* added sign on hotel building
* fixed municipal house ruin
* changed texture on G36, fixed MG36 icon
* fixed gunner animation on BRDM-ATGM
* improved model of AK-107
* improved enviromental reflection map
* improved A10 gun cursor
* fixed T34 icon texture, fixed optics and turret stabilisation definitions and added exhaust smoke

Arclight

05-29-09, 03:11 AM

Must... resist... NOOO!

*click*

Darn... oh well, anyone know what flavor of DRM this comes with? :06:

Dowly

05-29-09, 05:07 AM

Must... resist... NOOO!

Haha, you should be broke like me, much easier to resist. :O:

Arclight

05-29-09, 05:44 AM

Yeah, that would help. :rotfl:

Not that I'm particularly rich, but if I have a bit of cash floating around that can pay for a new game, I will. Still cheaper than a drug habit though. :doh:

*btw, price on gamersplanet went from 40,- to 50,-. Got it just in time. :yep:

Seeadler

05-29-09, 06:56 AM

Be aware the today released German version has still many bugs and show/story stoppers. Almost all German game magazines may only be starting today publish their tests, that was an agreement with the publisher. Nearly all give for the game in the current state not a purchase recommendation and they have tested allready the upcomming patch (beta).

Fincuan

05-29-09, 07:06 AM

That is quite the opposite to what most users say. The majority of user comments I've seen indicate that it's buggy but playable, and that it's really good. In about four hours I'll get to find out myself :D

Big :yeah: to Arclight for the help

Dowly

05-29-09, 07:12 AM

So, shall we have our first SSC MP tonight? :03:

Arclight

05-29-09, 07:17 AM

:salute:

Actually had it all down already, but something turned out to be corrupt during extraction. Redownloading the first .bin, see if that helps. :hmmm:

Not that I'm too worried, but even if it's buggy as hell, I'll probably spend most of my time in the editor setting up test missions and doing (*cough*learning) scripting. I don't care if the campaign is unplayable, or AI during multiplayer ends up running into walls and getting stuck.

All a clown needs is something to toy with, anything else is a bonus. :D

As long as the weapons actually fire, we can always go ferret-hunting. :rotfl: ;)

Or cow-tipping, chicken-kicking, whatever. :yep:

Fincuan

05-29-09, 07:58 AM

So, shall we have our first SSC MP tonight? :03:

Sure. I think we could give the coop campaign a try. As far as I've heard it actually works, and it's made for four(or five?) players, so it should be ok for us :yep:

Arclight

05-29-09, 09:20 AM

Had a crash in main menu and cut-scene in campaign, obviously driver trouble, gonna go back to Vista driver. :yep:

Was trying the training, which ran perfect, when the door-bell rang. Someone dropped off a laptop to fix... NOW?! Why now?! Talk about crappy timing. :o

Anyway, it works, even on Win7. :yeah:

Dowly

05-29-09, 09:38 AM

Anyone tried the choppers yet? How different is the flightmodel compared to ArmA 1?

Fincuan

05-29-09, 10:08 AM

19 minutes and counting... I'll be damned if I have to go climbing before I get to even try a tutorial

Dowly

05-29-09, 10:10 AM

19 minutes and counting... I'll be damned if I have to go climbing before I get to even try a tutorial

See, hobbies suck balls. :O:

Fincuan

05-29-09, 10:18 AM

8 minutes left, and time to get out of here :haha:

Arma2, see you in a few hours!

Arclight

05-29-09, 11:00 AM

Anyone tried the choppers yet? How different is the flightmodel compared to ArmA 1?A lot less twitchy, but familiar. :hmmm:

The only really difficult thing to fly is the VTOL. OMG :o

Succesfully pulled of a vertical loop and barrel-roll in a huey, if that tells you anything. Overall everything feels a lot smoother and the flight-model appears solid, but I'm not sure how realistic it is. For example, a helicopter will not tip over while hovering with hands off controls (while the VTOL will get you into trouble like that).

Pulled a high G turn in A10 and speed fell rapidly. Take-off felt good, it didn't just pop up into the sky, but the aircraft had some 'weight' to it. Nose constantly pitched up during flight at 400kmh, so I guess lift changes according to speed... didn't see a trim option though, but my German isn't that great. You still set a speed for the fixed-wings, instead of a throttle setting.

I think you and Fin are the better judges when it comes to flight-models, but they certainly did some work on them.

Dowly

05-29-09, 01:02 PM

Right, 20-21GMT I'll be on TS, leaving to pub. :()1:

Dowly

05-29-09, 02:16 PM

20GMT it is.

EDIT: now this is strange... Metabolic refunded the game for me, yet I am already re-installing it. I hope it isnt because when I got to the enter CD key, I pressed cancel as I had other things to do at the time. :hmmm:

EDIT2: Alles klar. Got a 10€ discount for some reason, it's now 39,99€ at Metabolic.

Arclight

05-29-09, 02:55 PM

Maybe something was off with the pricing. Like I said, this morning it was 40, and in the afternoon 50. Weird.

Trying to throw together a basic 'mission', with all kinds of toys and some opposition. I forgot what I need to do to make a mission show up for multiplayer. :hmmm:

Dowly

05-29-09, 06:19 PM

Well, the first official SSC ArmA 2 MP is behind and well, I must say I'm positively surprised. After some connection errors we started the coop campaign and despite some problems (we didnt see the slides that we should've seen during the briefing) we got to shoot skeet with a shotgun from the deck of an carrier.

The mission itself was cool, took us 50min to complete. Really felt like OFP, and took advantage of the large world of Arma 2 more than ArmA 1 did.

Performance is also very good, I played it on everything low as I was recording at the same time and it still looked very nice. :yeah:

Fincuan

05-29-09, 06:41 PM

I agree with Dowly. Especially the performance was, after I found out how to get my second X1950Pro to perform properly, a pleasant surprise. I was hosting the MP campaign, the mission was set at night and I was frapsing here and there, and it was still playable at my end with settings at normal/low. NVGs look really really good, and the word is much more live than that of A1. Lot's of trees and bushes, grass all over the place, goats and sheep... :haha: Arma1 would easily bring my PC to its knees with that kind of detail, so the engine has definitely been optimized.

Arclight

05-29-09, 06:57 PM

Not bad for something claimed by many to be unplayable. :D

World rife with detail; dense vegetation, animals, squeaky gates and interesting architecture. Various visual (motion blur, camera bob while moving, etc) and excellent sound effects really tie it all together to form a nice atmosphere.

The campaign indeed looks very promising, a far cry from the 'old' Arma, with a few cut-scenes here and there to easy you into the action and 'dynamic' mission flow. Don't be surprised when a perfectly good plan needs to be revised due to unexpected circumstances.

Any bugs encountered were minor, and considering the first patch is already up I'm sure this will shape up to be a worthy succesor. :up:

Now if only I can get my PC to play nice; as usual when trying anything new I had to fight it all the way.

Arclight

05-30-09, 01:14 PM

Ah, the campaign just took off.

After 2 or 3 missions, you wind up in a forward base and are given a general objective. How you accomplish this is up to you. A chopper is assigned to your command and can be called in for extraction at any time, and you can use it to fly you anywhere. A UAV is also at your disposal. During your free-roaming exploits, you can be called on to complete secondary taks by HQ (haven't gotten any yet). Completing these can earn you additional support, such as the ability to call in artillery and tactical airstrikes, a valuable asset in any battle.

For more detail I'll need to tell on some specifics, so consider this a spoiler alert: you need to find a couple of guys. All you have to go on is the name of a town and some intel provided by an officer. That officer is in a base about a mile east, so me and the team hopped into a humvee and drove down there. After asking around a bit, I decided to call in the huey and have him drop us of a bit south-west of the town you heard one of your targets talk about. After asking around a bit, one of the civis told me a couple of 'Chedaki' cars came through there from the south, and headed for Malek's farm. Aparently this Malek has been consorting with the Chedaki's for a while, and I doubt he would be missed if we paid a visit to his farm to find out what is going on down there.

Spotted 1 or 2 soldiers patrolling the area, but have hold off on engaging them untill we can get a better picture. Now would be a good time to call in that UAV, but that would mean extracting back to base in order to man the console.

From awfully linear Arma to sandbox Arma II, quite the improvement. :yeah: (though it takes a hell of a lot of CPU power)

Oh, and no crashes anymore. :rotfl:

Dowly

05-31-09, 07:36 AM

Ah, ArmA 2 is one of these games where lowering your GFX settings might actually make things worse. My PC gives the default settings as 1600m visibility, full resolution and everything on normal. That runs fine, but if I lower visibility to 800m and put everything on low (still full resolution) the game actually runs pretty darn much slower than on the default settings. :O:

Oh well, I dont mind, just though to let you know.

PS. Ow, this test was made with the -winxp thing on the shortcut.

EDIT: Ow and the fillrate optimisation controls the AA as said on the SSC thread. But beware, it eats your PC power ALOT. Drop on FPS from 80%->150% (where the game started to look like it had some AA) was around 30fps.

