Thinking of getting ArmA, few questions.

Krauter · 05-27-12, 01:03 PM

Looking at Steam, I can get an ArmA II bundle with Arma II and Operation Arrowhead for 29.99.

However, Steam also has a bundle called Arma X which includes Arma II, Arma British Forces, Op. Arrowhead, Private Military Company, Cold War Asault and Arma Gold edition. All for 59.99

I have no idea what all of the extra addons include, but am wondering whether it is worth it to shell out the $ or just go with ArmaII and Op. Arrowhead only.

Opinions?

0rpheus · 05-27-12, 01:27 PM

You only really need Combined Ops to play most of the recent stuff, including DayZ. The X pack has the extra DLC and the old games (ARMA1 etc) as well, but I don't know how much play the older games get, and the DLC is mostly passable, at least when you're starting out.

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/46..._7_suggest__13

Egan · 05-27-12, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krauter

Looking at Steam, I can get an ArmA II bundle with Arma II and Operation Arrowhead for 29.99.

However, Steam also has a bundle called Arma X which includes Arma II, Arma British Forces, Op. Arrowhead, Private Military Company, Cold War Asault and Arma Gold edition. All for 59.99

I have no idea what all of the extra addons include, but am wondering whether it is worth it to shell out the $ or just go with ArmaII and Op. Arrowhead only.

Opinions?

The Brit one for Arma2 is good: Brit infantry in both DPM and Desert cammo, lots of new weapons, a new (v. small) map, new vehicles (landrover, Jackal, Warrior. Maybe more but I can't remember). PMC is a similar deal, except with civilian security rather than soldiers. Can't remember what new vehicles it came with.

Cold War Assault it, iirc, the rebranded, original Op Flashpoint. Don't have it but I imagine it contains both the expansion packs and ArmA gold is the first ArmA title plus the Queens Gambit expansion.

I'm guessing all the older titles are patched up to current standards but I don't know whether any work has been done to them with regards to new content.

If it was me, I'd get the Op Arrowhead bundle with the 'Reinforcements' add-on (which adds the Brits and the PMC) the full bundle there is nice, but $60 is probably more than I want to spend considering I'd probably play each of the two older games once out of curiosity and nostalgia. It's not a bad deal, though.

Raptor1 · 05-27-12, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Egan

Cold War Assault it, iirc, the rebranded, original Op Flashpoint. Don't have it but I imagine it contains both the expansion packs and ArmA gold is the first ArmA title plus the Queens Gambit expansion.

Cold War Assault is indeed the original Operation Flashpoint, but it only contains the Resistance expansion; Red Hammer was developed by Codemasters so apparently it couldn't be included.

Krauter · 05-27-12, 02:15 PM

Ah fair enough, I was looking at getting either Arma2 or Red Orchestra 2 + Naval War Arctic Circle this weekend.

Egan · 05-27-12, 02:19 PM

ArmA2 is great. I love just cooking up my own little things in the editor. There is so much modded content for it now that you could be playing it for ever.

She-Wolf · 06-15-12, 02:05 PM

I have just downloaded Arma II Free and it looks good and I sorta want to buy it when I have the pennies - but I am not very good at fast and furious fighting so wonder if I will cope. Someone in another thread said they had a lot of fun just driving a supply truck, and that sounds more 'me' than killing soldiers all the time - any idea which game that might refer to?

I would quite like the British one as well ( Best Beloved gives me a hard time when I play SH3 because he thinks I ought not to be sinking British ships in my little U-boat - unpatriotic).

Right now I am in Boot Camp, but as there is no manual with the free game, trying to follow orders is a tad slow because I have to try all the keys to find out what works - but it looks fun, once I get used to it...

Egan · 06-15-12, 02:25 PM

Combat is very rarely frenetic. I mean, in the campaigns there are missions that will punish you with their pace but most of them aren't really like that. To be honest, I've always felt the game plays best when it's a small special forces team operating alone. Actually, a lot of them are.

The BAF pack is very good. British troops in desert and woodland camo. A pile of weapons, A Warrior, A Jackal and a Landrover, plus a Wildcat and Chinook and Apache, I think. Not a bad package.

I get my Arma2 kicks in the mission editor. I went through a phase were I basically did nothing else but set up staged 'photos' of US and British troops going about there duties in Takistan: Speaking with the elders in a village, a marine firefight in one of the towns, British troops arresting suspected insurgents, manning checkpoints....

....great fun. Setting up poses and such like got me trying to remember the scripting stuff I used to know during the original OFP days.

She-Wolf · 06-15-12, 04:57 PM

[QUOTE=She-Wolf; as there is no manual with the free game...[/QUOTE]

oops, yes there is, and in-game guidance as well. Thank you for the wisdom Egan. BAF pack... will remember that. Mods too.. wow. Boot Camp, here I come...

0rpheus · 06-15-12, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Egan

The BAF pack is very good.

Apart from the writing! Ye gods it's beyond awful... just goes to show if you want to write a part for a 'warrior poet' - get a real poet to write the damn stuff!

Good units/maps/weapons though, same with Private Military Company.

She-Wolf: if you do decide to spend your pennies, DO NOT buy the individual games (Arma2 and Arma2: Operation Arrowhead). 99% of stuff (mods, servers, etc) for Arma nowadays requires Arma2: Combined Ops - this is the one to get. It contains both Arma2 and Op Arrowhead in one pack, so not only ensures your access to latest servers etc, but will save you a titanic amount of hassle if you decide to add mods (DayZ for example) further down the line as well.

BAF & PMC DLCs will work fine with Combined Ops too.

