How to play this game?

[160thSOAR 10]

I'll leave the zoom button as is and remap the Hold Breath button to a different mouse key. I didn't know that the Hold Breath and Zoom keys were different!

[160thSOAR 10]

I played my first two games of multiplayer last night.

I didn't do too badly the first game. I spent most of my time flying around in an Mi-8 Medevac and healing wounded soldiers. My teammates thanked me a whole lot and I got a respectable amount of points. I only killed two soldiers though, when my helicopter crash-landed in a clearing after being disabled by a Tunguska. Still, I did all right.

The second game, however, was on a different server. I absolutely sucked! For one thing, my ping had climbed over a hundred and I was lagging somewhat. The main problem was that my respawn point was out in the middle of nowhere and the helicopter approaches were covered by a pair of Tunguskas. The AH-1Z that extracted me was shot down on the way out of the LZ. I kept respawning miles away from the action, for some reason unable to change my respawn point to where my teammates were, and got so busy legging it around the map that I got shot a ton. I contributed little to my team except spotting a pair of Tunguskas and left after the game ended.

The good thing is that the people on both servers were just like the people on these forums. Quite helpful and I didn't get called a "noob" or something of that sort once, even when I asked really stupid questions and accidentally wasted an AIM-9 Sidewinder.

[Li0n 10]

On to another question. Any tips for spotting enemy soldiers? Often, when I'm in the Armory doing a Survival or Point Defense mission, I get shot before I even see the guy. This happens a ton while I'm sitting in the turret of an M2 Humvee.

Well, sitting in static weapons makes you a really good target, IMO. First, try it on your feet. Don`t stay - sit or lay down if you not moving. Try to move rarely, because while you are sitting, you will spot enemy easier than while moving. In multiplayer very helpful to use head-rotate action, when you looking around, only by head, you body stands still = good cover. Try to find cover and and look from behind it, using Q and E keys. Note that looking from right side of an object is better, because your caracter is right-handed and you will cover more of your silhouette.

Welcome to A2! :)

[Pummel 10]

I have TAB as lock on to enemy target, I think that is the default key. So when flying attack choppers, I am almost constantly spamming the TAB key to see what's out there.

I fly choppers with keyboard and mouse just fine. I sucked at first but I'm awesome now :P I find that to be a great chopper pilot in this game, you have to be very forceful with it. Don't try to fly it like a real life chopper. So say you are flying in one direction and fly in to a bunch of enemies and want to turn around, forget about making nice gentle turns. You should throw the chopper on to its side and then pull up, just like flying a jet, and then you do a sharp 180 degree turn and come back on yourself. The finer points are learning how to do turns like that without losing too much speed, but sometimes you will want to lose speed. As mentioned earlier, you can't turn left and right unless the chopper is going very slow, so sometimes if you want some finer control over the chopper, its nice to violently throw it sideways again and kill all your air speed, and then if you level it out quickly, you will all of a sudden be stopped and stable in the air. And you can then turn and take some shots or whatever.

As for being on foot, the key thing in my opinion, is playing it like real life. The number 1 thing I learned which turned me from a noob dying every 5 seconds, to surviving a lot, was learning to use cover. You can lean in this game, so if you find a building, you can hide behind the building and just lean out and take shots at enemies. It makes you so much harder to hit, and if they get a flurry of shots coming at you, you just lean back in and you are completely safe. You can also do this with big trees, vehicles, and anything else that is wider than you.

Another thing is the ability to crouch and lie down prone. Not only does it help your aim, but it makes you far harder to hit. And often there are quite large rocks and bounders in the ground, so if you find yourself somewhere without a building or thick trees to hide behind, you can just hit the deck, preferably behind a rock, and you are safe there.

Another thing I learned was if you ever have to fight on the move, like you have to check to see if someone is inside a building or something, don't just run and hope to shoot because the chances are you won't be able to stop and take aim in time. Instead, hold shift as you go and you'll walk, and the character will be far better able to aim as you walk. So just before you get to the door, start walking and taking aim and be prepared to take the shot.

One last thing, maybe this is just me, but I would say that 95% of firefights in this game take place at long distances. I hardly ever get in close range fights. It's almost always at long distance, when the enemy is so tiny you can almost not see them. You then zoom in and you can just about see them and start taking shots at them. Not only do you have to deal with the bullet drop over distance and making good shots, but if you aren't shooting exactly in the right place, you are never going to hit them anyway. So to help with this, I pull my monitor closer to me when I play this game. Usually my face is around 3 feet away or something, and when I play this game it's more like 2 feet. It still looks good and it's still comfortable, but it just makes it easier to do pin point shooting, and that is a huge part of this game.

