My suggestions for BI's future ARMA works...

[ryfle 10]

I know how the software development cycle works... it can be brutal. Sometimes you go all the way from the inception phase to implementation phase, only to realize your concept was infeasible and you have to trash it and go back to inception again. Bugs pop up that no one can explain -- millions of lines of code lie between problem and solution. Sometimes fixing a bug creates two new ones. Sometimes you have to choose what's worse: bug A or bug B. And all the while, you've got investors/venture capitalists breathing down your neck to get the job done -- and project leaders, in turn, put pressure on their code monkeys and artists. So I realize user suggestions can often get lost somewhere throughout the hectic development iterations. But sometimes user ideas can be useful. So I figure: what the heck? Here's my suggestions... :)

1) No more "superman eyes" for AI...

You're in a well concealed position, 1000m from a company of enemy troops. You dial in your scope and your spotter gives you the range: "1022m, sir!". You let off a shot and split the team leader's helmet clean in two. But all the enemy troops suddenly turn and unleash a hail of bullets directly on your position! But how? They saw no tracer... your flash suppressor eliminated muzzle flash... You're well camo'ed, and concealed in thick brush... there was also no smoke... and they can even do this when you have suppressed weapons... No one should have seen you! But somehow, the ARMA AI can, with their superman eyes! :(

I suggest making this more life-like... In real life, it can be incredibly difficult to pinpoint an enemy sniper/shooter by the sound or seeing the impact of his round. Warfare, by its very nature, is confusing and frightening. When you hear a bang and Sarge's head goes rolling, you don't casually turn and open fire on a concealed enemy... you don't even know for sure where he is! No, you hit the dirt! You jabber back and forth with your buddies: "What the hell was that!? Did you see anything!?" Where is he!?"... Only if the sniper fires again or does something to give himself away can you be sure where it came from, unless you're incredibly lucky.

The AI should react like real soldiers. They should be "afraid"... having an effect on their performance and ability to locate you. They might also make a mistake as to your location, and open fire on a harmless bush. They might just pepper the woods where they heard the shot come from the retreat and do a more exhaustive sniper hunt. They should pull out their binos and scan the tree line... IF you're well-concealed, that is... of course, they'll spot you wearing an orange jumpsuit in the middle of the road, lol. But they shouldn't be able to immediately find a sniper in a ghillie suit over a mile away, who's hiding in dense vegetation/grass. ;)

2) "Pimp my gun"...

Many real military weapons have picante rails, threaded barrels, weaver mounts, etc... One can add attachments and optics to their weapon to make it suit them. So that should be accurately reflected in ARMA! I own a Romanian WASR-10 (under-folding AK-47 variant), which I've put a flash suppressor on to eliminate muzzle flash at night. Why not in ARMA? Why do we have an M9 and an "M9-SD"... when it should actually be an M9 with a threaded barrel and optional suppressor / subsonic rounds? There are also quite a few weapons I like, but hate their optics... For instance, I cant stand trying to raid a building or urban jungle with a scoped rifle... :mad: So ARMA, in the future, should let you customize your weapons with attachments, optics and even custom ammo selection. And maybe even model some real-life tweaks, like recoil buffers, compensators, etc... even a foregrip, for instance, could make a weapon more controllable. And why not have working folding a telescoping stocks -- which can make all the difference when moving from open terrain to dense brush or an urban environment?

An additional suggestion... the editor should have a decent interface for editing weapon loadouts. It's tiresome and troublesome to edit the OnInit code just to change weapons. :(

3) Rag doll physics! ... nuff said! :D

4) API

Scripting is great... but I'd absolutely LOVE a C++ and/or C#.NET API for writing in some sophisticated ARMA mods. :cool:

5) New environments and scenarios...

Wait for it... WWII!!11!1!!11!! Yes, WWII! C'mon, at least give us a small part of France and a few soldier models. I'd definitely throw in a few of my WWII weapons models and code them up nicely. Would also be cool to experience WWI combat -- something never before done! :)

I'd also like to say I really enjoyed Reinforcements and playing in Takistan, but don't wear out the Middle East thing. I'd like to see more stuff like Chernarus... more conflicts in Europe, Russia and even southern Asia. A campaign in North Africa would be awesome too. But I think the idea I like best would be like a "Cold War gone hot" scenario with the Soviets invading central Europe. :butbut:

Anyway... enough of my wishful thinking for now, haha. What do you think?

EDIT:

Ahhh... I almost forgot... AI drivers SUCK!!! Ugh! I can't stand being the commander and yelling "FORWARD! FORWARD! FORWARD!" but the guy insists on backing up, turning, driving a circle and THEN going forward... all for no reason. I hate seeing an ET and yelling "FAST" (in lieu of "get the **** outta here!") but the AI driver seems to think he's taking a Sunday cruise around town. It's also annoyingly difficult sometimes to get the men to cooperate with you and get in/out of vehicles properly.

Another AI problem I've noticed effects men manning static weapons, like an MG nest or static gun. Sometimes you can just shoot them over and over with no effect, until you're lucky enough to hit some sort of "sweet spot" (often the very tip of their head) just to kill them.

Sometimes, too, both enemy and friendly AI just behave very stupidly. Sometimes I've turned around to discover two enemy troops standing over my shoulder, seemingly ignoring me... then I lazily execute them. My men, sometimes, will run out of cover right in front of enemy tanks and armed APCs... I also get frustrated engaging enemy AI, as their movements are so weird and jerky... they often do dumb things like go prone, stand up, go prone and stand up over and over in the same spot. And sometimes, I'll be engaging several enemies and two of them will be moving towards me and engaging, while their buddies are just staring off into space and picking their noses, haha.

Don't get me wrong... I love ARMA, and it's the best shooter sim I've ever played. But all software has room for improvement, even if it's the best! Just my two cents...

Edited October 19, 2011 by ryfle

[ryguy 10]

picante rails

I prefer my guns mild, not spicy.

[Laqueesha 474]

I prefer my guns mild, not spicy.

[PuFu 4600]

What do you think?

That this belongs to A3 forums, in the wish list, and that most of what you want (points 2, 3, and 5) are already confirmed for A3.