New ARMA2 OA Beta Patch 72418 Available!

[das attorney 858]

issues rocks with some rocks aren't yet resolved , still work in progress

usually what works to get unstuck from such rock is keep repeating "walk over obstacle" movement and sometimes combined with lay down

as workaround it's better than need to respawn or so

Dude, I'm impressed that staff from BI actually take time out to reply to people here on the forum. I've bought so many bugged PC and console games in the past, then gone onto their forums to see massive stonewalling by the development team, either with no responses, or an official statement that answers no-one and infuriates all. It's quite reassuring that you all get involved and try to work with the community.

The only other PC developers I can think of that have your level of involvement (from personal experience) are Egosoft (X3), and Austin Meyer (X-Plane). To be honest, I only really bother with these three games as they're the best three examples of the style of game that appeals to me (space, aviation and guns). That's just my own opinion of course.

The developer of X-Plane is ALWAYS TYPING IN CAPS, probably because he's really excited about stuff he's coding, but it's pretty cool as you can email him directly about bugs/features and he actually bothers to reply back. Most of the time, the replies aren't what people want to hear (ie - sorry - I don't think that's doable/a popular choice etc), but he does take good suggestions onboard and integrate it into the sim. I see BI doing a similar thing on these forums. I guess that with a sim/game as mutable as this one, it's hard to placate all the voices on the forums, but I like the general direction the sim's headed in.

I wouldn't normally post something like this, but I've had an cathartic day and feel unusually thoughtful.

Anyway, rock on chaps.

[AnimalMother92 10]

Dude, I'm impressed that staff from BI actually take time out to reply to people here on the forum. I've bought so many bugged PC and console games in the past, then gone onto their forums to see massive stonewalling by the development team, either with no responses, or an official statement that answers no-one and infuriates all. It's quite reassuring that you all get involved and try to work with the community.

Fully agree, I really am impressed by the level of commitment. Chances that the dev team are actually a bunch of Energizer bunnies? :rolleyes:

[metalcraze 290]

Dwarden while you are at it - are there any plans to fix civilians (as in making it possible to interact with Chernarussians properly again)?

And is UAV attacking enemies and maneuvering on its own when it has hellfires, or giving you commands who to attack when you control it - a bug? And whether it's being worked on (the UAV module is set and synced properly, as per wiki)?

And what about the cursor that is stuck in the center of the screen which makes controlling stuff uncomfortable with a wide deadzone?

[Pauldarrington 9]

Dwarden keeps going and going and going and going

And going... Etc FPDR

Cheers for the new beta all fixes important or not are always welcome.

[Dwarden 1125]

Dwarden while you are at it - are there any plans to fix civilians (as in making it possible to interact with Chernarussians properly again)?

interaction with Chernarusian civilians was removed because it caused some unforseen consequences ...

it might (or not) be re-enabled on later date when all works properly

unsure about the rest so i will not comment atm

[Laqueesha 474]

My favourite fix is the aircraft auto-trim fix. :D

Edited August 4, 2010 by Laqueesha

[ryguy 10]

OMG TRIMMMMMMM!!

:partytime: :pet12:

[cossack8559 10]

Decreased tank sliding. << what does this mean? i take it its not the recoil when you fire the main cannon obviously.

you mean when a tank turns at fast speed and it slides? i thought that was normal lol

[Heatseeker 0]

Some really nice aditions/fixes, good job!

[ryguy 10]

Decreased tank sliding. << what does this mean? i take it its not the recoil when you fire the main cannon obviously.

you mean when a tank turns at fast speed and it slides? i thought that was normal lol

Nah, tanks can't really "drift" because of the fact their tracks give them good grip.

[Spike 21 0]

MP Broke now, all red???

[CarlGustaffa 4]

@Spike 21: How about just reading this thread?

[shataan 1]

I can`t believe how sweet the textures are in this patch. I hope it stays this nice or gets better. Not worse. hehhehhhe

Edited August 4, 2010 by Shataan

[-=seany=- 5]

Nah, tanks can't really "drift" because of the fact their tracks give them good grip.

In fact yes they can....Why have they added this totally unnecessary change? Was it because of this one thread that popped up about a week ago? http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=103636 ...that's the only place I saw this complaint (tanks drifting too much) :rolleyes: .

Where did we vote on this in Dev heaven?? I have not even seen the bug report for it... The tank driving physics where Perfect (wheeled not so much) I only praised it in that thread I linked above ...In fact ill quote myself here so you can all see the videos I answered that thread with..

the one thing that i've always not liked in Arma and Arma 2 is the rediculous ground vehicle physics when was the last time you saw a main battle tank do a powerslide?!

I think you underestimate the power to weight ratio of these vehicles :) Sorry, but had to :D :-

- Ok its ice, but what a drift.