Other than that, it's all about practice makes perfect! :)

p.s. Once you get online, check out the game mode called CTI. I am kind of new to multiplayer but that is my favourite mode so far. Enjoy :)

Edited March 26, 2011 by Pummel

[160thSOAR 10]

I've never been the type to be yanking the stick around in an aircraft; it will be hard for me to adjust.

I know some of your infantry tips, but some of them were quite helpful and I'll be sure to implement them. I generally spend most games wandering around with about 4 or so AI Humvees. I try to put myself in an up-armored M240 Humvee and give the AI a Mk-19 Humvee and 2 M2 Humvees. It works pretty well and I capture a whole lot of stuff doing it. Due to the way I tend to fight, which usually results in being in city streets a ton, most of my engagements I can usually see the enemy fairly well. One thing that's gotten me killed a lot is not leaning. I tend to go prone and use rolling if I can, but in confined alleyways and the like it's more convenient to use crouching.

Because I play on a laptop, I can't use the Numpad keys. This prevents me from using a whole lot of the functions they want me to use for the ArmA 2: OA tutorial. Is there a way to circumvent this? Does anyone have any keybindings for me?

[flattermann 12]

i'd just buy a USB keyboard... most of the keys are already taken

[160thSOAR 10]

I'm pretty sure I have one of those lying around the house, and if need be I can always disconnect the one on the mainframe and plug it into the laptop that I play on.

I had my first encounter with a teamkiller yesterday, and that wasn't fun. But I got to play with an awesome Blackhawk pilot, and he gave me a few tips. I'm getting better at flying. :)

[flattermann 12]

Teamkills happen quite often, mostly resulting from insufficient communication :D Keep up the flying, there are not many excellent pilots out there ;)

[160thSOAR 10]

I know what you mean by the accidental teamkill, when you mess up in FFID and accidentally shoot a friendly. Accidental teamkills are, well, accidental, and they don't bother me. This guy, however, was purposefully killing teammates. He ran around the base killing a ton of people for fun. It ruined the game for all of us.

On the other hand, I had a very fun experience flying a Lynx around in OA on the TAC server. It does seem that my flying work has payed off, because I managed successful insertions/extractions from hot LZ's, although I accidentally overflew an unseen Tunguska as I was getting out of the third insertion. It shot off my tail rotor, messed up my sensor package, and caused very bad fuel leaks. I managed to fly all the way back to the base though and still land it without killing myself or anyone nearby. It was really hard to do.

After that success story :), I have a few problems. For one thing, what is the best attack to use against an enemy Tunguska in Takistan? I thought that pop-up wasn't really an option because there weren't really any trees around, and when I tried a break-off attack, I managed to destroy an enemy vehicle but had to go back to base thanks to fuel leakage problems. Fly-bys were a total failure. I tried it on two AA vehicles, my engine got shot out and I slammed into the cold, hard ground. :P

Does the Lynx have a laser designation function? Its missiles are laser-guided, and I think its armament menu thing said something about a laser. I wasn't sure how to use it though so I just tried to cooperate with a guy on the ground who had a designator. It would have been easier if I had my own designator though.

[flattermann 12]

you need a guy on the ground for a designator to work afaik. well from what i know when you are in a vehicle and switch the engine off, you're not "tabable" - lockable by pressing tab in an aircraft anymore, but IDK whether is the case in vanilla arma. When i am in a tank or tunguska in the game mode i use to play most of the time (which is CTI of course :D) than i just sit still in the gunners position whithout moving the turret (what would turn the engine on again) whenever there's a chopper around in order not to get tabbed, and then try to lock him instead, or put a few MG rounds into his engine.

The best tactic against a Tunguska is to avoid its missiles, either stay low using cover such as hills when you're going for the kill or gain a high altitude, or another approach (:D i am not a good pilot and my English sucks at 2 in the morning). If there's a rocket coming to you, the default key for flares is R. Aircraft in ArmA have a ridiculously high amount of them regarding the fact that you pop'em out one at a time. When it's hitting you with its 30mm cannon theres not much that you can do. But it's not that easy to hit you with that as long as you don't fly in a straight, predictable line.

Fly-bys are difficult in general, its pretty tricky to zoom and aim while flying. Unguided missiles and bombs have a great destruction radius though, so you don't have to actually hit them directly. Takes practise.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Flattermann

[160thSOAR 10]

Well the Lynx's fixed cannon is great for fly-bys of soft targets. The laser missiles are rather hard to use though in my opinion. Still I love the Lynx, it's great for clearing out a hot LZ. Much better than the Ka-60's pathetic 12 FFARs.

