Things ArmA 1 and OFP did better than Arma 2

[celery 8]

What are the things that Armed Assault and Operation Flashpoint did better than Arma 2 does now? How are they done in those games in comparison?

1) Birds. You could shoot seagulls and buzzards out of the sky in ArmA 1, which was very fun indeed. Also, no seagulls in Arma 2 when the obvious move would have been to have crows in addition to seagulls.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=52620

2) Sidearms. The usefulness of sidearms were at their best in Operation Flashpoint and animations in ArmA 1. Their accuracy wasn't artificially crappified like in Arma 1 and 2, and the animations were really smooth and fluid in ArmA 1.

3) Women. In my personal opinion the women in OFP are the best if only for their functionality. They didn't look like much but they could function like any other unit, and that allowed for more flexible and gender-equal scenarios.

4) Legacy objects. Armed Assault has all the buildings and most of the objects of Operation Flashpoint either as they were with slightly sharper textures, or drastically improved. Arma 2 lacks many OFP and ArmA 1 objects, initially allowing only for Chernarussian style custom maps.

5) Russian ironsights. They were actually useful in OFP, but they've been misaligned (pointing downwards) since ArmA 1.

This is an Arma 3 thread for obvious reasons.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Celery

[mankyle 418]

Summer trees

Actually most of Arma 2 trees are retextured trees from Armed Assault.

I have a version of the PMC OFP world map that uses Armed Assault Trees, and they look a zillion times better that the summer vegetation pack that was released one year after A2 was released.

In Lemnos, I want my Olive trees back!!!!!!

[tsb247 0]

I haven't really noticed any problems with the sidearms in Arma2 (usefulness or animations). My only problem with them is the ever-present, "Pistol glitch," that has palgued the franchise since the original ArmA.

[froggyluv 2136]

Well it's been a minute since playing the Original but iirc, the AT guys seemed to fire when needed and switched weapons less. Also I believe we had the option to order them to arm their AT weapons and vice versa.

[instagoat 133]

AT people in Arma 2 are sometimes indeed pretty daft, sometimes needing minutes to aquire a target that is in plain sight and without obstacles inbetween. Or sometimes not shooting at all.

A2 was an improvement in all regards over A1 and OFP in my opinion, but it didn´t go far enough too. I hope this will be remedied with A3, with BI pulling all the stops. New interface, improved AI, simulation of armour penetration and body armour, improved physics, etc, the whole list. I trust them though... in my opinion, they´ve just been a little too conservative.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Combat strokegun/strokefist simulations existed in OFP, and had just to be enabled for AI by a little change in the config. It wasn't perfect but it existed. It was removed since then, cutting any modding possibilities using it.

[Zipper5 74]

I felt the colors of OFP and ArmA were much more pleasant to look at for extended periods.

[Nuttex 10]

I think it's quite obvious that OFP singleplayer campaigns beat ArmA 2 ones. I mean, the scale of story, the characters, the voice acting, the creativity of the missions themselves - it all created a great SP experience for me

[Sky999 10]

What are the things that Armed Assault and Operation Flashpoint did better than Arma 2 does now? How are they done in those games in comparison?

1) Birds. You could shoot seagulls and buzzards out of the sky in ArmA 1, which was very fun indeed. Also, no seagulls in Arma 2 when the obvious move would have been to have crows in addition to seagulls.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=52620

Weren't you the one who was arguing that it was bad the birds could be shot?

I second what walker said. This is not something to be proud of and it's certainly not a funny occasion. Even though it's just a simulator, I believe I'm right when I say that animal rights are still in effect. People like Victor are the ones who make rare species even more rare or extinct in the real world, and I only hope that he gets jail or the chair when he's caught shooting rare birds or other protected species in the wild.

I also frown at shooting seagulls, they have every right to live just as you do. They don't even kill humans like you do in this simulator. The seagulls are better people than you.

Or is that all sarcasm?

[Zipper5 74]

Or is that all sarcasm?

FPDR

Yes. It was sarcasm.

[Sky999 10]

I see.

I think one thing that OFP did amazingly well, that ARMA1 and ARMA2 didn't do well unfortunately, was creating a realistic speed for units to fall to the ground when shot.

When you shot an enemy in OFP they hit the ground quickly and realistically. There were almost no slow motion type deaths and the movements were fluid. In ARMA1/2 the unit deaths are way too hollywood style. When you shoot a unit they should drop to the floor hard, not slowly fall to the ground. I'll have a look around for some videos to use as an example.