She-Wolf · 06-16-12, 03:22 AM

Orpheus - advice noted, will follow as I will surely want to add mods as time goes by. Saving pennies begins now! Egg and chips for the next month methinks..

Eek - I dun it, haven't told himself yet... downloading from Steam.. feel guilty now.

danlisa · 06-16-12, 10:25 AM

Was also looking at CO as a download. Got a demo of Arrowhead and ran the benchmark, 60 fps at max settings load a mission and it drops to 35.

Has there been any performance optimisations to the full game that improves this?

0rpheus · 06-16-12, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danlisa

Was also looking at CO as a download. Got a demo of Arrowhead and ran the benchmark, 60 fps at max settings load a mission and it drops to 35.

Has there been any performance optimisations to the full game that improves this?

Depends how old the demo code is, but my instinct would be no. There are improvements in the latest beta, notably FXAA adds a good performance boost, but the campaign missions contain a lot of scripting and are heavy on the AI, and thus on your CPU.

Drop a setting or two, maybe on post process, AA or SSAO & you should see a difference. Also experiment with the 'video memory' setting - it won't autodetect and users often report a huge difference when they get the correct vidmem setting.

Krauter · 07-12-12, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 0rpheus

Apart from the writing! Ye gods it's beyond awful... just goes to show if you want to write a part for a 'warrior poet' - get a real poet to write the damn stuff!

Good units/maps/weapons though, same with Private Military Company.

She-Wolf: if you do decide to spend your pennies, DO NOT buy the individual games (Arma2 and Arma2: Operation Arrowhead). 99% of stuff (mods, servers, etc) for Arma nowadays requires Arma2: Combined Ops - this is the one to get. It contains both Arma2 and Op Arrowhead in one pack, so not only ensures your access to latest servers etc, but will save you a titanic amount of hassle if you decide to add mods (DayZ for example) further down the line as well.

BAF & PMC DLCs will work fine with Combined Ops too.

Just bought CO on sale, however in my library it is seperated as Arma2 and Arma Op. Arrowhead. Which one would I install the mod DayZ onto?

Dowly · 07-12-12, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krauter

Just bought CO on sale, however in my library it is seperated as Arma2 and Arma Op. Arrowhead. Which one would I install the mod DayZ onto?

Install both (A2 & OA), patch it and install DayZ via Six-Updater:
http://www.dayzmod.com/?SixUpdater

06-15-12, 02:05 PM	#7
She-Wolf Watchdog Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hampshire UK Posts: 971 Downloads: 152 Uploads: 0	I have just downloaded Arma II Free and it looks good and I sorta want to buy it when I have the pennies - but I am not very good at fast and furious fighting so wonder if I will cope. Someone in another thread said they had a lot of fun just driving a supply truck, and that sounds more 'me' than killing soldiers all the time - any idea which game that might refer to? I would quite like the British one as well ( Best Beloved gives me a hard time when I play SH3 because he thinks I ought not to be sinking British ships in my little U-boat - unpatriotic). Right now I am in Boot Camp, but as there is no manual with the free game, trying to follow orders is a tad slow because I have to try all the keys to find out what works - but it looks fun, once I get used to it... __________________

06-15-12, 02:25 PM	#8
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,020 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	Combat is very rarely frenetic. I mean, in the campaigns there are missions that will punish you with their pace but most of them aren't really like that. To be honest, I've always felt the game plays best when it's a small special forces team operating alone. Actually, a lot of them are. The BAF pack is very good. British troops in desert and woodland camo. A pile of weapons, A Warrior, A Jackal and a Landrover, plus a Wildcat and Chinook and Apache, I think. Not a bad package. I get my Arma2 kicks in the mission editor. I went through a phase were I basically did nothing else but set up staged 'photos' of US and British troops going about there duties in Takistan: Speaking with the elders in a village, a marine firefight in one of the towns, British troops arresting suspected insurgents, manning checkpoints........great fun. Setting up poses and such like got me trying to remember the scripting stuff I used to know during the original OFP days.

06-15-12, 04:57 PM	#9
She-Wolf Watchdog Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hampshire UK Posts: 971 Downloads: 152 Uploads: 0	[QUOTE=She-Wolf; as there is no manual with the free game...[/QUOTE] oops, yes there is, and in-game guidance as well. Thank you for the wisdom Egan. BAF pack... will remember that. Mods too.. wow. Boot Camp, here I come... __________________

06-16-12, 03:22 AM	#11
She-Wolf Watchdog Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hampshire UK Posts: 971 Downloads: 152 Uploads: 0	Orpheus - advice noted, will follow as I will surely want to add mods as time goes by. Saving pennies begins now! Egg and chips for the next month methinks.. Eek - I dun it, haven't told himself yet... downloading from Steam.. feel guilty now. __________________ Last edited by She-Wolf; 06-16-12 at 05:17 AM.

06-16-12, 10:25 AM	#12
danlisa Navy Seal Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 5,499 Downloads: 45 Uploads: 1	Was also looking at CO as a download. Got a demo of Arrowhead and ran the benchmark, 60 fps at max settings load a mission and it drops to 35. Has there been any performance optimisations to the full game that improves this? __________________

05-27-12, 01:27 PM	#2
0rpheus Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: UK Posts: 857 Downloads: 87 Uploads: 3	You only really need Combined Ops to play most of the recent stuff, including DayZ. The X pack has the extra DLC and the old games (ARMA1 etc) as well, but I don't know how much play the older games get, and the DLC is mostly passable, at least when you're starting out. http://store.steampowered.com/sub/46..._7_suggest__13

05-27-12, 02:19 PM	#6
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,020 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	ArmA2 is great. I love just cooking up my own little things in the editor. There is so much modded content for it now that you could be playing it for ever.