I was playing Coop, so the Tunguska's weren't player-controlled. They didn't use any sort of fancy tactics, and they've only ever shot like 2 missiles at me. They rely almost exclusively on cannon. But knowing how a Tunguska player thinks and how to use flares is quite good!

I fly almost exclusively in third-person, and I never use any sort of zoom function unless I do a pop-up attack. But since I only used the laser-guided missiles in conjunction with my FAC, there wasn't any need to zoom in. Is there a way to communicate with an FAC without cluttering up the VON for the entire BLUFOR?

I was wondering if my insertion/extraction approach to a hot LZ is any good. Generally, I try to insert the troop just beyond the rise of a hill that's close to the objective so the Tunguskas can't see me and the troops have time to get out. More often than not, though, I don't consider the LZ situation that closely, especially when green tracers are flying all over the place, and just try to get the chopper down on the nearest piece of available ground that has some tree cover from the Tungs. Getting out from insertions is something I'd like to think I'm rather good at. I operate on the "speed is life" principle, and when flying out of an LZ try to fly less than 20 meters off the ground and with my nose tilted almost vertically. I can't keep it up for very long as I'll inevitably crash into the ground, but it normally gets me out of the OPFORs range in a few seconds, no matter which direction I fly in.

I play ArmA 2 in the early hours of the morning usually. Around 3:40 AM to 7:00 AM. If you're up at 2:00, maybe I could find you in-game? Unless you're running ACE.

That reminds me, how do I install ACE (I'm applying for the 97th RR, and I will probably need ACE and something called ACRE), and is it possible to turn ACE on and off without uninstalling it?

Thanks, you're very helpful! :)

[flattermann 12]

I fly almost exclusively in third-person, and I never use any sort of zoom function unless I do a pop-up attack. But since I only used the laser-guided missiles in conjunction with my FAC, there wasn't any need to zoom in. Is there a way to communicate with an FAC without cluttering up the VON for the entire BLUFOR?

You could use the group channel (green), not the side global (blue) for VON communication. However you need to be in the same group (e.g. Alpha, Charlie - 1, 2, 3...)

Another great way is to use that thing called A.C.R.E. - acronym for Advanced Combat Radio Environment. It is mostly used by clans or squads together with A.C.E - Advanced Cobat Environment. It allows you to have a own radio channel together with your gunner and your FAC.

I was wondering if my insertion/extraction approach to a hot LZ is any good. Generally, I try to insert the troop just beyond the rise of a hill that's close to the objective so the Tunguskas can't see me and the troops have time to get out.

On our server we play 1st person only, it makes flying a lot more difficult but on the other hand provides a special atmosphere. Some servers allow 3rd person for all, some only for drivers/pilots. Imho a good way to stay out of trouble when leaving a hot LZ is to tilt your chopper sideways so that the enemy can only shoot the bottom side, right under your feet, any other part of the hull is easily penetrateable.

I play ArmA 2 in the early hours of the morning usually. Around 3:40 AM to 7:00 AM. If you're up at 2:00, maybe I could find you in-game? Unless you're running ACE.

I use to play mostly on weekends, but yeah I'd love to play a coop with you ;) My timezone is GMT+1 though.

That reminds me, how do I install ACE (I'm applying for the 97th RR, and I will probably need ACE and something called ACRE), and is it possible to turn ACE on and off without uninstalling it?

In order to install ACE and ACRE you need to know the modfolder 101.

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/modfolders

You better do this with someone you know on Teamspeak, someone you use to play with. In general, you download ACE (several zipped files) and create a modfolder for each zipped file - then unzip and copy the content into the modfolder.

E.G.

...\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2:

@ACE

@ACEX

@ACEX_SM

...

@ACRE

Modfolders allow you to start a game with or without a mod, so you can play Vanilla, ACE with the latest betas or the stable release, whatever is required on the server you want to play on.

ACRE works in combination with teamspeak only. It's not that difficult to set it up yet you can do a lot of things wrong, so better set it up with the help of someone experienced.

ACE adds a lot of complexity to the game, it makes it more difficult. It's necessary to have played a few hours on vanilla. But once you've played your first coop with ACE and ACRE you just never want to play without it again :)

Edit: another hint - you need a gunner in your chopper for guided missiles work properly - doesn't matter if AI or human, you can use manual fire.

Edited March 30, 2011 by Flattermann

[160thSOAR 10]

I have some good news, in that I am accepted to the 97thRR. I also have some bad news.

