Arma Thanksgiving Sale, and some questions

[maturin 12]

I just noticed the Thanksgiving sale, and since OA is now under $20, I have no excuse to remain in the stone age.

But before I buy I have some questions, and I would have posted them somewhere more appropriate, but I'm not sure I have much time. So that's my first question, how long does the sale last? Has anyone seen an end date?

And I'm wary of buying OA because my laptop barely runs Chernarus, and the system reqs are higher in OA. How does performance compare, especially for those of you with less than nuclear-powered PCs?

I own Arma 2 already, so is it less hassle to buy CO? Or is it really easy to combine OA with Arma 2?

[ebevan91 10]

Well, you could buy the CO pack for $3 more then gift the Arma II to someone.

[Dwarden 1125]

if You already own A2 then all you need is to buy OA and i suggest also the BAF+PMC package (all from Sprocket)

combining them is quite simple (it's not perfect but we plan to improve this in patches after 1.56)

[maturin 12]

How considerable is the performance drop in Chernarus or Utes if you are running CO?

Edited November 26, 2010 by maturin

[Mr. Charles 22]

It ends on the 29th, but the demo is not patched to 1.55 or 1.56, so expect an fps boost, if you buy the full game.

[Dwarden 1125]

OA engine is more advanced than A2, including fixes and tweaks which weren't possible merge back to A2 ...

no point to stay with only A2 then

[Mr. Charles 22]

True. On top of that Takistan gives me an fps boost over Chernarus.

[ziiip 1]

True. On top of that Takistan gives me an fps boost over Chernarus.

Which diminishes very quickly as the number of AI escalate.

[ArmAriffic 10]

i might buy my self another copy ;D

[maturin 12]

Which diminishes very quickly as the number of AI escalate.

Yeah, but I doubt OA AI taxes the CPU much more than A2 AI. That's always the case.

On top of that Takistan gives me an fps boost over Chernarus.

That's good to hear. I can get excellent performance on maps like Fallujah, so I guess the lack of foliage really speeds things up. I'm really only concerned about OA graphical updates further lagging up Chernarus.

[enad 11]

combining them is quite simple (it's not perfect but we plan to improve this in patches after 1.56)

I never had any issues with combining both games at all. I got ArmA 2 on Steam, then OA on Sprocket and they merged automatically, I did nothing. I've been purchasing all the DLCs on Sprocket aswell and it works perfectly.

@Maturin, as long as you keep PP effects low then you should be alright. But maybe it's time to get a desktop instead of trying to game on a Laptop? :)

[Fuzzy McDoodle 10]

I am also thinking about getting OA, but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from ArmA II.

Not only was the campaign shitty, I fail at making missions and I never bothered to join a clan so I was left with random MP servers which didn't turn out pretty.

I'm just hoping that there are some decent MP servers that I can play on that aren't random and crappy. I really want to play this game to the fullest but it's so complex and overwhelming it's like BI doesn't want you to.

Ugh, I hope you guys can convince me.

[maturin 12]

I don't know how you can fail at making missions. I've made dozens for personal use without a line of script in them. I just plop things down in the editor and delete them afterwards. All it takes is waypoints and creativity.

If you want co-op, you could do what I would have done if I had good enough internet, which is look for a few battle buddies to play small-scale self-made co-op missions with. Large squads seem to only play very polished maps with little variety. 90% of youtube videos are the same squad of Americans inserting and extracting by helicopter.

Edit: And another question. I bought both games on Steam, and when I click on Operation Arrowhead, I have the option to launch Combined Operations as well as OA standalone. Does this mean that the combination was done for me?

And if I combine them the manual way, do I lose the ability to play them separately at times?

Edited November 27, 2010 by maturin

[thr0tt 12]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/33930/ Cheaper to get it from Steam tbh.

[enad 11]

Edit: And another question. I bought both games on Steam, and when I click on Operation Arrowhead, I have the option to launch Combined Operations as well as OA standalone. Does this mean that the combination was done for me?

