OMAC 254 Posted April 12, 2011 Playing PMC 1.01 within CO 1.59 + 79600 beta patch. Veteran skill. In the PMC02: Reaction scenario (single player), the cool directional indicator for enemies at the bottom center of the screen vanishes if I load a saved game or an autosave. In these saved games, one of my squad has been killed, the other injured but moving. Does anyone else see this? Is this normal, or a bug? In the dense mist and rain, any means of detecting enemies is vital. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSj 12 Posted April 12, 2011 I haven't noticed that, but I hope they remove this function, or at least makes it optional. It's the kind of unrealistic thing you might find in an arcade game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OMAC 254 Posted April 13, 2011 Of course the damn thing wouldn't be needed at all if THERMAL F_____G SIGHTS were available in the scenario!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad: Leave it to BIS to not have the sights available when you really, really need it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moricky 210 Posted April 13, 2011 They are. M249 TWS is unlocked as a reward once you finish the mission for the first time ;) You can change the weapon in briefing gear menu. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OMAC 254 Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) What? Wow! That's cool! I just played through the scenario for a second time not knowing that. I had no idea that rewards existed in A2/OA/PMC. Looks like I'll have to play it through a third time. It will be a massive, sweet luxury having those sights. The enemy AI in that scenario is awesome, making it brutally hard (without the sights). Some roving guys silently circle around behind you in the mist, or lie prone waiting for you in silence, completely concealed by vegetation and mist. I do have doubts that you are concealed by vegetation from enemy AI. I think that if you are "spotted" they can see you even through vegetation, whereas you cannot see them. I know there was a recent fix that made the ability of enemy AI to see through mist similar to the players'. The directional indicator is not present if you load a autosave or saved game after starting a new game session. Without quitting the game session, if you just quit PMC and return to the main game selection screens, and then load a saved game, the indicators are still there. Thank you for the reward!!! :bounce3: EDIT: SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those sights are just what the doctor ordered. That is the best reward I have ever received in a game!!!!! PMC is F____G AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIS, you should start making more PMC (and A2/OA/BAF) levels for purchase - I will buy them all!!! Edited April 13, 2011 by OMAC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSj 12 Posted April 14, 2011 (edited) This is strange, I tried to recreate what you described. On the first mission "infiltration", the indicator was always there, even when I saved and reloaded the saved game. On the second mission, "reaction", the indicator was gone. Never saw it, not when starting the mission from the beginning, or when I loaded a saved game. It would be nice with an option to turn the indicator on and off. I think it's just annoying and unrealistic, but others will certainly prefer to keep it. Edited April 14, 2011 by Johan S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moricky 210 Posted April 14, 2011 It would be nice with an option to turn the indicator on and off. I think it's just annoying and unrealistic, but others will certainly prefer to keep it. If you care about realism, make sure you don't have "Extended HUD info" enabled in you difficulty settings. Dir indicator is tied to that value ;) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSj 12 Posted April 14, 2011 (edited) Ok, I didn't know that. I still find it strange that there was a difference between the two missions, as I didn't change the settings between testing the two missions. I don't understand why it was there in one and not the other? Maybe I had different difficulty settings when I last played these missions. By the way, I do care about realism, and most of the time I naturally have "Extended HUD info" off. The reason why I sometimes enable it is that you need it when playing a mission where you are not in charge, but gets ordered around by the AI. You need the HUD waypoint info then, otherwise you have no clue about where to go or what to do. When you're out in the woods and gets the order to "move 50 meters to that tree", it can be very confusing. ;) Anyway, great news that you can turn on and off the direction indicator with the difficulty settings!! Thanks for the answer! Edited April 14, 2011 by Johan S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OMAC 254 Posted April 14, 2011 I saw the dir indicator (available in default Veteran skill with extended hud info) as a "6th sense" related to peripheral vision/hearing and/or those of your squadmates, if any. It is not incredibly important either way. Thermal scopes are what is important, and are desperately needed in Arma 2 campaign and scenarios, even for seeing enemies in the woods. Spotting enemies is the most difficult thing of all in A2/OA. On regular and easier difficulties, which I never use, there are floating hud icons for them, as there is in high command mode even in Veteran. Those icons are totally unrealistic, and make the game quite easy. Without them, I still think that enemy ai vision is better than the player's - it's often like they have thermal scopes and you don't. I didn't have any problems with the dir indicator in Infiltration, but then I never exited the game, restarted, and loaded a saved game. That caused the indicator to vanish in Reaction. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSj 12 Posted April 14, 2011 Ok, I prefer not using the indicator, so it's great that it can be turned on and off in the settings. I agree, sometimes the AI spotting skills seems maybe too good, but I think that just adds to the challenge. They can never be as smart as a human player anyway. And it works both ways, your AI soldiers are also good at spotting the enemy. I like having at least one friendly AI around at all times to help with spotting the enemy. Also, if you read about or talk to someone that has been in real combat, the one thing they will tell you is the difficulty of spotting the enemy, even when they're firing at you. You spend most of your time in a firefight trying to stay alive long enough to finally be able to spot where the incoming fire is coming from so you can start shooting back. That is something I think Arma 2 simulates very well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OMAC 254 Posted April 14, 2011 (edited) I agree. However, thermal scopes are the solution, and they exist. Not having them available is frustrating, to say the least. On the other hand, soldiers do not always have them available, either, I guess. Play Reaction and see how hard it is in the mist with no scopes. Then get the reward and play it with scopes - the enemy doesn't stand a chance. You will see that the dir indicator (when it is visible) doesn't help you very much at all, especially in all that misty vegetation. Still, I think it's cool, and I'm glad it's there (when it's there - it's vanishing must be a bug). Edited April 15, 2011 by OMAC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OMAC 254 Posted April 18, 2011 (edited) Something is wrong with the "extended hud info" in the PMC scenarios. In 03 Provision, the green hud info at lower right regarding how many cargo crates you have picked up also disappears if you load a saved game after exiting CO and restarting it. Edited April 18, 2011 by OMAC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