I suck with computers. I suck with them. Luckily, I don't have to mess around with the add-on coding. I have something called Addon Sync. The bad thing is that I have trouble with anything that there's no easy "download and install" button for. Messing with 7Zip and all that.... :(

Chopper flying has taken a downturn. Being sick with a stomachache, I stopped paying attention to what I was doing a few times while I was nap-of-the-earth flying. This resulted in two unfortunate encounters with telephone poles. I also got shot down by a friendly Apache's Hellfire strike. He must have accidentally locked me or something.

I'll go download ACE now, and mess around with it on TS3 Saturday. Thanks again for all the help!

If you want to find me on ArmA 2, I am usually on one of the TAW servers if they are at all full. If not, I'm on one of the more crowded servers. I am never on Zargabad Life.

EDIT: It's time to play the "Computer Idiot Music"! I have 7Zip downloaded, but Windows says I still need WinZip, BitZipper, or some other thing to download it because the files need to be expanded. Unfortunately, these all have to be paid for. Should I be hitting the "Save" option instead of the "Find" option on the dialogue box? Sorry I'm such a fool.

Edited April 1, 2011 by 160thSOAR

[flattermann 12]

http://www.7-zip.org/

you don't need to pay for that ;)

You are using Yoma Addon Sync? That should unzip and install everything autmatically. Always run it as Adminstrator. On first use cklick on "New Server", add the link that was given to you (ends with .7zip). Under "Settings" in the upper left hand corner specify the gamepath (if it's not already there):

http://img121.imageshack.us/i/yomax.jpg/

Then "Open Server" -> "Download Addons" - done.

Edited April 2, 2011 by Flattermann

[160thSOAR 10]

A very nice person on TS3 helped me and I know what to do now. He had to tell me three times before I finally understood. I'm really thick about computers.... Good thing is I know what to do now.

I flew a Blackhawk around a bit and did a few gun runs with an AH6 today. For some reason, the AH6 stopped working and lost everything but hull integrity when it started to rain. I crashed into the ground before I could figure out what was happening. :( I'm lucky no one else was in there.

I managed my first insertion of a fully loaded Blackhawk. It was cool. :D I don't like to use the Hawk much though. It's too big for my terrain-following tactics and doesn't leave much room for error. I like the Lynx, Ka-60, and Little Bird variants more.

Is there an add friend option in game? I haven't bothered to look, actually, and I can't launch ArmA2 on the crappy computer I'm typing this from.

Edited April 4, 2011 by 160thSOAR
Mistyped Ka-60 as Ka-50

[Inkompetent 0]

There's no friend-function in the game (which is good imo), so I'd recommend mainly XFire or Steam for that.

[160thSOAR 10]

Okay. I'm having troubles with Addon Sync. It's downloaded quite a few of the files, but there were some it didn't download the first go-around. I figured this could be fixed if I just tried again because Addon Sync recognizes which files you have already downloaded. Unfortunately, it now freezes every few files it's downloaded. I have to log out and log back in Windows 7 to get it to work again, and it will download a few more files before working again. I am running it as Admin. Any idea what's happening?

I used an L85 ACOG with a fair amount of success today. I still can't see much without higher-power optics. I also wish there weren't friendly units that wore shemaghs.... I've shot 2 friendles by mistake because of that.

[flattermann 12]

I used an L85 ACOG with a fair amount of success today. I still can't see much without higher-power optics. I also wish there weren't friendly units that wore shemaghs.... I've shot 2 friendles by mistake because of that.

Ain't that game a bitch? :) That's what you're loving about it, innit? Every day you play you learn something new, so many things to discover... And it got the looks not to get you bored and keep you naive enough to enjoy and play and play and play ....

Got no clue what's up with your Yoma though. I doubt you would do that, but are you running ArmA2 in the background while updating content via Yoma? You could create a ticket at Dev Heaven (http://dev-heaven.net/projects/yoma-addonsync2009/issues), yet its procedure is pretty complex too.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Flattermann

[160thSOAR 10]

Nope. I've been making sure to make sure nothing's running that could interfere with it. I think I'll just do a re-install and see what happens.

What's your Steam ID?

UPDATE: ACE2 has been installed successfully. Windows 7 has this handy "repair" button in the Uninstall menu, so I didn't even lose the files I'd already downloaded. :D ACE2 is awesome, I love the weapons. I don't see why so many people think it's more difficult to fly helicopters though, they seem to handle about the same.

Edited April 6, 2011 by 160thSOAR
Managed to install ACE2 and didn't want to double post

[dr_zakharotta 10]

Welcome aboard!