Arclight

05-31-09, 08:22 AM

Good tip on the optimizer, was wondering about that.

What does that -winxp switch do anyway? Force DX9? Did improve performance a bit; didn't increase max FPS much, but improved min FPS considerably. Went from 14-20 to 20-22 in a pretty heavy scene. A lot more stable. :yep:

Dowly

05-31-09, 08:54 AM

Fincuan might be the better one to answer your Q regarding the -winxp parameter. :yep:

Fincuan

05-31-09, 10:02 AM

I have no idea what the -winxp parameter does. Compatibility mode maybe? All I know is it seems to help a lot of people running any kind of Ati Crossfire combination. For me it moved A2 from "runs like crap" to "runs really well", a huge difference. It also seemed to give a slight performance boost in Arma1, which is strange because A1 ran much worse on WinXP than on Win7 without the -winxp switch.

Arclight

05-31-09, 01:37 PM

The mystery remains. :hmmm:

Read some post explaining what the optimizer does: it scales the internal resolution. Say you're running 1280*960 res and 50% optimizer, then the game is rendered internally at 640*480 and blown up to fit display res, making it very blurry (think of zooming in on a photo). At 100%, things are normal, producing a very crisp picture, though you'll notice some jagged edges offcourse. At 150%... well you get the idea, less jagies.

Technically then, the game uses super-sampling AA (SSAA), a first as far as I know. Every other game uses multi-sampling (MSAA) because SSAA is too costly... Why they chose to do it like this is really beyond me, to be honest. :-?

I'm really happy with the graphics now that I'm running the optimizer at 100%, at least I can see something now, that blur was just too much at 88%. :up:

Dowly

06-01-09, 07:28 AM

Ow... I knew the fps hit was biggish on the campaign, but come oon! When the 'dynamic' campaign started, kaboom, my fps took a crash dive. :shifty:

Dowly

06-01-09, 07:30 AM

Dowly

06-01-09, 07:45 AM

Ow, Chris. You bought ArmA 2 already? Just asking as metabolic farked something up and I kinda have 2 ArmA 2's atm.

See, it went like this:

I bought it the first time, downloaded and all, but didnt install it until just before we tried it. During the day, I got an email from paypal that metabolic had refunded the game and I checked and I had 50€ on my paypal account, so they really had refunded it.

So, I went on to install the game, typed the CD key wrong at first, so I though they had disabled the CD key when they refunded the game. So, I bought the game again (this time it was 40€ instead of 50€). To my amazement, I didnt get a new CD key! :o Ok, so I went and tried the old CD key again, this time, typing it right and it worked.

Yesterday, I got another email from metabolic WITH a new CD key. So, I'm fairly sure I have two ArmA 2 CD keys just for 40€, because my old arma still seems to work just fine. :haha:

EDIT: Ow and the ArmA 1 faces work on ArmA 2, just copy the face.jpg from the Arma other profiles folder thingy to the ArmA 2 other profiles thingy.

Oberon

06-01-09, 07:53 AM

:haha::har:

Nicely done Dowly :rock:

Arclight

06-01-09, 08:22 AM

Ah that explains it then. Was wondering it'd be something like that when I tried to set it to minimum. The game looked like playing it at low res without AA. Thanks for clarifying it! Tho, I must say, the decision to make it like this is pretty farking stupid. :nope:I think it has something to do with the fact most people use LCD monitors these days; those things only look good at their native resolution, so they included the optimizer to scale the res internally. That way people with cheaper models don't get the black bands, and maybe it looks better than the monitor scaling it.

Still, I tried it at 200% (2*2 SSAA, essentially), and I think 4* MSAA would look much better (not to mention being much less costly). It might be a valid solution for LCDs, but as far as anti-aliasing goes, it remains questionable. If you have a good CRT, it makes more sense to just change the resolution and get the same effect, but with no performance penalty or blur (below 100%) because the game needs to scale it internally.

Another thing is that from the G92 8800s (8800GT/8800GTS 512) onwards, the cards were getting more and more optimized to handle MSAA, resulting in less of a performance hit.

And yeah, you're gonna need a quad-core to play the campaign properly. For me it hovers around 20-24 FPS, sometimes lower. If it indeed is the CPU that's holding it back, still need to properly confirm that, but all the signs are there.

Raptor1

06-01-09, 08:26 AM

Haha, LCD!

CRT is obviously the superior technology *pets 8-year old CRT*

Arclight

06-01-09, 08:29 AM

Aye, should be getting a 'new' second-hand Liyama next week (showroom model, never used). 1600*1200 @75hz, a lot better than the pos I have now... which IMHO is still better than any LCD. :yep:

mr chris

06-01-09, 09:02 AM

Dowly

06-01-09, 09:29 AM

@Chris

Okie, I'll PM you with the email I got that has the new CD key. It's all in german, so if your wife's there, she could maybe check if it says if the cd key is somehow connected to my ip or if I can indeed hand it out to someone. :salute:

Dowly

06-01-09, 09:38 AM

I am a rock... :O:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/Sniper-1.jpg

mr chris

06-01-09, 09:38 AM

Ok mate will get her to check it over.:up:

Dowly

06-01-09, 09:43 AM

Ok mate will get her to check it over.:up:

No need, PM sent. :up:

Dowly

06-01-09, 06:15 PM

Well, it seems the campaign performance get's better once you get out of the starting area. And oh my, is it a blast or what? :o

The world really feels like it's alive, just came upon a few cows in the middle of nowhere. Also, it's great how there's enemy patrols all around so you just cant run around with time compression at max (I say run around, because my Huey pilot though it would be a fun gag to crash the darn chopper :shifty:).

Fincuan

06-01-09, 06:55 PM

Dowly

06-01-09, 07:08 PM

Indeed the campaign is a great one, and it wasn't too bad even at the big city.

It also looks like BIS forums have been taken over by a bunch of crybabies, or an OFP: DR promo campaign, becase suddenly there's plenty of threads on how the game is "unplayable", "nothing new compared to Arma", "the worst AI EVER", "the worst physics EVER", etc :haha:

Well, the game runs pretty bad (I can run ArmA 1 better with nicer graphics), there isnt REALLY that much new compared to ArmA and the AI is nowhere near what they hyped (game logics dont count, they didnt hype "our AI can do all kinds of wonderful stuff if you use gamelogics. They just said the AI is much better and can take cover etc. on it's own, which isnt true... atleast not on the scale they hyped it would be).

Arma 2 is kind of like Day of Defeat for me. I hated DoD:S, but if I wanted to keep on playing it online, there wasnt much of a choice than to get it. ;)

Fincuan

06-01-09, 07:17 PM

True it doesn't exactly live up to the hype, but I wouldn't either use the adjectives above to describe it.

Why wouldn't gamelogics count btw? They've been an integral part of the engine ever since OFP, just another way of making the AI do things. The good thing about this way is that it gives mission designers the ability to decide which features they want to implement.

I haven't really taken a critical look at the AI, but so far it hasn't spoiled anything for me. Sometimes they do things on their own a bit too much, like when you'd want your MG guy to go EXACTLY there and cover THAT corner: more often than not he decides that some other place nearby is better for god knows what reason, and the original direction isn't too interesting either.

Tachyon

06-01-09, 11:02 PM

I haven't played Arma 1 yet, but I heard something about a medikit feature in Arma 2 that insta-heals your comrades. Is that true? If so, that's a huge setback to realism. Nothing like OFP1 where some injuries simply can't be treated. :down:

Janus

06-02-09, 01:19 AM

Nothing like OFP1 where some injuries simply can't be treated. :down:
Who told you that? As long as you are not dead in Ofp you can heal back to full strength at any medical facility (medic, medictent, M113- or BMP ambulance or even by script...).

HunterICX

06-02-09, 03:41 AM

It also looks like BIS forums have been taken over by a bunch of crybabies, or an OFP: DR promo campaign, becase suddenly there's plenty of threads on how the game is "unplayable", "nothing new compared to Arma", "the worst AI EVER", "the worst physics EVER", etc :haha:

I doubt it has anything to do with OFP: DR fanboys.
you cant expect a game on release to run good on every machine, they are just impatience.

Nothing new to ArmA, ofcourse its nothing new.
its just the same engine retouched and refined and better optimized...ofcourse unlike the previous ArmA it will have more capabilities and more options but in the end its pretty much the same. you take it for granted or you shouldnt have bought it at all if you expected something completly new.

the worst AI ever,
it's AI.
I have got nothing much to say about AI in overal, they pretty much suck in every stock game.
and if its not great in stock, well perhaps wait till the community gets his hands on it and improves it to the taste of the mayority?

Arma 2 is kind of like Day of Defeat for me. I hated DoD:S, but if I wanted to keep on playing it online, there wasnt much of a choice than to get it.

:doh:that doesn't really make sense...
''if I wanted to keep on playing it online'' you say everyone jumped to ArmA 2 now? no more ArmA 1 games to be found in the server list or at least the servers are all empty :o.