- what? you cant have drifting without Asians :)

- Poetry in motion

- just like Arma

Ill admit the physics are not great, but they are not awful. There are two main issues i have that can be broken into 2 categories: Tracked and Wheeled.

Tracked

--------

I think the behaviour of tracked vehicles is pretty good, far better than wheeled vehicles. The suspension and traction of tracked vehicles feels pretty damn good, even when they catch air etc. The main problem I feel is the collision detection. Like when their "Mesh" intersects with another object they repel each other violently, but this is common in many games. And so far I have yet to get air borne from hitting a rock in OA, and I have hit many. I know that bug exists I just don't think its as prevalent as some would have us believe.

Wheeled

--------

I think this is where there are some real physics problems. It can be clearly seen in the motor bike or any other wheeled vehicle when the front wheels come off the ground and they stay in the air in a most comical fashion. I have noticed it a lot in the Stryker when going down mountain slopes, the wheels hover in the air. The physics for wheeled vehicles are ok, but they really come unstuck once you do anything to push the limit of the vehicle.

Now tanks are more dull, Under steering and actually tipping over when on the limit as opposed to sliding nicely like they used to and should. Please return this unnecessary physics change back to the way it was. No one asked for it as far as I can tell.

There are many other physics aspects for vehicles that could use attention, Like the sliding bug in wheeled vehicles such as the Stryker and HMMV mk19, that slide about when your firing while parked on a slope like they have no handbrake.......that's a bug

This may seem like I'm picking on some thing trivial, but I don't want to see changes for the sake of it.. eg people complain about physics so "lets just throwing some easy change in that's not really needed, that will keep them happy." That and I have always enjoyed tanking since OFP and the physics where perfect then as they where before this beta, so why the change now?

[spork 10]

Giving ai a movement order still causes a crash for me, as it has with the last couple of betas.

[^Th0mas^ 10]

work in progress ...

ETA as always ... when it's fixed ;)

Im happy to hear its going to be fixed ;)

[todayskiller 10]

Agreed, I would Do these Beta Patches...but when the Final patch of the Betas comes out, I'm like yeah...Already knew all that would be coming (So I wait to have a nice suprise :D)

[Richey79 10]

Agree with -=seany=- for me the slight drift on the tanks seemed pretty feasible before, and a nice handling characteristic. A 60 tonne tank isn't going to be able to get totally solid purchase on many types of sand and mud (inb4 'I'm a tank commander IRL and it's now perfect).

Also agree with comments the last couple of betas that the AI are in need of a spit and polish at this point. They seem to have crept back to constantly getting pistols out, refusing to break off engagements, glitching into a loop so that they won't respond to any command... . LODs too are still working in a very bizarre way sometimes. When you zoom in on things that are close, they will sometimes switch to the lowest of all LODs (once an object/character has done this once, it continues to do it for the rest of the session). The faceless people are back again, very occasionally. Not as bad as it was two betas ago.

Some nice changes this patch, though. Like the work on tracers in thermal imaging (haven't tested it in game yet). Thanks for the continued support, Bis.

I've never had a crash when issuing a 'move there' order to the AI. Anyone got any idea what is in common for the system of those who have had this problem?

[milkyway12 10]

Roger that Dwarden , thanks for the response , also love the tracers , good job BIS.

[NoRailgunner 0]

Is it a bug or a feature?

1) If player is wounded and his team is sitting in a vehicle - they wont get out and try to help him, they do nothing only wait to get killed.

suggestion: if player is wounded and not in charge get AI units out and help/support him

2) Medics/Corpsman walk away from group to give support to a unit that is not in group and far away - nothing stops them to do so except a bullet.

suggestion: dont let them go on their own to support others - max only 200m from teamleaders position

3) AI units need to much time to get in a vehicle or withdraw from combat/battle

suggestion: make the order "Disengage" functional and very strict for AI

[VariousArtist 19]

Fully agree with NoRailgunner! Medics really need a fix and I would love to have a "disengage"-order!

[dr. hladik 231]

AI command "move there"STILL causes game crash...

Any repro?

[armored_sheep 56]

I have question abou new tracked vehicles change : Do you prefer the original sliding tanks, that driven by player, where drifting 90 deg oversteer everytime when you were turning and slowing at the same time?

Beta exe does not fix AI driving with tanks. This has to be fixed in config. AI should be able to follow planned path without sudden changes in direction on straight roads.

[EricM 0]

AI should be able to follow planned path without sudden changes in direction on straight roads.

Wow, if true that's just awsome news...

[cross 1]

I have question abou new tracked vehicles change : Do you prefer the original sliding tanks, that driven by player, where drifting 90 deg oversteer everytime when you were turning and slowing at the same time?

Hell no !! They were like ice skaters.

With some more stability to vehicle driving, it is good atm.

Cheers.