First things first. Arma 2 is a realistic combat military simulation. You use weapons to kill and wound. Your first job is to become familiar with the AO. Utes and Chernarus maps are both availiable in the editor, so spawn yourself and start exploring the map. Use a chopper like the venom for quick transitions. Next, remember to find and make active use of cover.

Anything interrupting your line of sight with the enemy to a limit is considered a cover. Not everything as such is cover depending on the material its made of. If youre part of a fireteam marching in the bushes, broad trees are your best friend. If you're in an urban environment, your friend now is walls and buildings. Remember, just like you think, the AI thinks. Although not necessarily the same telepathic thoughts, you need to think defensively. You must strive not to get shot at. Its lethal, and effs up your persona. Practice firing in an editor mission or an armory 'range' type mission to get the feel of the weapon and its handling. Squeeze off a few on live targets in the armory like livestock, civies, and ruskies. I'll be doing a video to demonstrate with narration of what to watch for and how to dwell. Unlike BC2, bullets have a trajectory and are not fired from aimpoint coloqually deemed Bore offset. So aim a lickle bit higher and expect a headshot, or on chest for maximum effectiveness of the spent bullet.

Wait for my video.

EDIT: As an additional advice, consider buying an Xbox controller and work your way up to the mouse so as to get the same old warm console feeling.

Edited April 9, 2011 by dr_zakharotta

[160thSOAR 10]

Well, I've returned from the dead. A huge video I had to make for school forced me to delete ArmA 2 and school has only just ended. So I can finally delete the huge video and start playing ArmA 2 again.

I may be starting from scratch here... we'll see. All of my FPS gaming has been limited to Battlefield Heroes. I couldn't fit anything else onto my computer anyways. And BFH is rather fun.

[mazinger4 10]

Im also anewbie and I am stuck in the high command, I am supposed to select 2 groups at the same time, but I havent figure it out yet, the guides do not talk about it and ame nobody in the forus replies to the question. This game is becoming very frustating...

I guess this game is somewhat like playing chess, a lot of thinking and planning and zero action. I expected a fun game full of action but found the opposite. Good thing I just downloaded the demo version before buying the game. I will just go back and play Metro 2033 I guess..

[Spartan 163 0]

Im also anewbie and I am stuck in the high command, I am supposed to select 2 groups at the same time, but I havent figure it out yet, the guides do not talk about it and ame nobody in the forus replies to the question. This game is becoming very frustating...

I guess this game is somewhat like playing chess, a lot of thinking and planning and zero action. I expected a fun game full of action but found the opposite. Good thing I just downloaded the demo version before buying the game. I will just go back and play Metro 2033 I guess..

Check your original post. You got the answer right there dude. You asked today and got your answer in same day a few hours apart. The demo of the game leaves alot out. If you want full experience you need to buy the full game.

Edited May 16, 2011 by PROTOTYPE 001

[160thSOAR 10]

Please refrain from posting things like the two above. This is a thread for me trying to improve my skills.

One thing I've always had trouble with and still am terrible at is finding enemies with iron-sighted and low-magnification weapons. I do fine with higher-power optics like ACOGs, but with reflex, holo, and iron sights I'm virtually useless. Any advice on finding targets with these sorts of optics?

I also lag in multiplayer, well I don't lag clientside, but other people tend to move jumpily. Do most people have this problem? I have a DSL internet connection. I'm no computer whiz; is DSL any good?

Finally, what's a good way to know if it's the proper time to leave a helicopter? As a rule, I always say "everybody out" when I land the chopper successfully, but I have yet to encounter any other pilot that does this. A helicopter hovering slightly above the ground and a helicopter actually on the ground can be difficult to tell apart when you're inside.

[Spartan 163 0]

Please refrain from posting things like the two above. This is a thread for me trying to improve my skills.

Your kidding right? This forums is for everybody. If someone ask a question in a thread related to the same problem they are having it deserves to be answered. You have no right to dictate what gets posted as long as it is related and not totaly off topic. If you lack skills in a weapon practice with it. If you have trouble with a vehicle practice with it. There are a few missions to help improve your weapon skills. Armaholic has lots in its mission section. The only way to get better is to do it.

The helicopter thing is easy when it is on the ground you get out. 1st person or third all you have to do is see the skids or gear contract a bit and it is down. Lots of people also use team speak or vent for coms. You need to find out is the ser er you get on runs them so you can join in.

Lag depends on lots of things like your conection, firewall, antivirus, server location, bamdwidth available ect ect. Try to join a server that you get a good ping at.

Edited May 17, 2011 by PROTOTYPE 001