HunterICX

Tachyon

06-02-09, 04:22 AM

Who told you that? As long as you are not dead in Ofp you can heal back to full strength at any medical facility (medic, medictent, M113- or BMP ambulance or even by script...).

Nobody told me that, I saw it for myself, even in vanilla and patched versions of the game. You cannot heal back to full strength using a MEDIC if your character is SERIOUSLY injured.

From what I remember (and I do remember it clearly), once my character was so badly injured he couldn't get up from the prone position. A nearby medic healed me, and I was up and running again. Later, another gunshot wound to the legs, and this time though the medic's efforts were useless. I was prone for the rest of the mission. Quite realistic, since of course a simple bandage can't permanently fix every wound. :yep:

But healing at field medical tents seems to heal all injuries though, I'll give you that.

Fincuan

06-02-09, 05:35 AM

You remember wrong. Any medical facility, including medics and scripts(this setDammage 0), can heal you to full strength almost instantly in OFP and Arma. I haven't really looked into that in Arma2, but I believe it's the same thing.

edit: It wouldn't probably be hard to mod away the healing action from the facilites and units, or do as some mission makers with ACE: They put no medical facilites in the missions and no medics. One player is a "medic" with lots of medical supplies, and other players only have bandages. This way if you get hurt you remain hurt for the duration of the mission, because the "medic" with medical supplies can only "stabilize" you, not heal.

Also the OFP: DR fanboy thing was a joke Hunter :)

Fincuan

06-02-09, 05:54 AM

Car chase in Arma2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP1_LZdi22Q&fmt=22

:haha:

Dowly

06-02-09, 06:29 AM

:doh:that doesn't really make sense...
''if I wanted to keep on playing it online'' you say everyone jumped to ArmA 2 now? no more ArmA 1 games to be found in the server list or at least the servers are all empty :o.

HunterICX

They will eventually, it's just a matter of time. And why get ArmA 2 already you may ask, well, it doesnt matter when you get it if I'm going to get it anyway.

As for healing injured soldiers in ArmA 2. Yes, any soldier AFAIK can heal another one, but it takes pretty darn long. It varies but the two times I've healed someone it took roughly 15-25 seconds and that's a long fricking time to be crouched besides someone hoping not to catch a bullet. :D

EDIT: I'm just having no luck with my chopper support... :shifty: I lost another one.. tho this time to the awesomeness of the campaign. So, there I was approaching the city of Gorka (or something like that), cleared the place and found what I was looking for. The problems started immediately after I called in the Huey to pick me up. I told the pilot to land to a small opening few meters off the road and as I was waiting for the chopper, my marksman yelled "Enemy truck to the rear of us!". Wait wha?! I turned around and there was this suicidal truck driver coming down the road towards us. Balls to the asphalt and we open up on it, kaboom.

'Wow, that was unexpected' I though to myself when the chopper came and landed to the opening. I had my guys scattered on both sides of the road in-case there was more surprises, so it took them abit longer to GET TO THA CHOPPAAAAH as usual, luckily... SOME FRICKING IDIOT WAS SITTING IN THE EDGE OF THE FOREST AND BLEW THE WHOLE DAMN THING UP WITH AN RPG7!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!!!! :damn:

Everyone was fine (well, except for the pilot who turned to a shishkebab), so my marksman blew the tit's head off and we rushed to the forest... just to find a whole darn camp full of enemies. :o RETREEEAAAT!!! So, back at the city, I called in an mortar barrage on the forest and shortly after I got a message saying 'Insurgent camp cleared'. Phew... :salute:

Tachyon

06-02-09, 08:00 AM

Arclight

06-02-09, 08:13 AM

I've been sticking with APCs, just because off that reason. Too many surprises that can disable the chopper, save it for when you really need it. The vehicles can also serve as rearming point if you load them up (capture a few RPGs and take them along).

The AI is pretty decent. I've seen squads moving around hills instead of over them, move through cities while keeping cover and leaning around corners and bounding, and individuals signal when they're on the move so you know to lay down some suppresive fire if needed. Problems arise when they are faced with vehicles they're not equipped to deal with: they lay down in an attempt to remain hidden (good), but when the vehicle opens up, they crawl for cover. Would be much better to sprint for your life IMHO.

Healing takes pretty darn long indeed, no insta-heals there.

No it's not something completely different, it's >Arma< 2. Personally I think it improved a whole lot. Normally when dragging an AI team around, it wouldn't be long before you're on your own. Now it just works. :yeah:

Dowly, did you find the main camp? It's my last objective and I have some intel where it should be, but I can't find it. :doh:

Dowly

06-02-09, 08:39 AM

Ok , so maybe you guys are correct regarding the First Aid healing, but I'll try it out and let you know.

And Dowly, regarding that "rock" screenshot , it looks pretty neat. What GPU have you got and are you running Arma 2 on the highest settings? I've got a Quadcore q6600 (2.4 ghz) and a Geforce 9600 GT. Hope that'll be enough for the game :S .

The settings in that pic were all on max except for the fillrate optimiser which was at 100%. But I cant play on those settings, just for the screenshot. :O:

My setup is:
AMD 6000+ X2
GF8800GTS 320mb
4gigs of RAM

I can run it pretty nicely on normal settings, not smooth, but ok.

@Arclight: No, havent found it yet. It seems I have to restart the whole Manhattan ops as the game decided to autosave as I was being patched up after I got shot and now it seems it's bugged and the medic just waves his hands around, but doesnt heal. :shifty:

Tachyon

06-02-09, 09:38 AM

Well, I guess I'd better upgrade my RAM then. Running Windows 7 x64 now, lets see how much difference upgrading from 2gb to 4gb will make.

Dowly

06-02-09, 09:42 AM

Ow, whoever wants to have working UAV on their missions, here's how it goes:
- Add flying UAV to the map (no waypoints)
- Add EMPTY UAV terminal (can be found under warfare buildings, pick the side you are on USMC, CDF etc.)
- Add the UAV module to the map
- Syncronize (F5) the module to the UAV, the player and the UAV terminal
- Start the mission and use the action menu at the UAV terminal :salute:

It automatically has the FLIR on it and it automatically adds a rectancular search pattern for the UAV which you can move by 'manning' the UAV, opening your map and clicking somewhere with the left mousebutton.

Arclight

06-02-09, 09:58 AM

Tried using the UAV in the campaign, but the thing keeps flying into the ground. Some other pilot seems to be controlling it along with me, and he keeps ordering an attack. Normally the thing attacks just fine, but with me manning it, it dive-bombs into the ground. Also keeps ignoring any waypoints I set. :hmmm:

Maybe that''s why you need to add an empty terminal.

Dowly

06-02-09, 10:33 AM

Nah, there's always a pilot flying it, thru the terminal you man the gunner position.

Arclight

06-02-09, 10:38 AM

Good to know it wasn't me. :D

Found the main camp, miiiles from where intel placed it. Damn civis lied to me. :shifty:

You got yourself patched up or did you start over? Isn't it possible to find another medic or station and get patched up there?

Dowly

06-02-09, 11:27 AM

Yeh, the tit eventually patched me up, so I'm good to go. Tho, I did one major mistake... I took an APC from the base, so now I cant even be arsed to move on foot. I just drive straight to the middle of the enemy and let my gunner kill them. :O: Need to change to HumVee or something... and blow the APC up so I dont get tempted to use it again.

Arclight

06-02-09, 11:36 AM

Meh, some of them have rpg, so I don't worry about fair play. :arrgh!:

The main base has T72s, now there's an unfair advantage. For some reason I don't have mortar support anymore, even though I never used it. UAV crashed, so no hellfire support. Allied Hind is sitting at the airport, out of fuel.

:hmmm:

The fuel truck at the airport can't be boarded, but maybe I can drive the one at FOB Manhattan to the helo, fuel it up, and hope it blasts those tanks for me.

If you can fuel it, you can pilot the russian transport helo yourself (also siting at the strip, out of fuel). An alternative if the Huey gets wasted.

Dowly

06-02-09, 11:58 AM

Thanks for the info Arclight. I'll need to check that Hind. :salute:

On the other news, I just found out how to really boost up the performance! :rock:

So, I made a test. Everything on very high, except for FO at 100%, visibility distance at 1600m, Uters island (or whatsamacallit).

With my max res (1280x1024) the FPS was at around 22-24:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/fullres.jpg

Next, I kept all the settings but changed the resolution to widescreen (1280x768), result=~20fps more:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/wide.jpg

I dont havea WS monitor, but hell, if I can get 20fps more, I couldnt care less if the soldiers look abit fatty. :03:

Arclight

06-02-09, 01:13 PM

Well yeah, lowering res usually has that effect on performance. :roll:

Not doing anything for me in campaign, more proof that it's not the card limiting performance. But the CPU isn't overstressed either... maybe it's the RAM? Using that OS "tweak" so an application can address more than 2GB might give a boost, will need to try that. RAM usage while playing is about 2,2/2,25GB, who knows.

*oh, and the refueling thing didn't pan out. Can't drive any support vehicles, and calling for support vehicles just gives an error.

