How demanding is OA compared to Arma2 graphics wise?

[paecmaker 23]

I got Arma 2 and can run it on medium/low, however sometimes it slows down and the last mission was a pain in the ass to finish(dont know if it was because of lag or bugs though)

I know Im late but I wanted to get OA for some time now and wonder how demanding it is to run compared to A2?

[Charles Darwin 10]

less demanding, the map is a desert so far less grass and trees. However ArmA is way more CPU intensive than most games, so you might want to check that it isnt your CPU lagging you instead of the GPU

[kylania 567]

1.60 patch did wonders for my friends with less than awesome PCs, so make sure you're fully patched for the best performance.

[paecmaker 23]

Is the CPU as demanding as in A2 or is it better optimized, because I think the CPU is the main thing when it comes to my lagging?

However I can still play the game and as you said its far less trees so it should be less demanding on both the gpu and the cpu?

[Charles Darwin 10]

Not sure I havent played OA singleplayer

[Dwarden 1124]

OA uses way more optimized engine than A2, more features and tweaks and so on ...

there is simply no reason to get stuck with archaic A2 only

[metalcraze 290]

I get more FPS on Chernarus in OA than in AA2 at the same settings.

[paecmaker 23]

I did just order it so now I just have to wait and see.

also thank for your answers, appreciate it.

[kireta21 13]

I get more FPS on Chernarus in OA than in AA2 at the same settings.

Oposite here. When running in-game benchmark mission in AA2 (the one with massive battle) with 1440x900, 5km view and all options maxed out, I get acceptable 19-22 fps, while when launching this one in OA it's 11-13 fps, so perfomance hit isn't small for me.

[Beagle 684]

Same here, chernarus runs much better in A2 engine and all features of A2 units actually work in A2 (some features are completely broken in OA)...in fact A2 is the better game still for playing with A2 content since BI did no good job of integrating A2 units to OA engine.

[Clarkey1 10]

OA has FXAA now and that has made the biggest difference between A2 and OA for me. I have AA disabled in the in-game options and have FXAA set to about 10 in the .cfg file. Massive improvement as far as I'm concerned, huge fps increase with a similar level of AA. Also disable threaded optimization on your GPU if you have a threaded CPU. I know OA is supposed to be compatible with it now but personally I still get better FPS with it disabled.

[special_air_service 10]

OA uses way more optimized engine than A2, more features and tweaks and so on ...

there is simply no reason to get stuck with archaic A2 only

so, it should be that if I got fine performance with ArmA II so I will get it as well in Operation Arrowhead and maybe even better ?

I heard that OA have several addition graphic options compared to ArmA II, let's say SSAO , I have Napoleon : Total War and using SSAO there is really killing my FPS almost half !

Is in OA , this SSAO will be killer FPS too ?

Im considering buying ArmA II : Operation Arrowhead to become ArmA II : Combined Ops :)

[jedra 11]

As people have said already the OA engine is far superior to the A2 engine. On a similar setting to A2 you may see some improvement. If however you crank everything up to max with a 10000 view distance, your PC will die a horrible death!! OK, it won't but it will go very slowly!

There are lots of options to play with including 3 types of AA (traditional AA in the game menus, and SMAA or FXAA from the config files). You can add post processing effects too, but as you said they can affect performance.

If your machine can run A2 you should be fine with OA - don't expect to turn everything to '11' though!

[special_air_service 10]

As people have said already the OA engine is far superior to the A2 engine. On a similar setting to A2 you may see some improvement. If however you crank everything up to max with a 10000 view distance, your PC will die a horrible death!! OK, it won't but it will go very slowly!

There are lots of options to play with including 3 types of AA (traditional AA in the game menus, and SMAA or FXAA from the config files). You can add post processing effects too, but as you said they can affect performance.

If your machine can run A2 you should be fine with OA - don't expect to turn everything to '11' though!

I see now, nope Iam not turning view distance into 10,000 . That's surely a best way to make the game unplayable at all. My view distance is at 1295 metres , but other settings like AntiAliasing and etc are mostly at high and very high with exception on terrain detail which is normal (this is quite affecting fps) and 1280x1024 with 100% resolution.

Got 20-30 FPS depends on situation and location (big city dropped so significant) :)

eh, so SMAA and FXAA are not directly added in video option but I need to open the config files and edit it instead ?

[no use for a name 0]

I see now, nope Iam not turning view distance into 10,000 . That's surely a best way to make the game unplayable at all. My view distance is at 1295 metres , but other settings like AntiAliasing and etc are mostly at high and very high with exception on terrain detail which is normal (this is quite affecting fps) and 1280x1024 with 100% resolution.

Got 20-30 FPS depends on situation and location (big city dropped so significant) :)

eh, so SMAA and FXAA are not directly added in video option but I need to open the config files and edit it instead ?

Yes; you'll need to edit your Arma2OA.cfg and either add the lines or modify them: http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/arma2.cfg

Also, since you're running AA you could try modifying/disabling AToC since that is the biggest performance killer for most people; especially when rendered to grass, which is probably why terrain detail makes such a difference (higher detail=more grass further away).

[domokun 515]

SAS: once you have OA installed, be sure to check-out these tried and tested optimisations:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85124-ArmA2-OA-%28low%29-performance-issues&p=2081466#post2081466

[special_air_service 10]

ok guys, thanks for the info . Looking for OA next big sale discount :D

[domokun 515]

SAS: OA is currently only €15 on Sprocket or about £10 in old money.

While a sale would definitely make it cheaper, I think you'd only save a couple of quid.

So why wait? :o

If you prefer Steam, the prices are identical.

The advantage is that with Sprocket all your cash goes direct to the developers whereas Valve take their big fat commission (30%?).