What is considered a good frame rate for multi-player in Arma2?

[polar bear 10]

Hi all,

I am pretty new to Arma2/OA, I've been playing the game for maybe 2-3 weeks now and it's been a lot of fun. Obviously I've noticed that Arma2/OA is a lot more demanding than a lot of other FPS type games out there and that the sorts of frame rate that I can get for a game like CS:S or BC2 is just not going to be possible in Arma2 due to it being a simulator and such.

However I do have some control over the frame rate that I get. I can turn down the resolution and the settings and hold a rate of 60 or so, or I can play at the maximum resolution of my flat screen and get only about 30.

I know in a lot of other games having a higher frame rate is a tactical advantage, your movements are recorded sooner, your display is more up to date, etc., and a big enough difference can be a significant advantage.

Is that also true in Arma2? It's different gameplay, a lot less about surprise and reaction time and a lot more about observing and tactics. Still, there are cases where you see the enemy the same time they see you and presumably a lower ping and a higher frame rate translates into an advantage in Arma2 the same way as any game.

So long story short here is my question:

What do you consider a good or acceptable frame rate for multi-player Arma2? Especially player-v-player.

Would you rather play 60fps with a lower resolution, or 30fps with a higher resolution? Is it a bigger advantage to have more pixels? Or more frames?

Cheers

Polar Bear

[Zipper5 74]

The 15 to 20 FPS region is completely playable in Arma 2.

Most proper competitive maps are configured to be very FPS friendly (forced small view distance, no grass, etc.) so when you need the higher FPS, you'll get it.

[Dynamic Echo 10]

I consider 30fps to be totally acceptable in all but the very fastest online games, ie. CSS. Elsewhere, it is a bonus to get 60 but, hell, even 21 is totally playable. Maximising your resolution, however, is pretty much non-negotiable, you HAVE to, especially in games like ArmA where spotting targets at range is important.

[SPC.Spets 21]

between 30-40 fps is enough for me in Arma2

[simjedi 10]

Hi all,

I can turn down the resolution and the settings and hold a rate of 60 or so, or I can play at the maximum resolution of my flat screen and get only about 30.

<snip>

Would you rather play 60fps with a lower resolution, or 30fps with a higher resolution? Is it a bigger advantage to have more pixels? Or more frames?

Cheers

Polar Bear

If you have a flat screen (LCD) you never want to send it it's "Maximum Resolution Accepted" rez. LCD's are "Fixed Pixel" displays. They have a fixed amount of pixels that can never be increased.

Sending more pixels to it than can be displayed causes the monitor to scale the picture to fit. This causes a degradation to your picture making it look less than optimum. Not to mention it is a complete waste of processing power having your video card produce those extra pixels that will never be seen.

Run your LCD at it's "Native" resolution, this will give you the clearest picture possible for your games and processing power to use for effects.

[b00tsy 28]

The 15 to 20 FPS region is completely playable in Arma 2.

Most proper competitive maps are configured to be very FPS friendly (forced small view distance, no grass, etc.) so when you need the higher FPS, you'll get it.

For now I have to do with that kind of frame rate and it is indeed playable, only short range combat can be more difficult, especially with in the towns + vegitation, when the fps drops a bit more at some moments.

[celery 8]

40-60 is acceptable to me.

[Antigoon 10]

Never had a problem with fps wich will be between 25 and 60, depending on where the action takes place. I prefer the highest resolution possible because as stated before, it's important for spotting and identifieing enemy's at distance.

[BeerHunter 0]

As long as the visuals run smoothly then whatever the FPS be , that's good enough for me.

Not obsessed with numbers.

[NeMeSiS 11]

As long as the visuals run smoothly then whatever the FPS be , that's good enough for me.

Not obsessed with numbers.

This. Best thing to enjoy the game is to turn off the FPS counter and let your eyes adjust to whatever framerate you get, if its above 20 you will adjust to it and it will be fine anyway.

Personally i find (3d)resolution and AF very important to properly spot things in the distance, so i would never lower those.

[Undeceived 392]

30 FPS and above I consider good.

15 FPS are the absolute limit and you already have a big disadvantage, especially in PvP missions.

Below that it's just slideshow... :(

But for me the most important thing is -> Constant FPS. But I think this is difficult to achieve...

[Inkompetent 0]

As long the game doesn't stutter so badly you feel you are getting a hard time to play it's fine in ArmA. Framerates is the last thing you need to worry about. Especially as an infantryman. For flying and stuff it's obviously more important to be guaranteed not to suffer from lag spikes, even if brief.

If you can manage 20+ fps even when things get busy/are within large cities, then you are definitely okay.