Dowly

06-02-09, 01:19 PM

Well yeah, lowering res usually has that effect on performance. :roll:

Except in this case, if I lower the resolution to 1024x768, the FPS remains pretty much the same as with full res. Dont know why it gives better FPS with the WS res, but in all honesty I dont even care. :D

Arclight

06-02-09, 01:38 PM

Maybe again because most people have WS displays. If it's optimized for WS, I hope coming patches will give a nice boost for "square" resolutions.

Weird. :doh:

Raptor1

06-02-09, 02:54 PM

Alright, so I caved and got ArmA 2 too...

Arclight

06-02-09, 02:58 PM

MWAHAHAHA!!!

Mortal weakling! :O:

I doubt you'll regret it. ;)

Raptor1

06-02-09, 03:09 PM

MWAHAHAHA!!!

Mortal weakling! :O:

I doubt you'll regret it. ;)

Arrgh, I must rid myself of these...humanity attacks...

I better not regret it, or random people are going to get lined up on the wall and shot for no reason

Raptor1

06-03-09, 03:05 AM

Now this is strange, bought it from Metaboli, I got the mail with the download links but not the cd-key... :hmmm:

EDITSKI: Ah, I have it now

EDIT 2: Bah, now I can't activate it...

Dowly

06-03-09, 06:00 AM

Hmm... that's weird.. MrChris reported the same problem. He was able to apply the CD key when he started to install it, but he also couldnt activate it when trying to run the game. :hmmm:

Raptor1

06-03-09, 06:02 AM

Hmm... that's weird.. MrChris reported the same problem. He was able to apply the CD key when he started to install it, but he also couldnt activate it when trying to run the game. :hmmm:

Maybe the Securom server is down, maybe they just didn't add the key to the database

Ah, well, I sent them an email, hopefully they can read English

Dowly

06-03-09, 06:09 AM

Yeh, might be an issue with the servers. Reading thru the different forums, it seems that most got it from Metabolic, so it might be due to the high number of ppl. Then again, I dont remember seeing any threads about not being able to activate the game. :hmmm:

Anyway, keep us posted on what they say. :salute:

Dowly

06-03-09, 08:39 AM

Just tried the artillery thingie on the editor and holy poo! :o 20 MLRS' firing for 1 minute continuosly is pretttty darn deadly (both to the enemies and my PC). :har:

Fincuan

06-03-09, 10:08 AM

IRL too. Rocket arty is really something you'd only use against CPs, big troop concentrations and other high value targets. When accuracy doesn't matter but desctrution does :yeah:

Raptor1

06-03-09, 10:19 AM

Good, they sent me a mail saying it's valid and now it works

Dowly

06-03-09, 10:19 AM

Does the capital city count as high value target? Because I kinda leveled the whole thing. :O:

Right, now to have a try with the max amount of arty I can get. :haha:

porphy

06-03-09, 01:35 PM

Hi guys

I'm interested to get Arma 2 when it's released in English version. I played OFP a lot, and have Arma as well, but I never really got into that. I wonder how my machine will handle Arma 2 though? At the moment I run this hardware:

Core 2 duo 6600 @ 3.18 ghz
4gb ram (800 mhz)
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640 MB at stock speed (first gen 8-series)
Creative X-Fi Gamer
1 640mb raid setup
1 Tb storage Hdd
Windows 7 beta (build 7000)

Any input welcome :yep:

cheers Porphy

Raptor1

06-03-09, 01:41 PM

Can't see why it shouldn't work

My comp runs it fine on max graphics (That's completely maxed), though I didn't try anything deep in the campaign

Intel C2D 8400 @ 3.00GHz
Radeon HD 4870 1 GB
4 GB Ram

porphy

06-03-09, 02:01 PM

Thanks, that's good to know. fhtagn! :)

Dowly

06-03-09, 05:46 PM

Haha, my campaign is going reeeaaallly nicely (still on the Manhattan ops). First of all, why the gas stations cant be marked on the map like in ArmA? My Humvee is running low on gas. :shifty: Secondly, why are we fighting and helping the chernorussian ppl in the first place? I just met few of their soldiers that had set-up and ro******* and went to talk to them, did they give any real info? NO! They made fun of me and my team! "Oooh, they are special forces! RAMBO!!" Fracking arses. And lastly, why the enemy has to be such an tit? There I was, happily minding my own business, trying to find some guy to get intel from when all of a sudden there's this group of insurgents that open up on me, while being busy wasting them, 4 UAZs and crapload of infantry emerge from the woods on the other side of the town! So, now I was surrounded and stranded on this little farm thingy. I sent my marksman to the center of the town to man the .50cal on the Humvee and what does he do? Get hit! You stupid little arse! :shifty:

Right, so, I pulled my men back to the cover of the farmhouse and had mortars fire an barrage to a field just NE of us, where the remnants of the first enemy group were still picking up a fight. Oh poo, how I am to get that wounded guy to cover and treat him before he dies (member of your team dies = game over)?? Ah! Smoke grenades! So, I popped up a smoke screen and run for the guy, picked him up and started to carry him back to the farmhouse. "Haha, I'm going to make it! WOOT!!!" and KA-FRICKING-BOOM!! Grenade falls right next to me killing me and the wounded tit instantly. :damn:

Arclight

06-03-09, 06:46 PM

Maybe it's me, but I'm reading nothing but good stuff right there. Nice example of how a situation develops dynamically (easy to implement in missions too :yeah:), and how the AI attempts to keep you engaged even if they can't see you. All too often have I worked my way out of an engagement, thinking I got to safety, only to have some twat toss or fire a grenade at me.

But you can place markers at the map yourself (double-click, type label), and there are fuel trucks at the FOB and airstrip.

Most of the "friendly" soldiers aren't too pleased with the USMC presence, so don't expect too much help fom them. I'm guessing their attitude changes over the campaign.

Finally made it past Manhattan yesterday. Never found the arms smuggler or second evidence, but order came in to RTB.

Dowly

06-03-09, 07:26 PM

Yeh, it was all good to have some action, but jesus, no need to kill me for crying out loud! :haha:

mengle

06-04-09, 05:06 AM

Dowly or Fin what tool do u use to make videoclips of arma and how do u use it, than i can show you my settings in game, thanks in advance :)

Dowly

06-04-09, 05:51 AM

FRAPS for recording.

What an unpleasant surprise. I came over this little hill in my Humvee and BANG! Straight to a bunch of enemy soldies! Marksman(O'Hara) got hit when he exited the car, so #3 & #4 took positions on both sides of the road and provided covering fire while I dragged O'Hara to the cover of the car and treated him. After that, he crawled under the car and started busting some insurgent heads.:yeah:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/Defend.jpg

Fincuan

06-04-09, 06:43 AM

Hehe, poor O'Hara :cry:

I'm still stuck at the mission where you hunt Lopotev. At the start I found my way to Vysnoye or something similar, and Malek's farm. The local villagers had told me that Malek was a Chedaki supporter. My interrogation methods didn't get Malek to speak("Where are they you mother****er?" -> *POOF*, kneecap), so I had to visit the intelligence guy at Elektrowhatever for some more intel. Following his instuctions I started raiding a few possible campsites, but after raiding two was told on the radio that Lopotev has seen heading north at a certain point. I deployed my men at two key junctions along the way and waited, but apart from taking down a few Chedaki patrols nothing came my way. Now I'm just starting to raid the third, and what looks to be a highly active camp.

Dowly

06-04-09, 06:48 AM

You mean the first dynamic kinda mission? FYI, the mission ends as soon as Lopotev reaches a certain line when he's going north. You get called that he got away and you need to RTB. Not sure what else have to be completed for the RTB to trigger.

Arclight, Re: finding the evidence

It looks like it's randomised where and if they appear. At the start of the ops after Manhattan where you have to go to the hut to search for the intel, the first I went there, the intel wasnt there. Second time around, it was there. :hmmm:

PS. Fin, I like your interrogation methods. :haha: Reminds me of the Manhattan ops where I had to escort this chick to an LZ where someone was to pick her up, after 15min of waiting I grew tired and shot her in the back of the head and moved along. :har:

Arclight

06-04-09, 07:41 AM

:rotfl:

For me the Hind arrived to pick her up, after some chedaki vehicles moved in on the LZ and were promptly dispatched by the grenade launcher on the AAV.

That mission hunting Lopotev ended as soon as I got the message he was moving north. I actually got the intel from Malek and he told me to check out the castle ruins up on the hill. Checked it, found abandond camp and got the radio message shortly after that. :hmmm:

Ah, and the evidence I ment is in the Manhattan mission. You need to find 2, you get 1 by bringing in that woman. Think you get the second by intercepting that arms dealer. The documents in the follow up mission are in the cabin at the start, but if you take too long getting there (ie, let the AI drive), some chedaki will take it and you need to hunt them down... somehow, not like you can track them or something.

I'm currently leading NAPA guys on a quest to capture 4 cities. Missed the boat, now I'm stuck there with russians crawling all over the place. :-?