And if I combine them the manual way, do I lose the ability to play them separately at times?

I think that means they are combined. Might wanna check in with someone who has them both on Steam, I got A2 on Steam and OA on Sprocket and they combined flawlessly.

[Macadam Cow 1]

I am also thinking about getting OA, but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from ArmA II.

Not only was the campaign shitty, I fail at making missions and I never bothered to join a clan so I was left with random MP servers which didn't turn out pretty.

I'm just hoping that there are some decent MP servers that I can play on that aren't random and crappy. I really want to play this game to the fullest but it's so complex and overwhelming it's like BI doesn't want you to.

Ugh, I hope you guys can convince me.

Well all the issues you've experimented were due to your personnal taste or a lack of involvement from you. So if you didn't liked ArmA2 there's no reason you would like A2:OA.

BUT

With a little effort AND if you like the simulation type of game you should really consider to get into the game a little more.

When you're saying you failed at making mission with the editor this clearly shows a lack of involvement/research.

It's a such a simple tool to use compare to what it can handle. You have all the tutorials available here, on armaholic, hell, someone even did a pdf guide about every function in the editor.

ArmA clearly doesn't take you by the hand to show you what to do. Just like you said it is complex but it's not for the sake of being complex.

This complexity offers absolute freedom and this freedom has a price : you have to adapt.

This game has the steepest learning curve I've experienced but it's worth it. I'm sure you can find hundreds of people on this forum who simply can't go back to any other FPS,

we've become freedom's addict. I've played BFBC, Killzone, MOH, and in any of those games i've felt this amount of pleasure I have with ArmA.

Honestly I could spend days talking about this game and I would problably forgot half of its possibilities.

Like I've already said ArmA is like a giant box of Lego's bricks while other games are boxes of one model.

Sure in those other games you'll have some nice features, really well put together but you'll always be limited by the bricks on had in your box when you bought it.

With a box of randoms bricks you can do whatever you want, really, the sky is the limit. And new bricks, offering new possibilites, are released every single day, FOR FREE !!!!

That's why you oftenly hear "cod is for kids", not that I completly agree with this but in a way it is true.

COD doesn't requires you to use your brain, to do some research. It doesn't requires any involvement, any learning.

Just practicing your reflexes.

All I want to say is ArmA is like every good things in life : they don't come for free, you have, somehow, to diserve it.

But man I can tell you, it's worths it !

Edited November 28, 2010 by Macadam Cow

[maturin 12]

I think that means they are combined. Might wanna check in with someone who has them both on Steam, I got A2 on Steam and OA on Sprocket and they combined flawlessly.

Flawlessly, you say. Have you figured out how to get Steam to run CO with beta patches and mods?

[Avneet 10]

Thank you BI for this sale(figured put this here). Bought Combined Ops and am now a loyal fan and customer :D

[bhaz 0]

I noticed BAF was $5 on Steam at the moment, there any plans for a BAF+PMC pack on Steam in the near future?

[katansaber1 10]

Hi guys new user here.Just purchased Arma 2 Combined Ops from sprocket . I have received two different keys for arma2 and arma 2 oa. A friend of mine has bought the standalone dvd's of both arma 2 and oa. Can I use the keys provided by sprocket and install the game using his dvd's or do i need to download both the setup files from sprocket.

The reason i am asking this is cause my download speed is about 100kbps and it will take me a lot of time to download both arma 2 and oa digitally...

Thx.. and waiting for replies

[nettrucker 142]

I am also thinking about getting OA, but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from ArmA II.

Not only was the campaign shitty, I fail at making missions and I never bothered to join a clan so I was left with random MP servers which didn't turn out pretty.

I'm just hoping that there are some decent MP servers that I can play on that aren't random and crappy. I really want to play this game to the fullest but it's so complex and overwhelming it's like BI doesn't want you to.

Ugh, I hope you guys can convince me.

Why does everybody ask for being convinced is beyond my understanding. If you don't like the game just leave it and play something else. Otherwise cope with it.

just my 2 cents.

kind regards