[dlang 24]

The Island from Arma 1, with many mountains, beachs, islands , airports (on Lemnos there is just one airport, and I hope that it will be civilian (yes, for citylife 3 ^^)

[nkenny 1057]

Operation Flashpoint:

Had a much stronger setting than both games that followed. More importantly offered quite few immersion breakers. The UI in flashpoint ranged in two types. Believable or Minimalist.

I really miss the quotes when you die in a singleplayer mission as well. :)

Believable

Briefings were presented on a notepad. Map markers were obviously hand drawn. Changing any PC game setting was accomplished on a 3d Laptop. After action reports were written out on a filofax/notepad.

Compass and timepiece are more or less unchanged since operation flashpoint times and relics of this awsome

Minimalist

Whenever the player had to interact with purely gamey mechanics. Effects were subtle, often fading, and with very little extra garnish to attract attention to it.

In comparison ARMA2s interface is quite the opposite of subtle. No effort is taken to produce neither particularly minimalistic nor believable UI.

Misc

ARMA1 introduced the GEAR menu for mid-mission equipment tweaking. Though better than the action-menu driven system of operation flashpoint... Its hardly anything to write home about.

-k

[crazyirish93 10]

The ak sights and the death quotes are things i miss most.

[Scubbo 10]

I miss the old (and imo better looking) vegetation (CWC vege that is)

[.Taffy 10]

The Island from Arma 1, with many mountains, beachs, islands , airports (on Lemnos there is just one airport, and I hope that it will be civilian (yes, for citylife 3 ^^)

That's a good point, the 1 airport on Lemnos will be a limitation, and odd considering the size of the island. Perhaps they will use some artisitc licence to place more, maybve suggesting that any others are temporary, improvised ones constructed in the course of the conflict?

[Steakslim 1]

yeah dirt air strips wouldn't be anything new from BIS

[NeMeSiS 11]

That's a good point, the 1 airport on Lemnos will be a limitation, and odd considering the size of the island. Perhaps they will use some artisitc licence to place more, maybve suggesting that any others are temporary, improvised ones constructed in the course of the conflict?

Real life Chernarus did not have an airfield, so BI just turned some of those fields into an airfield, plus we got that grass runway where those houses just above the river are.

[Big Dawg KS 6]

Things ... OFP did better than Arma 2

Viktor Troska and James Gastovski.

Nuff said.

But more seriously, the Resistance and black ops CWC missions were some of the best styles of missions in OFP that you just don't see in ArmA 2 (what with the sneaking around and scavaging/stealing stuff).

And I still think BIS needs to return to the 80s (or similar cold war setting) at some point. I'm getting bored of all the hi-tech gadgetry.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Big Dawg KS

[CameronMcDonald 146]

The campaigns and missions, that's probably about it. Also, that sweet clotheslined animation when hit while running. God it was awesome - crossing a field under fire, then *thwack!* - you see your feet go horizontal as you make a line in midair.

I do miss the humour caused when a house occupied by players is destroyed, and turns into a paper-collapsing-fuckuppery mess.

"Where are the stairs? OH GOD WHERE ARE THE STAIRS?"

[messiahua 0]

OFP:

1. normal campaign

2. "dull" colors, almost all new games look cartoonish

3. movement speed of units was realistic, in arma you walk 6 km/h, jog 18km/h, sprint 23 km/h :rolleyes:

[sickboy 13]

I would point out that most of the mentioned things are modable (very strong part of this game), while all content of previous games is allowed to be used in the next games in the series.

Even all arma1/ofp objects are available in CAA1, but I suppose it's all about out of the box availability.

[carlostex 38]

Even all arma1/ofp objects are available in CAA1, but I suppose it's all about out of the box availability.

It's not all about, but it's good to have it straight out of the box.

[Mr. Charles 22]

I dunno if i want OFP legacy objects in ArmA3. They just won't fit in there (graphically wise)

[Nads 10]

One of the things I remember from OFP was during a mission I directed one of my troops down an alley, couple of seconds later I heard an explosion and all I saw was his helmet roll out into the road, at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Dont know why helmets did'nt come off in anything after OFP as it's pretty damn realistic, in fact I even questioned if I saw it in the first place because I dont think it was that common even in OFP.