Fincuan

06-04-09, 07:51 AM

That mission hunting Lopotev ended as soon as I got the message he was moving north. I actually got the intel from Malek and he told me to check out the castle ruins up on the hill. Checked it, found abandond camp and got the radio message shortly after that. :hmmm: ?

Nice, so the mission is different each time. Malek didn't like my interrogation methods one bit so he told me nothing, but that's ok as I had already checked the castle ruins before moving in to the farm. After that I got sent to check out the camps, etc. I just hope Lopotev's Skoda isn't wrapped around some tree somewhere along the way :haha:

Dowly

06-04-09, 08:04 AM

SMALL SPOILERS AHEAD

Now, this is just great! I encountered an game killing bug (literalery)! On the Bitter Chills ops you get the choice of following the NAPA guys or getting a chopper ride, if you choose the latter you'll be shot down and then have to make your way to either CDF units or NAPA units during night with russians after you. I chose the latter one. After countless loads I finally managed to get to the NAPA guys and what happens? I get a cutscene of me calling the Shaftoe guy with a satellite phone and when the cutscene starts to fade away someone starts to shoot at me! So, when I get back to the game, I'm already dead!!! :damn:

Arclight

06-04-09, 08:45 AM

Same for me, but the mission ended before I died. Background was all red, but still got mission complete. :D

Dowly

06-04-09, 10:36 AM

After a few tries the debriefing screen popped up. But wait.. I enjoyed the nice campaign and the next ops is a singleplayer Warfare?! What the poo?!?! :-?

HunterICX

06-04-09, 10:41 AM

After a few tries the debriefing screen popped up. But wait.. I enjoyed the nice campaign and the next ops is a singleplayer Warfare?! What the poo?!?! :-?

:haha: You gotta be fkin kidding me! how cheap!

HunterICX

Arclight

06-04-09, 10:46 AM

Yeah, hopefully only for the part where you have to help out NAPA, think you'll get some more serious objectives as the story progresses. At least the missions are diverse, each one had a unique feel so far. Change of pace can't hurt.

Kinda sucked when an enemy team spawned on my pos though. :-?

CaptHawkeye

06-04-09, 01:25 PM

Here's a question. Has the game streamlined the UI at all or is it still using CWC's silly thousand-useless-command-menu.

Fincuan

06-04-09, 02:59 PM

It's streamlined, but the command menu is also still there. It's just not visible normally. Thanks to the menu being exactly the same in both OFP and Arma1 I remember all the combinations by now, so for me it's faster and easier to do it the old way.

SPOILERS here too.
Continuing from my last post:
The campaign delivered yet another surprise. I cleared the third insurgent camp and checked the northern cities once more and saw plenty of signs of combat(wrecks and bodies), but no sign of Lopotev and no debriefing. I started heading back south, and all along the way my AI driver tried to kill us. First he ran over one civvy, then he collided with a tree, then with a pickup and finally a head on collision with a truck. All of these at full speed, naturally. After healing everyone we continued and almost ran over a friendly patrol. Passing through one of the villages I saw a civvy with a sniper rifle standing on the road. The driver somehow managed to miss him, so I took the wheel and came back and to finish the job. At this point the civvy started yelling "Americans, oi americans" and such. Then he told us his men were just barely holding the village in front of a Chedaki assault, and that it would be great if we could help. We followed him to the edge of the village, and sure enough a bunch of civvys with guns were holed in there while Chedakis could be seen moving about a nearby forestline. We quickly took control of the situation and repelled the assault. I then took a few guys to sweep the nearby forests and found a few more enemies hiding there. Those were quickly dealt with, and then it was over, the village was safe. The locals were highly grateful and praised the Marines, and more importantly also told us about another possible location where we could find Lopotev. I'm on my way there right now... and I love the campaign so far :up:

Arclight

06-05-09, 06:28 AM

Yes, the road-keeping abillities of the AI can use some improvement. So far we've trashed several vehicles and ran over at least 1 old lady. :-?

Campaign is a blast, can't wait to see what more is in store. :yeah:

Fincuan

06-05-09, 06:38 AM

The final version of patch 1.01 has been released

Download
http://armed-assault.de/downloads/arma2-patch-101-final-deutsch.html#download

Dedicated server:
http://armed-assault.de/downloads/dedizierter-server-windows-version-101-beta.html#download

Thread at BIS forums:
http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=73744

stabiz

06-05-09, 06:40 AM

So, how do you guys rate this game?

Arclight

06-05-09, 06:50 AM

Ehr... overall 8/10.

Campaign works, though there's some silly stuff like spoken strings repeating or looping, not really an issue. AI needs work, I mean AI driving down roads primarily, and saw a helo fly into a tree and explode killing the guys it just dropped off (were enemy, so no biggy :D). Core Arma is all there, with added stuff such as streamlined interface and a host of possibilities in the editor, the modules are particularly interesting but need documentation. Looks great, sounds great.

Drawback is performance suffering in campaign, still not sure why. I also suffer from stability issue; Nvidia driver crash, but this comes down to my system, not the game.

I am kinda rating this as a beta, since it's early release. Maybe 7.5/10 is more accurate.
* since it's early release with easily fixable bugs, it will get better with time. I'm rating it as it stands now, v1.01b.

Fin, thanks for the heads-up on the patch. :salute:

Fincuan

06-05-09, 06:53 AM

I'm a big fan of the whole series, so keep that in mind when reading:

I rate the game pretty high. I'd say 8-9/10, which is a very good score on my scale. To put it short: If you liked the previous games of the series you'll definitely like this one. Well worth buying.

stabiz

06-05-09, 07:54 AM

Yeah, I like ARMA, played it a lot, so I meant how you rate it against ARMA. Sweet, better get a preorder going then.

Fincuan

06-05-09, 08:07 AM

I rate it higher than Arma, by a large margin. Just about everything is better. The SP/Coop campaign rocks, A2 looks a lot prettier while running about as well as A1, the A2 world is way ahead of anything in A1, etc. Just as it should be for a sequel.

I've grown especially fond of the "feature" that characters blend in really well with the environment. Camouflage actually works now. In our first SSC coop Dowly and I climbed a hill and cautiously looked around, seeing nothing. As we moved ahead I almost stepped on an AI soldier lying in the grass a few meters away, and whom Dowly had already walked past. Why he didn't fire I do not know, but I quickly emptied the whole mag into him out of pure surprise :)

Dowly

06-05-09, 08:21 AM

I think we need to balance this abit. We have one neutral-ish review, one 'fanboy' review, so I think that leaves me to take the place of the angry "I loved OFP, WTF ARE YOU DOING TO THIS SERIES, BIS!?"-guy. :haha:

So, keep that in mind when you read this. :O:

Oh, and like Arclight said, it's still kinda in the beta stage. Well, that's my first gripe. There's few so obvious bugs, that it really makes you wonder if they even beta tested it themselves. But they arent gamekilling bugs, so it's alright.

Graphically the game is.. well.. it's O.K. The colors are more washed away (think of Band of Brother's and you get the idea) and texture detail might be abit higher than ArmA's but other than that, BIS' opinion of good graphics seems to be throwing lots of bloom and blur to a blender and throw it at the player. But then again, the series has never been the most gorgeus gal in the room. Where other titles compensate their lack of gameplay with graphics, OFP/ArmA has no need for it.

Gameplay is the same old, in good and bad. AI driving sucks donkey's tits still (how hard is it to fix it for boobies' sake?!). Helo's do abit better job, but think you can call them in to a hot LZ, no fast landings still. Infantry AI is a mixed thing for me, they've changed it for sure, they act nicely on the field. Combat range for infantry has also been increased alot, I've been getting reports of enemies over 500m away that my AI guys have then started to shoot at (not that they ever hit them :O:). Ow and choppers are abit more easier to fly now (tho, they seem abit too 'under control', but with some trying you can pull off stuff just like in ArmA).

Campaign seems awesome judging by the first 3 missions, a real OFP feel to it. The singleplayer warfare missions is just stupid, I hope it get's better after that (it has to! There's not that many mission in the campaign, so it better go back to the dynamic thing). I like the idea of commanding only a 4 man team, you get to know the 3 tits you fight with instead of having 12 guys with random names dying in the first 2 minutes of the mission leaving you do the mission alone.

Now, performance... *sigh* Well, it sucks, I mean, it REALLY sucks. I'm sure it's just badly optimised at this stage, but oh man... it really does suck. Throw out your GPU and start hugging your CPU, it really needs all the care and comfort before you start ArmA2, there's no love in the deep dark corners of crappy optimised ArmA2 engine. :cry:

All in all, I like it (I had my doubts and I still have). I would've wished something groundbreaking new to the series. Sure, it has FLIR, artillery etc. but it seems BIS is taking babysteps, if it continues like this, it's pretty safe to say that we're going to have a true warfare simulator covering everything at around ArmA 12. To sum it, ArmA 2 is what ArmA should've been.

7/10 (add another point to that when they get it optimised and fix the bugs.)

Dowly

06-05-09, 08:24 AM

I've grown especially fond of the "feature" that characters blend in really well with the environment. Camouflage actually works now. In our first SSC coop Dowly and I climbed a hill and cautiously looked around, seeing nothing. As we moved ahead I almost stepped on an AI soldier lying in the grass a few meters away, and whom Dowly had already walked past. Why he didn't fire I do not know, but I quickly emptied the whole mag into him out of pure surprise :)

Amen to that. Clearing a forest isnt a walk in the park now, you really need to take it easy and stop all the time just to scan your surroundings. And it doesnt help that some of the guys are wearing hooded camouflage jackets (or in the worst case, ghillie suits), without the AI friendlies, I would be still doing the first campaign mission. :D

Raptor1

06-05-09, 08:27 AM

mengle

06-05-09, 09:00 AM

If you discount the bugs, the game is great IMO, and it hasn't even been released in the real world yet, so you can't really blame the bugs (Obviously BI made a conspiracy to throw the buggiest version at Schroeder first...)

i agree, and Arma I was much worse by the release, also with the graffics patch 1.05 was the beginning of improvement:)

Fincuan

06-05-09, 01:37 PM

Apparently there's Bigfoot in the Arma2 world :haha:

Thread at BI forums
http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=73725&page=1

The Arma2 homepage says

Chernarussian Bigfoot is often said to be spotted in the mountains of Northern Chernarus.

Good hunting :yeah:

stabiz

06-07-09, 05:23 AM

Some night action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgH3PkdC1yg

Man, I want this now.

Tachyon

06-07-09, 09:02 AM

Some night action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgH3PkdC1yg

Man, I want this now.

Me too, I just hope the frame rates are better on mine. Also, I heard the game can use QuadCores , but I don't know if it'll make a difference. Has anyone here played the game on a Quad and Duo?

EDIT : Apparently it does , some users have reported a huge difference. http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=73663&page=2

porphy

06-07-09, 11:35 AM

Looks good :) Waiting for the release in Sweden.

Arclight

06-07-09, 01:13 PM

:cry:

Completed that warfare mission (Badlands), but wanted to try for a secondary objective which I got after taking the 3rd town, but forgot about. Obviously, trying to revert to that save caused the mssion to start over, wiping the saves. Now I've taken all 4 towns, for the second time, but the mission doesn't complete. All markers on the map are green, central outpost, strongpoints, all of them... Anyone have a solution?

mengle

06-07-09, 04:30 PM

the first soundmod for armaII
http://armed-assault.de/downloads/vopsound-20-fuer-arma2.html#download:rock:

Dowly

06-08-09, 12:43 PM

In ArmA2, the Subsim Clowns arrive to the battlefield with style. :D
http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/?action=view&current=SSCstyle.flv

U-104

06-08-09, 01:28 PM

:haha::haha::har:

stabiz

06-08-09, 01:50 PM

:rotfl:

Fincuan

06-08-09, 01:58 PM

Rofl :)

Playing with attachTo are we?

Dowly

06-08-09, 02:47 PM

Playing with attachTo are we?

Lol, aye. :D

Quite an experience to attach a mountain bike to the F35, have it fly at max speed, detach and slam at 400km/h to the side of an truck. :haha:

Arclight

06-08-09, 06:56 PM

:rotfl:

Excellent! Makes me wonder if you can ride a bomb. :hmmm:

Raptor1

06-09-09, 01:07 AM

:rotfl:

Excellent! Makes me wonder if you can ride a bomb. :hmmm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0

:hmmm:

Dowly

06-09-09, 07:35 AM

:rotfl:

Excellent! Makes me wonder if you can ride a bomb. :hmmm:

I cant see why not. :hmmm:

And it does open up some nice stuff you can do with it. The C130 with attached cannon worked pretty nicely as I tested it last night, you can have the few warships to use the cannon or the MLRS for naval barrage or for cutscenes. Ability to shoot with your rifle from choppers etc. etc.

Arclight

06-09-09, 08:19 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0

:hmmm:Yep, that's what I was thinking. Would make for one short mission though. :haha:

Another thing I was thinking is "attach" an ammo crate a bit below a chopper, have it airlift supplies. Shouldn't be too hard to model a rope. :hmmm:

Something I spotted on BIS forum was some screens of flying frigate. Think he attached a chopper to the ships model and have it fly around. :o

Dowly

06-09-09, 08:34 AM

@Arclight

Yeh, the flying fregate is easy to do with either having it attached to a chopper or a jet.

As for the ammobox, no idea. One could make them use the cargo parachutes, they work nicely with Humvee's etc.

Ow, just noticed that the civilian side fishing ship is the Orca from Jaws (well, not 100% the same but very similar to it). :O:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Finnish_Ferret/Orca.jpg

Dowly

06-09-09, 10:10 AM

Hmm... only now I realised how badly optimised A2 is. With the new GPU, ArmA runs at max fps (Vsync on) no matter what. Everything on high, VD at 10km, nothing seems to affect the FPS. I think it's safe to say that these settings would be comparable with normal/high on A2.

Now, back to A2, Utes, everything on very high, FO at 100%, VD 1500m = ~35FPS.

Next, again, Utes, everything on high, FO & VD same = ~37FPS

All on normal, FO&VD same = barely touching 40FPS.

I just hope we dont have to wait aslong as with A1 before they get it optimised. :shifty:

Arclight

06-09-09, 11:04 AM

New GPU? Did I miss something? Last I recall you were running 8800GTS... I think, my memory isn't the best. :06:

Anyway, is it really that surprising? Compared to Arma II scenery, I is kinda... well, barren.

:hmmm:

Still, the game wasn't really finished when we snapped it up, I expect to see some significant improvements with the English release and first few patches following that.

Dowly

06-09-09, 11:25 AM

Nah, your memory is just fine. :DL Got the GF9800GT from a friend who bought himself a new one (He's one of those "OH NOES! I have only 600FPS in Counter-Strike! Need to buy me a new GPU to have 650!" types. :nope:).

And well.. yes, it's kinda surprising. I mean Utes isnt exactly a very big island. But what is even more surprising is that Chernarussia gives me better FPS. :haha: Maybe Utes has a glitch or a memoryleak in it. :hmmm: Oh well, the game is playable (campaign just barely, but still), so I dont mind.

Arclight

06-09-09, 11:41 AM

I know one of those guys too, that's where I got my first decent PC from (P3 1ghz). Always good to have friends like that. :)

Yeah, there's definitely room for optimizations. Getting better fps on Chernarussia than on Utes makes sense from that perspective, since most of the action takes place on the big "island". I'm gonna wait and see what the next update around release day brings, and then I'm gonna start bitching about performance. :D

In other news, a friend just repayed a standing debt, so I will be upgrading CPU to a C2Q, essentially bringing this board to the end of it's upgrade path (apart from graphics). Curious to see how that impacts the campaign performance. :yep:

Tachyon

06-10-09, 03:03 PM

So, I got the game. I've never played Arma 1 before, but I found the interface in Arma 2 to be a HUGE improvement over OFP. Issuing orders is a lot more easier now.

Regarding performance, I didn't experience long loading times , and frame rates have been decent so far. It seems the game likes 64-bit systems and Quad-Cores. Just finished the first mission (blow up comm station, rescue civilians, laser-targeting etc). AI seems to be a bit dumb though , nothing like the ones you see in the CoD games.

Btw, how the heck do you properly pilot a VTOL? The VTOL training was a bitch, I totally flunked it :-/ .

Fincuan

06-10-09, 04:15 PM

The Osprey is basically the same as the Harrier in Arma. When you lower flaps down to the lowest position and switch on the auto-hover function it'll perform like a VTOL aircraft, otherwise it flies like a normal one. Auto-hover is the key here, and it is not the same as auto-hover in choppers.

Tachyon

06-10-09, 04:18 PM

I had no problems with the auto-hover , it was the banking that did me in. The aircraft is ridiculously twitchy.

stabiz

06-10-09, 06:03 PM

Holy crap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khG8pVEmzO4

:o

Tachyon

06-10-09, 10:20 PM

Holy crap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khG8pVEmzO4

:o

I Holy Crapped not due to the insane number of explosions, but because it was still running at a decent frame rate :o

Btw, sometimes Cooper notices soldiers that are a long way off even when I don't see them visually :P . Any way to target these soldiers (I'm not the squadron leader) or will the red targeting reticle appear only when the Squad Leader assigns me a target ?

EDIT : Well , now I'm in that MOUT mission where you have to kill a sniper and stuff. In command of the squad now, it's still quite difficult to spot troops. Cooper randomly cries out that he's spotted enemies here and there , and I send my men to attack them. Wish there was some sort of reticle so I could find out where they were spotted.

Dowly

06-11-09, 03:13 AM

Yeh, I've noticed the same thing. I hope the enemy AI doesnt do the same. :hmmm:

Dowly

06-11-09, 05:09 AM

Hmph... the snipers are still useless at long ranges.

Dragunov: 2-3 hits to kill at ranges >500m
M24: Sights all messed up, as with SVD few hits needed at long ranges.
KVSK: One hit kill at times, but sights messed up.

The only rifle I could hit and kill with was the M107, sights are ok (unzoomed, the sights are adjusted to 250m, first dot 500m etc.) and it kills with one shot all the way to 1000m that I used as the last test distance.

EDIT: Zoomed M107 sight starts from 0m, to hit a target that's 1000m away I had to imagine a 6th dot which resulted to a body shot, so one dot with the zoomed sights would be around 160-170m. :doh:

Fincuan

06-11-09, 05:35 AM

Yeah the snipers certainly need some work. Adjustable sights for example, but that'll only come with ACE2. Adjusting the zero point is an easy job, I'll see what's up with the M107. I haven't had any difficulties on hitting with snipers, just that they're awfully ineffective. 3-4 torso shots from 700 meters is just way too much.

Tachyon

06-11-09, 05:39 AM

Maybe you shot Bigfoot.

Fincuan

06-11-09, 06:24 AM

Sniper zeros revised (http://users.tkk.fi/~pstauffe/files/FIN_weaponsfix.pbo)

The zero point is now the same on all zoom levels, and varies from weapon to weapon:

M107 500 meters
Huntingrifle 150 meters
SVD 300 meters
SPR 300 meters
DMR 300 meters
KSVK 500 meters
M24/M40 300 metes

Tachyon

06-11-09, 07:31 AM

Sniper zeros revised (http://users.tkk.fi/%7Epstauffe/files/FIN_weaponsfix.pbo)

The zero point is now the same on all zoom levels, and varies from weapon to weapon:

M107 500 meters
Huntingrifle 150 meters
SVD 300 meters
SPR 300 meters
DMR 300 meters
KSVK 500 meters
M24/M40 300 metes

Nice, so how do I use that file in my game?

Dowly

06-11-09, 07:50 AM

Nice, so how do I use that file in my game?

Make a folder in your ArmA 2 directory called, for example @FIN, create a new folder in that folder called Addons and copy the .pbo there.

Now, go to the shortcut properties and edit the target line to read:
"E:\Pelit\Asennetut\ArmA 2\arma2.exe" -nosplash -mod=@FIN

Of course, change it so it leads to your ArmA 2 folder, that's just an example how my target line looks (the -nosplash get's rid of the opening titles etc. when you start the game).

EDIT: Ow, if you have multiple mods, you can just separate with ; (-mod=@FIN;@blaablaa;@yaddayaa)

Tachyon

06-11-09, 08:03 AM

Make a folder in your ArmA 2 directory called, for example @FIN, create a new folder in that folder called Addons and copy the .pbo there.

Now, go to the shortcut properties and edit the target line to read:
"E:\Pelit\Asennetut\ArmA 2\arma2.exe" -nosplash -mod=@FIN

Of course, change it so it leads to your ArmA 2 folder, that's just an example how my target line looks (the -nosplash get's rid of the opening titles etc. when you start the game).

EDIT: Ow, if you have multiple mods, you can just separate with ; (-mod=@FIN;@blaablaa;@yaddayaa)

So using @FIN will enable all mods inside the @FIN folder? Let's say I have a DTA subfolder in @FIN , along with the ADDON subfolder (E:\Arma 2\@FIN\DTA and E:\Arma 2\@FIN\ADDON\) . Will @FIN trigger the mods in the DTA and ADDON subfolders?

Or do I have to create a separate folder @DowlyLolomg for the DTA folder mod?

Fincuan

06-11-09, 08:04 AM

Tachyon

06-11-09, 10:06 AM

Yeah, every mod in the @FIN/Addons-folder will be enabled, and it seems that things under Dta too.

edit:
Here's a good tutorial on Arma vs. addons http://www.armaholic.com/plug.php?e=faq&q=18
It applies as such to Arma2, even though I'm not sure how Armalauncher works with the latter.

Thanks both of you. Now on that mission where you have to find that guy called Lopotev or something , I heard it was quite bugged.

Fincuan

06-11-09, 10:09 AM

I think you mean the next one called "Manhattan", which has been reported as quite buggy. I didn't notice anything weird with the one where you have to find Lopotev, the name being "Razor two". That mission is funny because it has so far played out very differently for me, Dowly and Arclight.

Fincuan

06-11-09, 10:21 AM

Dowly

06-11-09, 10:23 AM

Hehe, just watched that one 15min ago, nice. :yeah:

Just found out about the 3DRT editor, whoa, that makes things abit easier. :yep: Especially the ready built bases are nice. :up:

Arclight

06-11-09, 11:13 AM

Chernogorsk airdrop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQwSA6G052w&fmt=35

Some C130 fun on the Kelly's Heros Arma2 server. One ArcLight also appears in the vid, although when I questioned him he didn't say anything about Subsim :DWasn't me, haven't played online after our little escapade. Did progress through the campaign a bit. :yep:

I think enemies not going down with 1 shot is due to ballistics; I noticed the AKM with 7.62mm round is quite effective, especially at shorter range. The 5.56mm NATO/Stanaq looses quite a bit of energy at longer ranges, I think. And just about every soldier is shown to be wearing a bullet"proof" vest. :hmmm:

Manhattan being a bit buggy is no surprise, it's probably the most complex mission in the campaign. Even so, I played through it without problems. :up:

Oberon

06-11-09, 12:11 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KK6Fo3Y0AU

:o:o:o:o:o

Dowly

06-11-09, 12:52 PM

I think enemies not going down with 1 shot is due to ballistics; I noticed the AKM with 7.62mm round is quite effective, especially at shorter range. The 5.56mm NATO/Stanaq looses quite a bit of energy at longer ranges, I think. And just about every soldier is shown to be wearing a bullet"proof" vest. :hmmm:

Nah, I did my range tests with a civilian, so it's not the armor. Nor the ballistics, Dragunov's RL effective range is 800m. :03:

Arclight

06-11-09, 02:02 PM

Dowly

06-11-09, 02:13 PM

Effective range just means you can hit what you're aiming at at that range, says nothing about penetration or stopping power. Maybe civies have the same "armor" values as other units?

Point blank shot with SVD on rifleman takes him down with 1 shot. Still think it's ballistics at play. :hmmm:

Oh for crying out loud! :haha:

Finnish wikipedia (wasnt arsed to check the english, but I'm sure it says the same) says the effective range is 800m.

Finnish Defence Force's website says the effective range is 800m.

And lastly, Dragunov.net says:

BOB:
How does it shoot at 500m? 800m? sounds real nice at 100!

AKEXPERT
Super Moderator
Bob, At 800 meters you're dead.....nuff said. I get a 6" group @ 600yds with 175 BTHP Moly Black Hills in the Orange.

So, it's not the ballistics (well, it shouldnt be, but then again, I dont know how they've set them up in ArmA). :yeah:

But I do know it can be changed, as ACE sniper rifles are deadly (or enough to bring the guy down) at greater ranges than in stock ArmA 1. :yep:

porphy

06-11-09, 02:22 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KK6Fo3Y0AU

:o:o:o:o:o

I want it now :D Strange thing is I can't see it as upcoming in any of the big on-line shops in Sweden. I thought it would be released in Europe the 19 June, right?

cheers porphy

Task Force

06-11-09, 02:32 PM

so does arma 2 have a demo?:hmmm:

Dowly

06-11-09, 02:33 PM

**Was getting headshots :D Yeah, torso hits at longer ranges take more hits, still think ballistics is a proper explanation though.

Yeh, well that explains it. :O:

Dowly

06-11-09, 02:34 PM

so does arma 2 have a demo?:hmmm:

Not atm, cant recall seeing anything about an demo being released either (tho, I usually just browse editing/scripting related forums, so I might've missed it).

Arclight

06-11-09, 02:34 PM

http://firearmspedia.com/maximum-effective-range/

Gun manufacturers and military analysts give each weapon a length in yards (or meters, if they’re so inclined). This distance is supposed to be the farthest that an averagely-trained soldier using that weapon is supposed to be able to hit a man-sized target consistently. But this number is rather controversial.

Why would that be? Mainly because the way that people find that number is different. For example, Jane’s Defence (http://www.janes.com/) rates handguns and rifles by finding out how far an averagely trained soldier can hit the target once using the entire magazine. That means that a match-grade .357 revolver (with 6 rounds in the cylinder) would have the same number as a standard 9mm autoloader (with 15 rounds in the magazine).

The Russians are the worst at this. They measure how far the bullet will travel under absolutely favorable conditions and they then assign that number to their guns (they call this the “killing range”). What’s wrong with this? Well, the bullet would have lost most of it’s velocity by the time it reaches the end of it’s flight, so it certainly can’t be expected to kill anyone if it’s just kisses your T-shirt and drops to the ground. In fact, most bullets would have slowed down below killing speed before they reach the mid-way point.

Another factor is that most russian arms just aren’t that accurate. Sure, they’re very robust and easy to maintain, but it’s rather problematic to actually hit anything at even half the distance that Western arms can easily perform.
Again, I think it's accurate.

Dowly

06-11-09, 03:09 PM

Naaah. :03:

Arclight

06-11-09, 03:46 PM

:rotfl:
Can't argue with that logic. :salute:

The campaign broke for me; mission after that Warfare stuff, we report to a commander and my team refuses to move, tried shooting them and running them over, but they won't budge. :shifty:

Fincuan

06-11-09, 04:34 PM

We just had a nice bug in MP(coop): Two became invincible :)

It started when I tried to loop a Uh-1(very good idea). Halfway through the loop the engine shut down, at which point the chopper fell out of the sky faster than a rock. I mean ZOOM, and it was on the ground. Chopper blew to millions of peaces and started burning, but both gunner and I survived without a scratch. After that we let other guys shoot at us, and nothing happened. Huge blood spatters and our guys nudged as the bullets hit, but no damage. The funniest was being hit by a SABOT round from a tank: The guy just flew about 30 meters, then continuted like nothing :haha:

stabiz

06-13-09, 05:23 AM

Really cool eye candy video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePrwLMi1fyQ

(Watch in HD)

mengle

06-13-09, 05:48 AM

Really cool eye candy video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePrwLMi1fyQ

(Watch in HD)

great Stabiz, do you know the name of the song?

HunterICX

06-13-09, 06:05 AM

the name of that song is ''Gortoz a Ran - J'Attends''

HunterICX

mengle

06-13-09, 06:09 AM

the name of that song is ''Gortoz a Ran - J'Attends''

HunterICX

thanks Hunter , i like this song :salute:

stabiz

06-13-09, 10:38 AM

Yeah, I think its from the Black Hawk Down soundtrack.

Dowly

06-13-09, 10:43 AM

Yeah, I think its from the Black Hawk Down soundtrack.

Rrrright you are.

Dowly

06-13-09, 11:00 AM

Here's what you need to have on a script to have the FLIR vision :up:
_ppColor = ppEffectCreate ["ColorCorrections", 1999];
_ppColor ppEffectEnable true;
_ppColor ppEffectAdjust [1, 1, 0, [1, 1, 1, 0], [1, 1, 1, 0.0], [1, 1, 1, 1.0]];
_ppColor ppEffectCommit 0;
_ppBlur = ppEffectCreate ["dynamicBlur", 505];
_ppBlur ppEffectEnable true;
_ppBlur ppEffectAdjust [.5];
_ppBlur ppEffectCommit 0;
_ppInversion = ppEffectCreate ["colorInversion", 2555];
_ppInversion ppEffectEnable true;
_ppInversion ppEffectAdjust [1,1,1];
_ppInversion ppEffectCommit 0;
_ppGrain = ppEffectCreate ["filmGrain", 2005];
_ppGrain ppEffectEnable true;
_ppGrain ppEffectAdjust [0.02, 1, 1, 0, 1];
_ppGrain ppEffectCommit 0;

Fincuan

06-13-09, 12:50 PM

Looks miles better than the usual playing with light sources stuff(place a giant colored light high below or above) one had to do in A1 to get a FLIRish effect :yeah:

We'll probably see a lot of other nice post-processing stuff now that there's plenty of commands for it(Terminator or Predator vision, anyone?)

Dowly

06-13-09, 12:54 PM

Yeh, predator vision is entirely possible. Just have to test, test and test to see what numbers end up with what colors in-game. :yep:

Arclight

06-13-09, 01:08 PM

The UAV camera-view in Manhattan was pretty interesting, providing very high contrast. Maybe you can use it as an example/starting point for something? :hmmm:

Dowly

06-13-09, 01:17 PM

The UAV camera-view in Manhattan was pretty interesting, providing very high contrast. Maybe you can use it as an example/starting point for something? :hmmm:

Umm... well that's kinda what I posted few posts back. :O:

Arclight

06-13-09, 04:10 PM

:rotfl:

Didn't realise it was the code from the UAV. :88)

There's a question that's been bugging me for a while:

How do you add music tracks to the game?

Is it possible to use an object as a soundsource? I don't want the music to play globally, but emitting from an object.

Think Apocalyps Now, with Ride of the Valkyries blaring from a Huey. :DL

Task Force

06-13-09, 04:15 PM

That would be a intresting chopper. lol, maby even a new military weapon. Blareing a loud highpitch noise to drive the enemy crazy.:rotfl:

Arclight

06-13-09, 04:19 PM

Well, the real idea is to have a radio station you can switch on and off, using vehicles as soundsource... maybe tap it into vehicle channel so only audible in vehicle if you switch to that channel. :hmmm:

Task Force

06-13-09, 04:21 PM

sounds intresting... but it would still work good as a military weapon. lol

Arclight

06-13-09, 04:23 PM

:hmmm:

There's a module that controls surrendering. Maybe you can wire it so music is a contributing factor.

"Oh noes, devil music! Fleee!!!"

Raptor1

06-13-09, 04:25 PM

sounds intresting... but it would still work good as a military weapon. lol

'course it would (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz3Cc7wlfkI)

Task Force

06-13-09, 04:27 PM

or you could just let dowly sing through and play it to the enemy. theyd need theropy after though.:rotfl:

Tachyon

06-13-09, 04:30 PM

or you could just let dowly sing through and play it to the enemy. theyd need theropy after though.:rotfl:

Therapy wouldn't be enough :haha:

Oh, and I had a weird experience in the RAZOR TWO mission. I went to Vyshnov (however it's spelt) and talked to the guy standing by the pump. He told me about a guy called Malek who lived in a farm nearby. So, we drive off to the farm. Just as we're about to enter the compound , the faint sound of a engine echoes behind us. I turn around and see a blue car coming to a halt.

Apparently, one of the guys I was supposed to nab decided to pay our farmer a visit as well. He runs away, so I shoot him down. The mission automatically ends and the next one titled "One week Later" begins.

I replayed RAZOR TWO again, and this time though...no blue car arrived at the farm. The farmer, Malek , redirected me to a castle nearby. Nothing there either. I didn't get the blue car arrival at the farm again , despite retrying the mission 4-5 times. So, how exactly is this mission supposed to play out?

Task Force

06-13-09, 04:34 PM

I could imagine... The enemy would need alot of stright jackets.:rotfl:

Arclight

06-13-09, 05:00 PM

Better keep them away from the cyanide. :yep:
Therapy wouldn't be enough :haha:

Oh, and I had a weird experience in the RAZOR TWO mission. I went to Vyshnov (however it's spelt) and talked to the guy standing by the pump. He told me about a guy called Malek who lived in a farm nearby. So, we drive off to the farm. Just as we're about to enter the compound , the faint sound of a engine echoes behind us. I turn around and see a blue car coming to a halt.

Apparently, one of the guys I was supposed to nab decided to pay our farmer a visit as well. He runs away, so I shoot him down. The mission automatically ends and the next one titled "One week Later" begins.

I replayed RAZOR TWO again, and this time though...no blue car arrived at the farm. The farmer, Malek , redirected me to a castle nearby. Nothing there either. I didn't get the blue car arrival at the farm again , despite retrying the mission 4-5 times. So, how exactly is this mission supposed to play out?No clue how it's supposed to play out. For me it went like it did for you; snoop around town, guy tells you about Malek, you visit him, he directs you to the ruins. 1 or 2 minutes after I searched the ruins, I got a radio call saying your target is on the move, and then the mission ended for me. I think Fin actually got a chance to set up an ambush and it played out diferently again for Dowly. Seems to be a bit randomized. :hmmm:

Never saw a blue car though. :06:

Fincuan

06-13-09, 05:37 PM

Yeah it played out differently for me. As you might remember Malek didn't like my interrogation methods("You mother****er! Where's Lopotev? What, you won't tell? -> BANG, kneecap), but that's ok as I had already checked the castle prior to going to the farm, and found the tents and such - empty. That lead dried right there, so I went to another village the name of which had come up in some conversation. Nothing there, but on the way back I was told that Lopotev had been spotted heading north, driving a red hatchback. I deployed my guys in pairs at two possible locations that he might pass, but time went by and nothing happened. After a good while I started looking for more leads, and in one village came across a NAPA guy who said they could use some help in repelling an oncoming Chedaki attack. I decided to help them, and the highly grateful NAPA guy gave me a possible hiding place that Lopotev and Bardaski(or something) had used for their political rallies before the war. I surrounded the place and went in, but only found a housekeeper there. After some roughing up he told he knew nothing about Lopotev, but that Bardaski could be hiding in a village on the coast. Said village happened to contain an old quarry, so I bet my money on that and assaulted it. My guys quickly dealt with a few bodyguards, and a .45 in to the leg convinced Bardaski to surrender. Mission over and no sign of Lopotev.

One thing that is great about the campaign is the activity going on around you. Now it actually pays off to leave a few guys on overwatch when you go recon a village, since it's entirely possible that an enemy patrol is in the area. Sykes and Rodriguez have saved my ass on numerous occasions. There's no way you can feel safe outside the "mission area", unlike in Arma and OFP.